It started with 36+ hours of no sleep. I’d never flown before and was too keyed up between lack of sleep, anxiety about flying, and anxiety about forgetting something. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Metro across from DTW airport, arriving after midnight. Around 3 am, I decided to wander out to the front desk and chat up Josh, the overnight front desk clerk. He was a very nice guy, and was happy for the company. Around 4:30, I woke the others for breakfast, joking with Josh that if I didn’t reemerge in five minutes, I had probably been smothered with a pillow.
We ate, we accepted vouchers for parking and checked out, with a promise from Josh that he HAD to go see his friends in Nevada that he had been telling me about. We drove around the corner to the airport lot and weaved our way through a few hundred sleeping cars to find a shuttle driver and an empty space. He loaded our bags and us, then off we went to the airport. The plane took off close to on time and gave me a pleasant surprise- a new perspective on vistas I had seen previously. I thanked God for His splendor and asked to conduct us safely to Punta Cana. We picked up a connecting flight in Atlanta, and were off on our way. Flying over the ocean and watching little pork chop shaped islands go by is a sight to behold. Blue green water and beautiful sand.
We arrived to 80 something degrees and cheery sun. We were unloaded right on the tarmac and shuttled to the thatched roof airport terminal to wait confused in a stuffy, long line for customs. After paying our $10 tax to enter Punta Cana, we were bombarded by helpful locals that wanted to carry our bags and take us to our next stop for a few bucks. I had to turn down a few that were too pushy while waiting for the other couple we went with. I finally let a smiley man I guessed to be about 40 drag away my luggage with me close on his heels. He whisked us past a line of waiting foreigners to the Expedia clerk. She already had our info in hand and confirmed our identities. Next the nice man whisked off towards the waiting shuttle. We paid him some US dollars and amid a profusion of thank yous from both parties we were on our way.
Driving in Punta Cana is terrifying. If we were not on a 20 person shuttle, I swore we would have been crushed by a bigger vehicle. It is a miracle no mopeds or small vehicles were maimed in our wake. Stop signs are apparently more like a suggestion, at best, a yield sign. We almost killed a poor worker who was trying to hold a power line to be installed coming around a corner as a service truck was coming from the opposite direction. After dropping off other passengers and glimpses of native life and mountains, we arrived at our destination within an hour and a half. (We picked a resort about an hour away from the airport)
Before this blog post becomes a full on ramble and takes up too much of our time, I am going to stop it here to continue later, and give you a reprieve with a few photos. There will be many more to come.
My view from the hammock on our room’s patio
Me, on the beach, with new friends. (He didn’t catch it, but there were birdie kisses to be had)
The beach just before sunset
Crafting My Life Away... 