Counting Airplanes

Thursday, June 6.  The day we leave Haiti and head back to Fernandina Beach.  We will be on the ground at Jacksonville International Airport around 7:00 that evening........well that's what our itinerary said!  It was to be much, much more than that.

The day started as all the other days.  Awaken by our favorite rooster around 6:00 a.m. most everyone started to stir and make their way down to the dining area to get coffee and breakfast before starting to get everything together to leave.  It was already beginning to get hot and we were all looking forward to getting to the airport and starting the trek home.

We spent the morning doing last minute packing and saying our goodbyes to the people we had met during our stay.  Some last minute projects were still needing attention in the sewing lab, but with Linda staying behind a few days longer we were confident this project was going to be left in very competent hands.

About 10:30 we all gathered for one final picture before getting in the tap tap truck to head to the airport.  One more trip down the rough road outside the school and past "Walmart" and the Ravine on onto the craziness that is Haitian driving.  Sherrie followed our tap tap driving the smaller pickup truck, and watching her it was evident she certainly knew how to drive Haitian!

We made it into the airport and through immigration and security with nary a problem.  There is only one gate area for departure and it was filling quickly.  Many of the passengers were just like us, mission groups looking forward to heading back to the states after working in country.

The flight to Miami was uneventful.  We had about a two-hour layover in Miami, and a good chunk of that was taken up with clearing U.S. customs.  It is amazing to see the throngs of people coming to into the U.S. at this immigration point.  The custom's line for U.S. citizens was very long, but the line for non-citizens was even longer, giving everyone a vivid picture of just how many people want to come into America.

We finally cleared customs, got Chinese food for all the youth, and made it to our gate for what we thought would be a short wait for our plane.  The televisions inside the terminal were tuned to CNN, and the scroll at the bottom provided updates to Tropical Storm Andrea.  A few minutes before we were supposed to begin boarding we got word our plane had still not arrived and we were going to be delayed.  About that same time we heard on the TV about a tornado spotted near Mayport and moving north to Amelia Island.  We were beginning to get a very bad feeling about the last leg of our trip.

After several announced delays the flight was officially cancelled around 7:00 p.m.  American Airlines uses an Embraer regional jet for the Miami to Jacksonville flights, so the number of passengers affected by this cancellation was as bad as it would have been had it been a larger aircraft.  Unfortunately that is the only aircraft American uses for this flight, so getting us all booked as a group on another flight was very difficult.

The next scheduled flight that evening, and the last one that day to Jacksonville, was at 9:45 and it was completely booked.  So were all the flights the next day, and our only option for a direct flight to Jacksonville would be Saturday morning.  However the gate agent was very patient and managed to find a way for us to get in that night, so long as the weather would not be a problem.

She booked us all on a flight from Miami to Atlanta where we would change plans and take a Delta flight from Atlanta to Jacksonville.  The Miami to Atlanta flight was supposed to already be boarding and getting ready for departure, but as luck would have it the plane had been delayed and was still waiting to begin boarding.

We all sprinted for the departure gate leaving Forrest and Alex Enlow behind to gather all the new boarding passes for everyone.  The Atlanta flight began boarding and Forrest and Alex were still not at the gate with the new boarding passes.  The gate agents were getting ready to close the doors when the co-pilot came out to see what was holding up the flight.  Sally spoke to him and explained our situation and how we were all trying to get back to Fernandina Beach.  God must have been watching out for us because the co-pilot said he lives on Amelia Island and he would make sure he would hold the plane until we all got on board.

Alex finally arrived with the boarding passes and we quickly ran onto the plane and found our seats.  We made it out of Miami without any further delay and the crew found an altitude with a favorable wind which put us into Atlanta in enough time that we didn't have to run to our next flight.

We made it to the departure gate for the flight from Atlanta to Jacksonville, and boarded with the other regularly scheduled passengers.  We were a bit scattered throughout the plane, but at least we were finally on our last leg to JIA and left Atlanta a bit after 11:00 p.m.

We encountered some very choppy air on the way from Atlanta into Jax, and the pilot kept the fasten seat belt sign on the entire flight and instructed the flight attendants to remain in their seats.  We started our descent into Jax and just as we were about to touchdown, the pilot was forced to apply full throttle and execute a missed approach.  We were told they had to due this because of a separation problem, but it certainly added a tension in the air.  However these guys are professionals and practice this in simulators all the time, and about ten minutes later we safely touched down and taxied to the gate.

Finally back in JIA sometime after midnight, and everyone had just about run out of gas.  Once again Roger Martin stepped up to the plate and had driven the church van to the airport to pick up anyone needing transportation back to the Publix parking lot where we had left our cars a week before.

Our luggage had not followed us and was still in Miami.  The folks at Delta were very helpful and promised to get them to us as soon as they could, which was fine with all of us.  We were just ready to get home, get a hot shower and sleep in our own beds.  It was good to be home.

I will try to post an report on the LaGonove group's activities later this weekend.