Into the Mystic
Day One…. As we sailed into the mystic.
The ride to the Philly airport was very enjoyable as there was little traffic at 3:45AM. With the airport details out of the way I boarded the plane only to hear the Van Morrison song, The Mystic. How fitting. I was off on an adventure that still seemed beyond the reach of my imagination. Travel while exciting, can also be heavy on the spirit…. get to the airport, do the shuffle, fly, land and do it all over again. The flight to Miami was crisp, clear and bright with the Sunrise off our Eastern wing. A new day. A sail into the mystic... As I shuffled through Miami and made my way to the Surname Airways counter, I meet the rest of the timber framing gang.(they all came from all over the US and Canada)The 9 of us were meeting there with a group booking to Paramaribo. As they handed out the tickets….”hey this say’s Aruba, I thought we were to stop in Port Of Spain” was the words repeated a few times. Inquiry to the agent seemed pointless…Aruba was the stop over…and again the airport shuffle.
Aruba is pretty flat from my perspective. It seemed like a big green sandbar in the middle of the blue ocean. The resorts were lined up on the beach, topped with clay tile roofs, like pieces on the Monopoly board. Now with leg 2 of our journey complete, next stop Paramaribo. Did I mention that once we left Miami, the schedule seemed to be only “suggestive”? Well, it was. As we boarded the plane we met a local lady who informed us that we would need to stop for fuel…. in Curacao, of course. I gather that it would be similar to the comment you might make to your spouse on the way home from the store “honey, we need to stop here for a moment”. Sure enough, “attendants---prepare for landing”. Up to the pump truck, fuel up…. and now we will add some passengers. The fuel stop would have been fine except that they would open the doors to the plane and the hot humid tropical air would plow through the plane and cover you like a heavy blanket.
Anyway, we arrived late, went through the Visa process and got a bus ride to Chuck’s house where we sat a bit and got the details of the next leg. Up the river we will go on Wednesday. We planned to go today, but the island housing has become a concern. We are learning that the government people, Conservation people and the tourist people are all competing and posturing for the position of “Chief of what we do”. In any case, I’ll just consider it part of the schedule…. suggestive.
Be well!
The ride to the Philly airport was very enjoyable as there was little traffic at 3:45AM. With the airport details out of the way I boarded the plane only to hear the Van Morrison song, The Mystic. How fitting. I was off on an adventure that still seemed beyond the reach of my imagination. Travel while exciting, can also be heavy on the spirit…. get to the airport, do the shuffle, fly, land and do it all over again. The flight to Miami was crisp, clear and bright with the Sunrise off our Eastern wing. A new day. A sail into the mystic... As I shuffled through Miami and made my way to the Surname Airways counter, I meet the rest of the timber framing gang.(they all came from all over the US and Canada)The 9 of us were meeting there with a group booking to Paramaribo. As they handed out the tickets….”hey this say’s Aruba, I thought we were to stop in Port Of Spain” was the words repeated a few times. Inquiry to the agent seemed pointless…Aruba was the stop over…and again the airport shuffle.
Aruba is pretty flat from my perspective. It seemed like a big green sandbar in the middle of the blue ocean. The resorts were lined up on the beach, topped with clay tile roofs, like pieces on the Monopoly board. Now with leg 2 of our journey complete, next stop Paramaribo. Did I mention that once we left Miami, the schedule seemed to be only “suggestive”? Well, it was. As we boarded the plane we met a local lady who informed us that we would need to stop for fuel…. in Curacao, of course. I gather that it would be similar to the comment you might make to your spouse on the way home from the store “honey, we need to stop here for a moment”. Sure enough, “attendants---prepare for landing”. Up to the pump truck, fuel up…. and now we will add some passengers. The fuel stop would have been fine except that they would open the doors to the plane and the hot humid tropical air would plow through the plane and cover you like a heavy blanket.
Anyway, we arrived late, went through the Visa process and got a bus ride to Chuck’s house where we sat a bit and got the details of the next leg. Up the river we will go on Wednesday. We planned to go today, but the island housing has become a concern. We are learning that the government people, Conservation people and the tourist people are all competing and posturing for the position of “Chief of what we do”. In any case, I’ll just consider it part of the schedule…. suggestive.
Be well!
posted by Jack W at 9:39 AM
1 Comments:
I'm following your trip report with great interest- travel safe and have fun!
best wishes,
Andrea
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