The trip home was very eventful.
We made sure we got to Cataratas International Airport in Brazil extra
early so we could complete the paperwork for Matthew’s wheelchair. With the headache we had on the way down, we
didn’t want to have the same hassle going back home. We made sure to request the wheelchair be at
the door of the plane at all of the stops, so they didn’t stop us at security
to question us about the batteries. This
time around they made a bigger deal about the weight of our luggage, so we had
to change things around, take out a couple pillows, and I ended up leaving
behind my shampoo and conditioner to avoid the extra baggage fee. Other than that, we made it through the first
airport without any complications.
When we arrived in Sao Paulo the stress of our trip started. Everyone had to go down the stairs at the Sao Paulo airport. Matthew wasn’t in condition to do the stairs, but they brought in an extra-large elevator to the airplane. At first, I thought it was really cool. They raised the “elevator” like contraption to the plane and loaded Matthew and a few others into it. Then we were lowered down and it drove us over to the airport. This is where things got crazy. They told us that the wheelchair had to be scanned through security and we had to go get it. Remember we are in Brazil still and they speak Portuguese so neither Matthew nor I could communicate with anyone but the guy who was helping transfer us spoke a little English. We quickly found out that our wheelchair was not waiting for us, but sent on to Mexico and we had been removed from the secure area of the airport and therefore had to go back through security. German and the crew had the majority of our carryon luggage as we were told we would meet up with them after leaving the plane but that was not the case. Thankfully they didn’t have any complications with our luggage other than not realizing I had a computer in my bag and rescanning the bags. Matthew and I saw the line that we had to wait in and were stressed about how little time we had to get to our flight. Our guide did not seem to be concerned and did little to help us get through any faster. We were in line for a while when all of a sudden, the entire TSA section shut down and no one was allowed to go through for about 30 minutes. We saw security running through the airport, taking pictures, filming, and arresting someone. Of course, not understanding the language we had no clue what was going on other than the fact that we were getting close to missing our flight. I was praying for no complications with the backpack since it had the batteries and that always caused a 30 delay, and we didn’t have time for any delay. Thankfully, they didn’t question any of our baggage and we made it through security without issues… only to get into line for immigrations… which was also very long due to the 30-minute closure. Our plane started boarding as we passed through immigrations. I didn’t realize how far away we were, but I ended up taking off my sandals and running to keep up. We had to go across the entire airport to get to our flight. We arrived just in time to board… German and Mariah were stressing out about what to do if we didn’t make it as they had been waiting for about 1 ½ hours. Thankfully, we had lots of leg room for the 9 ½ hour flight as I was exhausted and needed sleep. Of course we checked the score of the Husky game before we left but could not find out the results until we landed in Mexico in the morning!
When we arrived in Mexico, we were hoping that Matthew’s wheelchair would be there. Thankfully we were back in a country where I could communicate with our support person. He was absolutely amazing and got us through immigrations quickly. Helped us get our luggage, which included the wheelchair, helped us through security, and then helped transfer our luggage onto the next flight before leaving us to wait for the others. While we were waiting, I noticed that the wheel on Matthew’s chair was wobbly. Taking a closer look at it we noticed that it was broken in two spots. We had to find the Latam help center to report it and they tried to offer us only $120, which we turned down after I did a quick search on how much replacement parts would cost.
Unfortunately, without a functioning wheelchair, there was not much Matthew could do in Mexico, so we got a hotel room for him to sleep in for the day. We had to wait for them to clean the room, so we found a restaurant at the hotel and had buffet breakfast for lunch. We then left our carryon luggage and Matthew in the hotel room.
The rest of us headed off to see the Teotihuacan ruins in Mexico City. We walked around the ruins, up and down the stairs for hours. By the end, I was completely exhausted and had over 7 miles of walking in. We then toured some other sites throughout the city until it was time to go back to the hotel and find some dinner. We finished eating just in time to collect our belongings and head to the airport. Matthew and German took the rental car back and the rest walked over to take the “Red Bus” to terminal 1. We quickly found out that we needed Pesos for the bus and thankfully I had cash, so we were able to exchange money and catch the next bus. We met back up with the guys and made it through security without any problems and then waited for our last flight home.
Lots of pictures at the Teotihuacan Ruins...
Mariah and I even got to go into some of the ruins...
Once again, I was able to get about 4 hours of sleep on the flight. Which meant that for three nights in a row I
slept about 4 hours each night… none of which was very good sleep. We arrived in Vancouver exhausted. We gathered all of our belongings and caught
the shuttle to pick up our trucks.
Matthew and I recognize that God was with us on our drive home. Every time we go on a road trip we pray for
safety, and this trip was no different.
Safety looks different than what we may think it is of course… because
if I had my way, we would not have been in an accident but that does not mean that
God failed us… just the opposite in fact.
We hit a semi-truck going 70 miles an hour and walked away without any injuries
besides minor bruising from the seatbelt. The cop was amazed when he came to
talk to me, and I said I wasn’t injured. The truck was totaled of course but
God kept us safe and no one else was injured in the accident either. Thankfully German and Mariah were not far behind
us, so we were able to load up everything into their truck and continue on our
way home.
I made it home in time to get a tour of the house to see all that my mom
had done while we were gone to get it ready for new floors. After visiting for a bit, I took a quick
shower and then got online for a work meeting.
Since my nephew Seth was in town, I met up with him for dinner and then
went to my nephew Jonathan’s wrestling match.
By the time I got home, I was completely exhausted and collapsed for 10
hours. I ended up taking the next day
off work to recover from the trip.
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