D-Day

On January 13, 2015, Dad, Mom, Karmen, Grandma and Grandpa Rodgers and I left our hotel in Milwaukee, WI to make the short trip to the Milwaukee airport.  We arrived a few minutes after 6:00 a.m.  

My original flight itinerary looked something like this:

8:35 am - Depart Milwaukee

11:45 am - Arrive LaGuardia, NY

12:59 pm - Depart LaGuardia, NY

3:46 pm - Arrive Atlanta

5:30 pm - Depart Atlanta

10:54 pm - Arrive Quito, Ecuador

On the way to the airport, I received a message that my flight from Milwaukee to LaGuardia had been delayed for about an hour.  That would, of course, take up nearly my entire layover in New York.  When we arrived at the airport, several of the workers and a couple of the friends were there already, waiting for us.  I greeted everyone and got in line to check my bags.  

The ticket agent looked at my flight information and said, "Oh, you're going to have trouble in New York.  I'll put you on a flight that goes directly to Atlanta.  It leaves at 7:00."  So much for finding a coffee shop to wait out the delay!  Good-byes were swift on the "non-flier" side of security, and off I went.

The rest of the day passed without incident.  I arrived in Atlanta by 10:00 a.m. and made my way to the international terminal.  With 7.5 hours to wait, I made myself comfortable, got out my laptop and got a few things done!  

My flight to Quito was right on time, and we landed about 15 or 20 minutes early.  If you've never flown into Quito at night, you should try it sometime!  The city is long and narrow and is located in a valley surrounded by mountains.  It's a beautiful sight to pass over this lit up city!  

The Mariscal Sucre airport in Quito is new and quite beautiful.  I claimed my bags and whisked through customs with no problems whatsoever.  Outside of baggage claim were four workers waiting to greet me.  It was wonderful to see them!  The new airport is outside the city about 45 minutes to an hour, so we had a bit of a ride to get "home."  The bed that awaited me there was a very welcome sight!

Beautiful sunset somewhere between Atlanta and Quito