Let's just say we had a bit of an experience with our flight to Cancun Mexico...
My dad and I took off for Minneapolis on Christmas day so that we could spend a day with y sister and brother-in-law at their place before we took off on our trip to Playa Del Carmen in Mexico. The roads were perfect on the way down there and there was pretty much no snow left in Minnesota at this point although we did come across some fog in areas.
We got to my sister's house without any problems at all and got to spend that night and the next day pretty much just hanging out with a side step to do some shopping early the day after Christmas. We even got that all done early enough where we were able to avoid the large crowds, got the few items we still needed for our trip (although finding swim wear in December in Minnesota proved to be a chore!) and were back to the house by around 9:30am! We spent the rest of the day watching Christmas movies such as the classic holiday film, Die Hard, and just attempted to get completely into relaxation mode for our flight and trip which we had to get up early for the next day.
Our flight was scheduled to take off at 8:50am and with it being an international flight we wanted to get to the airport by around 6:50am...so of course we got hit with a bit of a winter storm that night. I woke up around 4am to the sound of my sister out shoveling her side walks and went up to see that although we had missed out on a white Christmas, the snow had arrived just in time to possibly cause us some problems to get the heck out of Dodge!
Luckily my sister and her husband recently purchased a Jeep so we weren't too worried about navigating the highways to the airport, but we were a bit worried about other drivers as well as whether or not the plane would be delayed due to the current conditions.
We got to the airport with plenty of time to get checked in then we stopped at one of the airport watering holes to get some cocktails because everyone knows that once you pass through airport security, you are officially on vacation. So we go to this restaurant/bar and it being 7:30 or so in the morning, my dad didn't feel up for a drink, but Steph, Joe, and I ordered mimosas at a busy counter and the girl poured them for us drop them off and said, "$41.13." I figured she must have been talking to the group next to us and when I looked at their tab it was that number so when she came back I said: "I'd like to pay for these drinks please, how much were they?"
Her: "$41.13."
Me: "Holy shit! Well, here you go."
So needless to say, we were getting pretty excited to get out of the airport and to our all inclusive resort!
We got a notice saying that our plane would be delayed 15 minutes but considering the outside conditions we felt like that wasn't bad at all! We boarded the plane at 8:15am and were now scheduled to depart at 9am. Everyone got loaded up pretty quickly and we were all set to go, we pulled onto the tarmac and then were informed that due to heavy traffic in Cancun as well as the need to do some de-icing we would now not be taking off until a little after 10am...yet we got to stay in the plane...for an hour and 20 minutes...like sardines. Why we needed to get on the plane when we did, I'll never know, but I had a good book with me and I just decided to make the best out of a bad situation.
So 10am arrives and we're headed for take-off, finally. It's a pretty smooth takeoff and we are finally on our way to our all inclusive vacation! about an hour and a half into our flight the captain comes on over the PA system and says: "You may have noticed that we have turned around. We got a crack in our windshield so we are headed back to Minneapolis where we'll try to arrange another plane for you. The second pane is intact and we feel like we'll be fine to make the trip rather than landing in Saint Louis."
Things were starting to register with the passengers and most of us were waiting for him to say, just joking! But it never came. Soon people were starting to get angry that we were turning around and I was sitting there thinking to myself...he did just say that we got a crack in the windshield of our plane right? The thing that is carrying us traveling around 300mph or so however high above the ground? So yeah, we're all going to die today. But, I had that book so I just said, well, I'll read my book and whatever happens happens. The lady a few seats ahead of us was celebrating her 80th birthday by flying all of her family to Mexico for a vacation and after talking to her a bit she just showed us her bracelet witch said, "It is what it is." Which summed up the situation perfectly.
We probably should have landed in Saint Louis, but by traveling back to Minneapolis (if we made it) we would have a better chance at still getting a plane to take us to Cancun sometime that day. So, I guess they figured it was worth the risk.
We arrived back in Minneapolis safely and as we were departing the plane we got a glimpse into the cockpit where the windshield could certainly be considered to be cracked. I would have listed it more as shattered but whatever, we made it home safe.
Once we got back into the MSP airport I text my brother and buddy and told them: "Well, we're back in MSP." and then went ahead and filled them in on our traveling escapades to that point. The good news was that they had secured another plane for us with a windshield and all the other bells and whistles and they thought we should be able to take off at 2pm. We landed back in MSP around 12:15 so the turnaround was pretty darn impressive!
The flight actually took off at 2:10pm but we had a good flight this go around and made it to Mexico around 6:30pm. We got through customs pretty quick and then got our taxi lined up and got ourselves a couple of cervezas and now we've been drunk for two days....
But the trip to Mexico ended up being pretty exciting and probably a story we'll remember for quite a while, but the thing I'll probably remember most is how some people were complaining about being late for the start of our vacation, and some realizing that there wasn't anything we could do about it other than pray we made it home safe. The birthday girl taught us all a valuable life lesson that day with a simple bracelet that just read, "It is what it is."
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