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After all those months of planning, we're finally leaving. It's hard to believe. I don't know how many times I've repacked my bag and rechecked our reservations to make sure everything is on the right date. [Interesting comment on this later.]
The crew looked sharp as we gathered at St. Matthew for the drive to Indianapolis. We had mostly packed the cars the night before, so even with the inevitable stragglers and running home to grab that one forgotten item, we were on the road just shortly after 6:30 am.
Bob Rich and the Onderdonks drove us to the Indianapolis Airport. The Onderdonk parents have a flight to Maine slightly after our departure. Bob Rich deserves an "above the call of duty" award. He had agreed to drive us several weeks ago, but he and Lucy have been in Virginia dealing with Lucy's father's estate. That took longer than they expected, so he flew home and rented a van to transport us.
We got to Indianapolis with time to spare. The check-in with US Airways went quickly; there was virtually no line. E-tickets are amazing. We didn't even have to show my print-out, just identification. There was one curious point: They thought that there were 44 in our group. Due to the way I made the reservations (their online system won't let you make a reservation for 8 at a time), I'm surprised that they even knew that we were eight instead of 4, 2 and 2.
We got really good ticket prices for the Indianapolis-Ft. Lauderdale flights, which is what made it practical to fly instead of driving a rental van. I'll admit that I had some moments of worry when I read articles about US Airways' financial problems, but things seem to be OK with them now. [It could have been worse. See tomorrow's entry. Also, as it turned out, US Airways did declare bankruptcy less than a week after our return. They are still flying, though.]
Our blue tie-dye shirts look really sharp. Nathaniel's design for the artwork is distinctive, and the shirts are easy to spot in the crowd. Some of the guys dislike being so obviously part of a group, but it's really helpful for the leaders.
Airport security was relatively painless. I had kidded Max that he would be the one pulled aside for a full search (he said it had happened to him on a trip earlier this summer), and guess what? He got pulled aside to do the "full scan" and bag search as we passed thru the security checkpoint.
It was at security that we had our first mishap. I had reminded the guys in the car, and before we checked in for the flight, that they needed to be sure that knives and any other "weapons" were in their checked bags. Well, Eric forgot that his Swiss Army knife was in his day pack. He had the choice of going back and checking his carry-on bag or losing his knife. He chose the former. Fortunately, we had plenty of time.
After a short wait, it was time to board. Our flight was right on time, and not very full.
Our second glitch was right as we were boarding. Nathaniel couldn't find his boarding pass. He went thru his bag and couldn't find it. With the e-tickets, we could have gotten a new pass, but fortunately he figured out that he had left it in the gift shop. We boarded the plane with minutes to spare. In Charlotte, we had time for a quick stop at the food court before heading to the departure gate. Once more, we found that "There's something about Max." He got pulled aside at the gate for the full search. They checked him over with the metal detector and went thru his bag. We were the last onto on the very full plane.
We made it to Ft. Lauderdale easily, retrieved our bags, and picked up our van. We found our hotel without much trouble, checked in, and walked across A1A to the beach. We had a nice swim, then showered (it was amazing how much sand there was in some of those bathing suits) and walked to the "Galleria" for dinner at their food court. It wasn't terribly exciting, but everyone found something they could eat. We then returned to the hotel for the night.
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