In typical Shannon fashion, I didn't really consider the dates of the trip until after I was committed. The end of the school year was fast and furious. In recent years, we've gone to school until the first week of June. However, this year, our calendar fell differently. On first glance, it was glorious. Students were out for the summer May 23! The part I didn't consider was that all of those "end of the year" activities had to be squeezed into about 5 school days instead of 10-12. Professionally, that was a challenge. Personally (with four kids' activities) that was almost unbearable. All of that to say that my anticipated departure for Haiti was Friday, June 1 following a week of a holiday, campus level professional development and district level professional development. I emotionally wasn't sure I was prepared for the trip. I felt as if I was just surviving one day at a time.
Karen, a lady from Henderson, had a passport complication. The weeks leading up to departure, we were all praying for delivery of her passport. After many prayers and phone calls, her kind mailman was able to dig her passport out of the mail before beginning his route on Friday morning. She literally didn't know that she was going to be able to go until several hours before leaving her home. It was amazing to watch things fall into place!
So, Friday, June 1, I gathered up my crew, a.k.a. "Hendos" in the minivan, and we headed to Longview to meet the rest of the group. After a time of weighing bags and shuffling items to keep all the bags within the 40 pound weight requirement, we took a couple of group photos and boarded the bus. We departed the church parking lot at approximately 1:10 P.M. headed for DFW airport. Under normal driving conditions, this trip is about 160 miles of mostly interstate and should take approximately 2.5 hours.
We were all excited. Us "Hendos" were busy meeting the other people in the group. We were all chatting about where we work, etc. Both groups included multiple educators. Within a few minutes of departure, we realized that the bus was warm. As competent adults, we all put the windows down and enjoyed the "breeze". The first hour of the trip was pleasant although a little warm in the mid-afternoon Texas heat.
Somewhere along the way, the bus stopped. I don't mean broke down. I mean stopped in traffic/construction. According to Accuweather, the actual temperature in the area that day was 99 degrees. If I had been asked at that time, I would've guessed the temperature inside the bus was closer to 158 degrees. Looking back at my text messages to Bob, at 2:55 PM I tell him "We are sitting dead still in traffic with a wreck ahead. I am melting." He jokes about preparing us for the heat in Haiti. After what seemed like forever, the bus moved again. We rolled along for a short ways and stopped again. And then again. And again.
During this time, I'm talking quietly with Kayla and texting with Chad. I'm a realist folks. I can't even tell you how many times I used maps on my phone to predict our arrival time at the airport. Our bags were supposed to be checked by 4:23 at the very latest. I sent this to Chad at 3:52 PM: "We are an hour away according to google maps which doesn't know that we are in a bus that can't go over 60 mph."
I was struggling with my Type A personality and sense of punctuality. I kept wanting to ask, "Do we have a Plan B?" However, this was a mission trip with a bunch of people I didn't know. I was afraid to be the ONE person in the group to verbalize that I was thinking we would not make the flight. Seriously, Karen got her passport that morning. We all left the church feeling blessed and ready to take on Haiti! I couldn't be the party-pooper in the group.
About 4:55PM we park the bus in the remote parking at DFW. Have you ever seen bugs crawl out of a burning campfire? That pretty much sums it up. All 27 of us crawled out of the "hotbox" and gathered up our luggage. A shuttle bus came to get us. 27 people and 40 bags off the bus/out of the trailer and onto one of two shuttle buses. At the airport, 27 people and 40 bags off the shuttle and up to the counter. I do think it is important to note that at this point I recall not one single complaint. I joke now that the bus ride was the closest I've ever been to hell. It was hot. It was miserable. We didn't have water. But it truly was complaint free.
It was 5:32PM when the second shuttle of people arrived at the counter to check luggage in airport. You can just imagine the rush of all the people with suitcases, backpacks, etc.
Granted, our flight wasn't supposed to depart until 5:50ish. However, it was an international flight with a group of 27 people and about 40 checked bags. Obviously, we missed the flight. We immediately started discussing other options. At one point, there was discussion of getting on the bus and driving to Houston to catch a flight from there Saturday morning. My first thought was "Can we even get to Houston by morning on this bus?" And then I thought "at least it will be cooler in the dark!"
After several hours of discussions and options, we were able to rebook our trip. At 9:18 PM we pulled out of the airport. We stopped and enjoyed a nice meal on the way home. I believe I fell into my bed at my house about 3:30AM knowing that we were going to try more successful launch in about 15 days.
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