Living Life & Loving It: My Trip to the West Coast....

Wow it has indeed been a while since I did something that in fact love to do…Blogging!

So many things have happened, that I can’t even think where to start sharing our adventures… But since I have to start somewhere I will start with my trip to The West Coast! Sounds like a great place to start. So this past March I went to the West Coast and it was quite the adventure since the first minute I got to BWI Airport.

Oh…before I go any further with my adventure I want to give a tip to all of you…DO NOT FLY WITH DELTA! Unless you want to get stuck in a different State, or have your luggage lost, or end up having to stay a night somewhere that you were not counting on and end up missing a day at work, or be treated like a number and not a human being… you know…all these fun things and a lot more that I don’t even feel like going down this long path of reasons …

So I got to the airport and much to my surprise… (NOT)… There was a problem with Delta computers… I thought that I would go 2 hours earlier because I had been burned by Delta way too many times before, ( but wanted to use the sky miles, so… reluctantly took my chance). They didn’t help me changing my mind about them… sucked as always do…

So after staying in a line for almost 3 hours to check in, we were told that our flight to Utah would be delayed in order for all of us to be able to check in and get to our destination…as I was doing my check in I met another Portuguese young man who was trying to get to San Francisco and had come to Maryland to visit some friends. So since we were both on the same flight, we both ran through the security check point and both ran like crazy to our gate… so we get there and where is the plane? “Oh it left 1 hour ago”… we were informed by the clerk…
While we were still in shock and complete awe…the other 67 people arrived right after us, and we all found out the plane took off with only half of the people. To make a long story short we were given an 800 number to call and make reservations to get to the West Coast in any other flights.

We all ran grabbing cell phones and starting make our phone calls to Delta… suddenly we heard that the airplane that left without us was returning because the engine was having problems, and if they could fix the problem they would allow all of us to board… needless to say that we were all VERY skeptical about boarding in a plane with engine problems, but after waiting for two hours we were told to board to Salt Lake City and have our connections from there to other destinies. It was nice to have another Portuguese with me and be able to speak my mind FAST, and VENT in my own language to someone that knew exactly what I was talking about and didn’t mind to listen to “How much I hate Delta” lol.

In the airplane we had a flight attendant give an announcement to the entire aircraft, asking people to not wash our hands after using the restroom because we didn’t have any water… that was a great reason to make us all mad, and we made a small scene…so they were kind enough to give us a cup of water to use just so we could wash our hands… Are you all feeling a little bit of what I was feeling then?

Oh YES…my luggage was lost… they couldn’t miss that one…after all they have a reputation to keep, and losing peoples bags is something they are well known for. They couldn't break their repute on this one … But when I try to find something positive about this Airline I have to think...Hey if it had not been for their incompetence I wouldn't have been able to meet Nelson, who is Portuguese and a person that is indeed becoming a friend to me…I have been thinking of playing cupid and have him meeting Sara… but Sara is to modern and does not enjoy when parents decide in advance with whom our kids will like and marry…go figure this one out. In the olden dark ages, a mother could decide by now,with whom they were going to be married with... lol. But I want to thank Nelson for all his support during another horrible flight with Delta; it sure was great that I didn’t endure that trip alone. Let me show you a picture we took in Salt Lake City when we went separate ways for our connections.

This is my new Portuguese friend who lived the same nightmare with Delta Airlines along with me. Well.... their incompetence made me meet someone that is now a friend.

I got to do many things during the short period of time that I spent in Utah. I was able to go back to Carlos grave and as always my heart refuses to believe that under there rests the body of the father of my daughters… Someone with whom I lived so much with… Someone that I love… and have so many recollections with. I never liked cemeteries and looking at Carlos grave brought feelings that I cannot describe in words…I just felt an emptiness and sadness that I can’t even start to explain even if I wanted to.

But I was also granted the joy of been able to see two amazing friends that I have not seen together since I was like 15 years old… Elder Draney and Elder Van Horn…we went to have dinner and we recollected so many amazing things that we lived in my parents’ home…my father’s unique perks and his love to never wear shirts… I think he was allergic to shirts lol. He loved shorts and that was his favorite attire. We had a blast remembering my daddy, how my brother Nuno was a little pest back then, just like little brothers are supposed to be…my brother Silvio rebelliousness against my father. Oh boy did we have a blast…it was so cool to be with them together again. They served as companions on an LDS mission in my Country, city and ward back in 1985. I lived amazing moments with them during my teenager years... I was a Stake missionary back then and was the only one in my ward, so I got to teach a lot with them, and we always had a feast waiting for us; prepared by the best cook in the world…MY MOMMY!!!!! These pictures were taken after our dinner.

Van Horn, Bela & Draney

I have someone special who lives in Hawaii who came to see me and long lost friends with whom I was able to reconnect with and talk to. It is an amazing feeling to see true friends who believe and trust us. In fact I enjoyed this trip a LOT. Enjoy some pictures of Brent Wood, Devin Nolan…who is always traveling in nowadays lol. And I got the best treat ever…I saw my little Andy :=) That was the BEST treat of my trip...an amazing surprise !!!!

Brent Wood