March 23, 2026Monday, March 23, 2026

Just a thought… If all difficulties were known at the outset of a journey, many of us would not begin at all. [Dan Rather]

As we prepare for a big day tomorrow on our hearts, Lauren’s 35^th birthday (and yes, Dottie’s 4^th), I’ll look back with sunny memories on this week that was – the highs, the hiccups and the WTF moments. Buckle in – it’s a good one.

We left our rental home and got to Puerto Vallarta airport in plenty of time to check in. What we didn’t anticipate was an hour’s wait in a long Disney-worthy lineup (without the zigzag trickery they use) to check us, our two bags and two dogs in for the flight home. It was entirely our fault for not even considering March Break when I booked our flights home last summer…and I lost count of the people who said, “just take carry on” on my FB page. REALLY? For four months? Yeah, no.

When we finally did get through, we thought we’d have time to organize our devices and chargers for the flight – but WestJet had other plans. I’ll get to that in a moment.

As we rode the escalator up to the departures level, I saw a table with some signs and two gentlemen sitting there.

Free measles shots? De verdad? They assured us that, yes, they were giving the shots, and it wasn’t just for Mexican citizens. Once Rob understood what I was going to do – sitting my butt down and rolling up my sleeve – he agreed he would too.

We had read that because of our ages and when we were first inoculated, we were already safe. But I’m not taking any chances. If anything, the anti-vax movement has made me get in line for any and every shot there is, just in case. Anyone can catch measles and I’ll be damned if I’ll pass it along to someone who’s vulnerable (i.e. an expectant mom). FYI, Rob and I had zero side effects: no swelling, itching, soreness or malaise. And we have the record of what we got and when we got it. So, YAY!

After putting our sleeves back down, we hustled to our gate, only to find (surprise!) another enormous lineup. This time, it was to catch a shuttle bus from the airport to our plane. And when we got to it – guess what? It wasn’t WestJet after all!

Yes, WJ owns SunWing, but some of our fellow travellers were worried they’d boarded the wrong plane. Lucky for us, this little fellow kept us well entertained during the flight and could not have been a better traveller!

We got a charge out of him, which was lucky because the seats on this 10-year-old plane (not old at all) had no power outlets.

Four and a half hours later, we landed in Victoria. But the adventures hadn’t ended.

You may recall that, back in November, we disembarked and were in the terminal before I realized my big, new sunhat was still in the overhead compartment of the plane. It had slid off our carry-on so Rob didn’t see it; he had to swim upstream into the plane and get it for me, delaying our departure from the airport.

Well this time, I wasn’t going to be careless. I dug into the seat pocket ahead of me looking for the case with my reading glasses, my hands brushing past what I thought were airline menus and safety cards. Got the glasses, pulled the dogs from their cozy spots under the seats ahead of us, and left the plane.

It wasn’t until after we finally retrieved our luggage, surely the last bags on Victoria’s carousel, that I reached down the side pocket of my leggings. Oh, no! I had one job the whole trip, and that was to protect the passports, and they were not there. I told Rob and he thought I was kidding. I wasn’t. I ran over to a yellow-vested employee who got on her handheld radio and called to the plane and gave our seat numbers. Sure enough, in just about two minutes, he was standing out on the tarmac waving to get in through the securely locked doors and holding up those precious documents.

As I said to the women helping me, “And this is me NOT drinking!” because, yes, I’ve left a laptop on a plane before (cocktails were involved) and the hat this last trip.

I can tell you it’s more the stress of travelling with two little dogs than anything else. But the nerves are calm and, as I type this, Rob and I are recovering in bed from a rotten cold he brought me from Canada. Anyone who noticed that couple (us) wearing masks on the plane? That wasn’t for us. It was for you – and you’re welcome.

More to tell you here next week – travel stories and a brand new homecoming at the cabin. But it’s Monday and your eyes are probably already worn out. So have a gentle week and we will too.