A Relaxing End, While Weather Realities Back Home are Felt All Around

Most everyone else with whom we returned to San Jose was to leave for the airport mid-morning, for their respective flights back home.  Our flight -- a non-stop to Dulles -- did not, however, depart until 4pm, so had the day to ourselves.  I'd used some of the preceding day's bus ride to locate a spa near the hotel, at which I booked massages and/or facials for the three of us.  It was interesting to do, as I did it all over Whassup and had to use the auto-translate feature, as neither of us shared a common language.  They had agreed to open 30 minutes early for us, so that we could all be done by noon, which would leave us time to eat, do last-minute packing, and be ready for our airport transfer at 1:45pm.

It was Tuesday morning, and the preceding Sunday had been the major snow and ice storm that hit the U.S. East Coast.  DC was caked in ice and the government had already been closed for two days.  Flights were snarled all over, too.  I had been tracking our flight, which seemed unaffected, particularly as our plane was originating in San Jose (we flew on Avianca).  At breakfast this morning, however, we found that all the other members of our group had had their respective flights cancelled.  They were all on flights to either Miami or Houston, and everything was shut down.  They had all been rebooked, but they couldn't get out for two more days!  Everyone with whom we spoke was taking it in good spirits, but they were also trying to figure out for what they'd be compensated, who would cover the hotel costs, etc.

The night prior, Monica had told us that the effects of the East Coast storm would be reaching Costa Rica the following day.  Evidently, whenever there are major Polar vortexes in the Eastern U.S., that drives very cold air down into the Caribbean, which begins a chain reaction, with unexpectedly cold air being swept up the spine of Central America, toward the Pacific coast.  In a kind of oppositive vortex, and that results in winds upwards of 60 miles an hour sweeping across the country, causing all kinds of problems.  We heard the wind in the hotel during breakfast, and as we walked over to our spa, the winds got stronger and stronger, to the point that we were afraid of having our phones blown out of our hands or being physically blown over.  During the spa treatments, even though there was relaxing music playing, we could all hear the wind howling outside like a tornado.  On the walk back to the hotel afterwards, I kept checking the Avianca app, as I was concerned about planes being able to take off in such winds.  Alas, everything still appeared on time, and we were appropriately ready when our airport transfer arrived later.

The airport was not too busy, but I was surprised at the number and variety of airlines, to include all the major European carriers.  The transfer service had set the departure time, and as it turns out, they were overly generous, so we had about 90 minutes to kill in the lounge before departure.  

Still Fighting the Winds!

Our flight actually departed early and arrived about 45 minutes early into DC.  The winds were fierce during the takeoff, which was rough, but it soon smoothed out.  We landed about 10:00pm, and I was not sure how the remaining snow and ice would affect us getting home, or even finding an Uber.  It took a long time to get our luggage, probably due to the extreme cold, but getting an Uber was surprisingly not an issue.  Our neighbor had arranged to have our driveway cleared, so it was pretty easy to get to and into our house.  The storm had been bad, and our dog sitter had been unable to reach Chip for two days.  We were SO FORTUNATE that our neighbor across the street, who was herself home alone during the storm, was able to save the day.

Anna and Katherine had to work the next day, and I had been hoping Anna would stay the night with us and just head to the office in the morning.  She was, however, determined to get home, despite the hour.  It soon became apparent, though, that she would be unable to get to her apartment, as she has street parking, and the roads in Arlington are very narrow and we'd read about the problems trying to get them cleared.  She ended up diverting to Austin's apartment, as he has a parking garage, and she was able to crash there, before he drove her close enough to her apartment the following day, that she could walk over.

I felt guilty not having to get up the following morning, but it was nice to have all that time to get things unpacked and cleaned, and then begin to reflect on what a great trip we all had together!