2009 Southern Skies Fiesta & Tamarindo Coast
March 8, 2009 – Sunday – flying from San Jose, Costa Rica returning to Victoria, Canada
I’m up at 5am because I set my iPhone alarm, and it changed to Daylight Saving Time overnight. Costa Rica doesn’t observe DST, so the alarm is an hour early. I go back to bed for a half hour and then get up, have a shower, and finish packing. I haul my big bag down to the lobby and then give the room one last check before leaving. I’m prepaid, so check-out is easy. The front desk calls a taxi for me and I’m at the airport in a half hour. The taxi was off the meter, so I paid US$20 instead of 10,000 Colones – about double, but the guy was worth it. Perhaps I made his day.
They pull the American Airlines 757 to the Gate 3 jetway at 7:30am, so things are happening. As they board passengers at the Delta gate, they are doing another security check of carry-on bags. They don’t allow any liquids such as bottles of water and pop as you board aircraft in San Jose. As we board, they search all bags even though we have already passed through security before getting to the gates, but they sell this stuff in the gate area – goofy!

Mexicana, Frontier and Delta flights all take off while we wait for our flight departure, which leaves on time and arrives in Dallas/Ft. Worth a few minutes early. I’m seated next to two young Tico guys on the flight out of San Jose. There are some terrific views of Lake Nicaragua, and the coasts of Honduras, Belize and Galveston as the flight angles across Central America and the Gulf of Mexico. We are served an omelet for breakfast, which I appreciate, since I missed the breakfast they were going to serve at the hotel starting at 7am.
In Dallas/Ft. Worth I’m departing from gate A9 for Seatac, which is located in the original terminal. It is still nice, but not as grand as the D terminal where I departed for San Jose on my way down a couple of weeks ago. I take the train to get to this terminal. The train is designed better than Seatac’s since it is elevated and it is also behind the security lines, so I don’t have to go through that ordeal again. Oops I should be at gate C17 instead of A9 – back on the little train and 15 minutes later I’m there with time to spare! The flight attendants on my first flight gave me the wrong gate for my ongoing flight, so from now on I’ll just check the display boards once I get into the airport terminal.
We are flying through slush as we approach Seattle, but it clears by the time we are on final approach. Needless to say I’m wearing my coat in the terminal – so cold compared with Costa Rica! It’s controlled chaos at the Horizon Airlines gates, but I have lots of time before my 11pm departure to Victoria. Lots of people are waiting for flights to Kelowna, Edmonton, Montana, and other destinations. I strike up a conversation with some folks who are flying to Montana after vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – their first trip outside the USA. They have premium Tequila stashed in their checked bags. I don’t have the heart to tell them it will either be smashed or stolen by the time they arrive home.
My flight to Victoria leaves on time, and thank goodness my checked bag shows up in Victoria all in one piece. I clear Canada Customs and Immigration and take a taxi home, arriving around 1am. When I get up in the morning, there is snow coming down!