And So It Begins

We are at LAX! We're sitting by our gate, putting away overpriced Swedish Fish. I really can't believe we're here. And I'm still holding my breath; I'll hold it until the plane takes off for Miami. And then I'll hold it again when we're in Miami, until that plane takes off for Quito.

It's been a whirlwind weekend. The whirlwind picked up dramatically about 7:30pm Saturday night, when our COVID test results arrived via email. Tim, negative. Taylor, negative. Wyatt, negative. Sarah, indeterminant. Um, what?!?! Tim and I both hopped on our laptops to look for another PCR test I could take, and quickly. I found an 8:30am Sunday appointment in Long Beach and booked it. So this morning, I hoofed it over to Long Beach, pulled up at the testing site at 8:25am, and was finished by 8:30am. The nurse said, "You'll have your results in 40 minutes." Sweet!, I thought. I'll get back home and should know my status.

Well, 40 minutes came and went. And then an hour. And then two hours. At this point, I'm slightly sweaty and heading into a full-on panic. I call the clinic (something I should have done after an hour passed) and learn I'm negative, it's just that the clinic staff had forgotten to hit send on that email. Phew! Game on -- we know it's a go for LAX. 

Family selfie #1. Chilling at LAX.

I should share that we packed really lightly for this trip, so no doubt you'll see us in the same clothes over and over again in this blog. Tim and I both have Cotopaxi backpacks and the kids are motoring with Patagonia duffel bags/backpacks. Tim has his laptop bag and I've got a small bag with my New Yorker magazines and snacks (all the important stuff). We checked Tim's board bag and one extra duffel; we'll pack the duffel with any souvenirs we pick up along the way.

We're boarding the plane with this crew and these bags.
(Maybe I can earn a commission from Cotopaxi and Patagonia?)

We had a goal to learn some Spanish before taking off tonight. That didn't happen, but we're determined to learn some Spanish as we travel. 

We're also determined to stay flexible, try new food (yes, we've heard about the guinea pig...), not complain about hiking (Taylor and Wyatt, I'm looking at you), and get along. Time will tell. ;)

Ok -- we'll see you on the other side!