Here’s the long version of the story of our crazy 46-hour trip to Chihuahua…

Before we even left, we had a very busy Saturday, starting with a send-off party for Donna’s best friend who was leaving California, followed by a late-evening screening of a documentary about our youth pastor (we were interviewed in the documentary).

Our flight was supposed to leave the Tijuana airport at 2 a.m. Sunday morning, and arrive in Chihuahua at 8 a.m., with a quick one-hour stop in Guadalajara. So our son-in-law dropped us off at the new CBX (Cross Border Xpress) bridge from San Diego to the Tijuana airport, and we were on our way.

We checked in and were ready to board our plane… well, kinda. At 2 a.m., they called us to the counter. “This plane is delayed. You will miss your connection to Chihuahua. Follow that man!” So off we ran after him to another gate, where we were bustled onto a different plane which took off right away.

Whew… kinda. That plane had to land in Mazatlan, and was on the ground there for a number of hours because Guadalajara was socked in with fog.

Eventually we got to Guadalajara by about 10 a.m. We got in line with all the hundreds of delayed passengers. About an hour later, we got to the counter and were told we’d have to spend the night in Guadalajara. Then at the last minute, the airline staff handed Bill some boarding passes and said, “You have to hurry to catch your flight that leaves at 1 p.m.!” So off we ran to find that gate.

Yay… kinda. Turns out that flight had probably already left before she even gave us the boarding passes, and was long gone before we got to the gate.

So we got in line again. Bill commented, “If we had driven from San Diego to Chihuahua, we’d be there by now.” This time we did have to spend the night in Guadalajara. We got boarding passes for the next day, which would route us through Mexico City. The woman checked and yes, our bags were safely in Chihuahua. All along, Bill kept texting our mission friends in Chihuahua who were going to meet us at the airport–assuming we ever arrived. They recommended a hotel with a free shuttle. Off we ran to the hotel to relax.

Great… kinda. Donna normally packs a few extra pieces of clothes in her carry-on. But for a short one-country trip like this, she had not done so, and so she wound up wearing some of Bill’s clothes as jammies. At least he had those in his bag. Then we had a nice dinner at Chili’s (yes, Chili’s was the only thing close… in Guadalajara) and got some much-appreciated sleep at last. The hotel breakfast was yummy chilaquiles. Not your typical American motel breakfast.

The next day, Monday, we flew to Mexico City, but our flight was delayed leaving Guadalajara (you saw that one coming, didn’t you?) So we missed our connection to Chihuahua again. This time there was an airline staff person at the gate in Mexico City who told us where to go to get new boarding passes. Off we ran to find the airline counter.

All set… kinda. Three (count ’em, 3) counters later, we were told that there were no more flights to Chihuahua that day, so the airline would put us up at a hotel in Mexico City. Or… hey, they could try to put us on another airline. Bill said, “Let’s try that option.” About a half hour later, after watching our airline guy run back and forth between counters, we were booked to fly on another airline. Our flight was leaving soon. So yes, off we ran to get to our gate.

This time, of course… We. Expected. Nothing.

Airborne… kinda. We got on the plane! But it was over an hour late taking off. So we did get to Chihuahua, but at midnight Monday instead of 8 a.m. on Sunday. 46 hours after leaving Tijuana. (We could have flown to Manila, spent the night, flown to Puerto Princesa, spent the night, and flown into our tribal village in less time than that… or driven to Chihuahua, then back to San Diego, then back to Chihuahua again!)

The end …kinda. We could not get our bags Monday night, since the person who could unlock the storage room had long since gone home.

Bill went back to the airport (only a 45-minute drive each way) with our friend and got the suitcases the next day. Our clothes were safe and sound, and Donna was particularly glad to see them!

Bill’s workshop started one and a half days late (the half day was the luggage retrieval run), and he was kinda fuzzy-head (maybe even a little more than usual), but it went really well! Interestingly, all our friends in Mexico who have flown there for years said they had never had an trip quite like ours. So it was a special experience just for us, provided by God for our entertainment (and growth.) And it caused the missionaries in Chihuahua to bond with us even more because they felt sorry for us!

Our return flight was a 2-hour direct flight from Chihuahua to Tijuana.

That’s the itinerary we’ll get every time from now on.

What could possibly go wrong?