Friday & Saturday, February 20-21: Travel to Bonaire
Somewhat unusually, the drive from Paso Robles to LAX is remarkably free of traffic congestion. Four hours to the minute from leaving our driveway, we are ascending the ramps of the off-airport parking garage. Check-in with Delta is a breeze thanks to plentiful automated kiosks and friendly and efficient Delta staff. Even the security clearance is uneventful. Bottom line: we are seated at out gate a good two and one-half hours ahead of our scheduled departure.
A strong tail wind accounts for a 30 minute early arrival in Atlanta. Because our departure for Bonaire isn't until morning, we stow our 3 checked bags in the commercial baggage storage located conveniently across from the baggage claim area. The humorous driver of the van shuttle to the Comfort Inn is the last pleasant event of the evening.
At check-in we are confronted by a surly desk clerk who refuses to answer questions directly, opting, instead, to point in the general direction of printed materials and notices that contain the information we are requesting. Attempts to find a local restaurant for a bite to eat before bed turn up only two local bars with audio systems cranked up so loud that we could not have ordered food if we had wanted. After consuming an ordered-in pizza in our room, we are treated to drunken screams and peals of laughter in the hall outside our room produced by a group of locals who have rented a number of rooms for a Friday night party. A call to the desk clerk seeking a move to another room educes only a promise to see what he can do and a promise to call us back — which never happens.
At 5:00 am, having slept but little, we pull ourselves from bed and return to the airport where we retrieve our bags and once again proceed easily through check-in and the security process to our gate. The scheduled 9:30 am flight to Bonaire departs an hour late. This time, however, the late departure redounds to the credit of Delta who held the flight to accommodate a group of midwest vacationers whose departure from an iced-in Chicago airport was delayed.
By 5:00 in the afternoon, we have retrieved our bags at Kralendijk's Flamingo airport, met our friend Nancy Geidel (who has gone out of her way to pick us up), shopped for groceries, and are ensconced in our palm-shaded condo enjoying the ocean views at Buddy Dive Resort . At 7:30 pm, we cool off with a quick dip off the resort's dock before being seated at a waterfront table for dinner at Lion's Den restaurant http://www.lionsdenrestaurantbonaire.com/, located on the resort property, 50 steps from our timeshare.
A strong tail wind accounts for a 30 minute early arrival in Atlanta. Because our departure for Bonaire isn't until morning, we stow our 3 checked bags in the commercial baggage storage located conveniently across from the baggage claim area. The humorous driver of the van shuttle to the Comfort Inn is the last pleasant event of the evening.
At check-in we are confronted by a surly desk clerk who refuses to answer questions directly, opting, instead, to point in the general direction of printed materials and notices that contain the information we are requesting. Attempts to find a local restaurant for a bite to eat before bed turn up only two local bars with audio systems cranked up so loud that we could not have ordered food if we had wanted. After consuming an ordered-in pizza in our room, we are treated to drunken screams and peals of laughter in the hall outside our room produced by a group of locals who have rented a number of rooms for a Friday night party. A call to the desk clerk seeking a move to another room educes only a promise to see what he can do and a promise to call us back — which never happens.
At 5:00 am, having slept but little, we pull ourselves from bed and return to the airport where we retrieve our bags and once again proceed easily through check-in and the security process to our gate. The scheduled 9:30 am flight to Bonaire departs an hour late. This time, however, the late departure redounds to the credit of Delta who held the flight to accommodate a group of midwest vacationers whose departure from an iced-in Chicago airport was delayed.
By 5:00 in the afternoon, we have retrieved our bags at Kralendijk's Flamingo airport, met our friend Nancy Geidel (who has gone out of her way to pick us up), shopped for groceries, and are ensconced in our palm-shaded condo enjoying the ocean views at Buddy Dive Resort . At 7:30 pm, we cool off with a quick dip off the resort's dock before being seated at a waterfront table for dinner at Lion's Den restaurant http://www.lionsdenrestaurantbonaire.com/, located on the resort property, 50 steps from our timeshare.
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