Spain Prelogue

Spain Prelogue
LAX Airport
December 30th, 2018

As we approach the LAX airport, I decided to drop off the family at the terminal and park the truck remotely.  The reason for this is that we were hauling a very large bike box containing Kahlo's road bike.  I knew our low budget LAX carport would not be able to transport such a large item.
It is a good thing I made this decision because once at the terminal, Leslie realized that we were one passport short of 5 and it was Bodhi's.  You see, in preparation for the trip, Leslie made copies of all the passports in case any were lost (thank you Amor).  Bodhi's was the last to be copied and it was left on top of the copy machine at home.  Keep it mind, it is 12 noon at this point and the cut off to board the plane is 2:45 for a 3:30 flight.

In transit to the parking garage, Leslie calls me sobbing and tells me of our predicament.  The family jumps into action and call Hayley and Danny Richards.  The two of them hatch a scheme to have Isaac Cunulata (one of Kahlo's closest friends who lives close to us) to break into our house, grab Bodhi's passport and hit the freeway as fast as possible.

Next, Danny Richards (CAT 1 Driver extraordinaire) bolts from the opposite side of Murrieta and hits the I-15 freeway going in excess of the speed limit. Isaac and Danny coordinate a rendezvous point on the freeway.  Once Isaac's car is in sight, Danny swoops up beside him and Hayley reaches out the passenger window and snatches the passport from Isaac's hand in transit.

Danny pushes the pedal to the medal and blazes a trail from the I-15 freeway to the Norwegian air terminal.  At this point, the airport terminal associate (a total angel) for Norwegian keeps hitting refresh to keep the screen active so as to extend Leslie and Bodhi's check-in time a bit. At this point, Kahlo, Micah and myself are at the gate with our fingers crossed and praying hard.  We are prepared to board the flight without Bodhi and Leslie and attempt to meet up somewhere and sometime in Barcelona (our first destination in Spain).  Leslie texts me to let me know that it would be 2 days before they could connect another flight to Spain and would cost us $1200 extra per ticket to get the transfer done. Plus, Leslie and Bodhi would need to get a hotel to wait out the next departure.

In comes Danny at full speed into the terminal.  Hayley texts Bodhi that they are arriving.  Bodhi runs down to the departure terminal, grabs his passsport and runs back upstairs to the check-in associate.  With minutes to spare, Leslie and Bodhi get checked in, get escorted through security by a Norwegian air agent and arrive at the gate right as the last group cues up to board.  What an adrenaline rush!

We are indebted to the generosity and quick thinking of our wonderful friends, Isaac, Hayley, Danny and family.  Without their help we would be a couple thousand dollars poorer and would've had drastic deviations in our travel itinerary.  This event was a true testament to the loyalty of friends and we will never forget their kindness.