Todd called at 3:45 . Since I was all ready to go, I was one of the first in the lobby. Everyone was there by 4:05 and by 4:20 the bus was loaded and we were on our way. After waiting in line for half and hour to check in, we found a coffee shop and had ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast. We boarded our LAB flight to Santa Cruz and took off just a little late.

The stupidity and inefficiency of LAB really showed through in Santa Cruz . We had to claim our baggage and then present it to customs who gave it a cursory inspection before sending it on. Why didn't they do that in La Paz ?

A group of us went to a café in the airport and had a couple of beers. An incoming flight with passengers on our flight was late so our departure was delayed. That, plus mechanical problems caused a delay of almost three hours. Finally, we were airborne and on our way to Manaos , Brazil . A group of Bolivian teenagers on their way to the U.S. as Rotary exchange students made it a very noisy flight. I managed to sleep for an hour. After our stop in Manaos, I slept the whole way, not waking until the teenagers cheered upon our arrival in Miami at 8:00. That's when the fun really began.

It took forever for our bags to be unloaded. Mine were among the last to come off. I made my way through customs without problem and then to the long line at LAB to get hotel vouchers. LAB had changed their schedule the day before we left for Bolivia and caused most passengers to miss their connecting flights so they had to put everyone up in a hotel.

We waited for nearly three hours on the curb for a shuttle bus to the Airport Regency Hotel because they only had one driver for their two small shuttle vehicles. Jessica managed to get on one after two hours, but we then learned that the hotel was full. LAB finally found rooms at the Radison, but their driver refused to pick up anyone without a voucher which LAB neglected to provide.

Suddenly, after waiting three hours, Jessica appeared in an Airport Regency Van. She had gotten rooms at the hotel for all of us, but it took almost an hour for the hotel people to understand that the rest of us needed to be picked up still. I thought we were back in the US!?! We were ready to beatify her for her efforts.

A five minute ride got us to the hotel. I roomed with Strom and Matt. We had a quick buffet dinner. Then Strom, Anne, and I went to the bar for a night cap.

I arranged for a 6:00 wakeup and got to the room about 1:00 . I found that Todd and Mike had also moved in with us because the air conditioner in their room was putting out noxious fumes. It was crowded but not bad by Bolivian standards. I fell asleep in a second.