Made it to Chicago!

Made it to chicago. Half way there!

A couple photos from the airport from Tricia

Tricia emailed me a couple photos from her iPhone at the San Jose airport prior to their departure.

Chris Gonzales with Victoria Ho

And my Chris apparently in conversation and looking like the ativan's are taking effect!

At the Airport

At the airport, 2 ativans on board already! Wish us luck!

The team at the airport!

I finally picked up the satellite phone, I had to meet the driver! I
ran it up to the airport and met the whole crew before they went
through security so it was photo op time!

This is after they were interviewed by channel 2 news, should make the
5 PM news.

UPS LATE!!!!

UPS was supposed to deliver the satellite phone by 10 AM.  They show they attempted delivery at 9:59, impossible!  We were standing there waiting....didn't see any truck.  Have a call into them now, waiting for a call back so we can find the driver.  Changed our plans, now Chris has to leave on her own so she can pick up a coworker and will park in short term parking while I wait for UPS to deliver.  Then a neighbor will take me up to the airport and I'll pass it to Chris and see her off, then drive her car home.  What a pain in the neck, it's already stressful enough....

All packed!

I went on a shopping spree of supplies for Chris!  We have things all packed as best we can, we'll see if she makes it on the plane with all this stuff!  Flight to Chicago later today (Wednesday), leaves SJC at 1:35 PM.

At this point, it's a go....

I went shopping this evening to try and get what Chris will need on this trip while she was working and trying to sort out the details of the trip.  At this point, things are a go.  No return flights are booked, but the group is committed to getting the team back on the 4th, even if that means they have to leave the Haiti area a little early to accomplish that.  Her coworkers are all on board so the team is intact, which is good.  In fact, I met her coworker Chris at REI tonight, we happened to be there at the same time.

So we'll know more about the return once she leaves, but the plan is to be back by the 4th.  She is off to Chicago tomorrow at lunchtime, flight leaves for Haiti @ 7 AM on Thursday.

Will this trip get off the ground?

OK, another issue is cropping up.  The tough thing about these sorts of emergency response trips is that the logistics are a nightmare.  From the beginning, when we first found out about this, getting everything arranged, covering shifts, etc., has been challenging and some times the trip was a go, other times it was off.  After this mornings issues, it seemed like all was in order, the whole group had flights scheduled to Chicago, then in the morning there was a chartered United flight going to Haiti from Chicago.  Heading back, it was a flight from Haiti to Miami, then Miami to Los Angeles and finally from there back home.

Well now it seems that the American Airlines flight from Haiti to Miami is canceled, and there is no service planned until the 19th at the earliest.  So unless there is some news from the group leader in regards to a new way back home, the whole trip may unfortunately be off. 

Will post more as we know more.

Getting started

This is Ken making the first posting to make sure things are working.  I've set Chris up with a satellite phone that is supposed to arrive Wednesday morning and has text messaging capability.  This will allow Chris to send text messages to the blog so everyone can be updated on her efforts as well as her safety.  Text messaging is a little cheaper than the per minute charges on the phone!  Don't expect phone calls from her while she is there, please follow this blog for updates on her travels and experiences (and they probably won't be very detailed updates as I'm sure she will be very busy, once she returns she can maybe post a long update).  I'll be following any comments and will talk to her from time to time, so if there are things you would like to know, please post a comment and I will update or she will with the information.