Most people wouldn’t give it a second thought. Not worth a turn of the head. Just another marvel of modern technology that we take for granted on a daily basis.

We were standing in the immigration line at Flamingo International Airport when I heard the thrusters of the Boeing 757 rev to takeoff power. I looked towards Windsock Beach and saw the plane slowly begin to move. Oblivious to anything else, my head -- and attention -- followed Delta Flight 664 as it slowly gathered speed, the ground vibrating as it pushed past us through its takeoff roll.

Somewhere past the east edge of the donkey sanctuary, the airfoils won the battle with gravity and pushed the mighty craft into the clear, blue sky -- a blue found only in the Caribbean.

As always, I watched in awe.

The same, magnificent airplane that had moments earlier brought us to Bonaire -- Paradise by any standard -- was now turning north, towards North America, loaded with souls unwillingly bound for home. People who had cashed in their stingy allotment of sun and diving, and were now contemplating the rituals of everyday life. I wondered how many of them would fill part of that life by planning their next trip. Dreaming about coming back to Diver’s Paradise, and starting their next countdown.

I did not envy them.

Leslie, also watching the plane depart, and seemingly sensing my thoughts, said, “Sucks to be them.”

“Sure does,” I said as a smile creeped across my face. I nodded and said to myself. “Two weeks just isn’t enough.”

I turned my attention towards the endless line in front of me. A B757 dumps a lot of people onto the tarmac, all of them needing to go through immigration and luggage claim. It took us a while to finally walk through the doors into the main part of the airport, but I didn’t care. We weren’t on Delta Flight 664. And wouldn’t be for two weeks -- that’s all that matter right now. As we located Poppy and signed for our rental truck, I realized that I was already on Island Time. Drinking my first Bright at the airport and anxiously awaiting the adventures ahead, I looked forward to the next14 days.

Leslie took a hit of her Bright, looked left, then right. She turned and scanned the people at the airport. She turned back towards me. “Hey, where’s Smack?” She asked, taking another sip. “Wasn’t he suppose to meet us at the airport and have a round waiting when we got off the airplane?”

I rolled my lower lip and shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll all meet up later.”

She moved closer. “Good times await,” she said and held up her Bright. We clinked our bottles and kissed each other on the lips.

Our 16th trip was underway...

Dive on Friends.

Dave & Leslie



(Message edited by dave goodwin on August 7, 2010)

Nice... will be avidly following from the peanut gallery of those without a countdown. Sucks to be us indeed. Thanks for allowing us to tag along again, Dave and Leslie

Beek-ee,

Thanks for the support! Tag along as often as you desire.

Dave & Leslie.

have a great one
be watching
es

Simply lovely! I would say "enjoy"! But, obviously, you were able to do that the moment you landed on Bonaire!!! Looking forward to your posts since we have to wait until February!!! Peace. mellen

Good kick-start Dave, looking forward to the ride....

Ahhhhh the new book has arrived I'm going to enjoy reading a bit every day. Thanks Dave

I love the Goodwins.....
dive safe guys!!!!!
cant wait for our return - but will enjoy the vicarious living for now...

Thanks everybody!

I'm so happy this saga has begun, we're in for a great ride.
Thanks Dave, enjoy, we sure will!

I think I lovingly hate both of you right now... We were on flight 664 just two weeks ago, and it already seems like a life time... The "Daily Grind" is truly just that. Counting the days until our next paradise run on 663.

I'd like to say, "I can't wait til you get back," but that just sounds plain mean.

Loved the story unfortunately I was on that plane and we didn't leave at 3:45 as scheduled but closer to 7pm due to mechanical problems. To make matters worse most of us had to stay in Atlanta overnight as we missed our connections home. So it was actually worse than you imagined!! Arrived in Columbus, Ohio August 8th at 11:30am instead of Aug 7th at 11:00pm!! All of the passengers on the flight were probably eating dinner at their resorts by the time we left the island.

Have fun guys....and say hi to Smack for me!

Bas,

He's over at WannaDive Hut.... stop and say to him.

Or stop at SandDollar F06 around 10:00-10:30 Am on Tuesday -- he'll be here with us.

He talks about you all the time -- he says he can out breathe you on a tank of air.

Thanks, Dave... We're making our 16th trip in November, and can't wait. Your post made me even more psyched -- except, of course, for the endless wait in the immigration line!

Take another contest-winning photo, Dave. Have a great time!