Manaus...hope to never see that airport again

Been a while since I made a post. Today's update will cover (1) the gut punch game vs Portugal and (2) a travel nightmare story that you will believe is completely made up. But all is well...we are back in Natal, recuperating, and have our sights set on an upcoming snorkel trip and the game vs Germany. 

The trip to Manaus started with a change of plans from the organizers.  Instead of being in the hotel lobby at 3:30 am, they wanted us there by 2:30. So we set our alarms and arrived on time. But the bus to pick us up didn't arrive til 4:00 am. What was the point in waking up early?  Oh well...not a super big deal. The 500+ American Outlaws arrive at Natal airport and we have already been divided into groups Plane 1 and Plane 2.  Plane 1 group has had no problems...they check in first, their plane arrives/departs on time, all of the glorious things you'd expect from modern day travel. Plane 2 group constantly gets the shaft. Our plane departed so late on Thursday that the "meal" served on the plane was "dried crumbled egg breakfast" and we missed the pre game party. But at this point, I'm still ok. At least we made it to the stadium well in advance of kickoff. 

We go to the game, and it was a wonderful experience. Plenty of USA fans, and the drama of the game kept everyone on the edge of their seats. Portugal scores first, but you could "feel" the USA team was much better than Portugal. We score twice in second half and received a beer shower from above that didn't bother us one bit. And then, Portugal scores in the last friggin seconds of the game. What a gut punch!  So frustrated...but hey...USA is still in pretty good shape to advance to next round. 

The masses exit the stadium, and trek back to Manaus airport. We all knew it was going to be a long night, but holy moly were we surprised by the new itinerary. Instead of leaving at midnight, which would put us back in Natal by 5:00 am, we spent the night on concrete airport floors and uncomfortable chairs. I know I sound like I'm whining, but this blew. And the delays drug out to the point that the excuses being give. To us just felt like lies. We finally departed at 1:00 pm (16 hours in Manaus airport) and made it back to our hotel by 6:00. Brutal travel day...might be my all time nastiest travel experience. 

The silver lining was that the people on Plane 2, that were stuck in the same situation, were really friendly, kept a positive attitude and cracked several jokes (and beers) over the 15 hours. Not sure if it was because we were all USA fans or if we just got lucky being around normal, sane and patient peeps.  But it was good to see that everyone was able to deal in such a shitty situation.  

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