Day 1: At the airport, I watched the scale climb straight past the 30s and 40s and quickly through the 50lbs mark. As it approached the 70lbs limit, I started to sweat a little... 61, 62, 63... 64 for a flicker but then back down to settle on 63lbs. “Man that was close,” I said to myself. I had a feeling that Juan and Nic’s bags are not going to make the cut, though. “What’s in this bag?” the airport attendant asked. “Oh just some swimfins and wetsuits,” I responded. “Hmm, no surfboards though, right?” she questioned. “Oh no, no surfboards,” I said. “Okay then, have a great trip,” she replied. “Yes, I am very excited,” I said agreeing and doing my best to keep the conversation focused away from the fact that Nic’s bag is probably 20lbs overweight. Whew ... first bullet dodged. No board fees or overweight charges. Bags checked. Tickets printed. Off to the gate we went. Travel time will be roughly 19 hours. Upon arrival, things got interesting. We were under the impression that customs would be the only thing in between us and Chile. Unfortunately, the infamous Swine Flu threw a monkey wrench into those plans. We were forced through a secured area with thermal imaging equipment, doctors, and security guards ready to pounce on anyone who so much as sneezed, coughed, or sniffled. The boys didn’t care, though. They were amped to be on the ground and ready to make moves. This was the first indication that we had assembled the right crew for the mission. After the Swine Flu scan, it was on to getting our bags through customs, before we were set loose on Chile. One by one the bags began to appear on the small baggage carousel in the tiny airport, but again we were hit with bad luck. Signor Dan’s board bag did not make the flight. After a chat with a baggage attendant we found out that his bag went to Atlanta and would not be in Chile until tomorrow, at best, with the possibility of it arriving the following day. Dan handled it like a true soldier; never swaying out of character from his usually laid back self, throwing jokes instead of insults. To do otherwise would misdirect his energy. Yet, another good sign of why Dan was right for the mission. Outside the airport we meet up with our local friend, Juancho Castilla, who is the man by the way. Brief back-
TYLER WIEMANN / PH: NICOLA LUGO / NICOLALUGO.COM