North Texas Couple Recounts Hellish Cabo Vacay
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Five days since Hurricane Odile hit Mexico's Pacific Coast thousands of Americans are still stranded there. Some were flown out by military or humanitarian transports on Friday. But six North Texas families bypassed the uncertainty of these flights and arranged a special one of their own.
At DFW Airport, Karen Fox paced expectantly for a connecting flight bringing her son and his wife home, nervously asking her husband, "Anybody yet?" and, "Is that them? Is that them? Look!"
And when Garrett and Katie Fox finally entered the baggage claim area, days of anxiety melted away in warm embraces.
The couple had taken a belated tenth anniversary trip to Cabo San Lucas, sharing a villa with five other couples. They rode out the storm safely but the villa was destroyed. When looting and violence started up, the six couples looked for a safe way to leave, but couldn't find anyone.
"It's a war zone, it 's a disaster there," Katie Fox told CBS 11 News. "There was army all over, people with machine guns on the back of trucks."
Information was contradictory, according to the Foxes. Confusion reigned.
"The hardest part, I think, was the lack of information and the disinformation," said Garrett Fox. "We would hear from the consulate that, 'Go the La Paz, the airport's open,' and then we would hear that in the very next minute that they're closing all efforts in La Paz, get back to Cabo."
The couples all eventually made their way to nearby La Paz, where their parents chartered a jet to fly them to San Diego Thursday night. It was only then that the friends found separate ways home. "I'm so excited. It seems like an eternity, but I'm so excited to be home," Katie Fox said.
All in all, it was a frightening and drawn out ordeal. "You start losing hope at some point, it just felt like everything was a dead end. And so we saw the chartered plane." What did he think then? "Can't wait to see my family and my kids," he immediately replied. Katie Fox agreed. "Oh, my God! So missed everyone. I just wanted to get home."
Home to four children and the blessings of a routine life. When asked where they might want to spend their fifteenth anniversary, Katie laughed and replied, "Somewhere in the United States. Here!"
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