Traveling to Guatemala and getting to Earth Lodge

Nitivia (hereafter referred to as N) and I left Reno, NV at a wonderful 7am in order to get on our 9am flight to San Francisco, then Houston, then Guatemala.

Little did we know that clouds are a barrier to planes so we were unable to take off from the Reno airport until 1pm. Of course we missed our flight to Guatemala so we ended up staying in Houston! On the plus side we got to fly between San Francisco to Houston on a new 767-300 with our own TV's with touch screens that we got to pick our watching pleasure for free (I watched "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and "Pineapple Express," both movies you should check out).

(Begin Rant)
United was kind enough to tell us where we can find a phone to book hotel reservations but despite our missing our Guatemala connection due to their incompetence as well as the weather. We would have been able to fly out on another flight if they had announced the one were were on was delayed (at 1pm when we boarded it was still listed on the board as EARLY), or had enough people working the counter (1 person for the 50 re-bookings they had to do) we could have re-booked on the direct flight to Houston and made our connection. So don't fly United they are not only incompetent but rude. When I mentioned the board still had the incorrect information and gate listed and maybe they could change it or announce flights were being delayed over the loudspeaker the United "Customer Service" Representative told me to "mind your own business." N and I actually had to help an old Guatemalan man find the right gate and get on the plane because they wouldn't...
(End Rant)

What can I say about Houston.

Yeah that about sums it up...

We managed to get a whopping 5 hours of sleep and began day 2 of the journey at a sweet-ass 5:45am (apparently when I asked the hotel booking lady on the phone to give me a hotel close to the airport that means 45 minutes away...) Security was nice, the gentleman groping me was courteous and had a nice firm grip.

Our plane managed to take off (flying through clouds today, I guess they fixed the planes can't go through clouds problem overnight). Surprisingly enough it actually only takes 3 hours to get to Guatemala which was pretty sweet.

Once we got to Guatemala we got a shuttle to Antigua and managed to convince the shuttle driver to drop us off at Earth Lodge even though that wasn't part of his job description (it's amazing what money can do for you).

Earth lodge is wonderful. We are staying in a literal tree house which is amazing. You know what the most amazing part is though? I met another IO psychologist here! I haven't run into another IO psychologist outside of a conference yet in my life but I go to a lodge with 30 people in the middle of nowhere Guatemala and HERE IS ONE. I told her to get me a job but I don't think she is going to do that...

This is our treehouse we stayed in. That first building was our bathroom and the building in the back is the actual place we slept!

We took some pictures of stuff but there isn't any way to upload photos here (I think the internet is carried down to town by a guy and a mule). Once we get done with out day of food, relaxation, and making the tree sway we will be heading down the mountain into Antigua where N assures me I can get the SIM card for my phone and an internet connection where we can upload a few photos for ya'll.

Update! Photos of EarthLodge:

The view of the back of the mountain.

This is the actual lodge portion of EarthLodge. In here we ate, drank, watched a movie, read books while it rained, and enjoyed the company of other travellers.

The view from our treehouse.

The view from the lodge. In the back are volcanoes. The one on the right is active and while sitting on the porch you could actually see it belching clouds of volcano spunk into the air.