We were ready, yes, all set to go! The plan was to fly to Merida the very next day, but now that wasn’t going to happen.

It was a fever that made us stay.

If we’ve learned anything the last two years, it’s “Stay home if you have any symptoms” and “Wash your hands!” We had to stay home!

Where is home? Only 20 hours remained until we had to vacate the Cannon House Airbnb we had called home the last five weeks. We had to make new plans, and fast!

• Cancel Mérida flights.
• Rebook flights for a later date.
• Change dates for Mérida hotel reservation. Thankfully I had reserved the first week only.
• Find a place to stay in Spokane.
• Sort our things. We had our Mexico bags packed, but now we needed some things for our isolation period in Spokane.
• Take the rest to the storage unit.

Thankfully the fever was gone the next morning when we checked into the newly remodeled La Quinta Inn in downtown Spokane. The King Suite had a mini fridge, microwave, sofa and King bed. It became our new “home” once we moved in suitcases, groceries and our Breville espresso machine.

With the Do Not Disturb sign dangling from the door handle, we declined daily housekeeping service and hunkered down in isolation.

We didn’t like this hiccup in our plans, this illness, or the expense. Many things in this life are out of our control, but there were some things for which we could be thankful:

• That we contracted this before traveling to Mexico. It wouldn’t be fun to be sick in a new location.
• That we had mild cases.
• For contactless food delivery from family and delivery services.
• That the reservations were all changed without penalties.
• That I had not booked a month-long AirBnb stay in Mérida because they are not always flexible.
• And as my sister said, “With the right credit card you’re earning lots of miles for your hotel charges. Yep!

We had a quiet, restful stay, even isolating from family because they didn’t want we had! We never tested, but according to the CDC, people should not be contagious after 5 fever-free days so we moved forward with our trip.

We had originally booked our flights with 20K American Airline miles each. That original – and quickest routing with one stop was only offered on Saturdays. These were the three best options for a new itinerary.

• Same original routing one week later for 30K each. Yikes!
• Same original routing two weeks later for the original amount of 20K miles each.
• Business Class award with two stops spread over two travel days leaving in 7 days. Alaska Airlines Economy to SEA, American Airlines Business Class to DFW, an overnight layover, and Business Class to Merida the following day for the original amount of miles – 20K each.

Travel Hack Alert: We chose the Business Class award and thought it was a win-win situation. We wouldn’t have the pre-dawn flight, we’d get to break up our travel at a nice hotel with a pool, would have access to Business Class Lounges, fly Business Class, and be able to check out of LaQuinta one night earlier saving that expense. For our overnight stay in DFW I transferred 8000 Chase Ultimate Rewards miles to Hyatt.

The flights did not go as planned. I know, hard to believe, right? First, the flight to SEA was delayed causing us to miss the flight to DFW. They rebooked us in Economy on a later Alaska flight. We made it to the DFW Hyatt around midnight, so no pool time. The next morning we got to use the DFW Business Class Lounge and fly in the front of the small plane to Mérida.

We were so happy to finally arrive in Mérida.

First Impressions: Merida is tranquil, laid-back and quiet! It has a Caribbean vibe and is colorful. It’s not crazy crowded with tourists, but the majority of the other tourists are not English speakers. We’ve heard German and French and possibly Russian.

The food is fresh, colorful and delicious. There are the ripe juicy fruits and drinks, our Mexican favorites, and a number of new Mayan and Yucatecan specialties to sample.

Meet You in the Morning with more from Mérida.