Leaving On A Jet Plane Pt. 3

From emotions, to packing and now to the actual trip.

We began our journey in St. Louis MO. Our first plane, headed to Denver, was tiny but lucky for me this was the shortest flight. Besides me freaking out during take off (thinking of my dear Pastor telling me, the most dangerous part of the flight is take off and landing), the flight was pretty uneventful. The kids slept the whole flight and I sat up keeping my eyes on the exits. Despite a couple of bumps and uncomfortable turns, we landed perfectly fine in beautiful and cold Colorado.

*Whew, one flight down, two to go!

 

After running like crazy folks through the airport, we arrive at our gate. Denver to San Francisco. To my relief the airplane was bigger and I was able to sit next to both of my kids. Plus an in flight movie and a "light lunch", WOW. Talk about fancy living.

...and by "fancy" I mean, a boring National Geographic under the sea documentary and a cup of juice. Niiiiiiice!!!! But thanks to my awesome packing skill I was able to keep the kids entertained with crayons, gum and sweet crackers. As for me, I was able to sit back and enjoy a couple of pages in my book and admire my lovely view of the exit sign! :)

Like the previous flight, it was pretty uneventful. No kid meltdowns, no diaper blow outs. Nothing. Some may call it luck but I know its nothing short of a blessing.

 

 

*Flight two. Hook, Line, Sinker DONE!!!!

 

 

San Francisco!!! We made it to San Fran!!! We're almost there, twelve hours, one flight. All that stands between Kevin and I is an ocean.





A beautiful

                  simple

                             huge

                                     watery grave!!!!!

 

(Yes, that was my thought process), but before we even got to that point we had to navigate our way from the domestic terminals to the international ones (yellow to green) with four carry on bags, three kids, two adults (to include myself), and a partridge in a pear tree!!! *wink wink

 

 

We had about 30 minutes to get over to our gate. With that in mind I strapped the kids into their stroller, threw our carry ons onto the handles and told Sydney we had to MOVE!!! After a mad dash to the gate, we made it  with just enough time to catch our breath. About 10 minutes later we were boarding our final plane.

To Seoul or BUST!!!

This plane was HUGE. There was an upstairs and down stairs and three rows of seats. Once we got ourselves situated in the middle row it was finally time to sit back and relax. =) Sydney, the kids and I were all able to t in the same row this time and with blankets and pillows in hand, a big screen tv right in front of us and realizing we could recline our seats, we were ready to go!!!!

 

We flew over Alaska and yes, that watery grave I mentioned earlier, that we tend to call the Pacific Ocean. Over Russia and well you get the point. After several potty trips, naps, a couple of meals (actual meals!!!), wine for me, and a few games of musical chairs with the kids we found ourselves over Korea!!!!

With less than hour to go, our captain comes over the speaker,

                                                     *Wait, this CAN'T be good... (waiting for oxygen masks to drop),* he tells us, that because of conditions on the ground we weren't cleared to land and we had to stay in the air for another 15 minutes. As 15 minutes turned into an half hour, the captain said there was still no difference in our status, bad news we might have to land at another airport, good news is we have enough fuel to stay in the air for a while longer. HAR-DE-HAR-HAR, Captain.



30 minutes later the captain comes on again to tell us we were good to go!! Finally!!!

 

Ahhh, Korea, We've waited so long to get here! First things first, to customs we go. In the process, we get lost. Yup, only one way to go and we get lost! Lucky for me, God sent an English speaking angel our way and got us to were we need to go. After customs we go to baggage claim and it happened.

I had a break down. In the middle of the airport.

Kevin had promised me he would be there to help us with our over sized luggage but he was nowhere to be found and I had no way of getting on touch with him. So I packed our stuff on a cart and head to the mall outside of the airport, when I get stopped.

"Uggggggh, will this day ever end?!?!?"

In customs I told them I brought a bottle of perfume with me, so what do ask me to do as we are walking out of the airport? To show them the perfume. So right in front of the airport exit, I'm digging through my bags trying desperately to find a bottle of perfume. After what seemed like forever the lady told me to just go. *Whew, you don't have to tell me twice!!! I gathered our stuff and got the heck out of there!!!

 

Moments later, through tear soaked eyes I saw one of there best sights ever, Kevin was standing right in front of me. Thank God! We made it!!

 

And so starts our journey in South Korea!