When It All Began.....

So, our journey started EARLY July 30th......

But before I can describe what that was like, I have to tell you that on July 29th we carried our African Grey parrot, Mosley, to our neighbor, Sandy, to watch for us while we were away. We carried dog food to our neighbor, Tommy, to feed our dog, Sage, while we were away. And finally, we carried Savannah, Hayden & our other dog, Guru, to our wonderful neighbor, Bobbi, to take care of while we were away.

I don't know, I was feeling VERY blessed to have all of these wonderful people help us with all of our most precious family members......I was also feeling VERY sad to be leaving Savannah & Hayden behind. Part of me wished we would have brought them to China with us.....but I knew they were in good hands & that Bobbi would take good care of them - as if they were her own.

That night Mark & I TRIED to get some sleep before our big travel day - but we didn't get much.

We were up by 5 am the next morning - Bobbi at our door & ready to bring us to the airport by 6 a.m.

So, we head to the Nashville Airport....keep in mind that Mark does NOT like to fly - AT ALL. When we finally board the plane to head to Washington, DC, and walk ONTO the runway, Mark discovers that our plane is not exactly the size he was thinking it was going to be. Oh no! They checked our carryon bags & onto the plane we went. I was enjoying myself, Mark, on the other hand, was not.

When we arrived in Washington we were happy to meet Richard & Nancy, another adoptive family in our group. We would be making our flight to Beijing with them. We were also happy to see United's LARGE 777 ready for us to board. Once on board, we were also pleased to know that we had emergency exit seats (tons of leg room).

The flight from Washington, DC to Beijing was 12 hours long...despite our roomy seats, it was hard to get comfortable & hard to sleep. We catnapped on the plane but were anxious to get to China! The most exciting part of the flight was being over the North Pole! It was breathtaking!