I would like to thank DFW for the updated, totally awesome, absolutely amazing, wonderfully created, beautiful Terminal D! Wow! It was so cool to see that at our gate (which our family could see) this huge candy store called Natalie's Candy Jar! I needed that also. I loved the bright vibrant colors, cool decorations, really neat candy that they had. Mary I could totally see us owning something like that. (I know it's wishful thinking, but man it's cool). Not only was there a huge big screen with shows, advertisements, and information on it, there was a huge touch screen right by us where it will help you find anything and everything you could possibly want. Yes, terminal D had it all.
I would like to thank the little snack store nearby for carrying Dramamine. Once I got to my seat I still didn't feel so hot. So, Brian and the kids went to venture around the terminal and was able to bring me some kids chewable Dramamine with a Cherry Pepsi to sip on. Wouldn't you know it worked like a champ. Totally settled my tummy and nerves.
Since breakfast from What-A-Burger was not as great as we had hoped for. I would like to think Auntie Anne's for there amazingly delicious mini pigs in a blanket, their pepperoni pretzel that Faith loved and their cinnamon and sugar pretzel that Hudson and daddy loved also. I'm not sure Brian bought the mini pigs for me. But, he ate a few then told me how awesome they were, then passed me the cup. I didn't pass it back I inhaled them.
Loading, taxi, takeoff, and in flight-
So, we get on the plane and we are 2 rows behind the Prestige Class right at the front of the plane. It was not a full plane so Faith and I shared 3 seats and so did Brian and Hudson. Grandpa Doug was correct. Not very big area to relax, since we didn't get the big plane with the staircase our seats just reclined but not into a bed. Meaning our feet didn't go up at all. So, we would get up and walk back and fourth to the bathroom quite a bit.
Taxiing and take off was super smooth. However, we didn't know that we must preselect our meals. So, we got whatever they offered us. Needless to say the food was not so great. This first flight from DFW to Seoul S Korea was 15 hours. I slept a lot. Brian said he cat napped, and the kids did not sleep at all. We had little to no turbulence on this flight. It was great all the way. Just the food was lacking.
So, when we landed in Seoul we were starving. We had a 3 hour layover. We went through customs, found our terminal and sat all our carry-on stuff down. Went to the restroom in shifts to freshen up, and get ready for the next flight. When we were done with the potty we learned that they changed our terminal. So, we gathered everything back up and headed to the new terminal. In route Brian spotted a Subway. So, after we sat all our stuff down he ran over and ordered us all a sandwich. Which is quite funny in itself. Because while we were traveling on deputation we found our meal of choice to be a nice deli. My husband despised subway. Well, lets be honest if you put the same toppings on any of their sandwiches they really all taste similar. So, that was just comical that we were excited to see and purchase Subway. We saved it to eat once we got on the plane. After we all ate everyone of us crashed. We all slept 90% of this last flight which was a 6 hour flight. Not good on the legs once you land. Brian and I could hardly get our shoes on because our ankles and feet were swollen. But, we managed.
Upon landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport (which by the way is pronounced like Suwanpoon- I will write about that later) we gathered our carry ons and headed to immigration. Super smooth! No problems and I was just praying Lord, this has been a smooth thing all the way around please don’t let us have an issue in customs when it comes to getting all this stuff into the country of Thailand. Even though we checked to make sure it was all approved items prior to arriving. So, the kids and I head to the conveyor belt where the bags are coming off of and Brian heads to the far left where they have these huge carts you can use for free. I began hossing all our items off the belt. To find we were missing 1 bag and I thought great, here is our first of many issues to come. I walked around the humongous conveyor belt and there it laid perfect and all in tact with its flourscent pink tape wrapped around the handle along with the bag number. I quickly grabbed it and notified Brian that we had all our bags. Now, to just get through customs and on to find our friends. (More about them in a moment.)
Brian wheeled this monster of a cart with all of our lively hood on it over to customs. The guy looked at it and in thai said something to the lady standing with him. He told Brian ok go on through. All he did was squeeze one hand on one of the duffle bags and didn't even bother opening 1 or asking us any questions. Welcome to Thailand!
Now the hurdle for this evening is how are we suppose to wheel this cart around while we look for our friends The A’s. (For their safety and ministry we will call them The A’s. Just so you know they are a very precious family. We have known them since Brian and Mr. A were in bible college together. Mrs. A and I became friends on their many furloughs to the states where I was able to keep a Little A periodically.) Brian parked the kids and I at Gate 10 while we went to go find them and then he would come back for the kids and I as well as the monster. Sure enough Brian was gone for like 30 minutes. I began to stress. Realizing I just let the directionally challenged person in our family leave us in the Worlds Largest Airport. Yes, my heart was racing and then all of a sudden I see his Texas Rangers hat. Whew! A sigh of relief. Not knowing wether he found the A’s or not. I was just glad he was back with me. However, he did find them and now we must push this monster from gate 10 all the way to Gate 3. Quite a ways to push just a small cart, not to mention the Monster was heavy and Brian couldn't see around it to steer it. So, I lead the way with the kids behind me and Brian bringing up the caboose. The moment my eyes laid eye’s on Mrs. A it took everything I had to not loose it all over again. Yes, I had just seen her 8 months prior. But, I was super excited to see her and for her to be there to welcome me to this country. Yes, first thing we did was hug. (because I am a hugger!) Then she gave me some instructions on how to get around to the area where I needed to be to be able to get to their vehicle. We all get to where we are suppose to be with the A’s and begin putting the carts on an uphill conveyor belt. Mrs. A is snapping pics of what we all look like from behind with all our carts in tow. Pretty neat until the conveyor belt stops and all the carts are magnetized to the belt. So, we can not push the carts anywhere. We must pick them up to move them. Yes, Mr. A and Brian must pick up the monster and move it up hill off the belt. I am not sure how they did that. Then the security guys came and helped the kids and I to get our 3 carts off the belt and up hill. We were able to fit everything into the A’s van and safely they delivered us and our carry ons to the hotel.
Even though I was super stressed, the trip from beginning to end was absolutely amazing. I allowed my brain to get the best of me, I was worked up about different things that could go wrong and yet the whole time The Lord took care of everything. It was perfect.
WE MADE IT! WE MADE IT! WE MADE IT!
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