Maggie and I in our hotel room in NYHere we are at our hotel in NY. We left today around 3:30pm and headed to Huntsville to fly out. We went to check in and of course the whole crew was nervous about our bags being over weight. We paid for our extra bag and then the weighing began. Would you know that I had one bag that was 50.0 lbs exactly? One at 49.5lbs, one at 48.2 lbs and one at 49lbs? Another was 51.2lbs but she just let it go! SO GLAD FOR FAVOR. We were high fiving each other and the kids were telling me how good I was! I know, I know we probably looked sort of weird but hey we got over that a long time ago. So no inhibitions!
This must mean that our scales at home are pretty accurate which stinks because I was hoping that they were a little off in my favor. Guess, I won't be getting on them anytime soon since they are THAT accurate.
Back to my story... Going thru Security, was fairly simple but a little awkward with the stroller and our carry bags. It probably is a good thing that they don't weigh 40lbs like I originally had planned. Going through I asked one of the security how he was and he joyfully replied, "Well, I am blessed and highly favored." At first it took me by surprise but I looked right back and smiled, replying, "Me Too!"
We then went on and I got pulled over because my bag appeared to have weapons in it!
As it turned out it was a 5lb cheese block, A pack of crackers and 2- 1lb summer sausage logs!"
Why do I have all that in my carry on? Well, the cheese is for the missionaries because cheese is a luxury in Africa. The sausage and crackers are for Maggie because she is a picky eater and we had no room in the suitcases! After getting put back together, we headed for our gate and when I got on the escalater, my carry bags and book bag fell off the roller cart and I had a mess! I sort of panicked and hurriedly grabbed them up somehow just as I reached the top and none of the straps got caught up in the machine. Whew! We didn't have a long wait to board but Maggie and I were out of breath trying to get all put back into place and she went and got herself a coffee that she thought was iced and it was not and it burned her throat (she's ok) and I left my water sitting in the seat! ugh! The guy at the ticket counter wondered where the baby was so we had to explain that we were adopting and had to take the stroller with us. Maggie told him for the moment that her bookbag was the baby!. He thought that was pretty funny. He was very understanding and let us check it at the gate.
Our plane rides were uneventful except that when we arrived in Washington DC, our plane was delayed getting into the gate and so we didn't have much time to spare. We stopped and got something to eat to take with us and I don't know how we missed the announcement but we finally heard last call for the flight with one minute and made it to the the plane. It was a pretty small plane as the flight from DC to JFK was only 45 minutes. Then when we got out on the tarmack to check our planeside carry ons the stroller would not collapse! Finally, one of the guys attending the outside of the plane got it undone. Again, 3 people wondered why we had a stroller, no baby and had 2 carry ons each. So we explained and they were, oh, ok. Load it on.
Thanks for FAVOR again Lord.
When We arrived at JFK, we unloaded on the tarmack and picked up our baggage and the stroller and again were asked, "Where's the Baby?" by the attendant. We explained and that started the lady asking us about adoption. She had thought about it but had never taken any steps because she didn't think she could afford it. We were faced then with climbing stairs with all this stuff and she picked up the stroller and carried it for us and showed us where to go to get our luggage, all the while inquiring more about adoption. We parted and proceeded to get our luggage off of the luggage thingy and looked around for carts. They were $5 each and way too small to handle what we had.
Then a guy with a LARGE cart approached us and asked if he could help us. At first I was wary, because this is NY and you have to be wary. right? At first I told him know, but he just hung around and then when I realized that I was going to spend a bunch of money on the carts and not be able to push them. I also heard God whisper, "Don't be afraid, you did ask for an Angel to show up in NY and help you with all the luggage didn't you? Well, there he is!" I then asked him what he charged to load our luggage and tote it for us. "Oh, he said, I do not charge, it is what you want to give me." I told him to load the luggage. Maggie and I didn't have to lift any of them. Wonderfully, all of our luggage arrived in tact except one suitcase that is missing a wheel. We can sort of still roll it though. The man then asked me where I needed to go. I told him that my plan was to take the luggage and store it. "But that is in terminal 4. " He replied. " Yes, I know", I answered back. "Well, you have to get a shuttle to take you there or a taxi. I have a man here we can trust. The taxi guy also told us that there was no need to store our luggage but if that is what we decided to do then he would help us get over to terminal 4 and then take us to our hotel if the shuttle couldn't get us. This surprised me. Everyone was so nice and helpful! I was impressed. What hotel are you at? " , the attendant asked me? I told him and he said, "They have a shuttle, and they will take all your luggage with you to the hotel, you do not need to store it here at the airport." Call the hotel for the shuttle. Well, when we stepped out, There pulling up to us was the shuttle. No need to call and no waiting! It was picking up a flight crew, and so I asked the driver if he had room for us and ALL of our luggage. "Why sure," he said, "I believe I can do it. I have no clue how he fit all of that in that van but he did.
Of course, all of our luggage, caused questions by the flight crew and so they were intrigued about us going to Africa and asked lots of questions. Sometimes, I feel embarrassed when people just make us out to be saints for adopting but then again, I am glad that I am able to spread the word about adoption and orphans. I do try to give God the glory without sounding religious or anything like that. The lady in JFK, thought we should go on a TV show and the flight crew thought that we should be on Oprah. Funny, cause I think that would be a little stressful! If they would like to donate to the cause, I don't think I would turn it down!
Our hotel wasn't too far away and it is really nice! They gave us warm cookies upon checkin. Glad I don't have those scales here. The clerk downstairs said we shouldn't have to leave until 8:30am or 9:00am so that means we can sleep a little later than we thought.
We lugged the suitcases up to the 4th floor one by one and upon tryingto get them all down the hall and into our room, we accidently shut the door and left the key inside. So I went downstairs to get another one. Evidently, this happens all the time and it didn't faze the clerk one minute. When I came back up and got he door open, there was a Japanese girl in the hallway, helping Maggie pull the suitcases down to our room! So here we are in NY, planning on ordering room service for Breakfast, getting a good night's sleep and heading out for ur long trip tomorrow. We are going to try to make our carry bags a little lighter since we have a couple of suicase with a pound to spare! Will talk more when I get to AFrica!
