Jumping off the Cliff

We had a really wonderful time visiting family and friends in the NW for 2 weeks before “jumping off the cliff” into our adventure to Thailand.  I think it should be a best practice to have 2 weeks reprieve from packing, moving, etc. and then jump into one’s new life.  It was wonderful.

We spent the day before we left repacking everything once more and had a great “last supper” (as we called it  ) with my folks.  Candace’s folks also stopped by and we shared some special good-byes all around.  Many tears were shed as we realized that our final good-byes were truly upon us.

I think the best way to describe the emotions are kind of like how you feel right before you go over the top of a really big roller coaster.  You’re excited you’re there, but you’re also wondering if you really want to make the plunge…only to realize that it’s far too late if you even wanted to get off.  Each of the kids, at separate times, shared with me how they weren’t sure they wanted to go anymore.  I shared the analogy with them and told them they’d be thrilled once the ride was over.

The morning we left, we woke up a little before 4am.  We had packed all of our checked luggage and carry-ons into my folks’ trailer and covered with a tarp to keep the light rain off. 

Checking in at the airport went quickly (with the help of another skycap) and we soon had a handful of expensive tickets.

As my niece was also flying home at the same time, my Mom got to accompany her past security.  Once she got her on her plane, she joined us in the lounge for a quick breakfast before we boarded.  We had a sad last good-bye and got on the plane.

The flight from Portland to San Francisco was nice.  The kids were glued to the TVs and behaved well for the short 1.5 hour flight.  Our youngest HAD to use the bathroom right before take-off and right after landing (we’re talking wiggles galore and the most painful, cute face I’ve seen), so they stopped the plane so he could go.  Better in one seat than the other!

We had a little over 4 hours in SFO, so we found the lounge, ate some and settled in.  Candace took the younger kids to the playground and I caught up on work emails and did some FaceTime with family.  The time passed quickly and before we knew it, we were boarding our large 777.  It was fun to watch the kids as they realized our seats were a bit different on this plane.  It was like Christmas morning!  The boys immediately figured out the entertainment system and were playing games before I was even seated.  Our daughter was delighted (as you can see below) with her big chair/bed and her blanket, “gift” bag, and other accessories.  To be honest, we were all pretty excited.

The long flight from San Francisco to Narita, Tokyo, Japan went really well.  The kids were amazing.  We all got to sleep a little, enjoyed movies, and some really good food.  The kids got kid’s meals (I called ahead and asked for those as I thought that the children wouldn’t be too enthusiastic about the grown-up food typically served.  I was right…).  They really enjoyed the ice cream sundaes too.

We arrived in Tokyo a bit tired, but I encouraged the kids to stay awake as much as possible to help with the inevitable jetlag.  Didn’t work too well.  Once we got on our next 777 to Bangkok, everyone slept for a few hours of the 7 hour flight.

I think it’s a good thing we all slept a bit, as we arrived feeling much better than we had in Tokyo. We were all really excited to finally be in Bangkok!  Everyone was in a really good mood and very helpful in getting all of our luggage onto some carts to make it through immigration and customs.  No skycap here, so we all pitched in.  We were quite the site – a long train of luggage carts pushed by 5 of the 6 of us.  Many people were smiling as we passed by.

 

Outside of customs, we had a greeter meet us and escort us to our 2 vans (one for us, one for our luggage).  I had warned the kids that it would be much more humid and hot once they passed through the doors leading outside, but I still don’t think they were prepared!  Our oldest and youngest were both amazed!  Our youngest clung to me and told me he was scared.    I told him he’d be fine…just stick by Daddy.

We all climbed into our air conditioned van and enjoyed a 30 min, quite dark (it was just past midnight) ride to our hotel.  We checked in, got up to our room (on the 29th floor!), unpacked a little, and all got to bed an hour or two later.  We were finally in Thailand!