And we're off!

Its been nearly six months since we purchased the plane tickets and we've been talking about this trip almost every day since, so needless to say we are all pretty excited about our first real family trip.

We'll be spending the next 10 days in Conroe, Texas (Houston area) at Lisa's aunt Cissy and Uncle Mac's home. We don't have all the details ironed out yet, but in addition to "enjoying" the 95-degree weather, we plan to spend lots of time with Lisa's family, we hope take a dip in the ocean, see the Houston Zoo, NASA, maybe the children's museum or museum of natural sciences, hopefully find some Texas bar-b-que and of course see the Astros play the Rangers at Minute Maid park.

Our trip really began about a week ago as we completed yardwork, downloading movies for the PSP and computer, making sure our iPods were fully loaded, last-minute laundry, making matching luggage tags, cleaning etc. to get the house ready for our absence as well as begin to clean out our cupboards and refrigerator so nothing went to waste (believe me, nothing is left to spoil. I think lunch on the way out of the house consisted of rice, frozen burritos and ice cream sandwiches.)

After lunch, I tried to wrap up a few things after a four-hour meeting at work and we loaded up the van and set out for Eagan, MN. I think we made it about 15 minutes f=before Kenna reaffirmed our decision to fly by asking,"are we there yet?" Before we stopped to eat the worlds greatest hamburgers at Fuddruckers in Bloominton, Kenna got gum stuck in her bangs, Baylor apparently drank way too much and soaked through his diaper and pants and the bad combination of burritos rice and ice cream came back to haunt our noses several times. But according to Tim, the burgrts were worth the five-hour drive. Yes the drive was about an extra hour due to rush hour traffic and a wrong turn by the driver.







We opted to travel down a night early and at least try to get a good night's sleep in before heading out in the morning. We found a great hotel, the Townplace Suites, that features suites with two bedrooms and a fold out couch so we can all spread out. Its not all that easy to find rooms big enough for all seven of us anymore. Anyway, maybe the best part of this hotel is that we can leave our vehicle here for the entire trip for free and they'll shuttle us to and from the airport. So we have a REALLY early wake up call set and will catch a shuttle to the airport at 7:05 a.m.

The 7 a.m. shuttle is a bit earlier than we would have liked for a 10:10 a.m. flight, but we just aren't quite sure what it will be like to check five bags, get all seven of us, our carry-ons and Baylor's stroller through security. I'd much rather have a hour to kill after we find our gate than to be caught "running" through the airport with pushing Baylor's stroller and carrying Mackenna with all three out our backpacks over my shoulders, while making sure Carly, Tim, Nicole and Lisa are keeping up. Talk about a nightmare!

When all is said and done, we should be on the ground around 1 p.m. waiting to see if all five of our bags adorned with our fancy BSU TV Crew media pass/luggage tags made the trip with us.

We are just 12 hours from take off now. I can't wait to share the next few days together with our family. I've been waiting to see the kids faces when the plane begins its take off or when they first look out the window to see the tiny cars and houses from above the clouds. Most of all I am excited to connect with the other half of our family. I know this trip is long overdue for all of us, but especially for Lisa. I am excited to see her reconnect with her family, get to know the people that played key roles in her life long before I new her.

Oh boy, here we go...

Welcome to the "Deep in the heart of Texas" blog. We're are about to embark on what will no doubt be a trip of a lifetime for all of us. Tomorrow's flight will be the first for many of us and when we land in Houston, TX it will be the first time most of us have ever stepped foot in the lone star state, we'll be meeting many cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and in-laws for the first time and reconnecting with family we haven't seen in years. Its hard to say what the next 10 days hold for us, but if the drive to Eagan, MN is any hint, we are in for plenty of interesting events.

We'll give this a shot to keep you up to date on our travels and let you see different events through the eyes of another one of us. We hope you enjoy and would love to hear from you.

Not quite as planned

The travel issues continue. After loading the plan for Minneapolis over four hours late, we boarded and sat in the plan for at least another hour while they figured out some ticketing information and de-iced. Chris agreed to meet us at the airport at about 10 to four, but we didn't end up getting in until almost 5 p.m. I suppose he circled about 95 times by the time we actually landed and had a chance to call him. Before we got off an announcement came over the plane's intercom letting us know that anyone that had missed a connecting flight had been rebook and that all the boarding passes would be waiting for us. Despite our plan of attack. I decided to take a look at what was rebooked for us since now we'd be dealing with some rough traffic issues since it was almost 5 and would be 5:30 before we got on the road.

When I picked up my boarding pass I was surprised to see that I was booked on a flight to Bemidji tonight at 9:45 p.m. I talked it over with dad quickly and we decided to split up. Chris was here and could get him home sooner than he could get home via Bemidji and then driving an hour and a half and considering the traffic complications, I could get home quicker and will less hassle if I flew directly there than if I took Mom's car to Bemidji. Dad's car is already at the air port which would mean we'd have both of their cars there and someone would have to make an extra trip to Bemidji to get it or Lisa and I would have to drive separately for Christmas and New Years.

So after a quick goodbye, we went our separate ways. I said I'd run to the gate quickly to make sure I was actually on the flight and not just on stand by and dad would go meet Chris. He said they wouldn't leave until they knew I was on the flight. I got to the gate and nobody was here so I wondered over to another counter and asked if I was really on this flight or if I was on stand by. Initially she said I was on standby, but was booked for the following morning at 10:20, then she added, "but it looks like one of the seats just became available. Would you like it?" I said yes. He response was, "Isn't there two in your party?" I said, "forget about him, he found his own way home."

So here I sit, about an hour from boarding a plane bound for Bemidji to finally end my travels for this year. I won't get home until nearly 11 p.m. so I would guess the house will be pretty quite if everyone isn't already sleeping. That's is disappointing. I can't wait to see the kids. I got to talk to Baylor a bit on the phone tonight and just made me want to get home sooner.

This really has beee a good trip but travels home can really wreck things. It could have been a lot worse. I found that our the hard way last year.

Site for sore eyes...

Here is a photo of our plane. It just arrived in Salt Lake City just over three hours late. They are going to turn it around in less than 20 minutes, as you can see they began fueling it before they even connected the bridgeport, so we should be in MSP by 4:00 p.m. We'll miss our connection to Bemidji, but we are still working on getting home today.

The saga continues...

We're still on the mainland...but still in SLC

Our great trip came to a skreeching hult today. As you read in my last post our flight in Salt Lake City was delayed. Since them its been delayed three more times. As of now we'll be leaving here at 12:27 p.m. and will be landing in Minneapolis at 3:57. 27 minutes after our flight to Bemidji takes off.

We've tried everything, there is just nothing we can do. I guess there was a medical emergency on the plan that was coming here and it was diverted to Sioux Falls, S.D. Its good to know that if an emergency happens to me or someone I am traveling with, they'll do whatever they can to get help, but of all times and all planes...why mine. I am having flashbacks to my nightmare travels last year at this time. The best I can do right now is to get a flight out of MSP for us at 10:20 tomorrow morning. What a cruddy place to be. Stuck waiting for a plane 16 hours, when I am four hours from home.

What a cruddy way to end a really good trip. We'll keep you posted.

We're on the mainland!

We landed in Salt Lake City just a few minutes ago. Our last day in Honolulu seemed like an eternity. A combination of having to check out of our hotel room at noon, being tired, dreading the travel and being ready to be home contributed to the perceived length of the day.

The day started out with a ritualistic trip to Smorgy's for breakfast. I have never been to Hawaii without eating at least one breakfast there so I treated dad . The food was average as expected, but I was disappointed in a couple things. the little old local ladies that were busing table got new uniforms. They were wearing black pants and aloha shirts instead of the mumus they used to wear. I was also surprised by the music selection. We usually heard Hawaiian Christmas songs over and over.

After that we took out time packing up knowing that we'd have the rest of the day without a "home base." we hit the beach and ran into Greg and Danielle and Rick and his family. After about an hour, they asked us to watch their stuff while they ate. I figured that wouldn't be a problem and we weren't hungry yet anyway. Well, their half hour lunch took nearly two hours leaving us stranded with their towels and beach toys. Now I am paying the price. I didn't put sun screen on my legs because they rarely burn and I must have sweat off some of the lotion from my face because now I am a bit pink.

When they finally got back, we took off for Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was pretty go but conversation was pretty sparse. We were both tired, we sat in the font window and were distracted with people waling by and I think we were both thinking about the long travel that was inching closer.

We did a bit of shopping on the way back to the hotel, which included a trip to the ABC for some Aloe. The sun was setting so we decided to hang out at the pool for a while. It was pretty relaxing to sit in the cooling air. At about six we check into the hospitality room, which was just an empty hotel room, caught the end of the Monday night football back and showered the last of Hawaiian sand from between our toes.

The cab ride to the airport came next. I thin if this SID thing doesn't work out for me, I'm going to be a cabbie. It was amazing to watch the meeter rack up our bill. .40 cents every .8 of a mile. I was starting to wonder if we were going to have to ask him to stop by a gas station so we could use the ATM. We mad it and I think our total fare came to just under $35--a little more that the shuttle, but a lot quicker.

As we were checking in, both of us got messages saying that we needed to see a ticket agent and that the computers were unable to process our requests. I immediately flashed back to last year's travels home. But as it turns out they just "downgraded" our plane to one with fewer seats so we just had to see a ticket agent at the gate to get a seat assigned. That was fine, but when we still didn't have seats when they began to board the plane I started to get nervous again. Soon the agent called us up for our new boarding passes and we boarded the plane for about a 4-hour nap.

Now we are here in SLC and our flight was delayed an hour before we even got off the plane and it just got delayed again. I just hope we can maneuver a bit to get to Bemidji today. I miss everyone so much and would like to get home. So much for Salt Lake City being the most on-time airport in the US...

I'll keep you posted as we get things solidified.

Hawaii and Pearl Harbor

We have been having a great time. On Friday, I braved the City Bus and headed to Pearl Harbor alone. Brad gave good instructions and things went pretty much as expected. It was a slow ride with lots of stops and interesting people getting on board.

I got to Pearl Harbor and took the walk down to the visitor's center and ticket booth. After looking it over, I decided the movie, boat ride, and the viewing of the Arizona was all I was interested in. I got my ticket (free) and had about 2 hours to wait for my turn. I viewed all the displays, read about them, and walked around the Memorial for all those who lost their lives when the ship they were on was sunk in WW II. It has their names on the plaque along with the name of the ship, the commissioning of the ship date, and the date it was lost along with the battle history of the ship.

After walking around, I decided to get the head set to talk as I went on the tour. I found out that most of the things I had been looking at were discussed on the audio tour. At 11:15, I got in the movie and they took you through what lead up to and what happened on Dec 7, 1941. We were taken out of the theater and on to the boat (skipped by a young navy lady captain). We got out of the boat and unto the Memorial that is situated right on top of the Arizona that still has almost 1000 navy sailors in tombed. At one end was the names of all those killed on the Arizona.

It was a moving experience and one that I wish all of you kids especially, could experience and bring a real history lesson to life. I have way to many pictures of the day at Pearl Harbor that I would be happy to share with any of you.

It is now almost noon and we are about packed up. We will spent a little more time in the sun and then the long, long flight home to Christmas. It's hard to believe that it is almost Christmas. The Santa's hats on the beaches just don't do it for me.

It has been a great experience and really fun to meet the friends that Brad works with and to watch him do his thing at the games. (I was no help at all). Everyone treated me very nice and it was fun to be with them but it is time to get home.

See you all really soon!

Love you all,
Dad and Grandpa