It was time to leave the hotel and return to the Norfolk terminal to try to get on a flight that was listed for Rota, Spain/Sigonella, Italy/Bahrain/Dijbouti with a TBD amount of passengers. This time, instead of the terminal being packed with people, there were only about 10 other people - the 10 others, along with us, that didn't make the previous night's flight.
We went to the counter, and they explained that it wasn't likely that passengers were going to be on the flight because of the type of cargo that was being transported on the plane. We decided to wait out the next two hours, just in case, and made ourselves comfortable in the lobby, play area, and USO.
Ben and Brian were going to go to the car to look for Ben's kindle, but Brian scoured his suitcase first and found the missing Kindle. We also found Preston's charging cable at the very bottom of a bag. Prayers answered!
Welcome to the first day of 12th grade, 10th grade, 9th grade, 7th grade! It was not as momentous as the typical first day of school...new school supplies in backpacks, locker combinations, lunch money... This is very different, for all of us. The kids started working on their school classes, and some of them learned some valuable lessons in reading ALL of the instructions...very important for online classes. Life skills! ...and Preston drew some pictures...
We got some snacks from the USO, but then it closed because of the incoming hurricane. The flight time of 1240 came and went, as did the plane, leaving us with a wide open road of options for the next plan of action on our adventure.
The next step was to head to McGuire AFB as there were 3 upcoming flights to Ramstein Air Base in Germany. From there, we would take a bus to Aviano Air Base. Not only would this give us some other Space A options, it would get us out of the hurricane area. We started up the coast, proceeding over (and under) the Chesapeake Bay bridge tunnel. It's amazing how you can easily get over (and under) so much water. The next flights from McGuire were two flights headed out on Thursday and one more on Friday. But as we continued to check the facebook updates, one of the Thursday flights disappeared and the number of seats was not promising, 2 seats on one flight and 19 on the other. Brian called up to the terminal and our concern was verified. We decided to stop for lunch, regroup, and decide what to do.
Brian has frequently referred to this journey as our "Wilderness Journey" much like Lehi traveled in the wilderness with his family. We have many parallels...we were fine and comfortable, now it's not so comfortable and easy; we are heading into uncertainty, but feel God's guiding hand in our lives, there is some murmuring along the way. I wish we had a Liahona. I guess we sort of do with our GPS, but we tell it where to direct us instead of it giving us direction. After lunch, we left the kids in the car and walked a little way off to pray by ourselves for our next steps. I have felt strong impressions to look towards the temple, and this time was no different. I felt that we should travel toward the Philidelphia temple, worship there, and seek more direction. As we traveled, Brian looked for airline tickets to Rome and seemed to find a good option. We made a quick stop at Dover Air Force Base to see if they had lodging for the night, but they didn't. The kids got a few minutes of playing an the most incredible playground while we did further research into flights. So much to consider...what's the best city to fly out of? New York? Boston? Washington DC? Baltimore? Philadelphia? What's the best day? Is it better to fly into Rome or Milan? Is it cheaper to fly into London and then take a cheap European flight to Rome? (No, it's not, just in case you're wondering.)
We stopped at a Lowes along the way to use the rest of a gift card we still had. $25 worth of snacks and candy was enjoyed after we arrived at our hotel for the night near New Castle, Delaware.
We set the kids to work, eating snacks and watching TV or being on their laptops while we made a game plan for the next steps. We felt good about purchasing airline tickets for a flight this weekend on Norwegian Airlines for a great price. After a couple of calls to the airline, just to make sure about luggage and pricing, and some technical difficulties, we got our confirmation email. We are on our way!! I'm so glad we have a few days to figure out our luggage weights and make sure we're good with that.
I had a hard time sleeping; I'm so excited but also nervous. This is the life we want to live...and we're doing it! Right now! With our kids! What a blessing.
