And, we’re off! After all the packing and trip prep we are so excited to start our family portion of the trip together! I only got about 5 hours of sleep, but at least we are done with the packing checklists and on our way. Let the adventures begin!
The morning was a little chaotic getting out the door. The first thing Brooke said to me when she woke up was “my tummy really hurts!” which is not a good thing to hear before a full day of flying. Luckily, she seemed fine 10 minutes later, so it was a false alarm. I also randomly found a tick in our bedroom which freaks me out. Then, just as I thought I was done cleaning, I spilled a whole box of cereal on the floor so I had some extra last minute sweeping and vacuuming to do!
Al came to our house to drop us off at the airport which was a huge favor to ask. He endured two of his grandchildren very loudly and enthusiastically chatting his ear off at 6:30 in the morning and then he drove our car back to our house. Thanks again, Al, for everything you do for us!
Flying out of Manchester with a layover was a good choice (instead of flying direct from Logan)! Manchester is such a low-key airport. We were done with security within a few minutes, even though Beckett’s fruit/veggie pouches always get flagged. I guess they are technically 3.5oz instead of 3oz, but the TSA agent was nice about it and let us keep them.
The flights were a breeze thanks to the coloring app on the iPads and some TV shows for the kids. Brooke also read another whole chapter book (the first of many on this trip)! We surprised her with the next Magic Tree House book which coincidentally takes place in California so she was excited to learn some facts before visiting her next new state.
After about 6-7 hours of flying and many more hours spent in the airport, we finally made it to San Francisco and found Jay and Dan! It was exciting to see them, exchange stories from our day, and start our trip! Dan is flying back home later tonight. Thank you, Dan, for keeping Jay company on the drive! I’m know he appreciated the help with the driving and I’m sure it was a lot more fun than 5 days of driving solo cross-country!
We drove to Libby and Ari’s house where we will stay for the next 3 nights. Libby is my best friend from childhood and we’ve been friends for 27 years if I’m doing the math correctly! I finally got to meet her adorable 1-year-old twin boys! Libby and Ari had a nice spread of fruit, crackers, and cheese set up which we enjoyed on their balcony and they prepared a delicious meal for dinner, which was really nice after a long day of traveling!
As another bonus, the kids went to bed much easier than we expected, so we had a couple hours to catch up with Libby/Ari in a quiet house before we went to bed.
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