Friday, August 24, 2012

Bon Voyage...

So, I decided to blog about our wonderful trip to France in small increments. This way I get to upload more pictures (I want to put up all of them... and I probably will), write more about what we did, and provide more records for myself later.

It took a little longer than expected to make it to our final destination and the entire time I kept thinking of this scene from Recess: School's Out:

"Bon Voyage TJ!" We are on our way!

First, Joe and I flew from Tri-Cities, WA to Vegas - A two hour plane ride. Elise was gracious enough to pick us up from the Vegas airport and take us home to where the cats and the torrid heat greeted us. We soon met up with Momma and Pappa Meservy - man were we excited!

The next day, we flew from Vegas to Phoenix, AZ. We hurried to make our connection to Charlotte, NC, but to no avail. This third plane had technical difficulties and then when that was taken care of TSA decided to remove all of the plane's luggage because of a potential situation. We were grounded for about 3 hours and would miss our connection to Frankfurt. Now, of course none of us where happy about this, however, I tried to tell myself that at least we didn't have to walk across America to Charlotte and then sail to Europe. Isn't technology amazing? 

"Sitting in a chair in the sky."

When we finally made it to Charlotte, US Airways put us up in 3 hotel rooms and booked us flights for the next day with a more expensive airline. Cha-ching! 

Dad, Mom, Elise, Joe, and I in front of a statue at the Charlotte airport that Sunday.

That morning a fire alarm went off at the hotel; it was a false alarm. We also all gave devotionals, which were beautiful, and bore testimony of the Savior, because we missed church.

Then we were off! Before we knew it we were on our way to Munich in the biggest plane I've ever seen! I was so excited that I couldn't sleep. There was far too much to do and see. This plane had a downstairs... (okay... that may have been where the bathrooms were, but there was still a downstairs)! And there were tons of free movies... first time I've experienced that one! How fun! But most importantly, we were flying over the ocean. A true first for me. 

The sunrise as seen from my little window.

When arriving in Munich I went through customs for the very first time and Elise and I got our first passport stamps! The Munich airport looked very posh to me. Tons of stores and free hot chocolate! I may have gotten a cup or two.

Me and Elise being legit.

By this time it was also officially me and Joe's first year anniversary!

Joe's Tom Selleck mustache. The handsome devil.

Me and Joe on our anniversary in Munich. Père Meservy photo bombing.

We were all exhausted, but in a few short hours we would make it to Lyon, France! Goodbye, America! Hellooooo France!

The fam plus the missionaries. We are a good looking bunch if I do say so myself.

The next day we met up with Will, Kristen, and Evie, and picked up Ned! And this, my friend, is the day when I finally got to meet my brother.