The Neverending Day

Madison and I made it to America after the longest day of traveling I've ever experienced.

We arrived at the airport in Frankfurt two hours before our flight left.  Then it was nine and a half long hours from Frankfurt to Detroit.  I watched lots and lots of TV shows on the little screen on the seatback in front of me to pass the time.  Madison learned that she doesn't like airplane food very much, or at least not airplane chicken curry.  We both learned that we just can't sleep on planes.

We had three and a half hours in Detroit before our flight left for Atlanta.  Some of that time was taken up by retrieving our checked luggage so we could got through Customs and then recheck our bags.  Then we had to go through the security screening again.  I kind of understood the Customs thing; this was our first port of entry into the United States.  However, we were screened in Frankfurt before we left.  How much could have changed while we were on the plane flying over the Atlantic Ocean?  Anyway, we took our shoes off, chugged the water that was left in Madison's water bottle so they wouldn't confiscate it, and got out our quart-sized bags of liquids.

Detroit has a really nice airport.  The terminal we were in was long and walking from one end to the other sounded nice after sitting for so long.  There were plenty of shops and restaurants and it was easy to find your way around.  We walked for a while just so we could figure out where things were.  It was wonderful to hear the announcement that they have a center for military members.  We found our way there (after eating some hot dogs for lunch/dinner) and enjoyed the comfortable seats, free snacks and drinks, and the quiet.  It turned out that our gate was at very end of the terminal and far, far away from the military center  where we had been waiting. I was grateful for the tram that connects one end of the terminal to the other so we didn't have to walk to whole way there.  At this point I was really starting to get tired and could tell that my body thought it was 10 pm not 4 pm.

We had to get a picture of this fountain.  It would be just a still plane of water and then the jets would shoot up either all together or one or two at a time so it looked like the water was dancing.  

The flight to Atlanta wasn't too long, just two hours and I tried to sleep, but it wasn't happening.  Instead I ate peanuts and had my favorite drink for airplane flights, ginger ale.  We found our way through the Atlanta airport.  From our arrival gate to the baggage claim.  From the baggage claim to the train that took us to the rental car center.  And finally from the rental car counter to the little Toyota Yaris that I'll be driving this week.  

The first time we stepped outside, when we were walking to the train, Madison immediately felt the humidity and said "wow."  Yep, the air in the south is really heavy and I don't think Madison remembers experiencing humidity before.  Just in the time it took to walk to our rental car in the parking garage and load up our bags I was sweating.  We're definitely going to have to get used to the weather here.  

It took us almost an hour, much longer than it should have, to drive to our hotel.  Unfamiliar car, unfamiliar roads, hitting every red light in between the airport and our hotel, and fear of driving at Germany speeds and getting a ticket combined to make me a slow, slow, slow driver.  Those red lights were driving me crazy!  Humongous intersections where we just waited and waited and the whole time I was thinking, why don't they just put in traffic circles?

We did finally make it and got settled into our room.  In honor of Jared, our first meal in America was at Wendy's.  Once we stopped moving we just couldn't stay awake any longer and we both crashed pretty early in the evening.  Now it's 5 am and I'm wide awake - here's to another long day.