So we hiked all over. Amazing how much more comfortable we are there now.
We walked several blocks and finally arrived at the chocolate factory;) yum!! (not the restaurant, an actual factory that makes chocolates locally).
We found the source of the cotton floating all over the city. The ground looked like snow had fallen around the trees. Amazing!
We walked to the Hotel Krasnoyarsk and had dinner at the New York restaurant... Little did we realize how ironic that last meal would be, as we ended up stranded in New York city for almost 30 hours!!
After skyping with Eli for a little while, we got everything packed up and ready to go...
We started our day Friday morning at 4, finishing up packing last minute things, and skyped just a few minutes with Eli, assuring Him we would see him the next evening. Yelena and Serge took us to the airport.
The sunrise was gorgeous!! Once we got there, it was pretty smooth... We got there just minutes before the rush;)
Nothing very notable on our first leg of the flight.
It wasn't as hard to leave as I thought it would be... I am sure others were praying for us, I could feel them!! I think knowing exactly when we are going back and having an itinerary helps tremendously!
They served breakfast on this flight... Very good omelet;)
Our layover in Moscow was also wonderfully mundane and uneventful. We ate at TGIF, had time to just sit and relax.
We saw Galina again... The woman who had been so kind to us as we waited for the stroller on our way here.
Our transatlantic flight was also smooth and uneventful. We got the bulkhead seats right behind first class. Nice to stretch out;) I could put my feet up on the wall in front of me to stretch my calfs and be more comfortable;) we had an outlet and were able to charge my phone;) the movies on demand were very nice as well;)
Then the real adventure began!!
We arrived 45 minutes early at JFK, thinking we had plenty of time;) little did we know!!
We deplaned and they stopped us in the hall just after leaving the plane. It was 93 outside and this little hall reflected the heat. They came through and pulled people with connecting flight leaving in 2.5 hours or less. It was a challenge for us, but I really felt for the folks that didn't speak English.
After about 1/2 hour-45 min, they came through with water for folks. But what a marvelous conversation began between us and the business man behind us.
His sister was adopted from India when he was about 15. It was very interesting to hear his story. AND, for the majority of our wait, we were across from one of the big fans in the hall. What a blessing!
They finally started taking 20-30 people at a time into the immigration control room so we could go through passport control.
That line was at least 1 1/2 hours. We were still in front of the nice business man and spoke with the 2 in front of us...
Here is the cool part... Several of these businessmen that travel internationally have hundreds of thousands of miles that they will never use. We got to talking about our adoption with them, they mentioned the cost and we all agreed that airfare was a large portion.
They would love to be able to donate their miles for families to help with expense of travel!!! And they know many other business men. We brainstormed a bit that a nonprofit organization would be a great way to hook up families with air miles. Maybe even convince Delta to waive the fee for transfer if used for this purpose.
Anyone have interest in spearheading that?
We finally got through the line there and picked up our bags. As we were dropping them off for the next leg, we realized they had only checked them through to JFK. So we got in another line (right up front) and soon discovered our flight was cancelled. What???!? Well, there was a huge thunderstorm with lightening and hail, so our flights were cancelled.
The man helping us was very nice. He rerouted us to Boston to Detroit to Pittsburgh... Arrive at 11:58pm. Yeah!! Still get home today!!
So off we went... Racing to gate 1... only to find 5 min after we arrived that our new flight to Boston was also cancelled. So off we went again to the service center.
We were told to use the phone bank to call delta reps to reassign flights. So we waited in that line.
The woman on the phone was very nice. The earliest she could get us in was 5:30pm the next day. When we said to go ahead, she said that since the airport had already changed our first ticket, it was blocking her, we'd have to have agent there fix it.
So we stood in another line... For about 2 hours. We were able talk to the woman behind us. She was very upset with the cancellations. Her daughter was graduating from medical school and she was going to miss the graduation.
She got a miracle!! They were able to work her Into some connecting flights so she could get there by midnight. We were so excited she got her miracle. We were hugging on each other and a few tears were shed.
We had several other wonderful conversations with our wonderful new line friends. We won't see each other ever again, but the memories will be there forever!
We finally made it up to the agent. She was so nice!! All the workers were nice and friendly trying to help a lot of disgruntled passengers make the best of the situation. She tried a few things, but no connections were available, so we got booked for tickets the next evening.
Delta was very kind to provide a voucher for the cab (who said 10 minutes) to take us to the hotel. We went outside, relieved to finally be moving and on our way. And proceeded to wait for almost 1 1/2 hours:(
It was close to a breaking point for us. We were so tired and ready to be home!!
We finally arrived at the Garden Inn and were able to relax and let down!! We skyped with Eli... How disappointed we were to not be home and hug and kiss our son!!!
We were able to order by phone from out from a local take out, which was good as there were no eating places close. We were able to get close to the airport, only about 10 min away, in a very residential section. The driver told us that it was a 2 hour drive to downtown for folks that decided to stay there to see the sights during their layover!!
If we had stayed there, I'm sure we would have gone to see something... But the sleep was wonderful!! We finally crashed about 10:30... And I didn't get up till almost 11:30 the next day.
After a 5-10 minute drive to the airport, we entered the building.. Only to be told to follow the line of people walking past to go to a shorter check in line.
I think there were about 30-40 folks in the procession. Ah!!! It was nice to get a little sunshine;) She marched us around the outside of the airport, up and down ramps until we had gone from the North gate to the East gate... Just across from where Tim and I had waited for close to 90 minutes the night before.
I looked at Tim and said wasn't it just like God to redeem the unhappy memory of the place and replace it with a fresh And better one?
We left a dingy huge holding tank area... Canvases stretched across the ceiling with hoses running down from them for leaking when it rains... Inadequate air conditioning for the number of folks inside (read-- Hot and muggy) and huge lines, and entered a spacious more modern looking area whose line was mostly the group we followed! It was cool and more spacious... Very, very different. It was as if on every front God was showing us a new side to JFK.
We had about 4.5 hours to kill before our flight... Hopefully we'll have our airline tickets soon!! I was actually able to make contact with the lady that booked our tickets for Eli.
After lunch at a swanky little restaurant, sharing yet another wonderful conversation, we were able to relax and catch up on mail and have a little productivity.
We are rapidly approaching Pittsburgh and family now... Even though still tired.. The excitement is beginning to grow that we can actually give these hugs and kisses we've been holding in for soooo long!!
Thank you God for guiding our steps and placing us exactly where you want us at the perfect moment!! We pray for all the folks we met with so many different stories, thank you for the friendly faces of the Delta workers dealing with so many disgruntled people... And most of all, thank you for getting us home safe and sound!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
No comments:
Post a Comment