6:30 a.m. The Richardson family has loaded all five members, and all 14 pieces of luggage into the lovely 1995 Saab, and is headed for Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport.
7:00 a.m. Bags are checked, and family says goodbye to Eli for 2 months.
8:20 a.m. Wheels up for Rome.
9:55 a.m. Arrive Rome and begin the navigation of this monstrosity of an airport with the three kids. Things are going really well so far.
10:45 a.m. Arrive at the check-in counter for the Rome-Atlanta flight. Stand in line for 45 minutes to get boarding passes. Graham is having a tough time, and lets out several blood-curdling screams. We're really having fun now!
11:45 a.m. Board Flight 241, a 10+ hour flight to Atlanta.
Over the next 10 hours -- watch movies, eat, take Graham to the bathroom approximately 9 times. Sheer amazement at how well Graham handles a very long flight, by anyone's standards, let alone a 10-year old little boy with autism. Wes and Virginia sit on their own, and manage themselves beautifully. My little world travelers!
5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Arrive Atlanta. Experience true culture shock in the Atlanta airport as we are forced to deal with the oh-so-friendly folks at TSA. Get baggage, discover one of our suitcases has busted open and is broken, re-check lugggage. Schelp through the Atlanta airport to our Terminal. Kids are tired. Mom is tired. Everyone continues to get high marks, though, for their positive attitudes (well, except, perhaps, for Mom). Get something truly disgusting to eat at Checkers (Chick-Fil-A was in another terminal, and I didn't have the heart to force the kids to walk any further just for a chicken sandwich). Head to the gate, where Virginia climbs into the stroller and falls asleep.
8:44 p.m. Board flight for Nashville. Sit on the tarmack for an extra 30 minutes while the pilot waits for the green light to take off.
8:45 p.m. Central Time. Arrive Nashville. My friend Caroline picks us up and takes us to my parent's house, where we unload things, see my sister for the first time in more than a year, and crash.
A very long day. But, we're back.
What troopers you are! Glad you made it through such an arduous journey unscathed.
ReplyDelete