Goodbye Nashville-TRAVEL DAY!

“You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So... get on your way!”  

This is a quote that a friend sent to me with a travel itinerary for Boston. She was so great to talk with her brother that lives there and figure out a plan for our 10 hour layover there (Thanks, Brooke!). Our first flight left Nashville at 9:55 a.m., so we planned to be at the airport by 7:15. We had such great friends that helped us get all of our bags there as well as all of our people. Several people also met us at the airport to send us off and to pray for us before we left. We got all checked in as well as our 11 bags and we headed toward security with five rolling carry-ons and five backpacks. Each of the kids also brought a small blanket with them.  The first great thing to happen was we made it through security with no problems! Yay! The second great thing to happen was the first leg we flew was through JetBlue and they offered to check any carry-ons for free at the gate and check them through to our final destination!! WOW! We checked four of our rolling carry-ons! We kept one because it had a change of clothes for everyone before we left Boston. 

We had great plans for Boston, but plans don't always work out the way you plan. Ha! We were told one thing about the hotel we planned to use (paying a day rate) to store our bags and take a shower before we left that night, but when we got there, they said we could no longer get the day rate (much cheaper) and we would have to pay for a night (at $350!). No way! So, we decided to carry our backpacks and go for it. Well, we had packed lots of books in our carry-ons to try and reduce some pounds from our suitcases. They were way too heavy for three children to be carrying around Boston all day. After taking the T to Boston Commons and walking around getting lunch and a fun ice cream, and seeing the ducks from "Make Way for Ducklings," we decided to head back to the airport and hang around there for six hours. We were able to get showers at the airport and everyone could change into fresh clothes and feel ready for the long flight over the pond. 

Our flight left Boston at 11:35 and we headed to Istanbul. The flight was about 9.5 hours. We then had a five hour layover in Istanbul before we headed to our final destination. We arrived at our new home at 1:00 a.m. on Thursday morning after 30 hours of travel! Whew! Everyone was worn out, but the kids had done very well (John had a hard time with all the walking, but he's 5.).  Our friend so graciously picked us up at 1:00 a.m. with all of our bags and five very tired people! We got to our temporary home (staying with friends) and all crashed! We were home!