Yes, I am going. Yes, I think I will be fine. The odds are ever in my favor. Seriously. I was more likely to be harmed driving to the airport in Kansas City than to be the victim of a terrorist attack during my European travels. And I keep reminding myself of that, because yes, I am frightened. But I've never been one to shy away from a challenge. As most who know me will attest, the moment someone tells me it's not possible to do something, I'm going to find a way to do it. I'm not an adrenaline junky. I don't take unnecessary risks. I take calculated cautious risks that should result in a beneficial payoff. Is this trip a risk? Yes. But it's no more of a risk than I'm willing to take to see my oldest birdie at a university she loves on an adventure of a lifetime and make lifelong memories with her with a very high probability that I will return to my nest to see and be with my boy birdies for the spring and summer. And with all of us for as long as the good Lord is willing.
So, what's the plan, Nan? Well, let me tell you! After organizing the house sitter, the dog sitter, the cat sitter, stopping the mail, the milk, and making sure that the bills were all paid up while I was gone, I picked up the house-for the most part-and caught a ride with my mom to kci. Yesterday it was 75 or so degrees-until it wasn't. This morning it snowed. It was absolutely imperative that I get to Boston because that is officially the start of the international itinerary. So the weather has been on my mind a LOT. But I am typing this blog entry on board the plane to Boston much to my relief.
To get to Europe, I found a $775 ticket on Icelandair that got me to London, flies me out of Glasgow Scotland and into Rekyevek for a five day "layover" before returning to Boston. If I booked it out of KCI, I had to fly first to Seattle, then back to London-uh, No! Besides being $400 more expensive it was also 10 hours more in a plane. Flying out of Denver was an option I considered, but I was worried about the weather when I booked back in Feb and I'm so glad I didn't chose Denver because there was a huge whiteout blizzard that shut the airport down! So, I got myself to Boston on an 11:30 am Southwest flight with a free ticket (BONUS!). The only down side is that I have a six hour layover in Boston. If the weather were better, I would consider going into the city, but I'm not tempting fate. I will be making do with people watching and eating.
The next leg is the start of the Icelandair flights. It leaves Boston at 9:30pm-just as the Jayhawks are playing unfortunately. But don't worry-I have my red sweater, blue coat, and Jayhawks gems on! I'm hoping the plane has wifi, I can stream it, and it doesn't go into overtime because I'll need some sleep.
The flight will land in Rekyivek at 6:30 am (1:30 am central) and I have another hour and a half layover. I will try to start adjusting to the time difference then with a stiff cup of coffee and breakfast. Then it is a two and a half hour flight to London, landing at 11:30 local time ( 10:30 am Iceland time-I think, and 5:30 am central time-I think.)
From London Heathrow, I'll take an express train into London city center to a large station called Paddington (like the bear) where I have a bit of a wait-probably an hour-to catch the 2 pm local time (8 am central-I think) train to Exeter where I should arrive at 4:30pm local time (10:30 am central). For those keeping track-I needed to arrive at KCI an hour before my 11:30 am flight which meant I left my house at 9:45 am central. I will literally travel for 24 hours with choppy bits of sleep in four different time zones.
Once I arrive, we will celebrate good Friday with traditional fish and chips...and an early bedtime for mama Bird!
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