We're home!

Here we are!  Terminal 5 at O'Hare, ready to leave together this time for Albania (Tuesday night).

(below) About 45 minutes earlier, wrangling all of our baggage onto carts to wheel our stuff up and down levels to get it from the parking lot to the check-in counter.  There is a fourth cart hidden from view/not pictured.

We love Turkish Airlines for a lot of reasons.  For one, they are the most affordable (9 times out of 10); secondly, the itinerary is fantastic for minimizing the effects of jetlag; third, they allow TWO pieces of free checked luggage; and fourth, we learned on this flight, they are very helpful for families that might need a little extra help!

We checked 4 tubs (because these are nearly impossible to buy in Albania and so helpful for storage!), 4 large duffles, and Reni's new AMBUCS tryke.  Though the box was technically over-sized, they graciously didn't charge us the oversize fee.

That left Nathan and I four rolling carry-on duffles and four backpacks (containing two laptops, my camera gear, and Reni's heavy matchbox car collection -- none of it was lightweight) PLUS Reni's stroller to take with us from gate to gate in the airport. Needless to say, once we got to our gates, we didn't leave the area to go explore!  And, we were generally pretty sweaty once we arrived.  While some folks might chide us for taking so much stuff (like an old lady did upon our arrival in Albania), we didn't have the energy to explain that we were most definitely going to use every single available piece of free luggage to take stuff for the next two years.

(Except for the two blocks of cheddar cheese I forgot and left in Mom's freezer, sniff, sniff).

Our flights were pretty uneventful.  We were the first to board on both occasions, which was really, really helpful!

We arrived Wednesday night, minus two boxes.  (It worked to our benefit because by the time we had completed the missing baggage claim, the X-ray scanner at customs had been shut down and we were spared having to load all of our luggage on the scanner for one last check before we were finally free to leave the airport). The next day we unpacked and discovered that all but the shoes we wore on the plane happened to be in those two missing boxes!  (They must have been the last thing we packed!)

Thankfully at 9:45PM on Thursday night we received word that our luggage had made it on the next evening's flight and someone would meet us down at our autostrada exit with the pieces.

There was a collective cheer when Nathan brought them into the apartment!  Thank you, everyone, who prayed for our journey!  He heard your prayers and blessed us with smooth travels.

Please continue to pray for our adjustment.  The heat is slowing us down, especially in the afternoons -- we are planning our house work and unpacking by which rooms are out of the direct sunlight at certain times of day.  While we had food in our freezer and pantry from May, we went out for groceries last night just to enjoy the AC in the car.  

In spite of the fact that the internet has been significantly slower than normal (I have yet to successfully send an e-mail with a single photo attachment), and the power is off for the 2nd time, it's good to be here. :-)