One LONG Day

On May 6,  T-Bob and I left home to travel half-way around the world to visit our uncle, aunt, and cousins in the Philippines.   They all knew that I was coming, but T-Bob was a surprise to our cousins.  We were both excited and nervous as we started the journey.   We had been keeping the secret for about four months, and we were ready to have it shared.

 The day before we left was full of packing, making sure the suitcases were filled to fifty pounds but no more.   I ended up having lots of extra space due to my surprise travel companion.  Thankfully Grandpa and Grandma had more things to send and my unfinished quilt was thrown in to fill up the rest of the space.

 Waiting at the Cleveland airport for our flight to Denver.   We had no problems getting through security and had an hour to wait.  

I forgot to take a picture in Denver.  We took turns walking and watching the luggage.   After a pleasant layover we boarded the plane for Tokyo.

One of the many features of the screen on the back of each seat was showing the trip progress.  It was neat, but you wouldn't want to watch it for very long unless you wanted the flight to seem unending.

The plane was always in the sunlight, though the windows and lights were dimmed to make the passengers feel like sleeping.    

Because we were headed for Japan, the flight progress also had screens in Japanese.

Almost there!

The other lady in our row was also headed to Manila to visit family.   I was very thankful for her because we were able to ask her questions about the traveling process and follow her through parts of the Tokyo airport.

Ready for the last leg of the flight!

On the last flight we both slept quite a bit and prepared to enter hot and humid Manila!  We discussed the fact that it felt like we had just left home that morning, while in reality it had really been about 27 hours. 

We quickly got through immigration, found our luggage, and walked through customs.  We prepared to round the corner and after watching me a minute, Katrina realized I was not alone.  The surprise was complete!  She was so excited!  

They are two happy cousins doing many things together...

...school, games, walks, swimming, and much more.

~JoAn