The Adventure has Begun!

Well we are in Russia! And it has been adventurous already. We began our trip on a coach bus in Madison, WI around 7:15am on Saturday (keep in mind this entry is going to involve time zone changes). Our first stop was O'Hare airport in Chicago, but around 9:30 am we got a call from our travel agent that we had gotten bumped off the cruise ship in Sochi and would be staying in a hotel instead. This was not entirely a surprise as we had just heard of two other families that this had happened to just the day before, however, it didn't make my husband happy. After we got to our gate at O'Hare, he spoke with the travel agent again and was able to get some clarification and we decided this might not be terrible and we would just need to be flexible.

Wesley, happy traveler on first flight

Carter, Chicago to NYC

Our flight to New York from Chicago was uneventful, but the New York airport was where the "fun" began. We were told we needed our boarding passes from the Russian airline we were flying to Moscow and we were to get them in New York. Well this meant we needed to walk a bunch, take several elevators AND escalators, get on a train (which we took going the wrong way at first), and go out of the secured area.  We checked in and had to get into a long security line and of course we picked the slowest line. Then when we finally got to our gate, we had to go through security again where they opened up and went through all of our carry-on bags. We were told by some nice Canadian travelers that the TSA agents were removing all food from carry-ons, so before we got into this last security line, we sat down and ate a bunch of candy and drank some water(my kids liked this part a lot!). Then we went through, but they did not remove anything. A bit frustrating. After going through

Driving the air train in NYC

this security at the gate our 3 hour lay-over was just about done, and we had to sit in our secure spot that was far too small and really hot! All this security delayed our flight by about a half hour. This was immediately a concern for us because we were to get a connecting flight to Sochi in Moscow and only had about an hour to get that connection. But there was nothing we could really do about it so we just tried to enjoy the flight.

Made it to the Big Apple

We flew Aeroflot, and it was great! The crew dressed like the crew from Pan Am, hats,white gloves and all! We got two meals! Not snacks, meals! I had fish both times and it was yummy! Each seat had a tv and you could choose what to watch, from kids movies and tv shows, to newer movies and documentaries, it was great for us all. And of course we slept, too. Then with about 45 minutes left of the flight, the flight attendant came to us and said we needed to be ready to get off the plane immediately when we landed because they were going to make sure we got our connection. We started to pack stuff up and get shoes on and my youngest son, Wesley, began to vomit. A lot. He used a couple of the bags. We grabbed a few extra just in case, and had him carry one with him when Olga, our flight attendant came and got us. There were 8 of us total on the plane going to the same connection and they had us move to the door before the plane even stopped. Then they changed doors and had us walk through first class. During this time Wesley got a bit separated from me and my husband, Donnie, and my brother in law, Pete was with him

and he started to vomit again! Pete ended up carrying Wesley and getting a little vomit on him, while we ran through the Moscow airport with our crew of folks trying to get the connection. We were lead by several Russian officials that yelled out "Sochi",  waved their hands to show us where to go and encourage speed, got us through customs,  zipped us through security like you wouldn't believe, and held Carter's hand to get him to the gate. During this time, Carter is yelling how fun this is because it is like we are on the show The Amazing Race. We got some looks, but we made the flight! And a friend. I ended up sitting next to a gentleman that was in our racing group and his wife is one of the doctors for the hockey teams! We chatted quite a bit on our way to Sochi.

You might think, well that was an adventure!  And it was, but there was more. When we got off the plane in Sochi we discovered that my father in law's luggage did not make it. He filled out all the necessary paperwork and we headed by train to our accommodations.  My family went to our hotel, and Pete and Wally (father in law) went to the cruise ship hoping they still had a room there.  When we checked in at our hotel, they informed us that our reservation is until the 15th. This is a bit of a problem considering we don't leave until the 20th. We are still working on this. Our rooms are nice. We needed two to fit us all in beds as the rooms are a bit smaller than in the US.  The water is clean, toilets flush, and the hotel is finished. We were pleased. But hungry. So one last adventure before bed.  A trip out of the hotel to find food. The first thing we spotted? McDonalds! Tired and needing something fast, we went straight there. You could order and  on a computer! They were super busy, so  Donnie went to the counter to order by pointing to a menu as it was all in Russian, while the boys and I found a spot to sit outside. Yup, we sat outside at about 8:30 at night without jackets on our first night in Russia eating happy meals and cheeseburgers from McDonalds. We are American!