Day 1 Travel

We got to DC on time & go to the hotel by 11pm ish.  The big news event of the day was a "praise" and an "oops".  The praise was that the flight attendant allowed usto check our bags all the way thru so that we wouldn't have to claim them in DC & lug them to hotel and back.  The "oops" was that the flight attendant didn't sticker our bags & boxes to the final destination but to the stop off in Uganda that was on our route.... so our bags were stickered to come off in Uganda (look up how far away Uganda is from Rwanda)... NOT what we wanted to happen!

Interesting people met so far:  Anne from Cincinnati & trying to get there but her flight was cancelled.  She was going home from a 2yr teaching assignment & we chatted with her in the 1hr line we stood in for United Customer Service in \chicago airport to discuss getting our bags re-stickered to KGL (Kigali Rwanda) instead of Entebbe Uganda (ETT). 
This hour long pursuit was fruitless as the United agent determined it would be better to wait until we came back to the airport in the morning for the DC to Ethiopia flight.  So, the "oops" was still unresolved.

On the plane ride from Chigaco to DC, Sherri had the window & I had the aisle & when we got to our seats, there was a large man sitting right in-between us.  Sherri and I shared a "look" bc our hope was the seat would be empty or filled with a small person.  But, Steve turned out to be a pleasant seatmate & we chatted off and on during the flight.  We discovered he was also from AR (Arkadelphia) & was currently living in DC with his wife & 2 small children.  He was ex-military & gave me tips on international travel.

From the DC airport, we waited longer than expected (note, this will be a theme in my notes regarding travel to Rwanda) for our ride to the hotel--the Embassey Suites.  We got our second surprise of the day as we checked into our hotel & learned not only did we share a room, but a bed also!!!  Now, those of you who know me well are giggling to yourselves at this point bc you know this stretched me WAY out of my comfort zone!  The sharing the room business in itself was on level of stretching, but the sharing the bed... whew!  Thankfully, and as I continue to praise God for, Sherri is a quiet, still sleeper, so we made it through the night and began our trip to Africa well rested.