Ready or not, here I come!

So last time, I left you hanging as I was on the first leg of my trip, on my way through Dallas to San Antonio. In Dallas I had to change planes, but in SA I had to change airlines. Ugh. I knew I would need help with my almost 150 (!) lbs of luggage, and I spent so much time looking for one of those rent-a-cart thingies that by the time I got to baggage claim, the security guy was scanning the bar code on my luggage tags as "abandoned" luggage! :)

Now here's the really great "mission trip experience" part of my trip. After I trudged up the elevator with all my luggage and lugged them (now I know why it's called LUGGage!) to the counter to re-check in with the new airline, I scanned my ID at the little self-checkin kiosk, and the machine gave me some sort of error. I gave a blank stare to the man behind the desk, who was obviously not planning on moving out of his comfy chair, and he said, "Just scan your ID in the machine."

So I tried it again. Um, nope. Nada.

Sigh. He was actually going to have to do something.

He took my ID and typed something into his computer. Wait....Wait....Wait.... More typing. Wait....Wait.... And then he says, "You don't have a reservation."

Um....EXCUSE ME?!? Oohhhh, yeesssss, I DO have a reservation, Mr. Airline Man, you better check again.

More typing. More waiting.

"Nope, no reservation."

I dug my e-ticket confirmation out of my backpack and handed it to him. He tried again and finally said, "AH! Here it is!" I let out a sigh the size of Texas and melted in a puddle on the counter. Thank goodness!

But the drama wasn't over yet. Oh no.

Mr. Airline Man: "Oh.....hmmm. Wait...." Long, exaggerated silence. "I see your reservation, but there's no money."

Me: "Excuse me?"

M.A.M.: "There's no money. The reservation isn't paid."

Me: "Um....EXCUSE ME?!? Oohhhh, yeesssss, it IS paid, Mr. Airline Man, you better check again." (I only pretended to say it out loud.)

After what felt like an eternity, he finally tried some other number and found the payment. My GOSH! For a minute I thought I might pass out from relief.

Another jaunt through security and I was on my way to Washington DC! The flight was 3 1/2 hours and pretty cramped. We arrived in DC a little after 9 pm and began the long, looong trek to baggage claim. Dulles airport is gigantic! It's like a whole city by itself, complete with its own super-sonic-speed subway.



When I picked up my luggage, I discovered that - having not even really started my trip yet - one of my suitcases was broken! The biggest one, of course. Both of the front legs were broken off and one wheel was broken. Sigh. I strapped one of my smaller suitcases to the front of the broken one, threw my 22 lb. backpack on my back, and started looking for pickup area 2H, where the hotel shuttle would pick me up. I walked back and forth. And back. And forth. And. Back. Dragging the equivalent of a grown man behind me.

After spending $4 in San Antonio to rent a cart for 3 1/2 minutes, I SO did not want to pay for a sky cap. But 150 lbs of luggage and a dead weight suitcase that wouldn't roll finally got the best of me. I broke down and finally asked someone, "Will you help me?" He whipped all my luggage up on his cart lickety split and took me right to 2H in a jiffy. It was far. I never would have made it without his help.

Glory and hallelujah, I finally arrived at the hotel, accidentally tipped the shuttle driver $10, and met two fellow team members right away in the lobby. They took pity on me were so nice, offered to help me with my ridiculously heavy, broken luggage, and invited me to eat dinner with them. God is good to me. :)

I had had not one minute of sleep in over 36 hours. One would think a normal person would have gone straight to bed after dinner, but noooo - crazy ME stayed up until 1:00 a.m. trying to download songs and movies on my (borrowed) iPod. I fell into bed practically asleep before my head hit the pillow, and was amazed that I woke up 10 minutes before my 6:30 alarm. Five hours of sleep, total, between Monday and Thursday (I didn't sleep a wink on the overseas flight, either). Only God.

But now? Now I must sleep. I promise I'll get to the Uganda part soon! :)

To be continued....