Our Journey to Haiti: Day Three

Jody and I took turns last night driving the last leg to Ft. Lauderdale.  We made it and the boys slept right through.  Praises, praises!

We pulled into town around 7am and started right into all the chores that we had to do before we could relax at the hotel. 

Here is a run down of our crazy day:

~Unload luggage from trailer and place in bag check at hotel (it was too early for us to actually check in to our room).  I played ring around the tiny drop off circle with all the cars that were coming for valet parking while Jody took trips inside unloading all our baggage.  I feel really comfortable pulling a trailer now…just so long as I don’t have to back up.  That is just scary for everyone involved.

~Drive to Uhaul dealer to drop off trailer.  Find out they are full and can’t take anymore drop offs.  Drive to another Uhaul store but they don’t open to 9 am.  Decide breakfast is most important on agenda anyways.

~Breakfast at Ihop.  Here are pics of the boys drawings on the kids menus.  They wanted to me take pictures of their works (they know their momma doesn’t save stuff.)

~Drive back to Uhaul and drop off trailer.  We were happy to be free of this bad boy.  Especially since we are driving routes based on Google Maps and going down plenty of routes that end up a bust…and I already mentioned our backing abilities.  Not great.  Bye-bye Trailer!

~Next we went to the airport to pick up our car rental.  I had a momentary freak out moment as I pulled out to follow Jody.  Traffic was bad and for some reason driving a full-sized car feels like a roller skate with makeup mirrors for side-view mirrors after driving the Land Cruiser (aka The Bus).  I was having a claustrophobic moment but it passed fairly quickly! =)

~Stop at a Wal-mart Supercenter to get oil changed in The Bus, but it doesn’t have auto service so the boys and I get out and play with toys in the store while Jody finds a place to get oil changed.

~Move the boys and everything left in The Bus and put it in the rental car. 

~Drive both cars to the dock in Palm Beach about 1 hour away.  Give over keys to The Bus and pray it actually lands in Haiti someday for us to pick up.

~Drive back to Ft. Lauderdale.  Check into hotel around 2pm (FINALLY!).  Eat sandwiches in the hotel room then get ready to play and relax!  We have been waiting for this all day.  Yes, we let them jump on the bed and act like wild heathens for a bit.  They earned it!

Pool Time…the water was a bit chilly but still fun!

Chilly boys put in a warm bath.  Enjoying warm running water one last time.  At least for awhile.

Scrubbed and ready for a little movie and play time.

Then finally off to bed.  IN a bed.  Glorious!

We talked through this day many times before making our trip.  Lots of planning has helped but mostly I have felt carried by YOUR prayers.  Thanks for being part of our journey before the journey.  We leave for Haiti tomorrow morning.  Our flight leaves at 6:15am Eastern Time and  we should land in Haiti around 8:30am.  We are looking forward to being home finally.

Please pray that Haiti will feel like home quickly! =)