D-Day Invasion- "Strange"-ly Imminent!! TRIP REPORT IS UP!!

[Lady Lallie]

I'm so glad you made it there safely!

 

[glennbo123]

Hey, you're missing out on some good chapter titles here...maybe when you write the mini TR.

One steppe at a time.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single steppe.
That's one small steppe for (a) man....

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Holy shmoly! Well, glad are there safe and sound ...but boy oh boy, I must have done some major skimming not to know you are there for Andrew's graduation. Hope you all get caught up on sleep and enjoy Graduation Day.

You sure know how leave folks hangin'...

Time for you all to have fun!!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Hey, you're missing out on some good chapter titles here...maybe when you write the mini TR.

One steppe at a time.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single steppe.
That's one small steppe for (a) man....

Talk about clever!!!

 

[maroo]

Well, since I had planned to do a whole mini-report on this Road Trip of ours, I won't give ALL the details now, but I did want to check in and give the major highlights of how our travels have been so far.

6:45 PM- Our passports with single entry, 2-week Kyrgyz visas arrived at our door.

7:00 PM- We drive out of the driveway, and head out on what is "normally" a 16 hour trip.

9:30- Our first potty break (we only took 3 that we were only devoted to potty, giving us a new record!)

2:00 AM- Mike HAD to stop for some shut eye. He found us a little tractor road beside a wheat field, and laid his mat and sweatshirt out to sleep. We crumpled our bodies into contorted shapes and tried to sleep as well.

4:00 AM- He jumps back in the car, says he's too cold, and feels rested enough to continue on.

4:30 AM- The first light of dawn appears.

5:30- A blazing, amazing sunrise to greet the day with

9:00 AM- Mike needs another stop to get some rest. After 40 minutes of eating breakfast which consited of cookies, chips, apples and water, we set off again. By now, we've not eater dinner the night before, nor breakfast. No one, not even the little ones, are hungry, so we press on.

11:00 AM- It is becoming apparent that it is likely we are going to miss the Awards Ceremony part of the evening, but will make the picnic.

2:00 PM - I texted Andrew telling him we will NOT make it by 3:00, but will arrive sometime between 4 and 5.

3:30 PM- We stop by the road once more time to change our clothes and put on a fresh coat of deodorant, slather on a bit of makeup, and we're good to go.

4:30 PM- We park at the school, and walk in.............




Just as they were singing the last song of the evening. For those of you who might know it, we sang, "Blessed be the Name of the Lord" a great chorus of remembering that God is good during BOTH times that things are going great, and ALSO that He is good when things don't go as planned. Providential? You be the Judge. Things had definitely NOT gone as planned, but He carried us through, and we rejoice!


We did not make it in time, but we arrived in one piece, were NOT stopped EVEN ONCE by the road police (not even for a document check), we saw not even ONE accident (which are almost always head on, and unbelievably horrific), and the bickering was kept to a surprsingly small amount.

In fact, Andrew did not get an award anyway; he was not at the top of his class, not the super athlete, etc.... so we ended up really not missing anything. Instead, we arrived JUST IN TIME for the picnic afterwards. Andrew's housemom made our family dinner, and after missing dinner the night before, AND breakfast AND lunch today, we were famished and couldn't have appreciated any meal more!! It was the end of a...



LONG, LONG day that started at 7:00 the night before. What should have been a 16 hour road trip, took us 21 hours, including 3 hours of stops. Ideally, and as we've done MANY times before, we like to break the tirp up into two days and sleep a whole night halfway IN A HOTEL. We are BONE tired and need a rest.

Unfortunately, tomorrow is a full day of graduation prep (the girls and I will help with the party prep) and I need to get to bed.

I took many fantastic pix of our trip across the Steppe today, and I"ll be sharing them with you after I get back.

Hope you are all well!!

Awesome update!

I am so glad you guys have made it safely.

Remind me sometime to tell you how special that song is to me...

Here are the lyrics if anyone is interested.


Blessed Be Your Name - by Matt Redman

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

Have a great trip!!! Thanks for the updates!

 

[If U Had Wings]

Glad to hear you made it there okay!

 

[jenbear123]

Sounds like you had quite the journey. I'm glad to hear that you weren't stopped by any officials to check your documents. That would've only slowed you down further. The journey sounds like something similar I'll be enduring after the D.C. meet down to Florida. Only difference will be the scenery!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

The tag fairy wouldn't even know where to begin with some of our threads!

Great update Liesa. I hope you have a safe trip back and enjoy your time as a family.

 

[Pollito916]

So glad you all made it ok and didn't miss much!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Glad you all made it safely. Sounds like an eventful 21 hrs.
FDM is so fun, lets see what DH says about what I've come up with

 

[All7OfUs]

I'm so glad you made it there safely!

Thanks, Leslie!! Got a great night's sleep; I'm ready to roll!

Hey, you're missing out on some good chapter titles here...maybe when you write the mini TR.

One steppe at a time.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single steppe.
That's one small steppe for (a) man....

I just decided I need an editor!!! You're hired!!

Those are perfectly AMAZING titles- and yes, I will steal them.

Now be thinking of one for Saturday's journey where we have to backtrack about 1/4 of the way to get to the Bishkek border. Get your map out.

Holy shmoly! Well, glad are there safe and sound ...but boy oh boy, I must have done some major skimming not to know you are there for Andrew's graduation. Hope you all get caught up on sleep and enjoy Graduation Day.

You sure know how leave folks hangin'...

Time for you all to have fun!!

Yup, my oldest is making me feel older than dirt these days. We're also sendin one daughter off on jet plane with him; they will leave together to spend the summer in the States- each at different grandparents' homes.

 

[KatMark]

Liesa, when he graduates college, then you can feel older than dirt.

 

[All7OfUs]

Awesome update!

I am so glad you guys have made it safely.

Remind me sometime to tell you how special that song is to me...

Here are the lyrics if anyone is interested.


Blessed Be Your Name - by Matt Redman

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

Have a great trip!!! Thanks for the updates!

Thanks for posting that maroo!! I was too tired to go ahuntin' last night. I like it a lot because well... .life's not always a bed of roses, but He's always there through it all. Sounds like you have a story there somewhere...

Glad to hear you made it there okay!

Hi Crissy! Thanks! I wish I could spend the rest of the time before we hit the road again (2 days), but it will be a flurry of activity getting those kid(s) graduated and on the plane.

Sounds like you had quite the journey. I'm glad to hear that you weren't stopped by any officials to check your documents. That would've only slowed you down further. The journey sounds like something similar I'll be enduring after the D.C. meet down to Florida. Only difference will be the scenery!

Were you planning to go straight through??!! No breaks?! Yes, I"m sure you will see no camels, and a few trees on your way.

Great update Liesa. I hope you have a safe trip back and enjoy your time as a family.

Whoa, GB is here!! THanks!! I've been wondering how Nana is? Hope everything is ok for ya'll.

So glad you all made it ok and didn't miss much!

Yeah, it ended up working out great afterall. So happy that it was a mostly uneventful slog across the steppe!

Glad you all made it safely. Sounds like an eventful 21 hrs.
FDM is so fun, lets see what DH says about what I've come up with

THanks!! It was actually VERY boring most of the way- intersperced with white knuckle action as bus after bus, and truck after truck passed oncoming cars with sometimes INCHES (literally!) to spare. Oh yes, and the gut jarring potholes we were taking on at 100k an hour. Those are always fun!

 

[All7OfUs]

Liesa, when he graduates college, then you can feel older than dirt.

True, Kathy. You always seem to know how to put things in perspective

 

[Millie12591]

WOW! Have a GREAT trip!!! Can't wait to hear all about it when you get back!!!








Aw man! You have a lot on your plate!

Hang in there! Of course we will be here when you come around!

Mary~

I voted. I'm not ready to make it back in full swing just yet, but I'll check in every so often. Your welcome to give me a call any time, I would love to hear from you.

 

[maroo]

Thanks for posting that maroo!! I was too tired to go ahuntin' last night. I like it a lot because well... .life's not always a bed of roses, but He's always there through it all. Sounds like you have a story there somewhere...

Quite a story, honestly!

Mary~

I voted. I'm not ready to make it back in full swing just yet, but I'll check in every so often. Your welcome to give me a call any time, I would love to hear from you.

Hi there!! I will try to call you here in a few minutes...but it is early here?

Why don't you call me this morning.

I am headed to Disney TODAY!!!!!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Hi Liesa, I am relieved to hear that so far your travel was at least rather safe! I hope you will make your way over to Kyrgystan safely and with less hectic. I am glad that you got to see at least something of your son's graduation.

Camille, great to see you posting again! I hope you will get through your difficult times soon!!

And I love glennbo's chapter titles!

 

[Flossbolna]

Oh I just need a place to post how sad I am that my TR has been closed!! I already emailed the moderators and hope to get it opened up again. I wonder wether I did something wrong???

 

[jenbear123]

Were you planning to go straight through??!! No breaks?! Yes, I"m sure you will see no camels, and a few trees on your way.

We're going to drive as far as we can. Pretty much, we'll leave right after dinner on the 29th and drive until we can't drive no more. Or, if we're feeling too tired, we'll stay a night in a Bethesda hotel and wake up bright and early the next morning. It's a 14 hour drive from Bethesda to CBR in Disney so we'll see how long we can drive. Maybe we'll stop in Savannah, Georgia. Bubba is pretty prepared with just coming home from her roadtrip. She's leaving tomorrow for Disney....I'm so jealous.

How are things going on your end?

 

[KatMark]

Good day, Liesa. I'm still flying high on our Blackhawks victory last night to become Stanley Cup Champions (and thanks again for the good wishes on my PTR). Didn't get much sleep...too hyped up and finally fell asleep around 2 a.m. and was up at 5:15 for work...going to be a long day. But so worth it.

Hope you are having a great day today.