Murphy's Law of Travel

Murphy's Law: Anything that can possibly go wrong, will go wrong.

We've been preparing for this trip since Burke's first day of class in August of 2009. We felt 100% ready and couldn't wait to turn this dream into a reality. Everything has gone so smoothly these past nine months with all our preparations, so it isn't any wonder that Murphy's Law of Travel decided to rear its ugly head to prove there is opposition in all things. The following is a list of all the misfortunes that have befallen us in the past 30 hours.

1) After triple checking our packing list, Burke decided to load up our luggage into the car on Tuesday night. While hauling my father's suitcase to the car - *SNAP* - one of the wheels on the suitcase snapped clean off! AH! Superglue? All dried up. Packaging tape? Worked like a charm. :)

2) Wednesday morning we drove to the Las Vegas Airport at 5 AM, arriving at 7 AM feeling confident with the 2 hour cushion before take-off. BUT ALAS! While checking in we discovered that I had reserved our tickets under our married name of 'Adams' while my passport still read my maiden name of 'Bush.' For the next hour and a half we hopelessly worked with agents from Delta, Alaskan Air and Cheap Tickets to simply change the name on our tickets from Adams to Bush. Miraculously, the name was changed and with 30 mins before departure the agents gave us one word of advice: RUN! We made it through security and literally ran with our overweight carry-ons to the VERY LAST gate where they were impatiently waiting for us. As we collapsed into our seats - the last passengers on the plane - the door closed and the plane backed out onto the tarmac.

3) Sitting back with relief we sighed, "Thank heaven that's over." Think again. Arriving in Seattle, we discovered that in our haste the agents in Las Vegas had failed to print out Burke's connecting flight tickets. DOH! Another line, another agent, who could only access Burke's ticket from Seattle to Amsterdam and instructed us to have the agents in Amsterdam print off our final ticket to Bremen, Germany when we arrived. We should also mention, that on our way to the gate in Seattle there was a little Russian Babushka (grandmama) with her withered spouse ahead of us on the escalator. As we were about to get on there was a sudden *crash* and *gasp* as the old man timbered over like a tree that had just been felled! He was lying with his feet facing upward, the escalator still climbing. He made it half-way up before an airport attendant could shut the escalator off and Burke and two other gentlemen rushed to his aide while his son flushed and shouted in Russian with what sounded like a warning to be more careful!

4) Upon boarding the plane, they discovered the flight had been overbooked and offered $800 dollar vouchers for anyone who would be willing to fly out the next day. If we hadn't had Steffi waiting in Bremen, we totally would have done it! The unloading of the passenger and her baggage delayed the plane for an hour and a half, making the 10 hour flight seem that much more miserable.

5) Due to the delay in Seattle, when we landed in Amsterdam, we got off the plane with only 40 minutes to clear customs and make it to our tiny "City Hopper." We desperately asked for directions and discovered our gate was (of course) on the exact opposite end of the airport. The words of advice? RUN FOR IT!!! We made it to Gate B34 - the literal end of the airport - with panic rising as there wasn't a single passenger to be seen. The attendant at the desk was NOT happy and confirmed that she had a spot for Ms. Bush, but not for Mr. Adams. Finally, after further discussion and itinerary swapping, we were ushered down to a shuttle that drove us out to a little plane that we boarded from the ground. Again, the last passengers on board.

6) After a puddle jump of 50 mins, we finally arrived in Bremen, going on 25 hours of no sleep besides brief cat naps on the overseas flight. Standing at the baggage claim, we watched bag after bag being claimed by their owners until we were the last ones standing by an empty, circling carousel. Crap. Walking out into the lobby we were so grateful to be met by Marinda and Elijah's friend, Steffi, who was able to navigate us through the process of reporting lost bags. She was a lifesaver as we purchased train tickets and headed for Lij and Rin's home here in Bremen, Germany.

So here we sit in Bremen, thoroughly pooped and so glad for a place to land. For those of you not in the know, we had originally planned on spending a week with my brother, Elijah, and his sweet family who have been living for the past 2 years here in Bremen, before heading down to Paris for our 2 month summer semester. Unfortunately, with the explosion of the Volcano in Iceland, Elijah and Marinda's trip to the states was postponed, extending their time in the U.S. into the time we had planned on being with them in Germany. It would have cost an arm and a leg to try and change the flights, so we decided to come without our hosts and make the best of it. Of course, Marinda had done everything to make their home feel comfortable for us upon our arrival with Steffi today. There was a basket with treats and a letter detailing how to function around the house, as well as providing us with guest slippers, guide books and food in the pantry. Talk about thoughtful! On my nephew's magnetic board, they had left us with a German "welcome!" to help us feel right at home.

We are so grateful to have gotten here safely and we have now stayed up late enough that we will be able to sleep through the entire night (instead of waking up to our normal body clocks at 2 AM). Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement that got us here. Germany is beautiful!