{"id":245,"date":"2011-10-04T07:35:14","date_gmt":"2011-10-04T11:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/?p=245"},"modified":"2011-10-04T07:35:14","modified_gmt":"2011-10-04T11:35:14","slug":"the-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/2011\/10\/04\/the-trip\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"100_0711\"\"100_0718\"<\/p>\n

Plane 1 MN-LA<\/p>\n

We arrived at Minneapolis Airport shortly after 9 in the morning.\u00a0 We loaded our 10, yes 10, suitcases onto a cart and our carry-ons onto our backs.\u00a0 We had zero free hands until Maggie smartly decided to strap Maisie\u2019s car seat into the stroller and then strap Bailey into that.\u00a0 This contraption freed up one of my arms which allowed me to carry Maisie, if needed.\u00a0 Of course it was needed.<\/p>\n

But, before that, we found out that three of our bags were over the 50lb limit.\u00a0 First I was wondering what we could move around, and then I was wondering what the fee would be for an overweight bag.\u00a0 Astonishingly, I didn\u2019t get to either as the check-in agent slapped the tags on our bags and heaved them onto the belt behind her without mentioning the overweight bags or charging us for the five extra ones.\u00a0 Praise the Lord.<\/p>\n

We headed to our gate hoping and praying seats would be available for the four of us flying stand-by.\u00a0 Minutes went by and boarding time drew closer as we sat and waited for our names to be called.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t long before I heard \u201cHa<\/em>stetter, send a representative to the counter please.\u201d<\/p>\n

The flight went smooth.\u00a0 We all were able to sit next to each other and the kids were well behaved.\u00a0 The only rough spot was the moment Maisie reached the step onto the plane.\u00a0 All morning she was thrilled to see planes and enamored with the idea<\/em> of riding in one.\u00a0 When the time came to step onto the plane, she panicked.\u00a0 For a moment Maggie thought she was going to bolt.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t take long for her to calm down and enjoy the flight, (zzzz. . .).<\/p>\n

Right now we\u2019re sitting in the LAX Airport with another 6 hours to go before we board our next plane to Sydney.\u00a0 Thanks for your prayers.\u00a0 Don\u2019t stop!<\/p>\n

Plane 2 LA\u00a0 – AUS<\/p>\n

Cole and Maisie are fast asleep on the floor as people start boarding the plane bound for Sydney.\u00a0 We\u2019re waiting for our names to be called from the stand-by list before we wake them.\u00a0 The plane is mostly boarded when Maggie hears a gate agent say, \u201cAll the stand-by passengers will get on.\u201d\u00a0 She comes and tells me and I raise my fists over my head in celebration.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to Sydney, praise the Lord.<\/p>\n

The kids slept the first half of the 15 hour flight, and Maisie slept a good portion of the second half too.\u00a0 They each had their own touch screen with which to play games, watch movies, or watch cartoons.\u00a0 This entertained them for hours.\u00a0 We arrived in Sydney 7am Saturday and picked up our luggage and were shuttled to a hotel.\u00a0 We spent two days in the hotel trying to keep our sanity and the kids entertained.\u00a0 We all struggled with sleeping as night had become day and day had become night.\u00a0 Monday morning, October 3rd<\/sup>, we headed back to the airport to catch plane 3 to New Guinea.<\/p>\n

Plane 3 AUS – PNG<\/p>\n

\u201c2,000 dollars!\u201d I exclaim to the check-in agent.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d he responds.\u00a0 \u201c$2,400.\u201d<\/p>\n

We were double the weight limit for checked baggage and this is what we were going to have to pay to take all ten 50lb bags with us.\u00a0 I was speechless.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know what to say or do.\u00a0 Then, Maggie stepped in.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur travel agent said we get 100lbs per person,\u201d she said.\u00a0 We took a closer look at our papers and found that Maggie was right.\u00a0 Our baggage all got checked through to our final destination and we didn\u2019t have to pay a penny.\u00a0 We found our way through security and to our gate and then were bussed out to the plane.\u00a0 The trip from Sydney, Australia to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea was 3 uneventful hours.\u00a0 The only thing I have to say about the flight was that I was served the finest meal I\u2019d eaten since leaving home.<\/p>\n

Plane 4 Port Moresby – Goroka<\/p>\n

In Port Moresby we were met by some New Tribes Missionaries who helped us traverse the airport and welcomed us to PNG.\u00a0 We were so very tired and wanting to get to our new home and so the help was greatly appreciated.\u00a0 We had to walk outside the terminal to our plane and move most of the way to the back, all the way to row 5.\u00a0 Other than taking Maisie to the bathroom 3 times, Cole twice, and Micah once, the one hour flight went smoothly.\u00a0 We landed in the rain at our final destination Goroka, PNG.<\/p>\n

The missionary in charge of our orientation met us there and loaded our bags into the back of a van while his PNG friend played with our kids.\u00a0 The kids were loaded with energy after sitting in planes and airports for most of the day.\u00a0 It was a ten minute drive out to the mission center and finally, our new home.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll tell you all about our new home (with pictures) when we blog next.\u00a0 Expect it in the next few days.<\/p>\n

Thank you for praying!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plane 1 MN-LA We arrived at Minneapolis Airport shortly after 9 in the morning.\u00a0 We loaded our 10, yes 10, suitcases onto a cart and our carry-ons onto our backs.\u00a0 We had zero free hands until Maggie smartly decided to strap Maisie\u2019s car seat into the stroller and then strap Bailey into that.\u00a0 This contraption […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":488,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-245","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/488"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}