The journey across the pacific

It's long time that Laura and I take a short break from the honeymoon to bring an update to Agrizeal.

I've been trying to bring Laura in on the blogging so we've agreed that if I blog about the trip, she will make dinner! Plus as an added bonus, she will blog about our first weekend in NZ later.

So here's the story....

The sounds of a Favorite House Monday morning woke us up. We stretched, yawned and slowly willed ourselves out of bed, though we both wanted a few more hours. Time flew by as we finished the last little bit of packing. Before we knew it, Dan and Jo joined us from Wauseon to see us off. We had a scrumptious "last meal" at cap city diner, and topped it off with some strawberry shortcake dessert.

Laden down with four suitcases, a boxed up Wall-mount Grandfather Clock (assembled with love by the Bruners) and two carry on items each, we headed to the airport. We still weren't ready to say goodbye, so we all sat down for a final cup of coffee in the terminal.

Saying goodbye to the world that Laura and I had know was very difficult. Leaving all of our friends and family behind had taken it's toll on both of us in the days leading up to the departure. I'm not sure if we would've been able to manage without each other, and we certainly wouldn't have been able to without God. So after a hard goodbye, we walked through security.

When we went through security we had to get the clock weights out because the security lady "couldn't see through them" on the x-ray. After a brief consultation with her superior, they unwrapped one just to be sure, then sent us on our way. In the airport we ran into Adam Johns, flying to Uganda for a three week missions trip. We passed the time quickly talking with him even though our plan required a front tire change. We were only a little late getting into Phoenix. The desert heat was 107 and we felt it in the jet way. After a quick bite we boarded the flight to LAX and within an hour we landed.

LA airport is always a challenge and this time was no exception. The many terminals are laid out in a giant U shape, but with no secure pathways connecting them, so we were required to leave the terminal and pass back through security, again with the lengthy explanation about the clock weights. Also, nothing is clearly market and since Quantas is partners with American, we had to enter the American terminal, but were unsure that we were at the right one until we got to the gate. This lag of the trip had Laura and I initially sitting apart, but the gate agents put us in a row of three seats with the third one empty. You can imagine how relieved we were when we found out that we sitting together and that we could stretch out.

Once out of LA, it was smooth sailing. Neither of us slept soundly, but we slept nonetheless. We arrived in Auckland a few minutes earlier than expected and began the process of going through customs, and the agricultural and bio security check stations. Customs went well, then we got our bags and box. The ag agents were interested in the type of wood that the clock was made from, but they were more interested in the bag of lavender that Mom D. sent with us. After a few moments hesitation we assured them that they could keep the lavender, with the trade off being that we got through with no other problems!!!

Nicholas (our ride) was only a few minutes late, and the drive to Hamilton was a good one. Sunny and cool day helped show the best of New Zealand to Laura. The Love Shack met Laura's approval after a brief inspection!!! so we spent the day unpacking, and shopping for some necessities and groceries. That night we even could take the time to cook up a proper meal of spaghetti. After dinner, we wandered over to meet the landlords and deliver Jorg's new macbook smuggled from the cheaper consumer markets in the US. We were both surprised when they loaded us down with wedding gifts of a duvet cover set and also a few bedside stands!

After briefly talking with them we went back 'home'. The fleeting sleep we caught on the airplane wasn't enough to carry us through the days activities, so we crashed into bed for some much needed sleep.