East Coast Trip Day 1--Portland to Annapolis, MD

Alarm = 3:30 am
Grandpa Crone picks us up = 4:45 am
Arrive at Portland International Airport = 5:15 am
Flight departure = 7:20 am
Sleeping on the plane = 5 hour possibility

Getting up at 3:30 am was surprisingly easy after only getting about 3.5 hours of sleep. Since we just got back from Sunriver, OR. we didn't have quite as much to pack. We left a lot of stuff packed and made little changes for the East Coast trip. That really sped up the preparation process.

Our friends, Katie and Doug, are keeping Piper for us. Piper is happy; they are excited to have her. We are VERY thankful for their generosity in dog sitting for us. This is called a win-win. :)

Remember how I told the girls they had to smile for all the pictures I wanted? Well, it started early.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed on the way to the airport.

Book and cocoa...great start to the morning with our plane in the background.

We're going on that itty bitty plane?!

Time to board!

 This was Alora's first flight and the first one that Kylin will remember. They were pretty excited and it was a lot of fun to experience a flight through their eyes. It caused me to be mindful and truly enjoy every bit of it; even the little seats, your head bobbing as you sleep, and sitting really close to a perfect stranger. When we boarded, I asked the Flight Attendant if there we any flight wings available. Once we were at cruising altitude, the girls got their "wings."

The Rocky Mountains from 37,000 feet.

See the three white stripes? That's the Denver airport. How will our plane fit? ;)

Our layover was in Denver. We had an hour before our next flight boarded so we walked around some and had lunch. There is a Harley-Davidson store in the Denver airport. We had to take a picture for Grandpa Crone.

We ate at City Wok. It was good food, but at $58 for the four of us to eat lunch, we can safely say eating at the is expensive!

The next leg of the trip was the longer of the two. 

 3 hours 24 minutes: Kylin noticed this was the same as her birthday. :)
1452 miles
Boeing 737

 Each leg of the trip the girls sit next to the parent they didn't sit next to on the last leg. Alora and I sat together from PDX to DEN, then Kylin and I sat together to IAD.

There were storms here and there. The clouds were gorgeous! Don't you just want to scoop them up and snuggle them?

We landed a few minutes early and headed to baggage claim. Dulles concourses are spread out and you have to take the train to get to other ones. Luggage was a little slow but about 40 minutes after landing, we were boarding the shuttle to get our rental car...a sweet white Ford Mustang. I haven't taken a picture of it yet but I will. When we pulled up at my dad's house,  he opened his garage to show us his white Ford Mustang. Granted, his mustang is a convertible and a higher trim level, but same difference. :)

Who says a Mustang is too small for a family?

The girls found it comfortable enough to take a little nap in the backseat.

The drive from the rental car lot to Dad's house was the most hairy part of the day. There was a beautiful thunderstorm rolling through. The lightening displays were electrifying (insert punny laugh here), but the torrential downpours weren't helpful. It added a little stress to navigating streets you're not familiar with, in a car you don't know either, but we safely found our way. Whew!

We were getting to the house late, but everyone waited to have dinner with us. Janice made baked ziti, spaghetti and meatballs, salad and garlic bread. Kerrie and her family were at the house, too. Dinner and conversation were a perfect end to our day of travel.

Tomorrow's agenda, taking the kids to DC.

PS--I tried to upload a video but Blogger is having a problem processing it. I'll keep working on it if it doesn't work.