The Events of Thursday, July 28, 2011

                1:31 a.m. Abby’s excited shouts, “Get up, get up!” drove me from my deep slumber. Dressing quickly in our matching Taylor Travel T-shirts and jeans, we lined up the suitcases: two big suitcases, six carry-on suitcases, two extra bags, and six backpacks. Daddy opened the front door to our little Swiss chalet. A cool breeze whipped across our faces as we started out into the pitch black of the night.

                Since the single streetlight shut off at midnight, we could barely see anything in the dark night air. I stumbled as I ascended the twisting hillside steps to where our French car, Destiny, was parked. We packed up the trunk for the last time and hopped into the warm interior of the car. Before I did, however, I stopped and stood a little distance away from the car, starred into the blackness and listened. In the night, the only sounds were the soft rustling of the evergreens and a distant dong of a cowbell. I guess we weren’t the only ones awake at this early hour.

                To start off our day of travel, we had a family prayer time and asked God for safety during our travels. Then, in the back of the car, the kids drifted in and out of sleep. When we were awake, we talked a bit, but if any of the words we uttered had been recorded, they would have been a grand jumble of absolute nonsense. It seems to be a family trait that when a Taylor kid is tired, instead of being grumpy and whiney, they get silly and loopy. We enjoyed our share of laughs during the two and a half hour drive to Geneva.

                As we entered the city, we began to recognize different buildings from our very first night in Europe. I saw the first gas station we used and, as we drove up, we all recognized the hotel where we first picked up our car five months ago. Very excited, we reminisced about that insane first night. But, soon, the car grew quiet. We were the only ones there. Daddy had called yesterday and told the Renault people that we would be there at 4:30 a.m. It was 4:32 and the parking lot of the hotel was silent. In fact, it was gated off and we couldn’t even get in! We called a few numbers, none of which were very helpful to our situation since they were only manned between 9 and 5.

                What is God doing here? We prayed again, asking God that his will be done and if the Renault person did not show, to show us what to do next. We were coming up with a backup plan when Abby piped up very enthusiastically for five o’clock in the morning, “Hey, here’s a Renault van!” The van pulled up next to ours and we erupted with grateful prayers. I think God was just telling us to not worry and to trust entirely and completely in His Provision.

                The Renault man didn’t speak English, but he and Daddy managed to fill out some paperwork without too much difficulty. Then, he silently helped us pack our bags in the other van. He hopped in the driver’s seat and we roared off into the early morning quiet. I had forgotten how crazy French drivers are and Caitlin and I held hands the entire drive to the airport. Before we knew it, we were unloading our luggage and with a quick ‘au revoir’, the Renault man zoomed away.

                We had a little difficulty finding British Airways in the big and confusing Geneva Airport. After finding out we entered on the French side and British Airways was on the Swiss side, (Geneva airport is on the border of France and Switzerland) we zigzagged all over the airport until we found the checked luggage drop off. The lady at the desk was very helpful and even tried to help us to get seats together. We ate oranges while waiting to board. At 7:30, we were strapping our seatbelts, putting our seats and trays in the proper upright position and preparing for take-off. Outside the window, we saw great fields of sunflowers with their bright, yellow petals.

                The sweet, always-smiling stewardesses came around with our breakfast -- a cup of tea and a chicken, herb butter sandwich. However, poor Mommy was given a plain cheese sandwich. During the flight, we slept, read, and wrote and before we knew it, we were strapping our seatbelts, putting our seats and trays back in the proper upright position and preparing for landing. It was 8:00 a.m. London time.

                Our last experience in Heathrow airport was not the most pleasant one and we were very relieved to discover that we had three hours until our flight departed. Daddy pulled out a sack of leftover British sterling and we started to tour the shops of the Heathrow Airport. My souvenir from England, a pair of British flag sunglasses, had broken, so when Ben spotted a pair almost identical to the ones I had bought before, I was very excited and we used up some of our extra sterling. We searched in vain for some Digestive Biscuits to bring home with us. Instead, we bought some chocolates and Turkish Delight.

                If you ever have extra time to spare in Heathrow, go around all the perfume shops and sample all the exotic scents. If I didn’t have sensitively nosed parents and brother, I would have boarded the plane smelling like a flowery rainforest. Lucky for the rest of the passengers, I had to follow my parents closely, as they were setting a brisk pace and no one wants to get lost in Heathrow. Of course, we were on the plane by 11:00 London time, but, due to congestion on the runway, I don’t think we took off until 11:45 London time. This was our longest flight and the plane was best equipped to fill the time. On the seat in front of us were individual little screens for each passenger, with choices of movies (new releases, classics, family, etc.), T.V. shows, radio and other types of entertainment.

                We each chose from the variety of movies including Gnomeo and Juliet, The Chronicles of Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2, Win Win, and a number of other films. They served us a lunch of beef and Yorkshire pudding or a chicken, veggie, rice dish with a bun, and a delicious cherry cream crunch dessert. Mommy, Caitlin, and Ben were able to get seats together and Abby and I were together in the row in front of them, but poor Daddy was all by himself in between two total strangers. Abby and I asked the lady next to us if she would be as kind enough to trade with Daddy, but she wanted to keep her aisle seat.

                I learned a very important lesson about flying today. The lady sitting in front of me during our flight from London to Dallas had her seat leaned back all the way, totally invading my space and keeping me from working on the computer. I could barely eat off the tray because her seat was covering it so far. I learned how selfless neighbors must be appreciated. And I made it my goal to be the most selfless passenger I could be. It was very hard and at times uncomfortable, but whenever the lady in front of me leaned back or shifted in her seat, it reinforced my goal.

                At one point during our flight, I opened the window shade and peered down. We were flying over America. The puffy white clouds were like a soft blanket covering the quilt of green and brown fields down below. As they announced that we were going to land soon, I opened the shade again and looked over at Abby, my seat partner. She was fast asleep with her head tilted back and mouth open. When the wheels hit the ground I kissed her cheek. That didn’t wake her up, so I played with her lip. Finally, I announced to her that we had landed in Dallas and immediately she was wide awake and ready to step back onto American soil.

                When we finally arrived at the Dallas airport, it was 3:00 p.m. Dallas time, 9:00 p.m. London time, and 10:00 p.m. Geneva time. We had a whoppin’ seven hours until our flight out of Dallas to Sacramento. We spent the first two hours going through customs and un-checking and re-checking our bags. We had to give up our Swiss oranges (which aren’t half as good as California ones) and then we had five hours to while the time away.

                We rode the Skylink, which was a fast, smooth train, to Gate B18 (which was near a Chili’s Too restaurant) where we waited for dinner time to come. Everyone but me got a nap in as it felt like it was nearly midnight to our bodies. We were all very tired and sluggish. Dad lay down on the floor right in front of the ticket stand and his presence was very disconcerting to some other passengers. “Look Honey -- Is that a body? What is he doing there?” The rest just curled up the best they could on the seats and armrests. At around 8:00 p.m. Dallas time, we made our way over to Chili’s for a truly American meal.

                We had no problem at all getting six glasses of ice water, a pure luxury after five months of annoyance. Then, we ordered in plain American English a variety standard American fare: hot chili, salads, bacon burgers, cheese burgers, and fries. The food was energizing and all very good. For dessert, we split one of Chili’s Molten Lava Chocolate Cake. It was amazing and with that good taste still lingering on our tongues, we rode the Skylink again to A34. Here we were blessed to have reclined seats which were very comfortable for sleeping and sleep we did.

                Although, we had parked right next to the escalator and it was somewhat awkward to have all those people staring at you as they walked past. Despite a loud and rude neighboring person we all managed to take a quick nap until it was time for us to board, around 10 p.m. The flight attendants were flustered because it was a completely full flight. They told Mom to put her small belly pack in her carry-on or give it up. While the line backed up behind her, she hastily put it in her backpack. But it seemed pretty ridiculous because it just sat on her lap the whole flight. Maybe they were afraid they would have to put another passenger on her lap.

                The flight was longer than I expected and uncomfortably hot, but Caitlin and I had seats together while the rest of our family was scattered throughout the plane. I closed my eyes as the plane lifted off the ground. That odd flying feeling whizzed through my body. Absolutely exhausted the entire family slept the entire flight. Before I knew it, we were about to land. Sacramento’s lights were very prominent in the night and quite a difference from the early morning darkness of Geneva.

                We slowly got off the plane and then set foot on California soil. The next few hours were a blur to me. My contacts were out and I had to wear glasses that weren’t quite my prescription. Also, we were all extremely dazed and tired. To our bodies it felt like four in the morning Geneva time, but in truth it was not even midnight in California. We waited silently for our checked luggage and we were waiting for the last one to come around the carousel.

                Just then a voice behind me said, “Looks like the Taylors are home!” It was the Herscowitzes, the wonderful couple that stayed in our house while we were gone. After greeting hugs, they helped us carry our luggage out to the van. They had brought two cars and took their car home, while we drove our van home. As the familiar rumble of the engine rolled across the parking lot, Ben exclaimed, “It’s midnight.” And we weren’t home yet …