Day 1 (Thursday)-- The Adventure Begins

Oh, my friends, I am not what I once was.  I have had an experience.  I am a changed woman.  

On August 11th Abe and I, along with our friends, James and Andrea, boarded a plane with our intended destination--- the beautiful Caribbean Island of Barbados.  We stayed there roughly 24 hours before boarding a puddle jumper plane to Canouan-- one of the beautiful islands of the Grenadines.  For seven days, the five of us (the fifth being Andrea's lifelong friend from the UK- the ever delightful Olivia) sailed aboard a private catamaran, whereupon our crew of two completely ruined me for regular life.  It might have been better had I never known the joy of a private chef.  

We then flew back to Barbados for another 18 hours, before we flew home to the life and people we love, but were not quite ready to reembrace.  

WARNING: I am about to gush incessantly about how unbelievably amazing the whole experience was.  If you are prone to envy or nausea when you encounter such behavior, you may want to avoid the next several posts.

Day One 

Day one began late on the evening of August 11th.  We met up at Andrea and James's condo downtown and hopped on Trax heading to the airport.  No need to mess with parking or rides to the airport.  We took a red-eye flight to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Me asleep on the airport floor.  

Okay, well, that wraps up day one.  This was decidedly the least glamorous leg of the trip.  Next up-- Welcome to Barbados

A couple notes on Day One:

-- an outrageous amount of time and brain power went into planning for our ten-day absence.  I created a 17-page document for the children and Stephanie and Michaela Chase (sisters and blessed neighbors) who would sleep at the house and pop in and out to make sure everyone was alive and well.  

It was posted for all to reference, there was a backup hard copy and it could be referenced online.  Were 17 pages overkill?  You be the judge.  But I will say, it was a magnificent document and I believe it greatly contributed to a very positive experience at home and abroad.

-- Abe and I got our passports for this trip.  Neither of us has left the country since before we were married.  This trip celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary.  Was I nervous to leave the country?  NO.  I decided months before that no matter how scary this trip might feel, I was just going to do it and I would enjoy myself.  And I did!  I dare say, my next trip out of the country will likely be sooner rather than later.