Euro 2011 Day 0 & 1

Friday May 13

You get what you pay for. We showed up at the Space-Available terminal in San Antonio this morning to find out that the flight had been changed to Rota, Spain and delayed until Saturday. So we made sure we were all squared away for the next day and went back home. Probably just as well, Anna was feeling really sick (a cold) and who really wants to fly in a C-5 on Friday the 13^th? We toyed with the idea of changing plans and just going to Spain, but it was the Tulips in Holland that seal the deal. We called the Dover terminal and they say they have a flight going to Germany tomorrow, so we’ll just switch planes there. Lizzy and Henry both loved watching this Japanese Anime movie “Ponyo” that’s kind of a Japanese version of The Little Mermaid story. Lizzy likes fish I guess.

Saturday May 14

You still get what you pay for. So we showed up earlier than we actually needed to at the terminal…free long-term parking right there a few steps from the door is nice. After waiting a few hours we took a bus across the runway to where the C-5 was parked. Man those are giant planes.

We went up a set of stairs into the cargo bay and then another set of steep stairs/ladder into the seating area. It was cool to see the cargo bay empty, wish we could have taken a better picture.

Pretty comfy, wide seats with lots of leg-room. Lizzy slept most of the way and the rest of us played with our I-things. There's even an escape rope available if things get dicey!

Once we arrive in Dover we find out that the Germany flight has been canceled. So we decided to try for Spain anyway. Unfortunately, we didn’t have ourselves booked all the way through to Rota and a bunch of troops showed up and their gear filled the flight up. So after hanging out in the terminal we got a shuttle van ($150 for all of us for the almost 2 hour drive) to the Baltimore airport where we’ll stay the night and rent a car in the morning to hang out with Dave and Margaret in DC until Monday when we’ll catch the “Rotator” (a commercial charter troop carrier…nice flight). We had a good time with the other passengers while we waited. Only one person was seriously distraught. The kids could care less. Henry played Wii with two other boys for about an hour while we were trying to get out plans sorted out. On the drive over Lizzy went from a novice “raspberry” blower to being able to “pppfffttttt” as well as anyone…silly cute girl.

So we’ve just turned the lights off at the BWI Sheraton. Happy to be in a nice bed instead of sleeping in the Dover terminal, like three other families were doing, waiting for an unscheduled flight to Germany to show up before the next scheduled one on Tuesday. Good luck to them. Look forward to seeing Dave, Margaret and Olin tomorrow. Hope they don’t mind the unexpected visit.

Once we arrive in Dover we find out that the Germany flight has been canceled. So we decided to try for Spain anyway. Unfortunately, we didn’t have ourselves booked all the way through to Rota and a bunch of troops showed up and their gear filled the flight up. So after hanging out in the terminal we got a shuttle van ($150 for all of us for the almost 2 hour drive) to the Baltimore airport where we’ll stay the night and rent a car in the morning to hang out with Dave and Margaret in DC until Monday when we’ll catch the “Rotator” (a commercial charter troop carrier…nice flight). We had a good time with the other passengers while we waited. Only one person was seriously distraught. The kids could care less. Henry played Wii with two other boys for about an hour while we were trying to get out plans sorted out. On the drive over Lizzy went from a novice “raspberry” blower to being able to “pppfffttttt” as well as anyone…silly cute girl.

So we’ve just turned the lights off at the BWI Sheraton. Happy to be in a nice bed instead of sleeping in the Dover terminal, like three other families were doing, waiting for an unscheduled flight to Germany to show up before the next scheduled one on Tuesday. Good luck to them. Look forward to seeing Dave, Margaret and Olin tomorrow. Hope they don’t mind the unexpected visit.