Day One-- We leave!

**Here is the deal: I am going to try to recreate the trip for all my readers. I want you guys to experience everything that I did. So, even though that is in NO WAY POSSIBLE, I am going to do a day at a time post to do the best that I can.**

Friday September 26th

First things first, my mom woke me up around 11am and told me that I should probably get up since I had to be at church in about 3 hours. It is probably not necessary to tell you this, but I was late getting to the church.

I slowly got up and realized I had a few last minute errands to do. Mostly, I had to go to the bank, get some money and then have them change the bills over to Series 2001 and up! You see, in Kenya, they won't accept USD earlier than series 2001, something about counterfeiting. Anyway, we made it to the bank, and I exchanged a few bills.

We headed towards the church, and we were GOING to be on time, but my mom had forgotten the directions she needed for immediately after I left. We went back home, got the directions and headed out again for the church. Surprisingly enough, I wasn't freaking out about it. I wasn't worried about being late, and I wasn't worried/freaking out about the trip. In fact, I think my mother was a little bit irked by it. She kept mentioning it, over and over again.

Anyway, I got the the church only about 5 minutes late (and I wasn't the last one there). Rusty had taken a late lunch, so he was there to greet us. The group stood in a circle after packing up the bags and Jonathan Bow prayed for us. I was really glad he was there, it was good to know that he was invested in this trip and those of us going. (p.s. Friday is his day off ;D).

The team loaded up and headed to the airport. I hugged my mom and Rusty three times each (once after already getting in the car... I ran back out for one last hug). My boyfriend arrived late, because he got lost? I guess things look different on a motorcycle than in a car. Anyway, I gave him three hugs as well. I knew I was going to miss all of them immensely!!

We all got to the airport without a hitch. Sandra got her passport and visa back from the embassy only a few hours before we had to leave. The courier who delievered it was in Washington that SAME morning... but it got to her!!

Everyone got through security just fine and there wasn't any trouble with liquids or anything we were carrying on the plane.
At that point, we just had to wait. We sat in the airport for two hours before boarding our flight to Heathrow airport in London. While we were waiting, I got hungry, so I ate at an A&W for the first time... too bad I don't really like rootbeer. But the fries and burger were VERY tasty... and I wasn't looking forward to airline food.

When the team all boarded the plane, we realized that there were a BUNCH of open seats. So, we all got to spread out. The trip was LONG and quite uneventful. I tried to sleep like the rest of my team members, but I only caught about an hour. Wonderful news though, despite the fact that I was awake for about 6 hours on a plane... I didn't get sick at ALL!

We landed in London at 7am in the morning... about 2am Saturday morning back in North Carolina. So, it was time to get up and smell the coffee!

Check in tomorrow to see what the next plane ride was like. LOL!

-Britt