Some people have heard of the travel time it takes to get from America to Papua Indonesia, but until you experience it for yourself it is difficult to truly understand. 72 hours of travel, 29 hours of flight time and 4 countries plus a two year old added to the mix and it's more fun than two parents can handle. In all seriousness, this trip back to the U.S. was pretty great giving the credit to Gracie (& God).
As we made our trip around the world this time we tried to take a picture in between every flight, so here is our journey back home. Thanks for looking and we are so thankful for everyone's prayers and support for us no matter what side of the world we are on.
This first picture was taken at a little strip en route from Wamena to Sentani. No matter how many times we go out into the middle of nowhere it never gets old. We love how beautiful the people are and how there faces light up when food/supplies are unloaded from the airplane. It brings back the big picture of why we are there... which is just awesome.
On this particular landing, which eventually goes to a 18% grade (ish), we landed and parked at the top of the hill which was quickly followed by Gracie shouting out "AGAIN!"
Above here is Will and Gracie waiting patiently in Sentani for the first commercial airliner which would take us to Bali. We stayed one night in Sentani which was nice for catching up with our friends that we lived and worked with for eight months.
Below here is a picture of Gracie playing with one of her best friends, Ellie, and some bubbles on base in Sentani.
From Sentani we took a flight to Bali and got to experience the international terminal for the first time. Here is a picture of Gracie helping us check our bags to Singapore where we would spend a night in a hotel due to an 11 hour layover.
After a crazy taxi ride to and from the airport we got all our bags checked through to America where we would next see them in San Francisco. While we waited, we ate some McDonald's which was Gracie's first time experiencing the golden arches.
From Singapore we jumped on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner which was pretty cool considering the people I know that have put in some time engineering/building etc. It was fun to see it in person and just have a comfortable place to be for the six hours we were on it from Singapore to Tokyo.
We never got a picture of Gracie running around like a crazy head in Tokyo to get her wiggles out, but we did get this video of her saying "bye Tokyo!" Of course we were all quite tired and running on caffeine/sugar so it made this moment all the better.
From Tokyo, Japan we were all set for a nine hour flight to San Francisco. Gracie slept, so we were happy as we could be as parents. It was probably the best leg of them all which was nice considering it was the longest.
Thank you Playdough! You consumed 5 hours of flight time!
Unfortunately, we did not get any pictures while on the ground in San Fran but Nan did get to catch up with her dear friend Sarah who graciously drove to the airport for 30 minutes of hugs and chatting! From there we made it to Portland where we spent a couple nights before heading off to Idaho for some meetings at MAF Headquarters
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| Will breaking out his Steve Largent shirt from 2nd grade for the Super Bowl! |
Fortunately, we made it to Vancouver the day before the Super Bowl so we could watch the Seahawks play with family (Dad & Mom Grant & Joanna)!
In all seriousness, we are so thankful to be here in America to welcome our baby boy!
Thank you again so much for reading, praying, and supporting us!
