In the air and headed east!!!!!!!!!!!!!I woke at 3 a.m. this morning and have been in motion since. It’s time for a break now. We have just completed our first leg of our yearly international trip!!! If you’re reading this, we’re either in Charlotte or in the air headed east. We have a 4 plus hour layover (it was supposed to be 5 but it was chopped down to 4 due to delays) and our next stop is London!
I’ve found that if I dial my wake up time back an hour a day until I reach around 3 a.m. it makes the adjustment to European time easier….at least for me. Laurie is convinced it doesn’t work for her. By the time I get on the next leg (Charlotte to London) I will be ready to sleep. While not normal sleep I’m closer to their time and sleep comes easier. Right now we’re sitting in the Charlotte airport in a restaurant called 1897. When we fly through Charlotte we usually eat there as we can usually get a table on a sort of balcony and can watch the people come and go. It’s close to the holidays so there are a lot of people traveling. As we see this time of year when we travel, there are lots of military folks headed home for the holidays. We see families with small kids, grandparents headed to see grandchildren, the terminal is decorated and it’s a little more festive than normal air travel. I’ve even broken down and had a beer with lunch. I’m not working today and I’m finished driving, and I’ve been up 11 hours….so I’m treating myself! It’s been a hectic year and we’re really looking forward to our vacation. Laurie is still teaching yoga in Cookeville, and I’m still managing construction projects at Tennessee Tech. We’ve had some shuffles in the hierarchy at my job but they’ve been changes for the better. I can still say I work with great people and have the flexibility in this job to head out on a trip like this. It’s one of the things that makes me enjoy where I work and the people I work with. Our trip this year will take us to Austria first, for skiing in the Alps. From there we head to Porto, Portugal for several days, spend four days in the Azores (a group of volcanic islands off the coast of Portugal), and then New Years in Lisbon. We’ll do a one day stopover in London on the way home…..and then a direct flight from London to Nashville. Direct flights are awesome! If you’re getting this, you’ll receive a link via email, or see a link on Facebook. If you are already on our mailing list, you don’t need to do anything. If you don’t want to see this, let me know and I’ll take you off the list. If you’ve seen the blog via a web search, Facebook, or someone has shared it with you, go to the bottom of the page and join our mailing list. You’ll receive notices whenever we post a blog entry. And no….we’ll never sell your email or spam you. We’re excited….we’ve planned…..we’re ready. Come join us!!!!! 
A rainy day at the Charlotte Airport, Dec. 17, 2019
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