In Stockholm at last...

So we made it finally to Sweden! First our Britch Airhole flight was cancelled the morning before we leave. So Silvia found a Continental flight the next morning to Newark with connection to Stockholm. But that plane had a mechanical we didn't know about. So it was late. But we arrived at LAX at 5:30am only to be greeted by a huge line of people. About 2 hours into line the terminal was evacuated onto the curb for 2 hours. Then we finally get checked in and fly out at 2pm! We had been traveling for 9 hours and hadn't even left LAX!

We get to EWR (Newark) and it is about 10:40pm ET. We get our vouchers for a place to stay and then our bags which we short checked to EWR (luckily). Then we take the tram to the hotel shuttles at 11:30pm. Unfortunately, the hotel stopped their shuttle service at 10:30pm. So we, along with the other 20 stranded international travelers bribe another random shuttle driver to drive us to our hotel. But then at the last minute, two of his customers have arrived. So we had to drop them off first! That made our 15 minute ride 45 min! Finally, checked in and settled at 1:30am.

The next morning was more of the same. It started out way too smoothly. First of all, we get strip searched every time we go through security. That is a huge problem with a 3 year old who is crying after being corrected for running off every two seconds. Then they want to pat him down too but I called them on it b/c I know if he doesn't trip the metal detector, then kids under 12 don't have to be searched.

We spend out food voucher on really greasy food at Nathan's, cruise the shops and then finally board at 6pm hopefully ending our wonderfully hot and humid day in NJ. But it wasn't to be. The gravity was too strong and we couldn't escape. Thunder storms and the associated wind sheer kept us on the runway for 2 1/2 hours. The kids slept and then woke up when we took off. They stayed awake for another grueling 3.5 hours and finally passed out. We arrived in Stockholm 4 hours later.

So we got our rental car and followed David to his apt for a typical Swedish lunch of bacon, potatoes, and creamed spinach with just the babies.

A three day odessey ends successfully. Our motivation was too strong. Stubborn has its advantages.