We woke from our long "sleep" around midnight Atlanta time. I wished Mom a happy birthday, and decided to watch a movie. We were served pretty nice breakfast, and soon (but not quiet soon enough) we landed in Atlanta. After 1 hour and 20 minutes of waiting in various lines, we cleared passport control, customs, and security. I made contact with Jilly while Mom checked her phone messages (has a cute one of Conor singing Happy Birthday). We met up in C concourse. After chatting for a while, Jilly stashed our luggage in the staff lounge, and we went off to [View Full Entry]

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We had a lovely breakfast with Sherry and Charon this morning, and then got cracking on the packing! Our goal was to leave for the airport by way of the hairdresser (to collect Mom's photos) and a gas station (to fill up the car). I wanted to drop off the car (a little white Chevy Aveo) by 10:30 to avoid charges for an extra day. We had loaded the car, posed for photos, and said our good byes, when I realized that the car key was locked in the trunk. Talk about a nightmare! Charon called her neighbor (the one who [View Full Entry]

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This morning, Charon's daughter and future son-in-law joined us for a great breakfast of poached eggs, bacon, mushrooms and toast. We were then collected for a nutty but wonderful morning in the Brown-mobile (a VW mini-bus). We went shopping at Walmer Park (got cash, tried to find a book, Mom went to Woolies), raced off to fetch my cousin Fabian from his group home, zipped back to Charon's so we could collect the beautiful birthday cake, and zoomed over to Thatchwoods for the "surprise" birthday lunch. Ruthie knew about it, but didn't know about all the friends and family that had [View Full Entry]

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Saturday morning came quickly, and we hustled to get ready for a breakfast excursion with the wild and crazy Brown Family (my cousin Tessa, her hubby Glenn, Jarred-14, Branden-12, Chad-7 and Dean-5), Glenn's mom, and Ruthie and John. We ate at Cafe Capellini. Our waiters deserved a couple of medals! A table for 11 is no piece of cake. Breakfast was delish! I sat by Dean, my newest fan, and told him I was going to bring him home with me in my suitcase. He is quite the little scoundrel, but cute as a button!! Gets away with murder!! On our [View Full Entry]

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I woke up this morning to the sound of South African bird calls--hadedahs and doves. :) After a quick breakfast of toast and tea, we got ready to meet Miss Tribe (my old head mistress) for tea. For some reason, I had the time mixed up, and in the middle of a comfortable cruise towards Park Drive, I realized that we were actually LATE! Mom quickly called Miss Tribe to apologize, and after three circuits around St George's Park, we stopped to get clearer directions. Forty-five minutes after we were due to arrive, we finally got to Park Drive Village and [View Full Entry]

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What's with these earlier-than-necessary wakings?? This time I woke up at 1:30 for about an hour, and then woke for real at 5:45. The alarm on the phone (programming that was a pain!) was set for 6:00, but I decided to get going anyway. We showered and finished packing, and headed downstairs. Marnie had prepared "to go" breakfast packs for us, and enlisted her dad to drive us to the airport. He was fun to chat with. We highly recommend Woodpecker's Inn--lovely place, wonderful hostess, great location! The SAA staff at the airport were helpful, and we got on our flight [View Full Entry]

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I awoke several times during the "night". The seating on board was quite cramped-- thank goodness the plane was only 2/3 full! My deep massage made my back quite sore (or maybe that was the seat!). Anyway, the flight was long, the food was OK, and when we finally touched down in Johannesburg an hour late, we were both quite relieved. Passport control was empty--just our flight, so we whizzed through in about 10 minutes, breezed through customs, and walked into the wating arms of Mom's cousin, Isolde. She was a "surprise" for Mom, who was thrilled! I was a little [View Full Entry]

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I was awake at 3:30--a whole hour early this morning--bummer! Ross was sweet enought to take me to the airport at 5:00 a.m. and check-in went well. The flight to Minneapolis was uneventful, and I got to Mom's gate just in time to meet her. We had breakfast at a Caribou Coffee Shop, and got then got ready to fly to Atlanta. For some reason, we didn't sit together on the very full flight. We got to Atlanta in one piece. :) Jilly met us in time for lunch from Au Bon Pain, and then Mom and I had a lovely [View Full Entry]

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Today is our last day before our trip to South Africa begins. Actually, by this time tomorrow, we'll already be on our way to Minneapolis! Mom will leave Lincoln a few minutes before I leave Waterloo. We will meet in Minneapolis and travel the rest of the way (through Atlanta and Johannesburg) together. Think happy weather thoughts, please!!! Clothing is all sorted out; tickets and documents are in hand; itinerary is mapped out; car, phone, and accommodations have been booked. The only thing left is the actual packing of our single (each) carry-on bags and tying up of loose ends. We [View Full Entry]

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