6,464 miles...

.....That is the distance from our home in North America to Argentina, which lies at the bottom of South America;  Argentina will be our destination for a two week journey to visit Don's family and the land where he lived with his parents and siblings for a short but life changing few years. Despite my attempts to prepare (I have packed two weeks prior to leaving; looked up weather in the different areas we will travel to; googled hotels and restaurants-gotta try the Hare Krishna restaurant in Buenos Aries; talked with the girls multiple times about the long flight;which reminded me to have all mood stabilizing electronics fully charged and my small cooler bag full with snacks and found out where to get the best exchange rate for our US dollars), there really is no way to prepare to experience something except to be there, fully present and open in the moment. So with my camera and a 16gb SD card and my heart and eyes wide open, I captured our 16  day journey to South America. This blog post is written post journey (schlepping my computer would not have been a wise choice and it would have distracted me to write while there) so I will relive the highlights over a series of posts that hopefully one day the girls will be able to cherish. Because this trip was an adventure that I pray they remember the rest of their lives. 

We began (and ended) our trip with a prayer. Before we went through security we held hands as I thanked the Creator for the blessings that graced our lives; including the gift of travel. We surrounded ourselves, our home and friends and family in love and light and then off we went.....

Speaking of friends and family; in Atlanta good friends Valerie and Eli (who moved back to GA a few years ago) came to the airport to spend a short buy so sweet visit during our three hour layover. The kids played so nicely during their brief visit and I got to be in the presence of my dear friend, who seemed so relaxed being back home in the place she loves. It was hard to say goodbye.





Then it was time.....

The first leg of our trip was 4 hours; the second flight was 9 1/2; it was long but it was late and thankfully, eventually, we all slept a bit.  When we woke we were in the southern hemisphere, a first for the girls and I.

Havana was still her happy self, despite having traveling almost twenty-two hours and sleeping enough to support that! We found a remise (a cab) rather quickly and found our way to our apt/hotel in Recoleta, in the city. It wasn't long until we all crawled into bed and slept for several hours. We awoke to rain; it'd been raining or days and the forecast was for another day or two of downpour. That didn't stop us....next post....a view of the romantic city of Buenos Aires.