Main Street, Frisco, Colorado
The Old Schoolhouse, Frisco, Colorado
Episcopal Church, Breckenridge, Colorado
Well, we did it! At the end of October we moved from busy Bucharest, Romania to friendly Frisco, Colorado..... mainly for me to look for work. (Hint, if anybody wants some watercolors, sketches, or architectural design work, send me a message). Here we are for the winter, to enjoy the snow and skiing, and have fun, and get ready for a busy Spring.
At 3am at the end of October, with about 10 suitcases, various sundry bags, stroller, dog, baby, baby bags, dog crate, coats and hats, we headed to the airport in 3 unmarked cars (just regular cars). We had planned our trip with only one layover... easier for the baby and for the dog. We were one of the first in line at the check-in. With our small group watching, we disgorged ourselves of most of our luggage and got my dog underway on her long journey (quickly through the security and off she went in her crate! Whoosh!) Left with the stroller, our carry-ons, and the baby bag, we headed through security, waved goodbye to family, and Whoosh! on the way to the gate. A coffee later (dang!, should have gotten the coffee in the machine for half price), we were on the plane, baby and all. Amazingly the baby slept almost from the minute of takeoff to our landing.
6 hours in the airport.
Wide awake from his beautiful nap in the plane, the baby had a great time in the airport, for all 6 hours. We watched a concrete truck pour concrete for 30 minutes, said hello to all the women walking by with mops and brooms, and checked out every book and toy shop possible. We even looked for the supposed playgrounds in the airport, but never did find them. And 3-4 hours at the chairs with Nicholas playing hide and seek, and going from window to window to sit on the sill and look at the planes, talk to all the children possible, and stare at all the people busily sipping their coffee and looking distracted. Time to board.
10 hours in a flying sardine can.
After 6 hours in the airport, Nicholas was EXHAUSTED. Fortunately, the plane crew forgot to take tickets for the flight, so just when we were getting ready to prepare Nicholas' milk for his takeoff (to help him adjust with the pressure change and FALL ASLEEP at takeoff), the crew announced we'd be sitting on the tarmac for 30-40 minutes so they could go around the plane and collect tickets. As this was happening, the couple in front of us must have realized their seats (already much to close to us.... I think the airline recently "compacted" their seats to get a few extra rows)...... realized their seats were able to recline even further than normal... and proceeded to put their seats WAY BACK.... until they were about 12" from our faces. This level of closeness combined with Nicholas' already tired mood started a chain reaction in Nicholas that made him more agitated and impossible to fall asleep. Nicholas would have nothing to do with staying in this confined prison of a seat. Eventually, we got into the air.
We found the only way to pacify Nicholas was to walk him, so we started walking him and exploring the cabin. Not only was he amazed by all the gadgets, telephones, buttons, little windows, and all the other passengers, but by the TOILETS ON THE DOWNSTAIRS LEVEL. Once he had discovered this, all he wanted was to walk up and down the stairs and look in all the toilet rooms. Weighing now about 20 lbs, a real joy can be found in walking up and down steep stairs carrying a 20 lb. bag of potatoes, wiggling and pointing at everything. Not to mention the tiny toilet rooms full of all kinds of buttons and gadgets. Wow! I think we enjoyed this olympic safari for probably 2-3 hours of the flight.
Finally, back in our seats, with Mr. and Mrs. Close Sitter there, Nicholas finally fell asleep.... on Diana's lap, pinning her there for the duration of the nap (3 hours). Unable to move, my job became to help her eat, and try to keep her comfortable. The food and beverage service arriving, the stewardess proceeded to ask us so that we could hear, "would you like something to drink?" I said no. Again, "WOULD YOU LIKE SOMETHING TO DRINK?" I responded, Shsssssss! Nooooo! Seeing Nicholas asleep, she said "I'M SORRY!" and moved on to the next victim. Thankful that Nicholas hadn't woken up, we settled in and waited and tried to eat in a space smaller than half a telephone booth, unable to move our arms, and able to only put down one tray.
After 3 hours, and with about 5 hours left, Nicholas awoke, and our 3 hour adventure began again. Eventually, another nap for a few hours, and there we were at our destination. Easy as pie.
We had family there to greet us, so we collected all our 10 suitcases, sundry bags, stroller, baby, dog, crate, coats and hats, through security, made our hellos! and headed for the car. Amazing that we could fit everything in the car, but we did. Nicholas even slept the entire way home.
2 weeks later.
So, it took a week, but Nicholas eventually adjusted to the 9-hour time zone change... only to be hit again by a 1-hour daylight savings time. But now he's adjusted to that as well. Febe adjusted as well. Her food is a different brand, but we continued the practice of adding "improvements" to her food, so she had no problem adjusting to her new menu. We made it here just in time for Halloween, so Nicholas had an amazingly cute Lion costume..... I guess a subject for a future retrospective blogpost. Today was the first real snow of the winter, but we're finding that Nicholas is enjoying the snow, rocks, trees, sticks, and dirt here just as much as he did over the summer in the country in Romania (another subject for a future retrospective blogpost). We found a gym class for babies in the local area, so Nicholas already is developing some friends and making us proud of his athletic prowess. Another superstar for sure. Febe is meeting her friends, Diana is discovering a small group of other expats, and John is doing his best to look for work. One day, One day!
No comments:
Post a Comment