On Our Way-The Sweden Adventure Begins 5/22/13

Dulles DC at the ticket counter for Iceland Air

Doing what we did most of the day, Waiting

When we got to Stockholm, Grandma Peg, Aunt Doods and Lily had to decide how to get to the hotel!

and then Mommy and Sharon asked for directions

Today Sharon picked me up and we drove to Springfield where we stopped to get Peg, Ed and Peg's sister Doody before we headed on to the Dayton Airport.  We were flying United to Dulles in Washington DC where we would then meet up with Trish and the rest of the gang.  This was the beginning of a very long trip to Stockholm.  We boarded in Dayton pretty much on time, after we heard them cancel the Chicago flight that was going out of a neighboring gate.  We taxied out onto the runway and then the waiting game began.  We were told that there were storms in the east near Dulles so we were going to wait for a while before they gave us the all clear. We sat on the plane out on the runway for nearly 1 hour before finally taking off.  Thankfully, we did not have to fly out of DC until 840 so we still had time.  We were hoping that we would get there about the same time as Trish but they were sitting also, sitting in DC traffic.  We finally met up a little after 7 pm, had a burger at Fuddrucker's before boarding our Icelandic Airliner.  We left DC before 9 but once again sat on the runway for nearly 40 minutes or so before we were allowed to take off.  The flight was uneventful.  They had personal entertainment screens at every seat and I chose to watch Argo.  I tried to sleep but probably only got and hour or so in 30 minute increments.  We changed planes in Iceland which appeared to be a very barren landscape with temperatures in the low 30's at 7 a.m.  Once again we had to wait for nearly an hour before we could get airborne.  We figure that we spent well over 3 hours grounded all total.  When we began our descent into Stockholm the weather looked sunny and very nice.  The temperatures were probably in the low 60's with a little drizzle towards late afternoon.  Sweden is about 6 hours ahead of our time.  I am struggling to get this written as I can hardly keep my eyes open.  We took a bus and two different trains before we arrived at our Welcome Hotel.  For supper, we had pizza and it wasn't half bad!  Hoping to head into downtown Stockholm tomorrow while Trish and Chad are at the Race Track.

Riding the Metro Bus

Luke's first train ride

Switching trains, by the end of our trip we will, hopefully, be a little better!

The most welcome sight in 24 hours, our Welcome Hotel in Jarfalla, Sweden

We were all just a little "tuckered"!

Rooms a little small in US standards but very comfortable.

I hope to check out this little convenience store tomorrow.

This is where we had our first Swedish meal, pizza!!

Lily loved her spaghetti and won the clean platter award!

Sharon ordered a pepperoni pizza but we got a cheese pizza with jalapeno  peppers instead.