Made it to Oviedo!

 Sunday, August 9, 2026

We boarded our plane and have high hopes that Stu and Amanda will be boarding theirs in Miami, too!  We only have to look into the camera at the gate instead of presenting our boarding passes and passports!

Atlanta by night

 About an hour into the flight we are served dinner with red wine (mediocre airplane wine) and water and I start into my movie marathon. First I finish "The Devil Wears Prada 2" and move on to "Dreamgirls" and "Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio, written and directed by Christopher Nolan.  One of the male flight attendants says Ginger should give me her shirt because it goes with my hair!  And he recommended a clothing store in Madrid whose clothes are all bright colors that I would love!

Just entering Madrid's airpsace.

About an hour before landing we get a light breakfast and we land pretty much on time!  Somewhere in there Saturday became Sunday and the clock moved ahead six hours! It turns out that Stu and Amanda's flight is landing shortly after ours and we might be able to meet up after all! 

Unlike many airports, we have to clear passport control before collecting our baggage.  There are machines that you insert your passport into, then pose for a picture, and , maybe give your fingerprints.  I didn't have to do that and am told to go straight through the automatic doors.  YAY.  Not yay for Ginger, though.  It asks for her fingerprints and then won't accept them!  She's told to see a passport official, wherever that might be!  She has to ask in Spanish because, oddly enough, not many of the airport personnel speak English. It winds up meaning that we have to wait in the long passport line and it ends up with people using the same machines that we used! I'm not doing it again and Ginger is shuffled off to the side and eventually an official looks at her passport and simply sends her on.  

Next we insert our passports into another machine, take another picture, and move on to baggage claim. Eventually my bag comes but there's no sign of Ginger's.  We go to the baggage information desk and the lady there says it should be there.  We dutifully follow her back to the number nine carousel and the only bleu bag at the far end turns out to be Ginger's.  Yay!

We head out to find a taxi and I've been been texting with Stu.  They're heading outside, too and we could share a cab!  Except they are at Terminal Four and we're at Terminal One.  We get a cab.  They catch the commuter train and get there ahead of us, maybe.  It's hard to know because we make a pitstop and the pay toilet in the train station lobby.  We figure out where  our train might be and sure enough, there are the kids!  It's amazing that they got seats because the train was supposed to be sold out!  They're in Care One and we are in Car Eight, so we separate and find our seats and figure out how to stash our bags for the three-hour train ride.  If the kids hadn't gotten seats they were going to take the bus but that's a five -hour ride and I'm so glad they didn't have to do that!

We arrive in Oviedo exactly on time, to the minute!  The four of us head outside and Ole makes one more loop and picks us up.  We manage to fit all of us and our baggage in the car and head home, where Jenny is waiting for us. Hugs and joy all around!

The kids have prepared charcuterie boards for snacking while Ole prepares leg of lamb and roasted potatoes for us, which Jenny's yummy salad.  Along with the snackies we have Ole's homemade vermut (vermouth) which is really delicious!  There is much merriment and catching up and eventually I peel off toget sorted in my room and pack Jenny's birthday presents.  When I come out dinner is ready and we decide to eat before presents.

Stu has gotten Ole a Lego-like kits that makes an AK47 that shots rubber bands! It has 1,400 pieces!! Then Jenny opens her goodies from me and then the so creative gift from Stu and Amanda!  It's all the ingredients to make paper clay, and real clay incase that doesn't work out!  And there are delicate little glass vases to hold paper clay flowers or whatever clever ideas come along!

Ole and Stu share their new favorite videos and movies on the big TV and before we know it it's eleven o'clock and everyone is exhausted, especially those of us who can't sleep on planes or trains!