"This is a SITUATION!"

The Carlson clan (Daddy, Momma, Kell, Cortney, and Kurtis) all came to no mercy Searcy to see me off to Africa, which I am sooo thankful for :) I received a lot of safety tips from my Daddy and my big brothers: "travel in pairs", "stick with the group", "don't talk to strangers", "watch out for lions" etc.; they're always looking out for me!

After going to church with the family this morning we met up with the rest of the HIZ-Path group at the school for a 12 o'clock departure to Memphis to catch our first flight. I was prepared for some SERIOUS tears which of course happened, I was even surprised to notice some teary eyes from Kurtis (even though he blamed it on allergies!) However, the excitement of the group being piled in the van soon comforted the sadness I felt leaving my family and was instead replaced by anxiousness to start the journey!

Mrs. Fisher, Ms. Lowry, and Traughb came to see the group off

After arriving in Memphis Lacey, Jaime, and I began the search for food (naturally). But while Jaime was on the phone Lace and I got distracted (no surprise) by the monkeys we found in the gift shop with Ian...

After a minor situation at check-in we FINALLY made it through security and to our gate to board our first flight. This of course was Lacey's first plane ride so she was a little nervous to put it mildly, but she quickly realized it was not THAT bad to fly.

Once we arrived in Atlanta we were continuing with the "progressive meal" so Jaime, Rachel, Sarah, Catherine, Lacey, and I made a dash to On The Border (just so happened this was located on the opposite side of the terminal where we would be departing). I was SUPER excited for some chips and salsa and I ate like it was my last meal...No worries though, we got some exercise after receiving a text from B.Weave. saying, "RUN, to gate E31, RUN!" So all of us, plus our 30 pound backpacks, SPRINTED down the terminal, up and down the stairs, got on the train and sprinted again to the gate. It was quite a SITUATION! It didn't end there, Delta airlines proceeded to overbook our flight and at one point Lacey, Rachel, and Catherine were crammed in two seats (we weren't exactly in our assigned seats, oops) but all we could say is "THIS wasn't our fault"

I must give a shout out to Dean B. Weave for being so calm and collected throughout this entire leg of the trip even when this happened...

THAT "situation" would be B.Weave's bag shredded and melted thanks to the baggage machine. It literally looked like a lion tore it apart!

After taking four taxi's containing 12 people and 24 bags to the Comfort Inn we are able to relax for a short 5 hours before we are at it again! I can already tell this is going to be a FABULOUS trip with a WONDERFUL group of people :)