We're Here...

Chris and I have survived the trip so far!  We arrived in Moscow yesterday afternoon (Monday the 4th) and spent the night before getting up early and flyinging into Archangelsk today.  When we got to the hotel in Moscow, we ate dinner at a Tex-Mex themed restaurant in the hotel (Don Pepe) but didn't get Tex-Mex at all!  Rachael got the Chicken Kiev and Chris had the Meat Lasagne.  Good food, but definately not like home!  At least it was a hot meal. 

We didn't get much sleep on the airplane (seats didn't recline much) but we got to watch lots of movies since we each had our own personal screen & controller!  The food was good and we had enough to eat.  Once we had dinner at the hotel & went back to our room, we both were asleep by 7 pm.  We got up around 6 am to get ready since we needed to catch the shuttle bus to Terminal D (the hotel was at the airport) to check in for our flight to Archangelsk.

The flight to Archangelsk was rather uneventful.  We had Americano style coffee (espresso with water added) at the airport before getting on the plane.  They served breakfast (hot tea, orange juice, cheese & chicken 'sandwich' with a small bag of mixed nuts & dried fruit).  Pretty good.

Tomorrow we get to meet our translator (the person going with us to the orphanage in Kotlas) when he picks us up at the hotel here in Archangelsk at noon.  We have a booking for the flight in & out of Kotlas and we will pay for that at the airport (in Roubles) tomorrow morning.  The airport in Archangelsk isn't very big.  We got off the plane, walked down the stairs to the tarmac, got on a 'shuttle' to take us about 100 yards to the drop off point (basically the open gate area) that you walked through and you were in a 'courtyard' area that was next to the street.  We waited for a bit before they opened up the door to the 'baggage area'.  It is a one room building that has a moveable belt for the luggage to go around.  They drive the baggage cart up to a door at the end, open the door & slide the luggage onto the belt.  When they finish unloading the baggage, they close the door & turn off the belt.  Very efficient!

The driver brought us to the hotel & dropped us off.  Thankfully we had a reservation in our name!  We weren't really sure what to expect.  While we were waiting to check in, we met a really nice couple from Detroit that were checking out.  They met a little girl yesterday that they are considering to adopt and were on their way home.  They mentioned an Italian restaurant close by that we are going to check out tonight.

Well, so far that is a brief update of our travels.  We have paid for an hour of wireless internet time and it is about halfway done, so we will update more later, when we can.  We don't expect internet service to be available in Kotlas, so we may not post anymore until Friday.

Thank you for your prayers and support!  We fly to Kotlas tomorrow and spend time with the boys on the 7th & 8th before starting our expedition home.