Traveling From Abeokuta To Vonore, Tennessee

Our travel day home was not near as long as some travel days that we have had, but it was long enough.

KJo worked 5+ hours packing the evening before the actual travel day and by the time we went to bed, things were about 30 minutes or less from being totally ready.

Here we are at 5:40 AM.

It felt like we were starting from a deficit because our sleep had been hindered the night or two before. The night before we traveled, I slept good for about four hours at the beginning of the night, KJo slept good the last two hours of the night.

The night before that, Kelly Jo slept zero, zip, none. She was already tired when we left the hotel at 6:15 AM on our travel day. I slept very good the fours hours I slept but by the time we left I had been up six hours.

It is only about 65 miles to the airport in Lagos but with the road conditions and traffic, that often takes us nearly three hours.

They assured me that we could make it in two hours in the early morning. Yep, we made it in one hour and twenty-five minutes. Yay!

Every time we have flown out of Nigeria, our flight left late at night. We usually arrive at the airport in Lagos between noon and 3:00 and face hundreds if not thousands of others in the airport. It has ALWAYS been a wreck getting through each and every line!

They have moved the Lagos to Atlanta flight to Noon departure and that changed things quite a bit. We pulled into the airport at 7:40 AM, we were finished at the Delta counter at 8:20 and cleared Passport Control, Customs and Security at 8:45 AM.

There was absolutely no line anywhere and the only delays at all were due to the process and not scores of people in front of us. Wow! I hope they keep our flight at that time.

Once we were clear of security, we had one thing on our mind. KFC!

No, fried chicken is not good for me and it is not on my regular diet, but it was good for me that day!

The economy in Nigeria is in a free fall and inflation is out of sight. However, the US dollar is strong against the Naira so KFC was cheap considering it was airport food. We had plenty of chicken, sides and drinks $4 cheaper than we had two orders of fries and drink 20 hours later in Atlanta.

Next, we walked to the gate where you go through security a final time including a thorough search of your carry-on bags and your person. At noon we boarded a took off at 12:45.

The flight was supposed to be 13 hours and actually took 12 hours and 27 minutes! However, we lost the extra time by leave 35 minutes late AND sitting on the taxiway waiting for a gate in Atlanta. Ugh!

That was an indication of what was to come.😜

We waited through Customs then to baggage claim. Once we had our bags, we walked to the area where we drop the bags again. Then through security again and made our way to gate D34 to catch our plane to Knoxville.

We were running close but we made it twenty minutes before takeoff. However, the door was closed and our seats we occupied by standby flyers. OOPS!

They had us booked on a flight two hours later. The next flight was at gate A34. I was dragging by the time I made it there and found they had moved our flight to gate A2. OUCH!

The short flight to Knoxville was uneventful, our luggage was already there and our ride to the airport was timely. The Jeep was parked at a local hotel and we stayed the night there.

This is unbelievable and I almost could not believe it myself, but I slept for 11 hours that first night. Hallelujah!

We left for the bus in Vonore, Tennessee.

But we were sidetracked for about an hour at Ruby Tuesday's.

That was our travel experience from Abeokuta, Nigeria to Vonore, Tennessee. The bus was safe and sound as I knew it would be and we are glad to be in our little home. Thank you for stopping by.

Davy

Odie's Travel Day November 2023

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting in from the home front! I am thrilled to be at my little Beach Cottage. It feels great to be in my warm home. 

Thanks to many of you who have checked on me since I have been home.

My parents are doing well in Nigeria. Thankfully, they have enough Wi-Fi to at least text someone every day. Thank you for praying for them! Several of you have let us know that you are praying for them. We all appreciate your prayers!

Did you see both of Dad's posts from yesterday? He shared photos from their travel on Tuesday and Wednesday and the services on Thursday and Friday. Click here and here to see those posts.

Thank you for praying for my travel day on Monday. Both of my flights went well. The second flight was only delayed a few minutes. I was worried that there may still be some holiday travel hiccups for me to navigate. Praise God everything went according to plan!

My day started early, especially since I could not sleep well Sunday night. Thank you to Mom for seeing me off! 

By 6:15 AM, I was boarding the first flight.

Goodbye, Knoxville.

 The flying time between Knoxville and Atlanta was so quick that I did not have time for a nap. I did get to see a beautiful sunrise! Below are a few photos I snapped from my aisle seat during the flight. The window needed to be cleaned.

I love seeing the world from that high up.

Hello, Atlanta, at least for a few hours.

I grabbed a breakfast burrito while I waited for the next plane.

Waiting to go home!

Ready for the final leg of the trip. I was not able to get the in-flight picture this time. We had a full flight.

My Gran and Papaw spent their day coming to get me, and I so appreciate their help!

We stopped at Freddy's for dinner to give us some strength. It was so good! We also made some memories in the process!

Time for a sweet treat.

I made it home!

It was soon time for some quick pictures before hugging my grandparents bye and sending them home. I will see them soon.

Mamaw and Papaw came to visit for a short while that evening. I am so happy to see my family! Papaw Eugene is doing good. Thank you for praying for him!

After I did a few things to get settled in at home, I crawled into my big bed. I was happy to be home! Ready to close out the day, but thankful for God's help and protection.

Thanks for visiting with me today. See you next time.

Odie

 

Travel And Thursday of Minister's Conference Conference at Christ Ambassadors Holiness Church

This is our first report from Nigeria covering our arrival day and our first full day with our friends.

Our flight arrived about 30 minutes early, but it we did not get off the plane for nearly an hour. We were near the back of the plane with a few hundred new best friends in front of us.

They have built a new terminal at the airport in Lagos and what we saw of it was very nice. We may be able to explore it the day we leave.

They parked our plane at the old terminal and bussed us to the new terminal. We waited through customs and immigration in the new space and then dove in head first into baggage claim. The new customs area and baggage claim are much better.

Our luggage was definitely the last luggage off the plane. We arrived in Atlanta Tuesday nearly four hours before departure and our luggage must have been the first on the plane. We were a full hour in baggage claim.

Inflation is horrible in Nigeria. I will tell you more about it later but i have one example for you. The luggage carts used to be 300 Naira. Now they are 1650 Naira. Still cheap for us but horrible for them. In other years one American dollar was 250-400 Naira. Now, it is one dollar to 800 Naira. 

Two hours after we landed we were safely in the hands of our welcoming committee. Hallelujah!

Two hours later, they deposited us in our hotel. Hallelujah again.

In previous years, our flight to Nigeria arrived in the evening. That put us way past dark getting to Abeokuta. This year we landed at 9:30 AM and we were at the hotel by 2:00 PM. We like this much better. We slept about three hours and then spent the evening getting unpacked and prepared for Thursday.

I slept decently but KJo barely slept at all. Not sleeping is normal for us with the travel and time change so we are thankful for any sleep at all. I pray we sleep good but it usually takes us several days to adapt.

We had a wonderful day Thursday, so we should be tired enough to sleep. We had the first session of the Minister's Conference Thursday morning. By 5:00 AM Eastern US time, I was preaching.

It was so good to see Bro. Shobanke again!

The first session of the Minister's Conference was great. Most years I preach two sessions each morning. Thursday I preach once for one hour and twenty minutes with the interpreter. The altar service was amazing.

We had lunch in the church office. Sis. Rebecca, Bro. Shobanke's  daughter prepared the meal.

We rested an hour or so in the afternoon and we left for church about 4:30. We were preaching for Pastor Samson at The Glorious Life Pentecostal Church International in Abeokuta. We have known Pastor Samson for several years, but this was out first time preaching for him. 

It was a wonderful evening of fellowship and enjoying the Spirit of the Lord.

This is Sis. Ruth (Another of Bro. Shobanke's daughter) and her husband Bro. Samuel. They went with us to church at Bro. Samson's Thursday night.

Thank you for joining us today. Please share these Nigeria posts with friends and neighbors. It took quite a while to get the pictures emailed and loaded. I hope I can keep it up.

Davy