Honeymoon: Euro Trip - Day 2

It was hard to sleep on the plane, but we did get a few hours in here and there. It was a pretty chill night on the plane. As more daylight approached in the horizon, the flight attendants served breakfast. We were given blueberry yogurt, a breakfast calzone made from egg, cheese and spinach. Ben couldn't eat his, because it wasn't gluten free, so he just had the yogurt and coffee.  I had orange juice with mine.

I spent the remainder of the flight writing in my journal, dozing off here and there and patiently waiting for the flight to get to Amsterdam. We looked out the window as we got closer and closer to Europe. We could see Ireland and the UK as we flew over the top of the grouping of islands towards the Luchtaven Schiphol International Airport. We got ready for landing.

When we did land, I could not believe I was officially in Europe! I never thought I would actually be on this side of the world. It was a crazy thought. We had to wait patiently to get off the plane. I turned on my international plan so I could let people know we arrived safely. Once we got off the plane, we used the restroom and wandered around the airport. We found out there were no geocaches or Adventure Labs and were very disappointed. We bought some snacks and looked around for some food for Ben. He really couldn't have anything, and we didn't want to attempt it since we were traveling. 

We looked at the whiskey inside of one of the duty-free stores.  We probably should have gotten in line sooner because we didn't realize we had to go through a customs/passport check to get to our next gate. It was not clear at all.

The line was long and very slow. The airport was not prepared for this many people coming through Amsterdam. We eventually had to get in the quick connection line when we saw that our flight was an hour away from boarding. We had to be granted permission by the airport staff. Luckily, this line went quick, we got our passports stamped, asked us a few questions and we jogged to our gate because they were already boarding people. I was sweaty and tired by the time we got there.

At our gate, there were tons of kids and their chaperones from Salt Lake City doing a choir concert in Portugal. We got on our flight, got comfortable and I slept part of the way to Lisbon. We were given water and Stroop waffles as a snack. I did write in my journal for a little bit. Ben listened to music and slept most of the way. 

After about a 2+ hour flight, we finally touched down in Portugal. We were patient getting off the plane, grabbed our stuff and went into the terminal. We used the restroom and then followed directions for baggage claim. We had to wait a little bit to get our bags off the carousel and headed for the exit. I seriously thought we would get stopped customs, but we didn't. Maybe we had to in Amsterdam because that is where we entered Europe?

Ray had arranged a ride for us from the airport to the hotel we would be staying at in Lisbon.  We went to the pickup area and didn't see the person that was supposed to pick us up. We talked to one of the people in charge and he took care of it for us and got us a driver. We went out to the parking garage to wait for our driver. He showed up after a few minutes, helped us put our bags in the car and drove us a couple miles to the Hotel Inn Express, where Brenda and Ray were waiting for us. He dropped us off, we met up with Brenda and Ray, checked in to our room, cleaned up a bit and then sat in the hotel lobby visiting for a while. 

Ray found us a place to have dinner that was within walking distance. He wanted to avoid driving the car as much as he could in Lisbon. I didn't blame him. It's confusing driving in a foreign city. He pulled up the address for Maria Canela and we made the short walk. Just like any city there were some unsavory parts.  We just kept to ourselves while we walked. We found the place, looked at the menu and went inside. 

We got seated and ordered water and our food. I had a Portuguese bitoque, which is something I could definitely try and make at home. Brenda said just about everything comes with fries. I told her that was the case in Peru and Ecuador as well. 

We chatted about the last few months, the wedding, the adventures they've gone on since the moved to Portugal and the things in between. We just let the conversation go however it wanted to. The food was excellent however, I wished that my fried egg was runnier, oh well, we paid and walked back to the hotel. We made plans for tomorrow before heading up to our rooms. Ben and I were running on fumes at this point. He isn't used to traveling like this and I've had plenty experience with it. We both got in showers (our bathroom had a real bidet), relaxed for a little bit, talked to my Mom and Trish and then went to bed around 9 p.m. Portugal time. 

With the short naps aside, we were up for more than 24 hours and flew through several time zones. This was my first experience being more than 3 hours ahead of home. I was excited to go to bed but more excited to go explore Europe together!

Next Adventure: Honeymoon:  Euro Trip - Day 3

Honeymoon: Euro Trip - Day 1

Ben and I thought pretty hard about where we wanted to go on our honeymoon. We threw around ideas such as Hawaii, the Caribbean and Europe. Ben has not been to any of those places, nor has he ever been out of the country. I have been to many places over the years, so I wanted this to be extra special and give him an opportunity to experience being overseas. I made sure he had his passport well in advance before planning an actual date.

In May 2023, our geocaching friends, Brenda and Ray, decided to retire and become expats in Portugal. They spent a lot of time getting prepared prior to October 2023, when they made the move over to Europe. They did a lot of research, filled out a ton of paperwork, sold a bunch of their belongings, their house, their car and went head on into the new adventure they carved out for themselves. It was fun to follow their progress along the way.

Ben and I spent months coming up with ideas of where we wanted to go, see and do. After being there for over a year, Brenda and Ray were craving for some visitors from family and friends. They suggested that we come to Europe and spend our honeymoon over there. It wasn't a bad idea. We could spend some time with them and then Ben and I could go do our own thing together. You never know when the next opportunity you have to do something like that again. Ben and I were excited to go to Europe and to not be at home or work for two weeks. Ben had asked Josh to take us to and from the airport and he agreed to do that for us.

We finalized our plans and were looking into going the last two weeks of February. Ben put in leave at work and I thought I would be considerate and let my supervisor and team know three months in advance. It did not turn out the way I imagined it going. She basically said that it was great that I had a plan and to next time give us a heads up. She continued with that we are still a group of people with various time off needs, but obviously it's great that I had a plan. I sat there going, what the actual hell? Next time give her a heads up? Were three months not a big enough heads up? I was literally dumbfounded. I actually asked my DJA supervisor for some advice on the matter. She said she would love a three month heads up if one of her agents knew they were going on vacation.

As the dates got closer and I got further into my DJA, it began to get stressful. A position opened up in the unit I was doing the DJA in and I was going to apply for it. At the time, I wasn't sure if they were going to open up the recruitment and close it while I was on vacation. I had planned on bringing my personal laptop to Europe with me just in case. I had most of my information updated and I had already begun to work on my resume and cover letter in early January. I was in a good spot, but it was still stressful.

About a week before we departed, Ben and I made sure we had all of our stuff booked, sent Brenda and Ray our itinerary, we had our luggage set out, made sure we knew where our passports were, Ben purchased a new backpack, Rhonda and Doug were going to feed our cats and check on our house while we were gone, I put in my leave, buttoned up a few things at work and waited for vacation.

The day before, I went into the office, and the universe must know that you were going to be out on vacation. It was so busy, and I was trying to get everything done before I left. I didn't end up leaving work until almost 5. I was exhausted when I got home but glad to know we were going to be on a plane heading to a place we've never been before. We made sure all of our laundry was done and the clothes we were going to bring were clean. I got in a shower. We packed as many things as we possibly could the night before and seriously attempted to not go to bed super late.

Technically it was Valentine's Day, but we call it Deadpool Day. We got up between 7-7:30 and noticed we had a little bit of overnight snow. We both slept terrible because we stayed up way too late the night before, something we were trying to avoid, but did anyway. I got dressed into my comfy airplane clothes, chatted with Erika on the phone, fed the cats and really didn't have time to eat. Ben shaved and took a shower. Josh arrived earlier than anticipated.

All I had left to do was pack up my toiletries and coat. I was worried that my suitcase would be too heavy. I also made the mistake of taking zinc and vitamin C on an empty stomach and did not feel the greatest the entire car ride to SeaTac.

We left just after 9:30 after stuffing our bags into the back of Josh's car. The ride up was uneventful, to traffic but I did feel nauseous after taking those supplements on an empty stomach. I listened to Josh and Ben talk about random things while I texted Debbie - I found out her internet was still down which did not affect me since I was not at work and wouldn't be until the beginning of March.

We arrived just after 10:45-11ish, the arrivals lane was packed so that made for extra traffic in the departure area. We found the Delta drop off, Josh pulled over as far as he could, we all got out, Ben and Josh got our suitcases out of the back, and I felt just absolutely terrible. I walked up to the sidewalk and puked. I haven't puked since 2018, when I had my last kidney stone. I hoped I had gotten it all out because we would be standing in several lines over the next hour or so. I felt blah the rest of the morning and into the afternoon.

We printed off our bag tags and boarding passes and then got in line to drop off our suitcases. My suitcase was 46 lbs., lol. We got into the security line, I dumped out the water in my Nalgene and then Ben disappeared, he had gotten into the money exchange line while I proceeded through security. Security, this time, was a breeze, no extras - I didn't have to take my shoes off or take out my laptop. I grabbed my stuff and waited for Ben. I felt bad but it wasn't awful. I did use the restroom while Ben waited for me.

We wandered to our gate to see where it was. We had some time to kill so we stopped at Qdoba and Hudson for some food and drinks/snacks. We both had the chicken and rice bowl. I really needed something in my stomach after that puking episode in front of the unloading zone. I'm sure some people saw me, and I became a story for them to tell. We found a table to sit at and eat our food and play on our phones.

We found out our flight was going to be delayed by about a half hour. Instead of 2ish, it was going to be closer to 2:30ish. We hung out near our gate while our phones charged. We got up a few times to use the restroom, stretch our legs while we could and check in with our families and friends. 

It was finally our turn to get in the boarding line, presented our tickets and got onto the Delta Airbus. Ben and I picked two seats to ourselves next to a window when we booked our tickets. We didn't have to sit next to strangers! When we did get to our seat, some guy was in Ben's seat. We had to show him he was in the incorrect seat and adjusted. Ben let me sit next to the window and we got comfortable. It was going to be a 10-hour flight from Seattle to Amsterdam. This will be the longest flight I've ever been on.

We took off. I was excited that we were on our way to Europe for the first time. It has always been on my bucket list and part of it is finally coming true. Once we leveled off, we adjusted and I grabbed my notebook, pens and headphones out of my backpack. Ben and I passed the time writing in my journal and watching movies - Beetlejuice 2, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Despicable Me 4 and Book Smart. Ben watched Deadpool and Wolverine, Venom and the D&D movie along with playing virtual chess, poker and sudoku. 

A couple hours into the flight we were served dinner and Ben had to be careful what he ate since some of it was not gluten free. We had chicken, rice, veggies, cheese, a brownie, crackers and a diced pepper/cauliflower medley.  The food wasn't that bad.

As it got dark, we tried getting comfortable so we could get a couple hours of shut eye. 

Today and the day we come back will be extremely long days. I sure hope I had enough energy to enjoy the first day we arrive to Portugal. I usually bounce back quickly when I travel but this was going to be several time zones 8 hours ahead of home, which is essentially an entire workday.

Europe, here we come!

Next Adventure:  Honeymoon: Euro Trip - Day 2

Two Kidney Stones and a Trip to the ER

I always knew it would happen again someday but wasn't sure when. I am lucky it happened before we went on our trip to our honeymoon. It would have been a terrible time being away from home in this amount of pain.

The past 24 hours have been rough here at our house. Since 2004, off and on, I have had some episodes of kidney stones, some works than others. Last time was in 2018, until the night before at 1:30 a.m. That entire day I felt off, but I wasn't sure why I was feeling off. 

I woke up with a sharp pain in my left flank. I moved around trying to get comfortable hoping that it would go away.  It didn't. It just got worse and worse. I shot out of bed and was like, no, no, no, no, no, this can't be happening, not today! I have to get up and to do HQ to do my job. People were counting on me. Thursdays are busy for me. I can't be getting kidney stones again.

I continued lying in bed for another half hour, really hoping that the pain would go away...it never did. I tapped Ben and told him that I needed to go to the ER.  He was wide awake at that point. He got up and got dressed. I threw on some sweatpants, a sweatshirt and grabbed my phone and wallet. We were out the door in the cold, frosty weather. It didn't take us long to get to the new clinic off of Pacific Avenue near the Fred Meyer.

I slowly walked into the clinic around 2:30 a.m. while Ben parked the car. We checked in and sat for about a half hour or so, pain coming and going in waves. I heard my name be called so we went into the back so they could get my vitals and get a port in me. I hate needles.

We sit there for a bit while people came and went. The doctor finally saw us, and she gave me the run-down of what she thought it was without the tests and CT scan. She said they were classic symptoms of kidney stones, and she rattled off what kinds of tests I would get getting that early in the morning, followed by the meds she wanted me on. They took my blood, and we waited for the CT scan. 

I've never had a CT scan before. It was interesting. They called for contrast and when the lady told me what I would be expecting from that, she wasn't wrong. My body got warm, I had the sensation that I was peeing my pants and my mouth tasted metallic. When I was done, I went back out to the waiting area with Ben, and they got me on an IV and some meds to help with the pain because I had a bad sharp pain after that CT scan. The nurse said I would. It hurt so bad my eyes cried.

We sat there for about another hour or so to wait for the CT scan results while being pumped full of liquids to force me to pee in a cup. All of the sudden, out of nowhere, I went from not having to use the restroom to needing to use the restroom now. I got my cup filled up, handed it to Ben and he gave it to the nurses.  We continued to sit there, and I had no idea what time it was.

My CT scans results were finally done so the doctor went over it with us. It was weird seeing my body parts on the screen. She pointed out what everything was and then pointed out two small white dots on the screen. She said, those are your kidney stones. I was surprised there were two of them. She continued with, they were small, and one had already made its way down to the bladder. She added that I will probably pass them quickly and by quicky she meant within the day or so. It wasn't going to be a week-long marathon. That was a relief, but I still felt terrible.

She ended the conversation with letting know that the nurses will help get me discharged and get the port out of my arm. That process was taken care of, and we left just after 6 a.m. We were exhausted. I sent out a few texts to my coworkers and family. We got home and Ben amazingly still went to work on like two hours of sleep, and I got onto my work computer to let everyone know what was going on. I was disappointed in my supervisor but relieved that my DJA supervisor supported me to take the day off, relax and get some rest. 

I immediately went to bed and slept until about 12:30. My body was angry and sore. I got up, ate some breakfast and then went to go get my meds at the Safeway on College. On my way there, I had another sharp pain episode and if I wasn't in the Escape I would have dropped to my knees. I went into the store, hoping it would be quick, haha, joke's on me! I was there for an hour! I wanted to die! I was in so much pain that I laid on the floor in the waiting room because they told me my meds weren't going to be filled for another half hour. I just wanted to go home.

I waited the half hour, which turned into an hour. I got back in the long line, I was in agony, finally got my meds and went home as quickly as I could. I changed back into my sweats, grabbed my pillow and blanket and set up shop on the couch. I took my meds and hoped for the best. 

The first few hours were ice and then had a couple miserable moments where I wanted to die. Ben felt bad and wished he could do something for me, but he couldn't. I had to let it take its course. He did make dinner and some chores, all on two hours of sleep. I thanked him. Why did this have to happen on that day? Why couldn't it have waited until Friday or the weekend? Ughhh!

My arm about five days after my visit to the ER.

It's interesting who gets kidney stones and who doesn't. I am unfortunately one of those "lucky" ones.

*Updates - I found out my visit to the clinic cost almost $50,000. I am so thankful I had insurance and only had to pay $500.00 of it plus a couple copays. I two appointments so far with a urologist. I had to pee in a collection funnel and dump it into two different jugs.  Once those were completed, I had to mail it into a clinic. I found out that my uric acid was low, so I had to have more citrus fruits in my diet, obviously keep drinking water. My follow up appointment is in December for a follow up appointment and another scan.*