The journey begins

हम भारत जा रहे हैं! हमारा यात्रा शुरू कर रहा है! हम भुत खुश हैं और सुब चीजे तयारी हैं।

Finally the day arrived for us to pack up our myriad belongings, say goodbye to family and country, and start the big trip to India! Grandma had to take a picture of us with all our stuff, and it was quite a load. Still, we managed to keep all our bags under the new, lighter limits (only 50 lbs per bag allowed these days - anything more brings on the fees) and we only checked 2 bags each - amazing!

हमारे पास भुत सामान हैं , लेकिन ज़्यादा धीमे नही हैं।

We had to start this trip with a self-funded flight from Chicago to Dulles. We tried every which way to stage the trip from Chicago, but the government travel rules and contracted ticket prices made it financially impossible to do anything but leave from DC. Thank goodness for Southwest Airlines - we all made the flight for under $400 USD! The kids were excited to start the trip and enjoyed a short flight to "break us in" for the many hours on airplanes over 3 more days.

हम चिकागो से रवाना हुए । हमें चिकागो से वॉशिंग्टन तुक जाना थे , क्योंकि चिकागो से भारत तुक ज़्यादा मेहेंगे थे - सरकारी यात्री कि कानून के तेहेत।

As we waited for our flights and hotel shuttles, both at Chicago Midway and Dulles, we hung out at the USO. Awesome! Not only was it a last dose of Patriotic America, but a super place for 4 kids to get a snack, play a game, and watch Motocross and Nascar while Mom and Dad checked email and relaxed on the couch. Beats being bored and cramped out in the noisy terminal! We will miss our beloved country, but we are excited to make the rest of the trip tomorrow.

हवाई आधे पेर एक भुत आचा इस्थान है - उनका नम "यु एस ओ" है। हमारे लिए इस इस्थान में भुत आराम थे. ये इस्थान सेनिकों , नव सेनिकों, वायु सेनिकों , और उनके परिवारों के लिए है ।

India here we come!