Ward Family Vacations

New Zealand 2005

On Friday, August 12th, 2005 I left on my trip to New Zealand to visit my daughter who married a "kiwi". I had not seen Jessica since she moved to New Zealand (almost 2 years before) and it was 3 years since I had seen my new son-in-law. I looked for a few days and found "the" flights the end of June and scheduled my trip for the middle to end of August.

My first flight was from Memphis to Los Angeles on Northwest where I would pick up my international flight to Auckland. Bryan had just started his Senior year in High School on Wednesday so we said our goodbyes that morning when he left for school. Dennis and I took our time getting ready and made sure I had not forgotten anything and left for Memphis around 8:30 am. We stopped in Batesville (about 40 miles from Memphis) around 9:30 and ate breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. We did a little shopping and I picked up the kids anniversary present and we headed up to Memphis. In Horn Lake, MS we stopped at the Hancock Fabrics Store and I bought some really gaudy, bright ribbon to tie on my suitcases so they would stand out in a crowd! (And boy did they!). Then we headed up to the airport. We got to Memphis International Airport a little after 12:00 noon and I checked in my bags and got my boarding pass. It was not crowded and I was glad we went ahead and checked my bags because about a half hour later the crowds hit. We sat to wait and met a church group from Bellevue Baptist Church heading off on a mission trip and enjoyed talking to them.

Around 1:00 Dennis and I said our goodbyes and I headed off to check through Security to get to my gate. Anyone that has traveled in the last couple of years know that is not a quick process! Northwest Flight #177 from Memphis to Los Angeles was scheduled to leave at 2:40pm We started boarding around 2:00 and left on time. We traveled in a Victor A320 Airbus with 3 seats on each side. I sat next to two young Vietnamese girls. The oldest daughters' name was Jessica so you know we had a lot in common! They were on their way to Los Angeles to visit their grandparents. (Their mom and dad and younger brother sat on the other side). They were excited as they were getting to go to Disneyland and were excited about that. Jessica talked about the trip they were already planning next year to visit her other grandfather in Vietnam. It was a pretty day and was beautiful flying through the mountains and was a nice flight. We arrived right on time and I got ready for my 5 hour layover.