Our Amazing Race

Over the past eleven months I have had many dreams about our trip to Vietnam and often the dreams seem like they are out of an episode of “The Amazing Race”. We have wanted to be on the show but there always seems to be a challenge that involves heights of epic proportions. The idea of bungee jumping off a building is not exactly on the top of my "fun stuff" to do list. So unfortunately we won't be trying out for the show but instead we will be appearing on our own version of “The Amazing Race”.

Our race will consist of several parts and along the way we may encounter a road block, detour and even a fast forward. We are guaranteed several pit stops along the way. Pit stops are a must in the race! We need those to help keep us sane.

Here's a run down on what the race may look like but we all know Murphy likes to tag along with us, so this schedule is subject to change without notice.

• The flight to Vietnam - Now this should be an adventure since neither of us has been in a confined space for more than 6 hours. Total travel time is about 24 hours. A great way to test how much you really like your spouse.

• Ho Chi Minh City - This is our first pit stop. A much needed stop as I'm sure we will both be dying to take a shower and ready to get off that plane. We will be staying at the Rex Hotel. We will be there at least one night.

• Travel to Ninh Thuan - Big day for us. We will meet Bennett for the first time. But before we do, we have a 7 hour drive to Ninh Thuan. If you have never been to Vietnam then you won't have an appreciation for their traffic laws. Basically there aren’t any laws. It's every man/woman/animal for themself. This should be a lot of fun since I still get deathly car sick and add to the fact we are meeting our son for the first time. I better remember to load up on 7Up and crackers. It could be a long day.

• Ninh Thuan - This is our second pit stop. We will be in Bennett's province for several days and staying at the SaiGon NinhChu Hotel. We will get to visit the center at least once before we have our Giving and Receiving ceremony. We hope to have time to do some touring. This is very important for us to absorb as much of Bennett's province that we can. We want him to know about where he spent the first 15 months of his life.

• Travel back to Ho Chi Minh City - We will leave directly from our Giving & Receiving ceremony and head back to Ho Chi Minh City. If we thought the ride to Ninh Thuan was bad, the ride back could be more fun as Bennett has only been in a car once. Hopefully we can soothe the little guy and make him as comfortable as we can.

• Ho Chi Minh City - This is our third pit stop. We will be staying at the Rex again for the next few days. We will have several appointments during these few days. We should also have some down time to see the city. I plan to do lots of shopping here. Part of my shopping will include buying items for Bennett to give to him over the years. It's important that he keeps the connection to his birth country.

• Flight to Hanoi - Bennett's first plane ride. Another fun adventure. This will give us some practice to prepare for the big flight home.

• Hanoi - This is our fourth and final pit stop. We will be staying at the Somerset. In Hanoi we will have our Embassy interview and get Bennett's visa to come home. There are several sites we want to see when we are in Hanoi and of course more shopping.

• Flight Home - Our final leg of the race. This could be a very long flight but we're up for the challenge.

For us, we have already won the race. We just need to cross that finish line. We hope you all tune in to follow along. I promise it will be the adventure of a lifetime.