Getting to and around Germany

The flight to Germany was quite the adventure. We flew from Utah to Baltimore, MD and then Baltimore, MD to Ramstein Air Base. I can't remember what time we left Utah, but I do remember that we left Baltimore in the evening. I was so hoping to get at least 4 hours of sleep in order to be able to be somewhat alert for the day we would have ahead of us in Germany. Justin and I were ready to conk out, but Sam fought hard for a good couple of hours. We got close to 2 hours of sleep. ha. Upon arrival we were all a little cloudy in the mind to say the least. We were in no hurry to get off the huge airplane. The line to exit the Airplane was one of many lines we would be in for the next 3 months trying to set up house and life in Germany.

Pictures from our flight:
 Doing our best to make the flight as easy for all of us as possible
We made Sam a comfortable 'bed' in hopes he would fall asleep quickly. But with the lights on and food being delivered, it was w/o success until the last 2 hours of the flight.
 But we're still excited to be going to Germany!

Here is a list of lines we stood in after exiting the airplane 
1st line: Customs
2nd line: Passport
3rd line: Baggage - around 8 pieces of luggage - and there were not carts available to help us carry our luggage.
I remember just wanting to get to our hotel room so bad ..but another line
4th line: check in to hotel
     mind you, all lines were LONG
5th line: BX food court for dinner - even though I was not hungry. They had fed us 2 meals on the flight -- when I would have rather slept.

FINALLY we arrived at our TLF room.

After this, for the next 3 months we stood in lines for car insurance, registration, fuel cards, drivers license test, housing, VAT forms, phones, internet, 2 different banks, etc. Justin did most of the waiting in lines. It was exhausting and overwhelming. But, good news, WE MADE IT!

Below I have pictures of our new cars. In search for the best price for the best car of course but needed one now! Our sponsor was kind enough to let us borrow his car for a week while searching. All cars in this area are sold for $1000 over the KellyBlueBook suggestion so it was hard to know if we were getting a good deal. We ended up buying a 1997 BMW 318i and driving that one one hour East to SaarLouis to a dealership we found online. It happened to be a Lebonese dealership. We debated between a Toyota 4 runner, which was the car of our dreams, a BMW X5, or a VolksWagon Station Wagon. Can you guess which one won!? The Station Wagon!!...wait what?! Station wagon WHY?

It had what we needed - space wise, it was manual, diesel, and got the best gas mileage. In our talks I reminded Justin we are here to travel not look cool. LOL. I have to say I love this car and it has saved us many pennies in our travels so far. Here is the beauty!



 A picture of both of our cars. Oops that we bought the BMW w/o realizing it had a smoke smell to it. After getting it detailed, baking soda-ing it, and other remedies and just a week ago Justin bought him new seat covers, it does not stink and looks very nice. It does great on commuting gas mileage as well. We were very blessed to find these cars. We went from one 1994 White Honda Accord to 2 Blue cars, BMW and VW.
 Sam and I vacuuming out baking soda again in the BMW. Ha ha, not the greatest idea --It's a bit difficult to vacuum out.
 Justin going to his first PT in the BMW.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Engineering Lab vs. Hawaii

Image
It's Friday night of Spring Break and we are sitting in the Engineering lab ...... Justin watching March Madness and me blogging.  Some people may think it's a little on the boring side, but I have to say we are both quite enjoying ourselves.  As Spring Break approached we were under the impression that we just might be welcoming our baby boy sooner than later. On March 6th, I was dilated to a 2 and 70% effaced..... the Dr said he could be here in 2-3 days or 2 weeks. Justin and I had a couple of sleepless nights after hearing this. Jumping at any sign of labor -- makes me laugh now.  The days have passed by with few contractions and no real progress. I have to say my emotions have been all over. At times I so want to be done being pregnant and have this little boy in my arms and then the next minute I am soaking up the time Justin and I have left to easily (well 9 months pregnant easily) hop on the motorcycle for a ride up town. After reading, lear...
Read more

Nashville, TN - January 30 to February 1

Image
Justin passed his check ride with flying colors and he had a couple days off. So, we took the chance to go to Nashville, Tennessee! Our friends Trevor and Keely Park live there and we thought it would be a fun place to go see. Most of Justin's time off has been spent in Utah with family, which we love, but it was nice to be just the three of us The trip was 5 and 1/2 hours - that's w/o stops. On the way there we made it in 7 hours and on the way back we made it in about 9 hours. Let's just say we're good to not have another road trip for a while. Sam was a champ despite the long time in his car seat.  Our first stop was a science museum - we were there for 3 hours. It was fun for all of us.  These are parachute men Sam could move up and have them fall back down by using pullies.  Sam loved this T-Rex. It moved and made noises. Yes it scared him at first but Justin was good to explain it to Sam. Each time we passed it, which was often, we would be there for ...
Read more

Having Twins

Image
For the past month I have had twins! Well, kind of. Leo spends his Monday - Friday from 7:30- 3:30ish at our place and is 1 month younger than Sam. I've never really desired to have twins and I still feel that way, but it has been quite a learning experience and a lot of fun to have our friend Leo join Sam and I. Sam has thoroughly enjoyed having a playmate. I considered the pros and cons as I pondered and prayed about if it was right for our family and the pros weighed out and felt right. I love being a stay at home mom, most days :), and did not want to steer in any direction of not giving my full attention to my kids (right now, Sam) at home. It's so easy to forget the importance of the work at home and desire the success and accomplishments of the world. So easily I can compare my worth to what I bring in money wise or what projects I finish. Being a mom, some days you don't get much of anything "done" even if you feel exhausted at the end of the day, and I ...
Read more