D-minus 1

Dear Family & Friends,

Not wanting to post to Facebook during our travels, I've decided a blog is the best way to share news and photos of our trip. For those not fully up to speed, here's a little background.

Donovan and Jess have been attending graduate school in Germany for the past year and a half.  Since our globe trotters (2 years in Korea; 2 in Ethiopia and now 2 in Germany) were not planning on coming home for Christmas, why not bring the family to them?  So tomorrow eleven of us will fly to Germany to catch up with D&J and then do a self-created tour of southern Germany and bordering countries.

We fly out tomorrow (December 19), but today's travel-related news has been ominous.  A fire at the airport in Atlanta stranded thousands after a fire cause the airport to lose power; and an Amtrak train between Seattle and Portland derailed injuring dozens and killing several.  The train blocked I-5 south -- potentially for a day or more.  It's a good thing Joy decided to fly out of Seattle instead of driving down to PDX and meeting up with the rest of us. Had she decided to do so, she could have been caught in one of the worst traffic jams in the history of the area.

When all gathered together, there will be 13 of us.  Joy will fly from Seattle to Frankfurt; Kurt, Jennie, Cody and Cayden will fly from Spokane to PDX to catch up with the bulk of our group.  Shirley, Greg, Debbie, Chloe, Terry & Cherry will all gather at Shirley & Greg's house to shuttle to the airport.  Once we all arrive in Frankfurt, we'll rent two vans and drive to Erfurt to catch up with Donovan and Jess.

Tonight is all about finishing our packing.  I realized earlier that this is the longest trip I've been part of since I was a young teenager.  But back in 1975, we were traveling domestically and pulling a trailer.  It's definitely different when you are flying to another country and have to carry/pull everything you'll need.  And not only do we need to pack for cold and wet weather, but we also learned a couple weeks ago that two of our three Airbnb houses do not provide towels or sheets.  So that adds a few more items (and pounds) to the packing list.

I'm almost fully packed. The only items still to go in the bags are my electronic devices--all of which will be charged overnight--and a new belt that has a hidden pocket for stowing cash.  According to Amazon, the belt is out for delivery and should be hear within the next two hours.

Ready or not, Germany, here we come!