as plans develop...

My books....anything with Germany, Switzerland, and Austria in the title (Rick Steves and DK currently, I have some Fodors on reserve at the library.) My internet time...research! My thoughts...travel! It's exciting to be able to plan a trip again, but also a little daunting as this time we're planning everything. On my first trip, most of the transportation & hotels were taken care of. So it was a lot different to press that "purchase" button when it's coming out of our own pockets. It will be well worth it, though. Steve (as well as myself of course) has something to look forward to, it is definitely making a difference in his outlook on things.

We know that, besides time with Scott, our focus will be scenery, especially the Alps. We also want to see the Black Forest, and perhaps Salzburg. A little geocaching will fit into that nicely, I think. Though Steve may dispute that last point, he knows I'll want to get at least a few. He also wants to visit the area of Switzerland that many of his relatives came from. Teufenthal is a bit north and west of Zurich so definitely will be part of the trip. He wants to see Neuschwanstein Castle as well, since it's the castle that "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" flew over.

So the trick is to figure out how to make the trip. Circular east down to Munich on the Romantic Road, then over to Salzburg and working our way back through Switzerland, then up to the Black Forest before heading back to Spangdahlem and Scott. OR going the opposite direction starting with the Black Forest (I read that to see the Black Forest after the Alps is sort of anti-climactic.)

Transportation is pretty much decided. Scott can rent us a car on base for a nice discount, so that will probably be our primary mode of transportation. We discussed renting a motorcycle, and Steve has ultimately decided that to transport the riding gear, depend on good weather, and the right bike actually being available was more than he wanted to deal with. That has to be his call since I obviously have no skills in that area. I would be more than willing to do it if he decides to. He says he'll be happy with driving in the Alps.

I'm realizing that this will be a different sort of trip than 2009. Very little time in cities, and therefore not much use of public transportation. Probably don't have to limit myself to a carry on. (Yet to be decided.) That's ok. Wish I could dip into Paris but not meant to be this time around. But I will have frequent flyer miles, maybe for the future....

A new year, a new trip!

We had a good Christmas. Everyone was happy with their gifts (I think) and we spent some good family time together. Really should have blogged about it at the time, but wasn't out getting wi-fi that much around the holidays.

Christmas stuff is now back in the basement, but I'm really taking the time to sort and purge this year. Want to set aside stuff for the boys but some of it we honestly will never use any more. It's taking some time.

Renewed healthy habits now. Things slipped a little during the holidays. Not so much the weight, only crept up a few pounds, but the habits....especially sugar. Also trying to get in regular exercise, a piece of the puzzle that wasn't really there before.

But - the biggest reason for a new blog entry - we're headed to Germany and Switzerland!

We've been tossing this back and forth for a while now. Steve's dream has always been to see the Alps. With Scott moving to a new duty station in February 2012, we knew that if we wanted to go while he was nearby, 2011 was the year. Eric agreed to check on Grandpa and take care of Max. So we started watching airfares. There were sales last week, that didn't turn out to be quite as great as we had hoped, but still reasonable. So after about three hours of playing around with the schedules (and trying hard to be able to use my frequent flier miles) we bought tickets last Thursday. This will be for the second half of May, basically - heading out through Chicago, layover in London, then to Frankfurt. Home will be Frankfurt to Dallas to Grand Rapids. Kind of strange but it worked out best that way.

We plan to spend about half the time (give or take a day or so) in Germany, much of it with Scott, then head to Switzerland and the Alps. Whether train, car, motorcycle, or some combination remains to be seen. Lots of research is coming!

Really looking forward to this trip and showing Steve some parts of Europe that I've been to, and experiencing some new areas with him. We'll also celebrate our 28th Anniversary there just before heading home, what a contrast from a year ago...

Will keep my regular readers (such few as they are) posted as plans develop.