Greetings from Germany!

WOOHOO! We made it!  And such an adventure it has been so far.

Our flight left relatively on time (and by relatively, I mean an hour later than scheduled).  But our pilot said that they gave us the wrong estimated arrival time anyway, and we would get in about 15 minutes later than the original time.  Not sure how all that works, but hey...we got here in good time.

This flight was the longest I had been on...and let me tell you, it was LONG.  Techincally only a little over 8 hours...I've roadtripped longer than that.  But the circumstances around the flight were different than a road trip.  For one, the seat wasn't particularly comfortable.  Normally I have leg problems on planes, where my circulation gets cut off and my legs are SO uncomfortable.  So I got some compression stockings and a foot-rest, and so my legs were GOLDEN.  It was my rear that was so uncomfortable.  Maybe it's the extra belly weight.  Maybe it was that my legs felt so great, something else HAD to hurt.  But it made sitting a little difficult.  Which makes an 8 hour flight a little difficult.  But I did manage to sleep for a few hours.  And got up to walk up and down the plane every hour or two, which helped.

We arrived and made it through customs really quickly.  At this point we were both pretty exhausted.  It was 4 am our time...but 11:30 am in Germany...so we had to stay up til bedtime.

You know those experiences with logistics where it can just go really wrong and frustrating and totally start a trip out on the wrong foot?  we had the opposite experience...with our rental car place. At first we were nervous, because they didn't have the car we had put as a preference when we made the reservation.  But good old George made things happen for us.  He found us a much nicer car, with a minimum upgrade fee..but it was diesel (way cheaper to fill) and automatic (I can't drive stick)...and it was a 2015 Mercedes...so thats always nice =)  George gave us all kind of advice, but did it from a genuinely helpful way, not a guy trying to make a sell or condescending with our lack of knowledge.  Then he told Ben that he was lucky to have such a lovely lady as me... so he basically was great =)

Then we made the drive to Tasha and Bjorn's house about 1.5 hours from the Frankfurt Airport.  We ate a late lunch, hung out and enjoyed time with them.  We took a tour of their new house they are working on and sat around and chatted until we went to bed around 9.  I was amazed we made it that long.  I actually got my third or fourth wind sometime in the afternoon when I took a shower.

We slept a good 10-ish hours and woke up ready for the day.  We aren't completely recovered, but well on our way.  Today we are just hanging out.  Went to Bjorn's parents' house and visited with his mom for a while.  It is a gorgeous day and we are enjoying the down time before we leave on our adventure in France tomorrow!

Here are a few pictures so far:

This isn't actually Europe, but it was the day we left, so it kind of counts.  My cousins came through MN...and it was so good to see them!  I miss them. 

AHH! it's happening!  Anyone else find it weird to see "Mrs" by their name? I mean I know I've been a Mrs for 2 years, but it makes me feel old...

I figured, might as well share my view for 8 hours of my day...

This selfie was taken before we took off.  Look how excited and fresh we look!

This was when we were getting ready to land.  "Wilted" is the word that comes to mind.  

Our suave Mercedes

Such a pleasant drive!  

It was a gorgeous day and really beautiful countryside! 

So good to spend time with this sweet friend!  I love how we can pick up where we left off! 

In their garden at their new house, they had these mini strawberries which were SO delicious.  They tasted like strawberry candy.  So "artificial strawberry flavor" actually exists 

This is Tasha and Bjorn's beautiful baby, Alana.  She is a sweetie, and always full of cheesy grins! 

Well that is the update for now! Hopefully I'll check in from France next!!  

Au Revoir!