Travel Days (Part 2)

Once we got over the shock of realizing that we were about to get United, we worked out game plan for what to do with the next few hours.  We still had to keep the dogs with us until 45 minutes before boarding. We were thankful to find out that there was a postage stamp size dog park attached to the airport. Those dogs were so happy to be out of their crates for a little while, but they had no idea what was coming!

We could see through the fence to where the planes were pulled up to the terminals, and John spotted our big fat United jet plane. 

Many sniffs and snorts later, the dogs were hot and tired and ready to go back into their crate and back into the air conditioned terminal.  While they napped, we wheeled our giabongous cart over to a near by sports bar and drank away the hours and our United sorrows.  I wish I had a picture, because that cart was so big, especially with Randy’s crate on it, that it blocked a good two-thirds of the door way.  The bartender was very gracious to let us keep it there.  She even took a few minutes to meet the doggies.  All over the airport, everyone was very interested to see what was inside that giant gray crate.  Poor Biscuit got lost somewhere beneath backpacks and carry-on luggage, and no one seemed to notice she was there. 

Dropping off the dogs before we boarded was a simple process.  Push them over to the big double doors that lead down to the cargo area, get them checked off a list, move them to the little roped off area, and say goodbye until we land in Germany.  Not going to lie, it was nice dropping them off after hauling them around, in their crates, on a giant cart all afternoon.

We made our way through security and waited for United to do their thing.  And do it they did.  First, there was a delay for unknown reasons.  Then there was a delay due to catering.  Catering?!?!  REALLY?!?! That airplane had been parked there for HOURS.  And then, the final blow.  Over the intercom we hear the fateful words, “Attention all AMC passengers.  Flight blah blah blah with service to Ramstein has been delayed indefinitely.”  Great.  Just what we were hoping for.  Another day toting the dogs around Baltimore-Washington International Airport.  But then, just as quickly as the announcement was over it was followed by, “Attention AMC passengers, flight blah blah blah, with service to Ramstein, will now begin boarding at gate who-remembers-that-info.”  Hallelujah!!

Cautious optimism slowly poured through us, and sure enough, within 30 minutes John and I found our seats on the aircraft.  Here’s the best part.  This chartered aircraft was still fitted with it’s first-class seating and guess which two weary travelers were assigned in that section?  Yep, these two!

Ok, that picture doesn’t even begin to do it justice.  Those seats laid out almost completely flat and had leg rests that came out pretty far too.  Oh yeah, that was a comfy flight.  I mean, I’ve heard first class is great and all, but FREE first class is the bombdotcom.   Sure, there was no champagne, but at this point it was after midnight and we were so worn out we just wanted to sleep.  Sure a mimosa in morning when they were bringing around breakfast would have been nice, but I’m definitely not complaining.  John was out cold before we even left the ground and remained that way until we landed. 

Our first stop was Ramstein, Germany, where we unloaded the majority of the plane.  They off loaded the dogs and we were able to take them outside the terminal to stretch their legs and feed and water them.  We were pleasantly surprised how well they did.  We had heard horror stories of how gross the dogs are on the other side, but ours were nice and clean.  Apparently, one dog was not so lucky, and last we heard was still running around the tarmac at BWI (and that was straight from the horses mouth and 6 DAYS later).  Not even exaggerating.  Talk about getting United.

The rest of the trip was smooth sailing, sort of.  There was a little mix up with our room when we got here, but it was quickly and easily straightened out.  We had great help getting from the airport to our temporary housing which was WONDERFUL.  And so is the view!

Can you believe those mountains!  They are gorgeous and majestic and in our backyard!  Looking forward to spending some time there.

Travel Days (Part1)

It finally happened.  We picked up the rental car, packed up the dogs, drove to Baltimore, boarded a plane, and now we are officially residing in Italy.  Sounds simple, right?  Let’s back up a little…

The Sunday before we left, we met up with my family, John’s parents, and John’s sister Dianne for once last family lunch.  It was definitely a memorable lunch.  I think we had enough salad dressing on the table to last us all a solid month!  We had little cups everywhere!

Love this picture of John and his dad.  Unfortunately, we failed to get a picture of the whole group.  Bummer.

After lunch, my parents and sisters dropped us off at the airport where we picked up the rental car.  Earlier in the week we had reserved a “standard” size SUV to drive at Baltimore.  We needed something large enough to fit all of our luggage, the 2 dogs, and Randy’s giant crate.  When we got to the counter, the guy let us know that we had received a free upgrade!  Yay!  Or not.  Turns out our “upgrade” was to a nicer crossover vehicle, but was a downgrade in size.  We walked out to the parking lot, took one look inside, and made our way back to the rental counter.  There was no way Randy’s crate was going to fit, much less the rest of our stuff.  Thankfully, after we explained our situation, the lady at the counter found us a nice, grande, Toyota Sequoia.  We were in business!

We made our way back to Sumter, were we had been staying with John’s parents, and got to work packing up the car.  It’s a good thing that Sequoia was available because we packed. it. out. 

 

Once we were all packed up, we were on our way!  It was such a surreal moment.  We had been talking about and planning for this move for so long, it hardly seemed real that we were on our way to Baltimore to catch our flight to Italy.  The drive itself was pretty uneventful (thank goodness!).  The dogs did great and Randy, our car sickness prone pooch, was happy and comfortable the entire ride. 

I might have hit up a couple Chick-Fil-As along the way.  Had to get one last chicken sandwich and milkshake before we left, right?

John and I came up with a plan of attack at the hotel for how we would get the dogs in the airport and return the rental car, because of course the only way back to the terminal from the rental car drop off was by bus, and there was no way we were getting Randy and his crate on that bus.  We were able to go to the airport early in the morning and drop off all of our luggage at the USO.  What a HUGE blessing that was!  There was NO WAY we could have done it otherwise. 

Our flight wasn’t scheduled to depart until around 11pm, so to kill time before heading to the airport, we went this great park the hotel staff about.  It was right behind the airport at the end of one of the runways, so every few minutes there was a plane flying overhead making their final approach before landing.  It was a spectacular show.

 

This one was super excited to be at the park!

Later that afternoon, John dropped the dogs and I off at the terminal and helped me load them onto a luggage cart.  My determined self decided to push 150lbs of dogs and crates into the terminal myself.  As you can probably imagine, it didn’t go quite as smoothly as i would have liked.  I got into a fight with a curb, and nearly lost the load going through the door.  Of course, I had many spectators with no one offering to help me over the curb.  Finally one college aged girl, with a load of luggage herself, gave me a hand.  Bless her!

Let’s just say a luggage cart is not a stable way to move live cargo.  Randy managed to turn the cart over (with Biscuit on top) 3 times!  No worries, I managed to catch Biscuit before she toppled over each time.  Finally, someone in the terminal notice the trouble we were having and magically produced a much, much larger cart, and we were problem free after that. 

We got in line for check-in around 4:00, which turned out to be a great thing.  Check-in began at 5:30 and that line got really long, really fast.  It was kind of a fun wait, because we got to meet other families and couples who were moving as well.  We flew the Rotator which is a chartered military flight that leaves from Baltimore each week and makes a stop in Ramstein, Germany; Aviano, Italy; and then makes a stop at one of the bases down range.  It then comes back to Aviano, back to Ramstein, and then finally Baltimore.  The Rotator is a very efficient way for the military to get families and deployed (or deploying) service members overseas.

We chose the Rotator largely because we were traveling with the dogs.  Most commercial airlines impose a seasonal embargo against flying pets in the summer months because of the heat.  When flying the Rotator, they have a climate controlled holding area for pets, so they are not in danger of over-heating. 

While we were checking in, we over heard someone mention something about United recently aquiring the contract for the Rotator.  In that moment, everything came to a screeching halt.  “WHO has the charter?”  “Did that lady just say United.”  “Lord, save our dogs.”  One thing we were hugely resting in, was that we would not be flying United to Italy.  At the counter, we got the confirmation we were dreading.  Just 2 weeks before, United was granted the contract.  Well, here’s goes nothing…

Moving Day…sort of…

Last Thursday and Friday was a huge step forward toward our move to Aviano.  The movers came to pack and ship all of our household goods.  The following Monday, they were back for our unaccompanied baggage (express) shipment.  We have been looking forward to and thinking about this day for months.  To say we were excited was an understatement for sure! 

We spent the days beforehand trying to sort our house into 4 categories: household goods to be shipped to Aviano, our express shipment (things we need immediately such as linens and pots & pans), airplane luggage, and storage.    Stressful?  Um, yeah.  Let’s just say, by the time the movers left on Friday, there was no going back, no changing our minds, so we had to be sure.

Once the movers arrived Thursday morning, we walked through the house explaining what was staying and what was going.  Within a few minutes they had their boxes and tape out and set off to work, beginning with the guest bedroom.

Once the guest room was packed up they moved on to the master bedroom, bath, and closets.  To give you an idea of just how quickly they move, while I had my back turned explaining something to one of the other movers, one guy packed my travel bag that I had set aside to get us through the next month without my notice.  It included contact solution, toothbrushes, floss, my contacts & glasses, deodorant, etc.  I had heard that if it’s not nailed down they will pack it, and boy did I learn the truth behind that statement!  They packed every roll of toilet paper in the house but one!  When I realized the mistake it was of course too late to get it all back. Oy!

Our 2nd guest room became the room were we stashed everything that was either meant for storage or going with us on the plane.  It was/is chaos!

Here are a couple of shots from packing up the living room and kitchen.  You can see all of the green post-its I used to remind us which cabinets had items that were going into storage. 

  Slowly but surely, box by box, our house began to empty.

 

I need to get a couple photos of how things look now.  It’s a bit reminiscent of our college days.  We have a couple of twin mattresses on the floor of our bedroom that we pulled of the beds that are going into storage.  Our neighbors we kind enough to loan us a wicker loveseat and coffee table they had in a spare room.  It’s been fun to see how much of our stuff we can live without!  We’re still cozy and happy.  The dogs love that we’re sleeping on their level now too!  Just last night I woke up with an 80lb greyhound in my bed!

Moving day was one hurdle we have been anxious to get over for awhile.  It should be smooth sailing from now until we leave in August.  There is little left for us to check off our to-do list.  The excitement of this new adventure is really settling in on us!  Only 34  more days!

Down to 49

49.  That number seems like a lot, but when you are referring to the days you have left before getting on plane destined for the foreign country that you will call home for the next 3 years, well, that's not much at all.  As a matter of fact, it's FLYING by (no pun intended).

The movers come in 9 days, and they are taking everything.  It's going to be a month of indoor camping for the spouse, doggies, and me.  Honestly, I think John and I will handle it a whole heck of a lot better than the dogs.  It'll actually be kind of nice (no clutter to pick up, no dishes, no tv noise).  Except for the laundry thing.  Yeah, I'm not going to think about that.  We have a lot to figure out in the next 9 days too.  What are we sending to Aviano?  What goes in storage?  What are we getting rid of (anyone want our old Christmas tree?)?  It's kind of amazing all the little "things" that fill your closets.  From fabric and sewing notions, to craft glue, to games, to candles (already threw all of those out), gift wrapping, and light bulbs.  It just goes on and on.  And as I go through it, of course,  it's hard to toss it since it's useful, but at the same time I don't want bins full of little things sitting in storage for 3 years.  So I'm doing the most practical thing.  Avoidance.  Just shut the door and don't look at what's inside.  Makes total sense.  Except I can only do that for 9 more days and then I have to tell the movers what to do with it.  But don't worry.  I neatly boxed up and clearly labeled all of my painting supplies.  No one, and I mean no one, dare toucheth my painting supplies.  I shed a couple of tears when I realized I had to dispose of some of my favorite can of paint.

We've made it through the first week without my car.  It's currently en-route to Aviano.  Sharing John's car isn't as bad as I thought it would be.  It's not fun, or convenient, but it's doable.  Actually, sometimes it is kind of fun, and then John changes the radio station. ;)  And we're thankful to have 2 cars, even if one is on a boat.  But that means that Rolla will be waiting for us on the other side; which means no need to rent a car.  Major plus!

We are continually getting things in order for our travels too.  We've got a car reserved to drive from Charleston to Baltimore where we'll all (doggies included) catch a flight to the Euro land.  Commercial airlines impose a seasonal embargo on transporting pets.  They will not fly pets in cargo when temps are above 85 degrees.  Good thing we're leaving in August.  So we're renting a car to drive to Baltimore, where we'll catch the military rotator flight (no seaonal embargo on pets!).  Our hotels are booked for each leg of the trip.  Passports and visa are being processed.  Dogs are microchipped and vaccinated.  They still need their health certificates, but that can't happen until just before we leave.

The most common question we have been asked recently is, "Aren't y'all just so excited??"  Well, duh.  But right now, we're just mostly overwhelmed.  However, as things get checked off our massive to-do list, that feeling is quickly passing.  I'm sure that once the movers come NEXT WEEK (what?!?!) and there's only luggage and clothes left in the house, it will finally hit us like a ton of bricks.  It's definitely an exciting time in our lives, and we're hugely blessed, and we're thankful for Google (Google knows ALL).  So, 49 days until we say, "Arrivederci, USA!"  Um, wow!

who said, "let sleeping dogs lie?"

Biscuit...time to wake up...

come on now, you can do it...

don't give me that look...

there we go!

nice BIG stretch!

oh Randy....

at least they aren't the laziest dogs on the planet.