Au Revoir...Wish Us Luck!
We're off to Disneyland Paris tomorrow. Home by Saturday night, hopefully. If the characters don't go haywire from our camera flash and take us all hostage. Just a little Simpson's humor.
As I've never driven from Stuttgart to Paris before, I can't really say how far it is. Mapquest says that it is around 380 miles. We'll see how it goes. It looks like a straight shot west, all autobahn driving. I would be nervous about driving in another foreign country, but we'll have Dora with us. The Navigon has been a godsend. I really wish we would have purchased one in Japan. I was also thinking the other day about how much better Japan would have been if we would have had my vehicle or a nicer vehicle. Having our personal vehicles in Germany has made such a difference. The van in Japan was unreliable at best, though it managed not to die while we were there...it may still be alive for all I know. I always worried just driving that thing from Ikego to Yokosuka, so I never wanted to drive it to Tokyo or Yokohama (though we did go once). I never felt able to just get in the car and explore.
That paragraph managed to become very run-on and off topic. Sorry about that. The gist of it is that I love having my Volkswagen here.
Hmmm, what else is new? Well, you are reading the blog of the newest American Red Cross volunteer, Stuttgart chapter. I went to orientation yesterday over on Panzer Kaserne. It was just lonely little me and the very nice (young--wow, I'm going to have to take orders from people younger than me...that's what happens when one is out of the job market forever!) lady from the ARC who trained me in. I am very excited to report that if all goes well, I will be volunteering at the library here on Patch. I have to go and talk with them to try to determine when they need me and when I can volunteer. I'll be doing work similar to the good 'ol days in St. James when I was a page at the library...shelving books, straightening shelves. Not exactly rocket science, but you all know how much I love being around books! I'll be in heaven to be away from the children for a few hours each week, mingling with adults (!) and doing something useful and resume-building.
I'm just hanging out alone with Annika right now. Hans and Josiah ran over to McDonald's. I know. You're all super-shocked. Hans at McDonald's? It's so bizarre, so random. Annika is taking a nap and probably dreaming of the Happy Meal that Daddy is bringing back for her.
I am half-packed for the trip. I have all of our groceries packed up. Well, more like...snacks. I've accepted the fact that this is probably going to be one of those "vacations" that leave me feeling like I was robbed at gunpoint. I don't even want to tell you guys how much the hotel was for two nights. Ugh. Now I'm finding out there will be tolls of approximately USD $70 each way. Plus, I've been reading all of these Disneyland Paris guidebooks that say, in bold print: Disney will steal all of your money and still turn you upside down to shake out the loose change in your pockets--come prepared.
That being said, one of my resolutions for this year was to travel, travel, travel and (without going crazy) not worry about how much it costs. I'm going to try to swallow down the vomit when I find out how much it costs to eat at Disneyland, or how much the Mickey ears are. After all, when will we get back to Disneyland Paris? OK, probably next year.
I'm also going to ignore the fact that I've just read that Easter is one of the busiest times at Disneyland Paris. Oh, and that it's supposed to be cold and drizzly the entire time we're there.
We are going to have a good time, come hell or high water!
More reports at the weekend.
As I've never driven from Stuttgart to Paris before, I can't really say how far it is. Mapquest says that it is around 380 miles. We'll see how it goes. It looks like a straight shot west, all autobahn driving. I would be nervous about driving in another foreign country, but we'll have Dora with us. The Navigon has been a godsend. I really wish we would have purchased one in Japan. I was also thinking the other day about how much better Japan would have been if we would have had my vehicle or a nicer vehicle. Having our personal vehicles in Germany has made such a difference. The van in Japan was unreliable at best, though it managed not to die while we were there...it may still be alive for all I know. I always worried just driving that thing from Ikego to Yokosuka, so I never wanted to drive it to Tokyo or Yokohama (though we did go once). I never felt able to just get in the car and explore.
That paragraph managed to become very run-on and off topic. Sorry about that. The gist of it is that I love having my Volkswagen here.
Hmmm, what else is new? Well, you are reading the blog of the newest American Red Cross volunteer, Stuttgart chapter. I went to orientation yesterday over on Panzer Kaserne. It was just lonely little me and the very nice (young--wow, I'm going to have to take orders from people younger than me...that's what happens when one is out of the job market forever!) lady from the ARC who trained me in. I am very excited to report that if all goes well, I will be volunteering at the library here on Patch. I have to go and talk with them to try to determine when they need me and when I can volunteer. I'll be doing work similar to the good 'ol days in St. James when I was a page at the library...shelving books, straightening shelves. Not exactly rocket science, but you all know how much I love being around books! I'll be in heaven to be away from the children for a few hours each week, mingling with adults (!) and doing something useful and resume-building.
I'm just hanging out alone with Annika right now. Hans and Josiah ran over to McDonald's. I know. You're all super-shocked. Hans at McDonald's? It's so bizarre, so random. Annika is taking a nap and probably dreaming of the Happy Meal that Daddy is bringing back for her.
I am half-packed for the trip. I have all of our groceries packed up. Well, more like...snacks. I've accepted the fact that this is probably going to be one of those "vacations" that leave me feeling like I was robbed at gunpoint. I don't even want to tell you guys how much the hotel was for two nights. Ugh. Now I'm finding out there will be tolls of approximately USD $70 each way. Plus, I've been reading all of these Disneyland Paris guidebooks that say, in bold print: Disney will steal all of your money and still turn you upside down to shake out the loose change in your pockets--come prepared.
That being said, one of my resolutions for this year was to travel, travel, travel and (without going crazy) not worry about how much it costs. I'm going to try to swallow down the vomit when I find out how much it costs to eat at Disneyland, or how much the Mickey ears are. After all, when will we get back to Disneyland Paris? OK, probably next year.
I'm also going to ignore the fact that I've just read that Easter is one of the busiest times at Disneyland Paris. Oh, and that it's supposed to be cold and drizzly the entire time we're there.
We are going to have a good time, come hell or high water!
More reports at the weekend.
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