Matthew at Chicago airport One of the more colorful characters we saw was a gentleman with a yellow backpack, tons of tattoos and enough piercings to set the airport security into alert. Sure enough, when it was time to board the plane, the man with the yellow backpack was seated next to Patience! She was uncomfortable at first, but when he fell asleep and started to lean on her SHE WAS FREAKED! As it turns out, he was very nice and headed back home to Vienna after visiting his girlfriend in Seattle.
Matthew and I sat by a girl who was headed to her first permanent duty station with the Air Force. We chatted about her training and how she felt about coming over here for the first time. It doesn't seem that long ago that I made that first journey too... then I started thinking about it and we could be her parents! It HAS been too long since we've been back!
Anyhow, we landed in London. Jumped on a smaller plane. Made it to Dusseldorf and then had to figure out the trains. This gave us one more opportunity to realize it has been a long time since we've been back. Luckily, Dennis pulled out his rusty German (and charm) and we bought four tickets to Dortmund. By then we were all a bit jet-lagged and the hour train ride was a nice break. My first thought was, this is nice. I wondered if we make a mistake by not just getting Euro-Rail passes...
Dennis and Patience on the trainAfter our hour train ride and a taxi driver who knew about Yellowstone from documentaries, we arrived at our RV rental. We were thrilled to get a look at our rig we were to call home for the next month! It's spacious, the layout is ideal and everyone has their own place. We've decided if Fiat sold motorhomes in the States, this one would be ours.
A few thoughts from the road (by Matthew)... (at 1 A.M. because he and Den couldn't sleep)
Flights: were tiring and beautiful sights with lots of clouds.
Woohoo! The Hill family is following. The people you meet traveling are the best part of the experience. Recon a motorcycle trip for me would you? Have a blast and stay safe.
ReplyDeleteWe DID join a motorcycle gang here (for about 43 seconds). We pulled up behind a group of motorcycles and they were reving their engines. With their full face helmets and protective gear, we could just tell they were "bad Deutsch hombres".
ReplyDeleteDen fired up the guns on the diesel and we felt like we belonged.
No language barrior.
Size doesn't matter.
Then the light turned green and they left us! Just like that! We were SO going to drink the kool-aid and do the whole tattoo-thing.
I will be searching for just the right place to get you a rose tattoo on your back. Of course, maybe KTM families have some other hallmark, but the point will be the same. If you want to fit in......oh, and you need a do rag too.
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