We made it!

Well, we made it! We are here in Germany!  Today is our first full day in this beautiful country and I can definitely say it's been an experience getting here!

Our journey started Tuesday, March 8 at 8:45am when the shuttle picked up my husband, daughter and I.  We said our tearful final goodbyes to my Dad, brother and sister and were off to the airport.

Ironically, I had asked the shuttle to come an hour earlier than originally scheduled because my husband feared we wouldn't have enough time to get thru security.  By 9:45am, we were at our gate.  Better early than late, I suppose.

Our flights were long, but good.  The first to Washington DC was about 4 1/2 hours and the second flight to Frankfurt was just over 7 hours.  During the flight to Frankfurt, we had Economy Plus seating which gave us more leg room and seat room.  I'd definitely recommend this to anyone on a long flight.  So worth the extra money.

When we arrived in Frankfurt we were immediately greeted by an Army liaison who helped us gather our luggage and take us to the holding area at the Sheraton hotel at the airport.  Luckily, I had made friends through JavaCupcake before coming to Germany and he was able to meet up with us briefly at the airport.  Steffan and his daughter brought us beer and champagne! What a welcome!

At the Sheraton we had a little big of time before we were loaded onto a bus for the 4 hour drive to the base we will be living so we took naps and had a bite to eat then it was off to Graffenwoehr!

Here's Emily on the bus... TIRED! (silly picture wouldn't turn straight!)

Traffic in Germany looks just about the same as the traffic in Seattle.  Grid locked!

The bus ride was about 4 1/2 hours with a short stop at a McDonald's on the way.  Two things about this McDonald's.... CUPCAKES and the McDrive.  Seriously, they have cupcakes at this McDonalds, I got SO EXCITED! haha  No, I didn't get one.  I should have though.

And... their drive thru is called the McDrive.  Cutest thing ever.

Finally we arrive to the military base where Dave's new Platoon Sgt meets us and takes us to our hotel, but not before a quick stop at the Commissary to get snacks for the next day.

Our hotel is pretty nice.  We are on the third floor, no elevator.  Emily gets her own room and is super happy about that!  Seriously, I'm pretty happy about that too.  She can't stand my snoring and I can't stand her wiggling!

We have an amazing view from our hotel room of this little town we are in, Pressath.

This morning, Dave left really early for his first day at work.  Lot's of in-processing for him to do for the next two weeks.

Emily and I slept in.  It felt so good to sleep.  Naps this afternoon are definitely on the agenda too!  After a hot shower, we went downstairs to find breakfast.  The hotel was supposed to offer it, but we couldn't seem to find where it was... so we went next door to the bakery for a danish.

Oh heavens.  I could eat at this bakery every morning.  Heaven.

After breakfast, we went for a walk around town.  Found a park, a cemetery, lots of shops and restaurants.  We'll do some more exploring tomorrow, I think.