When Norm and I both woke up an hour before the alarm (at 3AM) we decided to bundle up and head outside to see if we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights. This is another item on my Bucket List (Norm experienced them years ago) but sadly I cannot cross that off yet. But like a lot of things in life, the fun is in the hunt, isn’t it?
We left the hotel with about 20 other people at 5AM and were shocked when we saw hundreds of folks in huge lines at the airport. Norm figured out (with the help of others) how to do the mandatory self-check-in and get our own baggage tags and boarding passes. With good luck and perhaps a lenient agent we passed the weight limits on our duffel bags then breezed through security.
Thankfully we had a short 3 hour flight during which the very heavy woman sitting next to me took up half my seat. Norman urged me to “claim my space”, but she clearly outweighed me by a couple of hundred pounds. She won. I wanted to ask her to chip in on the cost of half my seat (which would only be fair) but up to that point our battle was very subtle and thought it best to leave it at that.
When we arrived at Frankfurt airport we again were able to skip right past customs, and were met by European RV Tours who then helped with our luggage and drove us to Hotel Miramar. Norm and I took a quick nap, and at 5pm we met the group for a briefing and we all went to dinner together while we got to know our new “travel-mates”.
Everyone seemed very nice, and has had a lot of RV experience so things should go very smoothly.
Friday, Sept 18th, 2015
The big day! After having a lovely complimentary breakfast at the hotel we all were driven to pick up what was to be our “home” for the next 30 days.
 |
| Our "home on wheels" for then next month! |
Yippee! Things could not have gone better. The tour guides had each of our RV’s checked out and ready to go before we even got there! We each did our own paperwork, and were advised to carefully check any and all scratches or dings, (we were the only couple to ask for a ladder so we could check the roof; which is where, we have learned by personal experience, damage can easily occur) and to stow our bags so we could quickly head to the grocery store to get any provisions we might need for the next several days.
Each RV was given a two-way radio so we could receive directions and warnings from the leader as we headed down the road. We also were given a comprehensive itinerary, and a trip log detailing turn by turn directions in case we got separated from the group.
 |
| Trying to figure out what the food labels was quite the task! |
At the supermarket all three of our tour staff members were nearby to help translate food items and help us find what we may need. We got a quick education on how foods are priced, and the weight of a kilo versus a pound. I was surprised and very disappointed, that Germany is many years behind the US in their gluten free foods. Back to cardboard sandwiches! Norman and I have always used a grill for cooking (we even bought one in New Zealand) and since the RV’s are equipped with only a cook top we had to quickly think on our feet what to prepare for meals. Pasta seems to be on everyone’s menu tonight. The good news is that the most important food on Norm’s food pyramid (beer and wine) was amazingly inexpensive!
After we all purchased our groceries and had lunch we headed off to test our driving skills on the Autobahn! It really looked and felt like any major US highway. Not so bad at all! At least this section. There was a lot of construction going on, so that kept the speeds within reason.
 |
| Oh my! Where to put this stuff! |
We drove a total of 110 miles, mostly on the busy autobahn. What became stop and go traffic was getting particularly grueling because we were driving unfamiliar manual transmission vehicles looking at signs in a foreign language.
After about 3 hours of driving we finally arrived in Schwarzach, Germany and were pleasantly surprised at how lovely the campground Camping Mainblick was. With all of our sites situated right on a beautiful river with a castle in the background, it was obvious that the best sites were reserved for our group.
 |
| Our first official Happy Hour! |
Within a very few minutes everyone had parked, plugged the electrical cord in and headed to one site with chairs in one hand and a beverage of choice in the other.
A couple of rigs had been on the previous tour with European RV Tours; they had spent the last week traveling on their own and met up with us this night. One couple, believe it or not, lives in Leesburg, Florida – about 15 minutes from us! It is a small world, after-all.
Most of the group made what we discovered was a wise decision and went to dinner there at the campground while Norm and I tackled the daunting task of putting away all the “stuff” we bought and brought. Last time we rented a small RV we were graduating from a tent, so the space and conveniences of a toilet and electricity were heavenly. This time we had to adjust from 5 feet of counter space, double refrigerator and double sink of the past few years. We knew that the first couple of days getting used to the tight quarters were going to be difficult, but of course we found ourselves snapping at each other. That was also to be expected, and didn’t last long.
After dinner I tried to work on the blog with my purchased internet service and quickly ran into trouble when I needed (I think) to log into my blog which I never have to do at home. I didn’t know the password, and directions were all in German. Yikes!
I then joined Norman and went to bed in our wonderfully comfortable beds!
