The Smoly Adventures

Like all good stories, the time has come for us to close the current chapter and move to the next.  At the end of February, I was notified that I had been selected for a new job and that, despite our assignment extension late last summer, we'd be moving in Summer 2020 (subject to COVID-19 delays of course). 

This news has been bittersweet for us. We've genuinely loved living in Germany and Europe as whole. The location, pace of life and the amazing travel opportunities have been such a blessing for our family. Yet, all the while, we knew that this was a temporary assignment. Yes, there are thousands of Americans who have made Europe their permanent home, but we have never felt such a calling. This has been an amazing season of our lives and we will miss our life here in our corner of SW Germany; but we are excited for our next chapter. 

As we've written in previous posts, we love the mountains. We loved their proximity when we resided in Colorado, longed to be closer to them when we lived outside Washington, D.C., and have relished exploring sections of the Alps--even if we didn't do as much of it as we wanted to. The dramatic peaks of the Alps are a sight that won't be easily forgotten. How do they compare with the grandness of the Rockies? 

We'll let you know in a few months once we move back to Colorado. 

Guten Tag from Germany! It's the evening of day 16 for us and things continue to be mostly a whirlwind. The kids are asleep, so it was a good opportunity to take a few of minutes to write an update.

Let's start from the beginning: we made it (I know, stating the obvious given the post title)--and mostly without hiccups, but I'll comment on those a little later.  Getting to the Dulles International Airport with 2 adults, 2 kids, 2 dogs and a whole lot of luggage proved to be quite the adventure in itself. Our rental Ford Explorer was maxed out, so we hired a Uber SUV to transport the luggage from our last hotel to the airport. Additionally, flying dogs internationally requires different (larger) crates than when flying them domestically.  We had to have PenderAir (transportation arm of a large local veterinary clinic) drop our crates curb-side since they were such monstrosities. Checking in three and a half hours before the flight is normally a breeze--even on international flights--unless you get the customer service rep who is training a new employee. Sigh, this entire time, the dogs are sitting in their crates and almost an hour later, we're all set.  We said goodbye to Aspen and Izzie and then headed for the PreCheck line. Thankfully, Dulles is a quieter airport so getting through security was a highpoint for us.  Our last American meal was tacos and quesadillas from Chipotle.

A few brief comments regarding Lufthansa, they're a great company that knows their business--easily bests any US airline (but thats not hard to do these days... read: United). We were set up in the first row behind a bulkhead which meant that we lost our beneath the seat in front of us storage space, but gained the infant bassinet that we utilized for Sam. We were served real meals, not just peanuts (if you're lucky) and the service was superb. If you're going to fly to Europe, spend the extra funds to fly a European carrier, you won't regret it.

We landed in Frankfurt a little ahead of schedule and took our time getting off the plane since the boys were asleep and we had a huge amount to get out of the cabin with us. We were actually "helped" (read: chased) off the plane by the flight staff!  We cleared passport control and made our way to baggage claim, where we were greeted by our dogs sitting off in the oversized baggage section with Aspen having a bin over her crate to help prevent her from barking.  This was a major frustration since Lufthansa didn't follow their own procedures that they explained to me prior to our flight. Long story short, we were met by members of my new squadron and made the trip down to the Kaiserslautern area without incident, only constant rain.

Our original plan was to stay in pet friendly lodging on-base while we searched for a house off-base.  Those being unavailable, we were booked into the Hotel Circle Inn just outside the base. This was  a great little hotel, just not one that was set up for 2 adults, 2 kids and 2 dogs for anything more than a few days.  We lasted three nights and then checked into a 3 bedroom apartment in Mackenbach where we've been ever since.

The whirlwind... as if all of the above was not enough, I have been the only one able to drive since we've arrived, had numerous briefings, meetings and appointments to attend as part of my in-processing. Throw in house hunting (I feel like we needed some cameras following us around) and we're just completely exhausted.  Being nearly 10 degrees latitude north of Denver or DC has taken its toll. While its been nice having the extra daylight, it has played absolute havoc on all of our internal clocks.  I want to believe that we're finally getting close to being adapted, but we'll have to see how effective the rolladens in our house (yes, we have one and move in next week! More on that in the next post) will be before I make a determination on that count.

Truth be told, we're in a beautiful area of Germany.  Rolling hills, villages every few kilometers, fantastic weather and countless things to explore.  If you've been following us on our Facebook pages, you know that we've already commenced our castle hopping and been enjoying some European wines.  We are looking forward to sharing our adventures with you all.