We made it!

The trip itself was interesting. Here is 24 hours of travel in a nutshell:

The kids were all so excited about the trip. We arrived at the airport with no problem. The only restaurant, Subway, in the Valdosta airport was closed. Oh well, at least the airport was open! 

The girls did great on their first plane ride. They sat together all by themselves. Annika loved the flight. She smiled and laughed during take off, every time we hit turbulence, and absolutely loved landing. Amelia stayed awake for take off, but apparently found the rest a bit dull. She slept through the rest. 

We got off the plane in Atlanta, picked up the twins and hightailed it a few concourses down to our already boarding flight to Baltimore. We made it, with minutes to spare, phew! 

They were a little crankier this flight. Food service (consisting of drinks, peanuts or pretzels) helped a little, as it was now after 2 p.m. and we hadn't eaten yet. Tim was a trooper though. Not a single complaint. The little TVs in front of the seats wouldn't play the twins shows, which caused a few "minor" outbursts. That is, until Timothy figured out that the Satellite TV was free and had Spongebob. The last 30 minutes were bliss.

We arrived in Baltimore and picked up the first food we saw, McDonald's. We retrieved our luggage and hurried to check in for our international flight. We had hurried, because the lines are infamously long, but not today. We breezed through a short line, rechecked our bags and headed off to our terminal, where we would wait, and wait, and wait.

We arrived around 5:30 p.m. Our flight was supposed to board around 10:30 p.m. If only. So, I have heard of planes being delayed for hours due to any number of reasons … refueling, mechanical problems or weather. No, the boarding of our plane was delayed until well after midnight because catering hadn't arrived. And let me tell you, it was NOT worth the wait. They must have spent that time consulting with "America's Worst Cooks" for what to serve during our trip. Yuck.

So finally after midnight, the slow process of boarding of over 400 passengers begins. The girls throw fits until take off, but then sleep for the first four hours of the flight. That almost makes up for the final two. No need to go into detail here. Every conceivable image of what international travel with twins would be like came to fruition, and then some. But we finally land, get our luggage and our ride is outside waiting. We hall into the Suburban and strap in for the last leg of our trip to our new home.

It was about an hour drive on the Autobahn. It was a beautiful drive, though the little cars whipped past us so fast that the mighty Suburban shook, took some getting used to. Timothy was really wowed by it all. He even put down his video games to take it all in! The area is filled with hills and valleys. There are little villages here and there, some with beautiful old churches towering over the smaller buildings. The Mosel River Valley was gorgeous. I can't wait to visit there. There were grape vines on every surface. And the town down in the valley was a picture.

We arrived at the Air Force Base and got checked in. We are staying at the Air Force Inn, which is more like an apartment than a hotel. It is really nice. We have a full kitchen with a dishwasher, a living area, outdoor patio, 2 baths, 3 bedrooms and an office. And free internet! We will be here for about two weeks while we get settled in. In the meantime, there is plenty to do.