Feet on the ground in Vilseck

So we arrived at the Frankfurt Airport and then to the welcome center for military.  After sitting for 3 hours they put us on a bus headed for Vilseck.  No one had really slept on the flight.  I suppose that had a lot to do with uncomfortable airline seats and we were excited to be on our way.  During our 5 hour bus ride, the kids slept.  George and I dozed off for some short naps.  About half way to Vilseck, the bus stopped at a rest stop with a BurgerKing.    Clayton woke up and walked in with George.  I tried to wake Elana, but she was out for the count.  Eventually, I carried her into BurgerKing and set her down on a barstool.  She immediately went back to sleep with her head resting on the table.  Clayton had sat down beside her and also was resting his head.  So George and I proceeded up to counter to make our 1st attempt at ordering in Germany.  We looked over at Clayton and he had disappeared.  We figured he had gone in to the bathroom.  After we got our food, he still wasn't back.  George and I frantically started to search the bathroom and the bus.  He wasn't to be found anywhere!!  I moved Elana from the barstool to a booth and asked George to start searching the rest of the BurgerKing.  That's when George found Clayton laying down on a benchseat to a booth on the other side of the room, sound asleep.  Phew... would have hated to explain to officials how we lost our kid with only being in country for roughly 5 hours!!

We got back onto the bus and finished the trip to Vilseck.  We had a very warm welcome from George's new unit.  We received our ration cards and then we signed into the hotel on base.  Our room is sufficient.  It has 2 beds, a bathroom with a very very deep tub, and a small kitchen area.  I'll be sure to post pictures of our temporary place soon.

The base in general is small compared to ones we've been at before.  It really reminds us a lot of Japan.  It has the basics and the people we've talked to so far have been very polite and friendly.  All in all, our first impression is good.  I think we are going to like our stay here in Germany!

In the hotel

Our days in Virginia are numbered. Today we moved into the hotel. All our household items are on their way. Granted we'll be in limbo for awhile. The kids need to learn to use "quiet" voices in the hotel room. And we all need to be alert for Houdini's escape attempts. Thankfully we are on the 3rd floor to if he does get "out" we've got an interior hallway to capture him in

Van on its way!

We took our van to the Baltimore Port Call. After the expected hour of processing, our van is now in their hands and on it's way to Germany. We'll make it in country before our van, but that's ok. It will give us time to obtain our USAREUR license and get a little accustomed to the area.

Less than a month

It's hard to believe. we move in less then a month! Today we got our flight information and we fly on August 13th.




Currently, our no fee passports are being processed. Thankfully we have our tourist passports already, so we'll be moving on those. Next week, we hope to ship our our van. The last week of July and first week of August will be our shipments of household goods.

All arrangements for moving are finally falling into place. Hopefully the rest of our move will go more smoothly. It's been a bumpy ride to this point. Seems as though the offices we've had to deal with to this point, all seem to give conflicting information.

Where's Vilseck

Wondering where Vilseck, Germany is? Vilseck is a town in the Oberpfalz region of northeastern Bavaria, Germany situated on the river Vils, a tributary of the Naab river. Its name comes from the location of a castle built in the year 920. "Eck" is the German word for corner. The Vils river has a tight bend where the Burg is located. Thus, the name Vilseck.

Paperwork Nightmare

Today Clayton's EFMP enrollment paperwork was filled out by the doctor. After I get it stamped by the EFMP office at Ft. Myers, I believe my portion of George's paperwork is finally done! Which means we are a 1/2 step closer to getting our orders. Woohoo!

George has a meeting tomorrow morning in regards to the rest of his paperwork. So maybe, just maybe he'll be turning in this packet from the levy briefing next week. We've only had this packet for 3 weeks now. Heaven forbid anyone in the Military District of Washington would know who we have to see to complete it.

Once it's completed and gets turned in, it can take up to a month for Germany to approve the kids and I moving the same time as George. And then another 7-10 days for the orders to be cut. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Germany is on the fast track so we can get our orders quickly. There's so much to do (passports, shipping the van, setting up moving dates, plane tickets, etc) and nothing can be done without orders.

I'll be sure to post more on the progress of our orders as things develop.

Welcome

Thanks for visiting my blog. My family is getting ready to move to Germany this summer. It will be a fun and exciting time for us. My goal is to share our experiences here. So be on the lookout for updates about our preparations for moving and many posts about our adventures once we arrive at our new home.

We want to move before the kids start the next school year. Hopefully the Army will get us our orders shortly so we make our travel plans. As of right now, we are aiming to fly to Germany on or about August 12th, 2009.