Friday, September 19, 2014

Exquisite Favor

We are aboard a C-5 as we speak heading to Ramstein, Germany. For those who have done Space A traveling, our fight connections have been exquisite. Rarely do things go as smooth as they have on this trip.
When we left our home Monday morning we were, to say the least, a bit weary. Our return from our South Pacific travels and then all the work with MMI, our other commitments, and getting our house travel ready began to take a toll on us. When people asked where we were going, walking 542 miles of the Camino de Santiago seemed like the easiest thing we had going. Just putting one foot in front of the other for 15-20 miles a day seemed easier in comparison to the busyness of the proceeding four weeks. When we arrived at Travis AFB on Monday we were secretly hoping for some time before we began our travels east and then exquisite favor when we did move. We got exactly what we asked for.
We spent Monday evening with our daughter and her two children. We ate dinner and played games with the kids and talked about our travels. It was the beginning of our unwinding.
Tuesday there were few flights available and none going our way. We marked ourselves present at the air terminal and spent the day resting and looking at potential flights. We noted that Wednesday might offer a ride to the east coast and then, miraculously, at the same terminal, there were two flights going to Germany the very same evening. Rarely does it work out that way. There are so many variables that we didn't really think we could make the flight.
We were accepted on the KC-10 which is a refueled. There, we were blessed with the opportunity to sit in the cock-pit with the pilots and get some photos of the KC refueling mid-air. This was quite a honor for us.
As soon as we arrived at McGuire, we indicated our desire to fly to Germany and we were immediately accepted. The rest is history...and we are now in Ramstein.
Ramstein is an immense Air Force Base (AFB). It is approximately 5,000 acres and is very modern. We took care of some travel business and then decided to walk the four miles into to Ramstein village. It was a beautiful wooded walk and a quaint little village. We enjoyed a traditional German meal of weinerschnitzel, sauerkraut, soup, and a cold beer. We ate in an old Inn which had been built in the 1700's.
We will head to Paris tomorrow aboard the high-speed train. From there we will head to Biarrietz which is in the south of France. We hope to be in St Jean de Pied Port by 5:45 in the evening. We will stay at a bed and breakfast that a friend of ours recommended to us. Here we will rest and acclimate to the time changes and travel before we begin our trek.
It is hard to believe that it has been less than a week since we have left home. We have begun the process of unwinding and look forward to what is next for us. Will write when we can!
Buen Camino.



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