Starting to get ready...

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Our long awaited first vacation to Europe is quickly arriving. We have less than a week before we depart, and I think it's finally starting to sink in that we will soon be on a new continent, far away from home. We have yet to complete our final packing lists (or even begun packing for that matter), but have reserved the entire weekend and Monday-Tuesday for that fun activity. Charlene has done a great job getting things ready - working with our travel agent and getting equipment I would have totally forgot (chargers/converters, money belts, etc). We got our passports back in December, and were all worried about the reported delays, but got our's within 2 weeks. I got my International Drivers License, and have read up a little on the road signs and traffic laws (at least for Germany - I'll wing the rest of it...).

We leave next Wednesday (June 11th), departing from San Francisco direct to Frankfurt Germany. Some last minute shuffling of house sitting responsibilities has my Mom & Dad watching Sage (our dog). Thanks Mom & Dad, as usual you are there to bail us out... Andrew has graciously agreed to watch the rest of the homestead.

Everything has to start somewhere, and this is my official first entry in what will hopefully be a GREAT vacation. We have looked forward to this trip for almost a year, so I sure hope it will be worth it (note: $1.00 US = $0.6482 EURO).

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