Kiss my ash!

8 days until departure and there's a bit of a problem.  There's ash in the air thanks to volcano in Iceland.  Amazingly this is a different volcano than the one that went off last year which also wreaked havoc on European flights.  This is the Grimsvotn, not the Eyjafjallajokull.  There are 28 volcanoes on one little island.  The next one to go off could very well be Theistareykjarbunga.  I hate you, Theistareykjarbunga.  And all your little friends too.

Right now, flights are canceled to and from Scotland.  Last time I checked, Dublin wasn't that far away.

As Jimmy Buffett would say,


But I don't want to land in New York City,
I don't want to land in Mexico.
I don't want to land on no Three Mile Island;
I don't want to see my skin a-glow.

Don't want to land in Comanche Sky Park,
or in Nashville, Tennessee.
I don't want to land in no San Juan airport or
the Yukon Territory.

Don't want to land no San Diego.
Don't want to land in no Buzzards Bay.
I don't want to land on no Ayatolla.
I got nothin' more to say.


Just get us to Europe!  Oh, and get us home too...

Baby, You Can Drive My Car

We've received the paperwork on the overly European car we'll be driving - a brand new Renault Clio Estate.  Diesel, 55 mpg, spacious trunk room, car seats and GPS.  For Romanians, it's advertised to have ample leg room.  Strangely, no reference to Americans.

So, why on earth would a family get a new car to drive around Europe?  Turns out, it's actually a very cheap way to travel.  Our dear friends in France have chosen to charge an astronomical tax on new cars.  Just like all good businesses, the car companies found a way around it.  By leasing a brand new car to silly Americans looking to get around Europe, they're able to avoid paying the tax and then able to sell a slightly used vehicle for a better price than if they had to pay the tax.  To make sure they get their investment back, the cars come fully insured and include roadside assistance (a good feature for silly Americans).  Merci, Renault!

Now, that's all well and good - but neither of us has actually driven on European roads before.  We think it's as simple as just driving fast and beeping often.  That's how Doug gets to work every morning, so how hard can it be??  Apparently, according to everyone who's done it that we talk to...it's really hard.  But they also have a look of shock when we say we're taking two little kids with us.  Bravery and insanity often look the same, especially for pregnant women and exhausted husbands.

Eh, la conduite est facile!

Meet the Campbells

Doug, Jessica, John and Daniel

What you are about to read we hope will bring you as many laughs and thrills as it will for us.  Not really.  We know that we're going to have far more fun than you.  But thank you for reading anyway - that means you're probably a really good friend who wants to keep up with our adventure to Europe this summer.  Or you're some person we've never met who thinks that these stories are kinda funny, and that's ok by us as well.

In 13 days we're going to pack up 2 great kids, a pregnant wife and workaholic husband and fly to Dublin before advancing to Germany, which is the primary destination of this journey.  John just turned 6, and knows exactly where we're going and is well aware that there are castles and Legoland involved.  Enough said.  Daniel is 2, but says he's 6.  Don't believe him, he's not.  He likes Legos, but has no idea what he's in for with Legoland.  He knows we're going to Germany too, but again, has no idea what he's in for.  John has flown once before, and had a flood of memories come back when he picked Daddy up from the airport this last weekend.  Daniel hasn't, and is going to scream if he doesn't get to sit by the window.  Daniel will be sitting on him if John doesn't succumb to the screaming.  

Jessica is 11 weeks pregnant with baby number 3.  This one doesn't talk yet...unless you consider extreme nausea a form of talking.  If so, this one says more than the other two combined.  But that (hopefully) will soon end.  Ideally, right before we leave.  She plans weddings.  She also plans trips to Germany.  We're in very good hands.

Doug works too much.  He's never had a vacation where he didn't work at least part of it.  The ridiculous price for international data on the Blackberry should cure some of that.  However, there will be internet access at most of the places we're staying and a laptop in the bag to keep the DTs at bay.  

So why would 2 people and 2.5 kids make a decision to go to Germany for 6 weeks?  9 years ago, Jessica was a dual International Business and German major at Concordia University.  Then she met Doug.  She liked him and he liked her.  They tried to like each other while he was in Pueblo and she was in Wisconsin.  They did, but they didn't like the distance.  They got married and he moved to Wisconsin.  To be a German major is to study in Germany for a semester.  Doug didn't like that as a responsible young man with a new wife and bills to pay (and no job yet), so neither did Jessica.  She changed to a German minor, and thus no more need to go to Germany.  That made them sad, and Doug promised to take her to Germany as soon as he could.  Somehow he ended up at a job that gives a sabbatical every five years.  He'd never worked anywhere for five years before, and surprisingly would have worked at this place that long even without the sabbatical.  So, here it is.  Promises made, promises kept.

We look forward to bringing you along.  With any luck, this blog is the only time Doug uses the laptop.