Day 1: Eidelweiss Lodge and Resort

Russ has been on a lot of TDY's over the years. I mean a LOT! Sometimes it's a pretty miserable event, and I feel really sorry for him. Other times, like on a certain TDY last year to Hawaii (yes, I blogged about it), ... he gets no sympathy whatsoever. This week, he was driving out for a TDY to Germany, and there was no way we were letting him go alone. The kids and I jumped in the van and went with him. See why we shackled ourselves to him? He was going to The Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. This is of the lobby of the resort. LOVE the fireplace! For those of you not familiar with Garmisch-Partenkirchen, it's an alpine town in the region of Bavaria. That's the southern edge of Germany, and it's just a stone's throw away from Austria. The town sits at the foot of Zugspitze, the tallest mountain in Germany. (The IV Olympic Winter Games were held here in 1936.) This resort is owned and operated by the military, so if you serve in the Armed Forces, you need to check it out. You will love it! If you aren't with the military, there are lots of other lovely hotels and resorts in the area that you can stay at. They have quite a few sight-seeing tours available through the lodge, but the one we were interested in on our first day there was completely booked up, so we decided to spend the day checking out the lodge. (Note: If you want to take the tour to see Dachau Concentration Camp, book it ahead. It fills up quickly.) The rooms were really nice, too. We had a great view of the mountains from the balcony.

There are several restaurants in the lodge. Zuggy's Base Camp was our favorite. And guess what...the menu was entirely in English! It's the little things. Zuggy's is similar to an Applebee's. They also had a buffet restaurant, a more expensive restaurant, and a snack bar that had everything from cereal to sandwiches. Just messing around at the hotel. This is the pool in the lower level under the lobby. This and the game room were Brandon's favorite spots in the hotel. They also had a gym on this level.

You can just see the edge of the hot tub outside on the left. This was another popular spot in the lodge. Now are you starting to understand why the kids and I were not going to be left behind?