Day 7: AUGHHHH! TomTom, What Are You Thinking???

Dear Thomas,

This is truly a love/hate relationship that we have. I'm not sure that I can depend on you any more. I think that maybe we should see other people. I am currently interested in getting to know a few other fellows a little bit better. Their names are Garmen, Nuvi and Navigon. If you are at all interested in saving our relationship, you had better be on your best behavior. I'm just saying.

Most Sincerely,

Barb It should have been such a simple (yet long) trip back to Belgium. Truly. We had a very nice and uneventful drive to Garmisch-Partenkirchen last weekend, so why would the return trip be any different? Apparently Thomas got hold of the same thing the people at Swarovski have been sniffing. We he instructed us to take a left turn outside the lodge gates instead of right, we didn't think too much about it. After all, he said this way would be almost half an hour quicker. We should have suspected something. I'm pretty sure that Tom belongs to the Witness Protection Program, because he never seems to take us the same route twice. Following Tom's directions, we soon found ourselves on a narrow two lane road in Austria. That's right. Austria. Now geography is not my strong suit, but is the most direct route from southern Germany to eastern Belgium through Austria? I think not. By the time we found out his intentions, it was too late to turn back. He reassured us that this was indeed the best route for us. With little opportunity to turn around, we didn't have much choice, so we followed the winding road through the Bavarian Alps. At least the weather was nice.

Um, apparently the high altitude through the mountains lends itself to heavy snow storms. Again, we are in the middle of nowhere, can't pull off, and can't turn around. Thomas is learning a few new words to add to his vocabulary. If we weren't desperate, I would have tossed him out the window at this point. After QUITE a long time, driving at very slow speeds, we finally found ourselves on a main roadway. Whew. Relief. As you can see, the skies have cleared and the sun is shining. It's smooth sailing home from here. At least it will be once we get back into Germany. Great. We get to Germany, and this is what was waiting for us. We'll start looking for a rest stop to pull off and wait out the storm. This is ridiculous. Mother nature would love the Swarovski Museum. She's whacked out as well. Is this weather crazy, or what? We've ended up in the Twighlight Zone. Nice wind turbines, though. The red tips looked really pretty against the CLEAR BLUE SKY. YEA, we have reached Belgium. I don't have a clue where we are, because none of these roads Tom's taking us down are familiar, but at least it's the right country. I just want to get home. It's been a long day. Love the windmill. Are you kidding me???? It's a ONE LANE/TWO WAY ROAD!!!!! Ugh!!!!!!! If we weren't minutes from home...

Ahhhh. It's my canal. I'm feeling much better now. We'll be home in a minute. With the exception of this drive, our trip to Germany went really well. Russ had to work, but it was a fantastic TDY for me and the kids. (Of course, it was our only TDY, but who's counting.) Jess got violently sick and ingested nothing but saltine crackers and water for 2 days, but she's better now. Besides, she said it was the BEST DIET EVER! In all, it was a entertaining and educational trip. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Edelweiss Lodge and Resort, do so. I highly recommend it. Just don't take Thomas along!