Karen arrived in Germany Friday night. It was a little confusing getting out but she made it. They are never actually able to give you the exact time until just before the flight, because of security issues. But we knew it was on Friday. But we also knew it was going to be late. They let you check your bags in a day early if you are actually flying on a boarding pass. When we checked in at 9 on Thursday the plane hadn't even left Baltimore yet and they seemed to know it would be pretty late. They told us not to check in on Friday until 1230 when it was originally 7AM. Then it got confusing. AFN (Air Force News - our TV) was saying check in at 1300, the phone said something else, but they said 1145 on the phone. So we went at 1145 and they said come back at 2. But she was able to get on and depart around 3-4PM. Karen said the flight was fine. We managed to talk the Turkish counter agent into giving her an aisle seat. Sounds like he even did one better as Karen said she had mega foot room and it almost seemed like first class. They did have to stay on the flight line for about an hour in Germany because of rain and lightning. She said they almost actually diverted the flight. Thank goodness that didn't happen. I will let Karen tell you the rest:
"Yes I am now in Germany and oh my gosh it is so beautiful here! Everything is so green and I am surrounded by lush green trees and grass. I love it here! I just wish Patrick were here with me, I know he will love it too. It is kind of like St Louis without the humidity. My flight was wonderful. They gave me a great seat at the front of the plane. I was surrounded by guys coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. They had all been away for a year and were headed home. They were such great guys, asking me all kinds of questions about having a baby in Turkey. They thought I made the right decision to come here to Germany instead of Ankara. My boss from Edwards meet me at the Terminal and one of the other ladies that I worked with was there too visiting her daughter who is stationed here so we all went to dinner. It was so yummy to have good ol American food that tasted good. I was in heaven! I had a huge BBQ pulled pork sandwich. Today I am at the hospital and had my first subway sandwich in a about a year and they have a cyber-cafe with plenty of computers so I can keep in touch with you all. I am getting so excited to see my little Katie. She will be here soon. I am so weepy all the time too. I am feeling great. My back is hurting today as my bed is kind of hard. We have a feather bed on top of our mattress at home so I didn't sleep too great. She is sitting on my bladder a lot too so it makes it hard to walk very far. I am hoping I will be able to sightsee anyway. There are so many things here to do and see. My old boss is taking me to brunch at the officers club tomorrow morning. He said they have these awesome crab legs and shrimp. YUM! Do you see a theme running here. FOOD!! My room here is really nice too. I can tell that they just remodelled them recently. I even have a flattop stove and lots of windows looking out at the woods. I sure am not going to want to go back to Turkey! The air is so clean too. I went outside this morning and took a big breath of fresh air. It smelled so good with all the trees around and it had been raining. You just can't believe how bad the air is where we are in Turkey. Well, that's about it for now. I am just wandering around my little area here. I have a dr appointment Monday afternoon and a bunch of paperwork to fill out. I will keep you updated on my adventures here."
It's amazing how many people we know seems to be in or heading to Germany. Karen's old boss Tom Burkett is there. Alice, another lady Karen worked with for a while at NAF Human Resources Edwards AFB is also there. She also came along to pick Karen up. And Dr. Soto, my supervisor from Edwards is arriving for an assignment at Ramstein in August. Well I still have to grocery shop and clean today - it's harder to get by with just one! Oh, almost forgot that I do have Karen's number to her hotel and room. If you want it shoot me an e-mail or call. Karen and I can talk for free via Government DSN line, She said they advertise about 40 cents a minute for commercial lines. I'm not sure what it would cost someone dialing in though. See that's one other thing they don't tell people who are choosing to have the baby in Ankara. You have to pay for every phone call there. Expensive! Bye Karen. Love you and see you in Germany.
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