But what a start! We trucked on through the Frankfurt Airport with a cart stacked to the ceiling with 4 hockey bags of stuff and 2 carry-ons. Yes Brad… people did look at us like we were a part of a Canadian Hockey Team but, the bags worked perfectly for the task intended. We managed to score a great little Ford station wagon upgrade from Budget after the attendant took mercy on us after seeing all our baggage. Until turning the key, I didn’t realize it was a standard but luckily by the time I hit the autobahn about 100 meters out the parkade door, I was on top of my shifting “learning curve” and that was a good thing because the next 3 hours was quite a ride. Margot had her eyes closed for most of it as I was traveling rather fast for her at about 140km/hr, but the real concern for her was not me… but instead the cars that were racing past me at well over 200km/hr!!!! My first thoughts of this fast drive were of my friends Rhys and Marcel… guys, this autobahn was made for the both of you and your “rock-in” machines. Our first genuine German meal turned out to be one of the best Pizzas ever. After a great REAL continental breakfast this morning, we spent a successful day RV shopping at “DUMO Reismobile”, the dealership. We think we’ve found the right motorhome for us and so tomorrow we will write-up the deal with the owner, Michael Thyssen. More on that later. Off to a great start so far and having lots of fun!

Wow! these last few days have flown by so incredibly fast that it seems like we’ve just experienced some kind of time warp. I’ll have to admit to some final scrambling in the last few hours and minutes before Cam so expertly delivered us (on time) to the Victoria Clipper to start this first leg of our journey. But, despite those last few moments of higher than normal anxiety, just prior to locking the front door, we did manage to get away happy and with the comforting feeling that everything seems to be in order and under control. To that end, as we flew over Iceland, we still couldn’t think of a single detail left unattended. Even though we had a wonderful send-off celebration from friends and family, I suppose it’s only normal to regret not having had even more time to say “Bon Voyage” before departing. Thanks to everyone for all your kind words of encouragement, best wishes, and support. Having escaped the winter surprise in Seattle intact, our next stop was Frankfurt Germany where the fun really began.

It’s panic time! One month to go before we’re off to Germany for the start of our year long travel adventure. We’ve been planning this project for months now but until the actual final preperation began, we had no idea of the endless amount of detail “stuff” required to pull off such a mega-trip. With over 100 boxes (so far) packed-up for storage, insurance details, health details, rental details, financial details, travel details, trip planning, packing  and organizing our travel bags… thank goodness we started preparing when we did. If our luck continues, we will be all ready to go by the 8th of February and we can leave home with a feeling of control. Thankfully, our Christmas season provided a festive opportunity to spend some quality pre-departure time with friends and family. Sharing such wonderful time with our kids and their spouses makes us realize how fortunate we are, how proud we are, and how much we will miss them over the next number of months. We are however really looking forward to returning home and boring them to tears with endless stories of our travel adventures. So… If my technology skills can withstand the mobile shock, my next posting will be formatted from the road and our travel adventure will have begun.

Bruma…  short for Bruce & Margot, will be the name of our new travel blog and adventure diary. We feel this is a good way to maintain contact with friends and family when on the road and roaming about. It will also act as our own personal travel diary that we can publish into a book later on.  The blog will include text and photos of our wandering experiences and it will be posted at random intervals when time and wifi allows. You’re invited to stay in touch with us by checking in on our “BrumaBlog” every so often and I’ll try to keep things somewhat interesting. Thanks for joining in!

 Bruce & Margot       (Find us online at : bruma.me)