Well howdy ya'll!

...just kidding of course. Trying to get into that Texas slang. I think it's going to take a while.

So, assuming you want to know the details of our travel experience, here's the update:

1. Missing all of you, very much so.

2. Hell of a travel we just experienced. Let me break it down for you...

a.) 600 MILES on Thursday, May 13 from Fourques to Strasbourg; all went relatively well except Wuzzy was so nervous that he experienced an intestinal problem = many stops and voiture fumigation issues;

b.) At least I think it was Wuzzy;

c.) The obscene 'on top of the car' contraption actually held in place - mind you, after 50 miles and our first 'air out the car stop', the luggage rails had slid a bit to the side and the bolts were a sort of on the loose side. Luckily, Handy Henk had his wrench and tightened the bolts but every 10 minutes or so, while driving, we would roll down the windows and check/feel if it was slipping! (Honestly, I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to be feeling. I was more concerned about my fingers suddenly being ripped off if the ghastly contraption decided to take flight.)

d.) No doubt we looked really cool on the highway.

e.) After 300 miles and our 8th stop, we noticed our high quality Catalan tarp/cover was shredding. Again, Handy Henk had some AMERICAN duct tape and stopped that impeding disaster. Kind of like putting nail polish on a panty hose run.

f.) Although the forecast was rain for the entire route, we didn't have any ,until we were exactly 10 minutes from our hotel. So we were blessed with that. Plus, no-one bothered to pilfer our suitcases, two of which were in the kennel-on-top-of-the-car-contraption and parked outside of the hotel. Another thumbs up from the Big Guy.

g.) The next day was comparatively easy, only 150 miles to drive. After checking into the hotel, Henk and I left the two kiddos (one human, one canine) and went to the airport to actually check our bags for the flight. This was a big issue, because think about this: Me, Sjaantje, 4 large suitcases, 2 carry-ons, 56 Kg. Wuzzy the beast, the giant breed dog kennel and trying to check all of this in on time for our morning flight...impossible.

h.) Friday night Henk assembled Wuzzy's kennel and attached the necessary stickers (a la 'Live Animal', 'Please be nice to my doggy' and all other identifying thingies). In fact, the hotel let us store the kennel in a side room until the next morning. Nice. Saturday morning we took the shuttle bus from the hotel to the airport. Although where the bus dropped us off was not quite the place we needed to be. (Ooh, isn't that a fun gramatically incorrect sentence! Heavy on the prepositions ending the sentence. It would have been a little bit more spicy if I'd ended the sentence with 'to be at'.) So Henk pulled the kennel along and Sjaantje and I had the Wuz etc...

i.) At another time I'll tell you about the 8 different opinions we were given regarding where we take the dog for the flight... We did eventually find the correct place and bye-bye Wuz.

j.) The main point is the three of us arrived safely. All of the baggage as well. But there was a problem with finding Wuzzy. I was told to pick him up at the Cargo area of the airport - about 10 miles away - but he was (unbeknownst to me) actually sitting in his kennel at the baggage claim. In a corner. Two hours after we landed, we finally found him (after going back through security/customs). It was a bit chaotic but Wuzzy became the darling of the baggage claim area - in other words, as he was barking and barking, and all of the onlookers saw his name on the kennel and were yelling 'Wuzzy! It's OK!' and 'Oh, let him out! I want to pet him!' and 'OMG! Is that a dog?'

k.) I've talked a lot about Wuzzy, but that's only because I was mostly worried about him. He's fine. Happy. And he's fallen in love with air conditioning. He's been doing this amazing imitation of a Persian rug....

l. ) Sjaantje is always the best traveller. Grabs those suitcases off the baggage claim belt, handles the trolley, etc. Kick ass chick.

m.) The flight was good (A380 = wow), especially after I was eventually able to communicate to the senile Kenyan woman that she was sitting in my seat.

n.) Henk is in Holland at his dear cousin Betty's house, and will leave Tuesday. We'll see him Tuesday night.

That's all of my news! So far we still have the same email address.

I hope you are enjoying some sunshine for a change!

Big kiss to you all.

Wend