Day 1766. It's 1 am, and this has been a long day. Randy got up to feed the kids, but only Sammy went to kindergarten. They were actually celebrating his birthday today, as it's during the summer break, at the end of August. Randy got a cake that he took there and that they ate there, and Sammy got some gifts. They'll be sending pictures they took eventually.
I soon got up, even though I was tired, as there was lots to do. We hadn't even started packing. I opened up the suitcases and got started. Randy returned before 9 am, and at 9:15 we all left the house together. We took the 9:30 train to the main train station, where we went to the Hertz office to pick up our rental car. It was quick and efficient. Then we walked to the garage and found our car, a Volkswagen Passat, a station wagon. Randy put the car seats in, and off we went, driving back home.
Just after 10:30 am we were back home, and it was time to seriously get started packing. We worked and worked. Just after noon Randy left to go pick up Sammy. Tammy, Emmy and I ate in the meantime, and once they got back home, Randy ate as well. Tammy started having a fever last night and had a fever all day today. She actually slept in her bed for a few more hours in the morning, and she ate little today.
We finished packing, and Randy was loading up the car. It all took longer than expected. We finally got the last few bags out of the apartment and took them to the main entrance, where Randy pulled up, coming from the other side of the house. We had been worried about how to get everything into the car given how small it was, but thank God, it worked out. Finally everything and everyone was in. It was already 2 pm, when we pulled away to start our long trip to the other end of Austria.
The kids all had their tablets to keep them busy. Sammy had been talking about our trip for the past two weeks, and Emmy was also really excited. Tammy was more quiet, as she was not feeling well.
We had 635 km to drive, which was a long distance, and in the end, we arrived 8 hours 15 minutes after having left. There were a few moments, when Sammy was unhappy and on the brink of starting to cry, but then that suddenly changed. I couldn't believe that they were all still awake, when we arrived at 10:15 pm. Only Tammy had slept a few minutes here and there.
We had a bathroom break near Linz, and they also had a playground there. It was extremely hot, but the kids spent a few minutes playing there. Then Randy got some coffee to stay awake, and we continued on our trip. We stopped another time for a bathroom break and got some Happy Meals for the kids, then continued on right away.
The last two hours or so it was raining constantly. We were driving through Germany at that time. There was one accident, where we lost 10 minutes because of traffic. And once we had left the interstate to get to our destination, it rained really hard, causing aquaplaning and slowing us down a lot. I was praying the whole time and asking Randy to slow down.
And then we had finally made it to our Airbnb in Lustenau. A young lady greeted us and showed us our apartment. She was really nice. Then Randy unloaded the car, while I was getting the kids ready for bed. All Tammy wanted to do was to sleep. Emmy and Sammy were in really high spirits and having fun together. They looked like they wanted to stay up, and Emmy stayed awake for quite some time, even after Sammy had fallen asleep. I had moved the mattress from the other room to our room, putting it next to our bed, as they wanted to be with us, and I took their picture once they were all sleeping.
I continued unpacking and putting stuff up and made myself some tea, then sat down to get started working on the pictures and the report. Now it's time for bed.
