4165 miles away

At about 5 a.m. Thursday morning, Ben called me in Minneapolis to let me know that he arrived safely in the Netherlands and was at his hotel, about to change into his uniform and sign into his unit. He had left Minneapolis early Tuesday morning, spent the night in McLeansboro, and then dropped off our car in St. Louis to be shipped and headed to the airport.

I talked to him again later after he got back to his hotel room. After finishing up his first day introductions and going back to his hotel, he ventured out to find some dinner, not always an easy feat in a foreign country where the native language makes you say, "Whaaaa?". Luckily he found a Greek restaurant near his hotel and recognized the word "gyro" on the menu and so was able to order something.

He's surviving there, and will hopefully be able to take some Netherlands pictures to put up sometime soon. But until then we'll leave you with a picture taken in Minnesota:



It's COLD here now. This is what I look like when I take the dogs out for a walk, except I pull some big mittens on right before I walk out the door. I can't do the mittens any sooner because they render my hands completely useless. It takes me about ten minutes to get ready, but I am really toasty warm in there.