Final Stop: New York, New York to Austria

Days 41 & 42: We hopped in our mini van and headed to the Coronavirus epicenter: NYC.

It was a very odd experience. At some points, areas of the city seemed vacant, at other points there were surprising crowds of joggers, walkers, cyclers and playing babies in the park, most without masks or distance. 

The nerves kicked in once we got the consult. But they were very helpful and gracious, and after about an hour wait, I had my visa in hand :)

We practically ran to our van, we were so excited, and rushed to a surreal and desolate Newark Airport.

After roaming the empty terminals, we found our check-in counter and went through a lengthy vetting process before being approved for our tickets. No airport food stands or shops were open and all other gates were empty. Our 300 capacity plane was filled with less than 100 passengers. It was a great flight.

We were thrilled we entered Frankfurt so easily (and grateful the food stands were open!) It was busier than NJ, but still not its usual. We had plenty of space to spend our more than 7 hour layover.     

At 5:30pm on Wednesday, we were home <3

10th Stop: Hamilton, Michigan

Days 34-40: We spent this week quarantining/social distancing with my dad and Diane while waiting for our date to meet at the Austrian Consulant. Our immediate focus was to sell our car and camper (stressful!)

Luckily, after posting on Facebook, the first person to look at the camper and the first person to look at the car, both purchased them. 

As relieved as we were to be relieved of the burden, we were so sad to see them go. This chapter of life is offically closed. We had some joy knowing the buyers of both were very sweet and would put them to great use.

The rest of the week was spent enjoying fun, quality time with my dad and Diane: walks, meals, game nights and a hike - memories we'll cherish.