Packin' the Container

Monday, the 26th the movers came to move what gets packed into the container. Yes, all of our worldy possessions will be loaded onto a container and placed on a boat and off to sea.

Below you will see some photos of our last few days. There is still much to do before we depart. Anyone have extra time on their hands?

Umm... Like install a sump-pump? Thanks for the help Frank!

Before the movers arrived.

And just like that - we're sleeping on the floor.

The family room.

The container.

Our container off to sea.

Yes, the cats are coming along! Josie will be checked baggage and....

Josie Toby will be in the cabin with us.

Pictures of Basel, Switzerland

Basel, Switzerland


The Rhine - we live about 10 minutes by foot from this body of water!


Roman Ruins in the town of August Switzerland.


Solothurn, Switzerland at night.


Basel, Switzerland






Robert and Melinda in front of the Rhine





City Gate of Basel



Part II...the abbreviated version.


Life at the Schouten's has become rather hectic. The movers come on Monday to ship our stuff to Europe via sea, which will take 6 - 8 weeks to arrive. Looks like we will be camping in our new place for awhile. Anyway, we thought you might want to see some actual photos of the town we will be living in - Basel, Switzerland.




For those of you unfamiliar with the area - we are extremely close to the France and Germany borders, which is fabulous! We are only about 3 hours from Italy and a quick flight to most other countries in Europe. Can't wait to see you soon!

Enjoy the photos!




I just had to include this photo of me and the cow!
These are the happiest cows I have ever seen!

Exploratory Trip to Switzerland - Part I

The adventure started on Sunday, March 11 with a slow check – in to board our Air France flight to Paris. Word of caution…flying into France is quite the unique experience. For those of you willing to take us up on our offer to visit, we recommend a direct flight to Zurich or for the more adventurous types, a trip through Charles du Galle Paris could be the adventure race you are seeking! On our way home, we felt like VIP guests (or those teams in the amazing race...), personally escorted in a fast driving, knuckle gripping , caravan ride through all the back alleys of the airport in order to catch our flight. We made our flight, cleared customs and security (on two separate occasions) all thanks to our amazing driver! Ah... France!

Nonetheless, we arrived in Basel in the afternoon on the 12th to pick up our Frenchy Renault….please do not ask Robert about the engineering on this car (more French). Do check out the photo that shows how the car is started and the type of key that is used. Quite different from US standards, but a great ride nonetheless.

We realized maintaining a sense of humor early on would be the key to a successful relocation. Please check out the photo of the first flat we saw. Not quite what we had anticipated, so we both felt OK about passing on this one. Check it out!

For the next two days we searched for a flat the way you search for a full - time job...waking early, sending off applications and interviewing with each landlord prior to submitting our application. We ended up not being Swiss enough for the first flat we liked (open floor plan, huge balcony, fireplace in bedroom)...

and the second flat we thought would be great (on the Rhine, charming yellow building) was already taken by the time we went to complete the application. But as all things go - we were able to secure our third choice due to "Melinda's Swiss Accent" no this true, the landlord did say Melinda had a fabulous Swiss accent! Wow..it only took seven classes of High German to nail the accent down! So here it is...our flat.

Just kidding...this is a cool Euro furniture store with what we like to refer to as the caterpillar couches.

Here is the Our New Flat...

Part II coming soon...

Wow, Lots to do...

Ok, so earlier last week we spoke with a Realtor, Mover, put are cars up, and finished repairing our bathroom. Basically, the pervious owner of our house has done a piss poor job on the place, since it was a rental for a while; the upkeep was literally whatever was on sale at Home Depot. That’s probably why the kitchen was painted school bus yellow, with linoleum that matched the big round wheels, black. Sorry, no pics of the bath construction, tearing the shower out was fun, then sealing, and the many trips to and fro Home Depot especially to get and return a shower door that did not fit despite all claimed dimensions at the time of purchase. Needless to say this was such a fun and exciting project, thanks previous home owner! So now that that is finished there are all these details to take care of. Oh, and we have the assignment now to inventory ALL of our belongings. Uhhhh… Yeah. EVERYTHING! Did I mention we have to do our taxes? And next week we go to die Schwiez to find an apartment. Then 3 weeks later were gone! What?

So who wants to buy a great Honda Civic

or Passat Wagon?

Well we should have some pics up (in about 2 weeks) showing you our new town… I gotta run. Later.