Planes, trains and automobiles

I have spent all day (in between schooling of course) researching train, plane and automobile options for the travel portion of our trip. As usual, I am coming in over my budget, which keeps my wheels spinning, thinking of different options.

My biggest concerns are when we are needing to cover a large distance. At one point in the trip, we need to get from Todtmoos, Germany to Rome, Italy. According to my calculations, that is close to 600 miles. In another, we need to get from Florence, Italy to Barfleur, France (about 900 miles) in a day. My guidebooks warn about tolls and fuel prices, plus I wonder if we shouldn't stop along the way to see Milan or Venice... adding a hotel, parking, more food, etc.

I had originally thought we would drive the entire time. I started out today by researching train schedules. Maybe I am reading things wrong, but that is a very expensive option. What I did discover, was that for some reason Milan is just about the cheapest place to fly out of in all of Italy! If it didn't matter that I would be arriving in Paris at 11pm, I could have flown the four of us for about $20 each! Of course, I need to get into Barfleur at a decent time (4 hours away) so I settled on about $70 each.

All in all, I might have saved a couple hundred dollars. My biggest objective was met though, we will not be spending 2 1/2 days in the car and a night in a hotel when we are skipping countries. I could figure out how much money in tolls and fuel I am saving (1500 miles!) but I really should get out of my pjs and feed my family... it is 4:30pm after all.
  
It is hard to believe that we will be on a plane four weeks from tomorrow. Phew! I have got a TON to do!

Confused blogger

Okay Blogger! What did you do with the blogs I clicked on "follow this blog" the last time I was on here? I will never ever remember their names! How do I find them again?
 And why so random? Why can't I look for blogs on subjects that are of interest to ME? So much time wasted filing through endless comic book sites (no offense comic book blog fans). Sigh.
I could whine some more but I am just all worn out from my fruitless search.

Next I will post some pictures - stay tuned. Oh, and if you have any answers to the above questions, do share! There must be a better way.