German Cars?

While we were at Annie and Trent's wedding reception, we talked to Dave and Kim Johnson, who were planning a trip to Germany at the end of January. They and some friends were planning on picking up some new Mercedes Benz cars in Stuttgart and bringing them back to the states. A couple dropped out, leaving them with a little dilemma. They needed two more drivers with US passports to drive one car to the shipper in Stuttgart, and the other to Geneva. I guess we can help;)

Coincidentally, Andy had a US review to conduct in Stuttgart that same week! He flew up a few days before me, and I took the train on Wednesday. We had a nice relaxing dinner at the hotel, watched some Downton Abbey, and then got a good night's sleep. The following morning, we headed to the factory!

We met up with Dave and Kim and some friends that came with them. We all did the needed paperwork, and then were led to "the room."  We walked up to a balcony that overlooked a bunch of cars that were all set and ready to drive right out of the factory! We all sat down and had some snacks for a bit, and then each couple was called down to get their car.

Looking down from the cafe

Dave loading up his new car

These cars were crazy!!!!! We have never driven new cars before, so this was going to be quite the experience! I was led to a matte grey GLA 750 Turbo......basically, a speed demon's dream car! I was a little intimidated when I learned that this think could go from 0 to 60mph in 3 seconds! Pretty sweet car......I just started praying hard that I wouldn't crash this thing during the 10 minute duration I would be driving it!

Andy checking out the car I will be driving. Sitting in it is power;)

Andy drove a red GLA 250....also a very sweet car! After we were both coached on some of the specs, we were all ready to head out of the factory. I had the address of the shipper programmed into my navigation, so I was all set. But then Dave yelled out to all of us to just follow him. Okay, hopefully we are all going to the right place!

"Andy's" Car

Love this classic!

Here we go baby!!!!

I start the car and follow Dave's. Can't go wrong when I am following the leader. Sure enough, the way he was going was not what I had programmed into my navigation. And I didn't take into account that we would be driving on some major roads with a lot of merging traffic! I lost Dave within minutes, and I was trying to find someone else in our group to follow, trying not to put one ding in this car, AND not put any excess miles on it ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!  (Probably wouldn't be freaking out so much if this was my own car!)
Minus the minor freakouts, driving this was fun! Engines rubbin, smooth ride......pretty awesome! I found someone else in our group and just followed him the rest of the way there. Pretty relieved when we pulled into the parking lot. My car would be staying there, and we would drive Andy's car through Germany back to Geneva to ship out of there.

Got "my" car safely to the lot. Whew!"

Outside the MB Factory

We all got lunch back at the factory, had a good time talking together, and then said goodbye! Their group would be driving through Germany and France for a week to ski. Andy and I would stay in Stuttgart for another day and then drive to Black Forrest, Germany for a few days as part of the package deal. So, Andy headed to work, I headed back to the hotel and read my book for a few hours and just relaxed.