DreamaAstrid

It is so worth it. Ordered our car end of January 2007 scheduled for a March 27, 2007 pickup at the Factory Delivery Center in Göteborg, Sweden.

We saved 12% off US retail with the OSD special Volvo was running (normally you save about 8% off retail by doing the OSD). Get two free round-trip tickets to Sweden via SAS airlines, a Volvo Limo picks you up at the Göteborg airport and takes you to the Göteborg SAS Radisson Hotel, you normally get one free night at the Göteborg SAS Radisson via Volvo, (we actually got two free nights by filling out an online survey on the Volvo webpage), and get a tour of the factory, get to drive your own car around Europe on vacation (so no car rental), and Volvo pays for European tags & insurance for 15 days, drop the car off at a Volvo European delivery center. And they ship it back to you in the states. And yes, the price includes the shipping too. And yes, the car is made to US specs.

And as far as I can see there is no catch, you get a discount on a Volvo, you get a once-in-a-lifetime European vacation, and have a wonderful time.

The only disadvantage is this:
“Are there downsides? The only one that jumps to mind after participating in the OSD experience is timing. First, you must order your new Volvo from the local dealer of your choosing at least eight weeks prior to your desired travel time. Then, at the conclusion of your overseas adventure you won’t have the use of your new car until ‘6 to 12’ weeks after your return. But with proper planning these hurdles can easily be overcome. And the benefit is not only the purchase of a fine vehicle but also the opportunity to go on a European vacation that almost pays for itself.”

The trip was absolutely fabulous. I posted my vacation journal at:
http://dreamaastrid.livejournal.com/131983.html

And the first of my pictures are posted:
Car pictures: http://dreamaastrid.multiply.com/photos/slideshow2/49

SAS Airlines, Sweden, Denmark and Legoland pictures:
http://dreamaastrid.multiply.com/photos/slideshow2/52
http://dreamaastrid.multiply.com/photos/slideshow2/47
http://dreamaastrid.multiply.com/photos/slideshow2/48
http://dreamaastrid.multiply.com/photos/slideshow2/50

and here are some pics I found on line of:
the Volvo Factory Delivery Center: http://www.swedespeed.com/gallery/gallery2.php?mode=album&album=/Etcetera/Overseas%20Delivery=Program/Volvo%20Cars%20Delivery%20Center=Gothenburg,%20Sweden

and the Volvo Factory tour:

http://www.swedespeed.com/gallery/gallery2.php?mode=album&album=/Etcetera/Torslanda%20Factory

NOTE: We were NOT allowed to take any photos on the tour, and you will NOT be allowed to take any photos on the tour. You know all top secret like “Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory” and they don’t want info to leak out because of spies – LOL! So these are the “approved” photos from Volvo…

you can stop here on the way.. that way you don’t need to walk all the way out since there was nothing else near it we wanted to see…

We went via the Volvo Overseas Delivery program, my hubby, myself and our 4 year old. We visited Gothenburg (Goteborg), Mellerud, and Malmo… Had a wonderful time, did the Universeum (science center/aquarium fun place for kids), and the Maritime Centre (tall ships) in Goteborg. Did a Volvo Factory Tour, visited a friend in Mellerud, and saw the Turning Turso building and the castle in downtown Malmo..

Had a most wonderful time!!

to see Copenhagen and Legoland…

flight is tenatively booked.. Yeah!! Just need to check accomodations…

to pickup our Volvo and trip is tentatively booked.. Gothenburg, Mullerud, Malmo…

to pick up my new Volvo thru the Volvo OSD (Overseas Delivery) program…

We are home safe and sound from a glorious very laid-back week in Avon, NC..

Highlights from our trip include:
1. Naked Hot-tubbing
2. Naked Kite Flying
3. Group showers
4. Long Afternoon Naps
5. Drinking too much
6. Eating too much – especially seafood
7. Just an awesome relaxing vacation!

First of all 2 thumbs up to MIL & her hubby – they got the kid a portable DVD player for Xmas and it was worth it’s weight in gold for this trip. The kid watched two movies on the way down and the way back. And how many 3 year olds do you know that request “Harry Potter” or “Chronicles of Narnia” for their “inflight” movie? But it did keep the little one (LO) very happy in the backseat of the car when the LO could have been very unpleasant.. An 8+ hour car ride is a lot to ask a 3-yr. old to behave for.

Thumbs-up to my dad for great directions to avoid traffic, missed all the DC beltway disaster (Woodrow Wilson Bridge under construction), by taking his short-cut to 301. And Route 17 was a great scenic route thru Virginia and best of all no traffic – Yeah!!

The place we stayed was wonderful. It was one of those wooden houses up on stilts with a double-decker deck. The only thing we could have used was a dumbwaiter or an elevator to get all our stuff up and down when loading and unloading.

It had an outdoor shower for when you got back from the beach, it was 4 bedroom, a living area with very open floor plan, including a spiral staircase up to the loft, and a hot tub out on the deck. Though the entire place did sway in the wind which I believe I noticed the most since I’ve very susceptible to motion sickness. But it was more of a gentle rocking and I got used to it after the first couple of days.

We took the kid’s inflatable kiddie pool along and that was well worth it, as the LO could play in that while we lounged on the deck. The LO loved the waves, making sandcastles, flying kites (the kid was the naked kite flyer), bike riding (using the bikes & tow-wagon that our friends had rented), playing in her pool, playing with all of our friend’s one yr. old’s toys, our visit to the Cape Hatteras Light House, etc.

We had awesome vacation-mates. Another couple that both are wonderful cooks. The hubby did marinated-steaks one night, and the wife did chicken/sausage quesadillas. We had pizza one day, seafood a few days (I did crabs, oysters, shrimp and scallops while on vacation), and NC BBQ. My dh (darling husband) did his spaghetti one night, I made hash-browns and waffles one morning. And, I think I had a glass of wine almost everyday and the boys were the bartenders for the week. They made wonderful grasshoppers and cosmos and breakfast mimosas. We also had Mud-slides and Pina Coladas and various Rum-juice drinks, Yum! And, I think my dh’s favorite part of the vacation was Pina Coladas in the hot tub 8am Monday morning.

Our Favorite restaurant: the “Froggy Dog” in Avon – wonderful seafood and they even had a kids play area. Our friends took us there!

Least favorite restaurant: “Down Under” in Waves unless you like your food served with LadyBugs – Ewh!! Yuck!!

I got the hubby and kid Pirate T-shirts from the Pirate Loft at the Kite shop. Our LO got a cool personalized, ceramic-kiln necklace, and we got a hammock chair and “Outer Banks” afghan for our screen porch. The kid also got a few Outer Banks kids books & postcards.

Our friends planned really well for the entertainment and brought card games, board games, puzzles, a large drawing pad for the kid, dominoes, etc. Dh and I each had a book, and the children got along well.

Our friend’s LO is only one and up to cruising but not quite walking and I really didn’t know how our LO would do with the baby. We only had to correct ours a few times regarding sharing and not pushing their kid down when their LO was grabbing ahold of ours to try to stand up, but we really avoided any major issues (thank goodness)..

I was so worried ours would be screaming at their kid or beating their LO up or something horrendous, since our LO isn’t around 1 yr. olds much at all. And when I told ours to keep an eye on the baby to keep the baby away from the stairs, our LO was so proud of getting to be a big kid and watch the baby. And the baby was really an incredibly happy little kid, lots of big smiles and a really happy personality, that made things with the two kids work out very well.

The thing our 3 yo. will remember is the Ocean attacking, and trying to drag them away, being only 38 inches tall a 2 foot wave is ginormous. So when a wave knocked our LO down when they were trying to wash their hands, the hero, daddy, saved our LO.

We’ll remember a few things, including our trip home and having to pull-over on the toll road due to diaper explosion of the most heinous kind – a full clothing change for the kid. But dh and I couldn’t stop laughing – poor child!

And dh lost his cell phone one late afternoon on the beach, he didn’t notice it missing until the next day. We retraced our steps and he found it still laying on the beach, lucky man.

And after we packed up and we’re driving home, maybe 20 minutes out of Avon, we realized we forgot a load of laundry and had to drive back to the rental office get the key, go back to our unit get the laundry out of the dryer, and then return the key, and leave Avon again 45+ minutes later. We can laugh now but I was a grumpy bear having to go back, but at least we didn’t get all the way home and then realize it.

Our plants are a little worse for wear after a week away, I think the strawberries took it the worse.. I’ve never been on such a low-key vacation before, our big decisions of whether to go to the beach or play in the kiddie pool, fly kites or build sandcastles, play dominoes or watch cartoons, how long of a nap to take?

Back at work and missing my afternoon siestas.

Visited NY April 3rd on yet another bus trip.
Took a bus trip to NY city, with my friend Darby and her best-friend Karen. It was a bus trip one of her co-workers organized with her church. The three of us were the token white girls – LOL! We had so much fun and her work friends were awesome!

The bus dropped us off near Macy’s on 34th street and the three of us walked over to Chelsea Market (where the Food Network is) on 16th street, and shopped at the market, bought some gourmet food, cookies at one of the bakeries, and ate lunch at one of the market delis. Darby got some “Black Truffle Olive Oil” since she had some at our party the weekend before, and we both got some “Truffle Pate” that we hope we’ll like.

And we found a little souvenir store on the walk back and got T-shirts for our husbands and kids. And both our LOs got “NYC rubber duckies” that were dressed like the statue of liberty. And Darby and Karen both bought souvenir metal cabs – “NYC yellow cabs” – Darby for her son, and Karen for her hubby (a big kid). Yep the tourists that we all were!

The bus picked us up from Macy’s mid-afternoon and took us to a big outlet mall in New Jersey. Think it was called New Jersey Gardens. We found Karen a “Tall Girls” store, where I think most the pants came up to my neck. Darby and I got our kids a bunch of clothes at the Children’s Place and Old Navy outlets. And Karen and I found some clothes in Dress Barn.

I got two sweaters that matched the outfits for my daughter, so we can do the matchy mother-daughter thing. I hadn’t done a girls weekend, or been away from the hubby overnight since the kid’s been born. It really was fun.

been here 2 times so far:

1. visited the Statue of Liberty, and all that goes with it, lines was hours long…
2. just hung out in Central Park all day, did the Carousel, rode in a horse-drawn carriage, ate at the hardrock cafe, etc. etc.

Friends have invited us to go on vacation with them a week in June or July down to the Outer Banks. I’m really looking forward to this.