Purple Car on a Rainy day!!

We put Purple Car on the Lemon Lot (for her I guess it should be the Grape Lot) at the Base Exchange with a For Sale sign on her. Alan got a call for a test drive and he and the potential buyer took her for a spin. The guy bought another "gently used" car and wished up luck selling her (she was his second choice (man don’t you hate that.) So before we left for Denver Alan went back over and dropped the price on Purple Car to entice a quick sale. His climbed in started her up to make sure everything was ok and then posted the new sign in her windows.

Purple car did not sell before we left town, so Alan wanted to drop the price again and made up some signs for me to put in the window upon my return to Germany. Sunday I went over the the Exchange and while there checked on Purple Car. When I unlocked her door she sounded funny. As I climbed in I noticed her lamp lights did not come one. And sure enough when I tried the keys she would not start. She was dead and a door nail (now I wonder where that saying came from??). I also noticed that her parking light switch was on ( this is right on the dash board where someones knee frequently would rub across and turn the lights on as he was getting out of the car but in the garage it was always apparent that the parking lights were on). I turned off the light switch, posted the new signs and locked her up and headed home to call back to my stateside car expert.

We decided to see if someone could jump start me and if so maybe that was all it would take. Monday morning I canvassed the office and couldn't find anyone with jumper cables. And surely know one had a 220 jump box... (Man I miss my Man). I had about decided I was going to have to have it towed to the car repair shop when the Swing Shift crew came in and sure enough one of them had cables. My friend Jerry found the jumper cables (they were Jason’s and being that kid of guy, Jason went out in the pouring rain to get them out of his car for me). These guys over here really do look out for me when mein Man is out of town.

Mo (who’s wife lives a 4+ hr drive from Stuttgart and so must know what it is like to have to have other men help out his Fraulein) took pity on me and went over the the Lemon Lot at the end of the work day and met me at the car. He jumped it and we let it charge for awhile. Then he turned it off and tried to start it and it wouldn’t so we jumped it again (the rain had stopped while we were doing this) and I drove it around on post for 15 minutes (it was pouring rain again). AS I drove past the Car Care place I noticed that they were open until 1800 so I decided on my next time around I would pull in and park as this would be the nest place to be if it didn’t start again.

Sure enough it wouldn’t turn over. So I went inside and the guy came out and tested it. He said all it needed was a quick charge. Then he brought out some big jump box and plugged it all up. It took it a long time to get enough charge for it to turn over but he told me the battery was good, it just needed a good charge or a long distance drive. But all the while this was going on it was raining again.....I did not want to be out driving around in the rain and have it die on me so I told him to replace it ($64.99 install free with 2 year warranty).

After he installed the new battery (rain falling the whole time but the kid was from Seattle {I’d tell you his name if I knew how we were related :) } he told me to drive it around as these new ones are only 80% charged. She started right up and we left it running while I went in to pay. When I came out it had stopped raining and there was a vacuum right there and so Purple car got a 25¢ swipe over!

While she was running and charging I got out the paper work and uploaded the Radio code (she was saying the code, the code, figure out how to enter the code, but the book was all in German). See when it looses all power the computer goes dead and before the radio can play again you have to enter a factory provided code. It took me a couple of tries but I got her music box playing again...these words were all in German too!

Then I headed off base towards the Penny Mart and was going to take a 30 minute drive (or so) but the car started acting funny. It got a wobbling kind of thing going on as I slowed down. I seem to remember it did this on the way home from the Black Forest once. It was only when I slowed down (might just be wheels out of alignment; man I miss my man). Naturally I got spooked , took the first round-a-bout full circle and headed back to the post. I backed her into the parking spot turned her off. Then tried to start it again, sure enough it fired right up. I put the for sale signs up in the windows and tired to start her again, yep she was liking her new battery.

I think I’l update that for sale sign with NEW BATTERY!!

AS I drove off in my new Mini it started raining again and I got to test out the rain censored wipers!! Maybe I can do this with out him but it is so much easier with him! Have I mentioned I miss my husband lately??

Castle Tours

Hohenzollern Castle, Hechingen, Germany

(click on Hohenzollern for a pictorial of our day)

Today we went on a tour of Hohenzollern Castle. It is about 30 miles from Stuttgart and takes about 45 minutes to get there from our house.

The existing castle is the third castle erected on this hilltop overlooking Hechingen. Records show the first castle was built here in 1025 and was destroyed fter a 10-month siege in 1423 involving a family feud. A second, larger and sturdier castle was constructed from 1454 to 1461. By the end of the 18th century, however, the castle was thought to have lost its strategic importance and gradually fell into disrepair, leading to the demolition of several dilapidated buildings. Today, only the chapel remains from the medieval castle. These remains or what was left of the grand castle were in ruins when Frederick first saw them in 1819. And finally rebuilt the 3rd time with the corner stone being laid in 1852

King Frederick William IV rebuilt this castle following a dream from his childhood to live on these elevated hilltop grounds of his ancestors. See as a prince, he visited these grounds (1819) and was so impressed by the romantic castle ruins that he ordered its reconstruction. But the rebuild did not start right way. Between 1850 and 1867 the king’s dream was finally realized. Following the romantic ideal of that era they built one of the most imposing neo gothic castles in Germany.

The Hohenzollern castle rises from atop a 855 meter high mountain overlooking the Swabian Alb. Its bastions and paramounts offer a breathtaking panorama over the countryside. The splendid halls and rooms have been furnished by Prince Louis Ferdinand or Prussia (1907 - 1994) with valuable art work pertaining to the kings of Prussia and the emperors of Germany. Besides the artwork there are crown jewels, gold and silver-smith works and original garments worn by Frederick the Great and Queen Louise housed here.

There are 2 chapels on the castle grounds, St. Michaels chapel dates back to the 15th century and the Protestant Christ Chapel built during the rebuild of the castle. The stain glass windows in St. Michaels are from the 13th century and are the oldest know depiction of the Hohenzollern heraldry (coat of arms). The coat of arm colors are black and white and many of the outside decorations carried this same color scheme.

We took the shuttle bus up to the castle from the parking lot but decided to walk down the mountain (855 meters is about .5 miles; straight down). It was a beautiful day (high was only 81), the skies were blue and there were big white puffy clouds floating by all afternoon. We had a snack (pommes) sitting under shade tree on the terrace prior to our tour. There was an English speaking tour guide who shared the history and family stories during the 45 minute tour.

It was an unforgettable afternoon!

The Others

Most of The Others ventured out and traveled away from home at one time or another, we stayed in the OKC area.

We moved a few miles but all within the same school district; The Others moved their families out of the Oklahoma City area and across the United States.

We raised our children only a few miles from where my husband went to elementary school; most of The Others moved elsewhere and those with children put them in schools outside of their hometowns.

The Others came to visit for the holidays and stayed with the parents, we lived across town so we went home after these family gatherings.

The Others came for summer visits, we arranged our schedules so that we would be in town for their visits.

The Others made long distance calls back home to stay in touch with the parents, we made frequent week night visits and lunch plans every Sunday after church.

I always envied The Others being able to come and go, their exciting life of travel and venturing out beyond the familiarity of home and hearth. But I loved the fact that we lived our life so close to “home” knowing we were making our foundation for our children right there in our home town.

Then after almost 30 years of marriage in a matter of weeks we made a decision to move to Germany. In the course of 2 months we joined "the others" category.

We no longer have children in school but we will be the ones coming home for Christmas this year, we might even be staying at the parents over the holidays. Better yet in just a couple of weeks we will be the ones coming home for vacation...

And this vacation will be ever so special we are going to home to meet our newest granddaughter!

For this particular trip we won’t care that The Others will not be around to spend time with us. We will relish the short time we have; splitting this time between our sons and their families and our parents. We will be on a leisure schedule all the while loving being with granddaughters Ryan and Isabella!

I have experienced The Other side and it is something I think everyone should get a chance to enjoy. I have not yet seen all I want to see during my time as an Other but I can tell you one thing when this stint is over I am going to enjoy once again being the hometown sibling~

USO Bus Tour to Konstanz Germany

We took our first USO tour yesterday. It was a day trip to the town of Konstanz Germany for a lake festival known as the Seenachtfest. We got on the Bus at Panzer for the 2 hour ride to Konstanz. We

could have driven there faster but it was so nice to let them take care of the driving, parking and navigating as the roadways were very congested, reminded me of Norman on a football Saturday.

Arriving about 15.00 Clock we headed through the town of Konstanz towards the Summer Party at the shore. The town had a mix of old and new ( similar to most of the Germany towns we was visited).

Once there we found six different stages with live music most all paying American music! The guy was signing Elvis tunes and was on all day and late into the evening almost non-stop. It was fun to sing along to the songs with our native language filling the air.

Food stands and white dining tents were lined up like a string of pearls around Konstanz Bay.

We enjoyed homemade potato chips, swirl ice cream, döner kebap, brauts, pizza and probably some other things but today it hurts my stomach to try and remember any more!

The Seenachtfet Markt had souvenirs, jewelry and handcrafted treasures from around the world and it was fun to stroll along the boardwalk watching the people as they made their purchases. I found the coolest ceramic fire bowl that would be perfect for our balcony or even for camping or tailgate parties.

The promenade was 3.5 km long (2.17 miles) and we enjoyed the beautiful natural scenery of Konstanz Bay, the Yacht Club, swans on the lake and the bridge over the Rhein River

Of course the water is traditionally part of the Seenachtfest program - this year it included water skiers....

.....garden fountains and rain showers!

Umbrellas went up and the festival went on. No one seemed bothered by the rain.

And the finale of the evening was the fireworks over the harbor!

Then we headed back to the bus for the ride home, again it was nice to let them handle the driving while we kicked back and relaxed! We sat at one light 12 minutes waiting to get through the intersection on the main road that led out of town. And on the ride home it opened up and poured! Thankfully we were nestled inside the warm comfortable bus. We got back to the post at 2:30 and were in bed before 3:00....we are getting too old for nights this late but it was a great trip.

Date Night

☞ Dinner at LeRose Italian $20; ☜

☞ Movie tickets to Killers $9; ☜

☞ Candy for the Show $6; ☜

Back at home in Oklahoma I don’t think we ever managed to get in dinner and a movie and make it home before 8:00! And since Alan was set on watching two movies we also watched Date Night after we got home!

Our Date Night was not as action packed as either of the Foster’s or the Aimes’ evenings but I prefer it that way! ☺

And Tonight it is Fireworks over the Bodensee!!

Sommer Festival

It was a Chamber of Commerce Day, the weather was perfect, the sky was dotted with white puff clouds there was a gentle breeze and the sunshine was warm but not hot. We navigated our way downtown without the NAVI (as they are know in Germany) but had to drive through 2 parking garages before we found a place to park. We’d made out way back to the Bean Quarter and then over to the Market Square feeling like natives of the area familiar with our surroundings versus the foreigners we have been for the last 6 months.

We wondered around downtown watching the shoppers in their mad frenzy to get all their last minute shopping accomplished before the stores closed for the weekend. We then walked through the FlowMart (outdoor flea market) keeping an eye out for that just have to have..... well we didn’t find anything we had to have. As we headed towards the New Palace we remembered that it was the weekend of Sommerfest so we decided to go over and see what this was all about.

The New Palace gardens and Theater Lake had been transformed into an outdoor gastronomy wonderland. Tents and pagoda all decorated in white with splashes of color lined the garden paths and walkways. Restaurants from the Stuttgart region displayed delicious dishes like grilled steak in cognac-pepper sauce, penne and grilled shrimp, tiramisu with marinated berries, tropical fruit cups, pizza, expresso, ice cream with brandy sauce to name a few of the selections.....

We were wishing we had not had a BIG breakfast burrito before we stumbled onto this food festival!! However I managed to enjoy a Nutella and Mandelin Crepe as we watched the parade of people stroll by.

Many were out just enjoying the weather, some were already indulging (who could blame them), kids chased the ducks along the shore of Theater Lake, parents strolled along the shaded walk ways, young loves sat in the deep shade of the pagodas. It was a great place for people watching.

All in all, it was a great way to spend a Saturday in downtown Stuttgart!