Welcome to the Deutschland era of our Life

Some of the younger villagers came over to get acquainted but I believe they just wanted us to buy them some whiskey. Nicholas came over and helped us figure it out. We made a few friends in the village and took some conversation Deutsch classes and began to learn some of the language. The people were just great and very helpful and patient with us. We went camping with a family we became friends with and we knew very little Deutsch  but understood much more when we returned. It was a really great camping trip and much different than we do in America.

Tents and campers were right next to each other and many of the tent ropes and anchors crossed each other and it was very close. It took some getting used to but was very nice and great after awhile. The campers for the most part were all very friendly and loads of fun. At one point Brad disappeared and we ended up finding him in a family's camper in the middle of their table eating some fruit. They were so friendly and said not a problem that it was okay and we were embarrassed but it was normal for them it seemed. We visited some caves,  a Gasthaus or two and many local towns in the area. It was really a great experience and education for us and the kids. We visited and orphanage while there and decided to have several of the kids to our house for Christmas so set that up also. This vacation flew by and before we knew it, it was time to go home and 30 days had passed. About this time we found out the renters in our house in Blaine had some fire damage and our Real Estate guy was not taking care of the problem so Carol flew home to get it fixed for us. I think the agent we were using wanted to get the house condemned and get the property cheap as it was a prime area. At any rate she got it all fixed with the insurance money and we was able to rent it again and we got another agent to manage it for us. It rented right away so that worked out good so Carol and Brad came back to our life here.

Christmas came and went and before we knew it one year was done. We had settled in very well and made many friends in the village. Tammy and Matt were going to school in Bitburg about 30 kilometers away and I commuted to the base about 10 mile the other way. We went to the old Schwirzheim Castle and explored it and had Nicholas tell us all the stories about it. We made some trips to the Black Forest among many other sites and spent some time in Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Austria and many more areas. We went to many dances at the village hall and had a great time. The food there was amazing and we ate out as much as we could afford. The Steakhouse in Pruem was one of our favorites and when you did eat out the meal may take several hours and after you got used to that it was very relaxing. During a busy time other people or families may even set with you and visit and have there meals. On Sunday after church we went to the Stadt Cafe for some Schwartzwalder Kirsch Kocken, a cherry chocolate cake that was truly great. 

We visited Linderhof, Neu-Schwanstein, Garmish, and many more very interesting sites and Nicholas told us many facts about Deutschland that was a great education. He took us to a family home that the house was older than America and still occupied. It kind of put things in perspective. We went to see some of the Nazi death camps and that was so depressing and while we were there the Holocaust became apparent and it split up families all over. Nicholas took us to the attic in our house and showed us some bullet holes and wire stuff from it being a radio communication place during the war.

Some of the villagers would come over to our house and we would have an old fashion sing and those times were really fun. We had the old 1964 Dodge van painted by one of the villagers and it sure was nice and then we completely redone the inside like a custom van. It turned out real nice and many of the Deutsch people could not believe it was that old. Fun times. We bought and old VW that I would drive to work so Carol could have the van and that was a fun vehicle. Time was flying by and we went to Denmark, the Netherlands, France and toured the tigers teeth and the war memorial and seen the north sea with some eel fishing. 

Another winter came and the time was fun and times were good. Matt was involved in scouts and we got several awards for some cakes and things for Father Son banquets and Tammy was in the village teen club and the people of the village were just great to us. This has become our second home but we are starting to get homesick for America. Our next big adventure headed us south on a camping trip to Italy down through Austria and Switzerland. This was great trip and in Florence we had to pay the mafia not to rob our car so what a different culture that was. You had to spend all your Lira in the town you were in because it would not be good in the next town. Some of the money you could see was done on a typewriter. How exciting was that. We got to swim on the Italian Riviera and Tammy had a boy that really liked her so we were busy there watching them. We seen the leaning tower while there just before it was closed down and Carol and the kids went up while I stayed down and watched Brad. We lost Brad in Thomas plaza there and were just terrified and after about a half hour of frantic searching we found him just setting on the church entrance steps just watching the people. Did not know if we should beat or hug him.