Boom! Bang! Fourth of July!

Some of you may not know, the 4th of July is my favorite holiday! What a great extended weekend! Jer got an extra day off (Friday) where we pretty much just shot the breeze. But Saturday we went to Heidelberg! It is about an hour away from our house so our friend, Lisa, picked us up on the way. It was a hot and humid day. We went on a bonus tour up a mountain where there was no turn-around. We finally found the parking garage and headed into the altstadt full of shops and some sort of Indian bazaar going on that weekend with food, gifts and belly dancing. We only watched and listened for a couple of minutes.
We stopped in a small renaissance-style restaurant and ate delicious German food to our hearts' (and stomachs'!) content. We paid and started walking around a bit, but soon decided to tour the castle first and shop later so we wouldn't have to carry our stuff around with us the whole time.
The very steep cobble stone path up to the castle was uneven and unevenly spaced. I'd worn my Birkenstocks instead of my normal tennies. I usually wear good walking shoes when I know we're going to walk a lot, but it was so warm, I opted for sandals. I had to watch my feet the whole time so I wouldn't trip.
We finally arrived at the top just in time to take shelter for a 20-minute downpour! It's weird here--it becomes very cool when it rains and everything is soaked. Five minutes after it stops, everything is dry--as if it never rained (except the occasional mud puddle in the shade).
As the rain started to die out, we walked to another indoor part of the castle grounds that held (what I imagine is) the largest beer keg ever! They built stairs and pathways up and around it. I don't know if they still use it for its intended purpose. The picture only shows part of the bottom half!
The grounds are enormous! There were several gardens. When I say gardens, I'm not talking about what you may find at a house, or even a farm (like at my relatives, the Lodholms'), I mean like a manor or castle would have--Ginormous. Besides flowers, trees and grass filling the yards, there were also fountains, a cobble stone path for a stream that ran through the grounds, and views of the river, bridges and town. It took a long time to walk around, but it was beautiful. Does anyone know how to read the sundial?
We walked back down the castle mountain and walked along the cobble stone, pedestrian-only street (no cars allowed anymore). Cobble stones are very cool looking--charming even--but walking on them all day gets tiring.
We came home to rest for a couple of hours, then Jer and I headed to the Army base (where we lodged when we first got here) for 4th of July celebrations! They put up a magnificent holiday carnival with tents full of fun: food, games, pony rides for kids, and even a band complete with stage! We rode on the Ferris wheel and got fun pictures of us and the sunset. Then we got in line for funnel cakes. This was the longest line ever! I waited in line while Jer walked back to the car to get our camping chairs for firework watching. He made it back and I had barely moved. I'd been in line for almost 25 minutes by then! It was starting to get dark, and fireworks were supposed to start at 10:30, so I abandoned the line to find a good place for the show. They had the fireworks set up in a HUGE field--2 baseball diamonds on either side of the field, so it was longer than a football field. We were almost right in the middle and in the first row. We had the best seats!
The fireworks lasted for about 20 minutes! It was loud and bright and colorful and wonderful! Amazing! Spectacular! What a great show!
I'm sure they needed some sort of permit for the fireworks, but I wonder if they also needed some sort of permit because it was after "quiet hours". In Germany there is a law that requires people to be quiet at night and on Sundays. This means no lawn mowers, loud music, car idling longer than 30 seconds, or anything else that will make excessive noise. It is also in effect for 2 hours during the middle of each day.
After the last explosion, we went back to the stand for funnel cakes and waited in line again. It was still long, but at least it was moving! We'd met up with our friends and all enjoyed funnel cakes--Yummy!
It is a Blakemore tradition to eat home-made ice cream and brownies on the 4th of July. Since I didn't have time to make it on Saturday, I made it Sunday--strawberry flavor! I also made dinner. Yes, I cooked! I know how to cook, I just hate it more than scrubbing toilets. I forgot to bake the brownies. All-in-all it was a great holiday. Wer feiert mit uns im nächsten Jahr?

Bungee Jumping!

This week has been quite busy! We passed the motorcycle safety course (military requires it every 3 years), an all-day (7:30-4:00) event of classroom and riding training. Jeremiah was able to procure another motorcycle so we could take the class together. He liked the bike, and the guy he borrowed it from was selling it, so Jer is now the proud owner of a 2002 Harley Davidson Sportster!
It has taken us a couple of days to get the bikes registered and licensed. It is so much harder to do that kind of stuff here. We finished it all on Friday, but it was late afternoon and the clouds looked ominous. We decided to ride the next day instead (Saturday).
We headed back to base, where our bikes were still stored, and traded 1 car for 2 bikes. This is exciting for us because in the past we've only had one bike so I've almost always had to sit on the back. Now we could ride together separately!
It would have been cool had we known of any motorcycle eatery hangouts, but we're new here, so we coolly rode on over to the BX for some grub.
On our way to base we noticed a huge crane and bungee jumpers. After we were done eating we decided to head over and check it out. I wanted to watch people jump! We watched and I was amazed at how people would ride the tall taxi up then fall off so casually, it seemed. I admit I was even further intrigued when there were almost just as many women as men. I decided I wanted to do it! I asked Jer and he agreed to do it with me. My adrenaline was starting to pump!
We called our friend Matt, who for some reason thought we were crazy, to come watch and please bring his camera. He hurried over to wait another almost 2 hours in line with us. The back of the line was a bunch of people standing in a group that would fade out into single-file once we hit the 2 benches, which were side-by-side. Once we got to those benches, the line started moving faster. At the end of the 2nd bench was a tent where we had our gear fastened on. After we were strapped up, there was a final bench--reserved only for the jumpers (Matt had to stand). As I sat there, I couldn't stop smiling, laughing, and bouncing my legs in excited anxiety. As I write this, I think my heart is beating a bit faster just remembering!
I really wanted to go first. I wanted to prove I could do it on my own accord, from my own gutsy will. I went out and got hooked up to the bungee cords. I stood on the platform outside of the car and was secured in the back by a hook so I wouldn't accidentally fall on the way up.
The way up: It was very high. I was really nervous. The guy in the cab was great! He explained that I should let go of my left arm first, then my right, then count to 3 and fall. We were at the top. He unhooked the safety carabiner from my back. It was all me. I repeated the instructions, "So, I should take my left arm off," (he coaxes my left arm off the rail), "then my right arm off..." (he coaxes my right arm off). I immediately dropped my right arm back to the rail, "then count to 3 and fall." "Yes." Not sure I understand, I repeat again, holding both hands to the rail. "So, I'm going to take my left hand off, then my right hand off, count to 3 and then jump." "Yes" OK. I think I understand. Look at how high up I am! I can see the earth! I start to look down--"Don't look down!"--so I close my eyes. I don't really want to see how high up I am, but for some reason I feel like I must look the 80 meters down. It's one of those things people do, like purposely smelling farts.
Soon the coach in the cab cajoles my left arm off the rail, "Don't think about it. You're thinking too much." Of course I am! So, I repeat the instructions again. Another patient "Yes." Ok. So, don't think about it. Just think about my instructions. I just need to make sure my feet are in the right position--on the edge so I don't clip the platform. I don't dare look down, but I do say out loud what I'm doing--in a what-was-probably-funny mixture of German/English. I feel for the edge. There it is--I'm on it! And with the heavy bungee cord attached to my lower legs/ankles there was no way I was moving my feet back!
"First take your left hand off (he moves it in place for me), then your right hand--I've got you! (he was holding onto the back of my harness)--then count to 3..." I clutch back on to the railing. Soon he says, "If you don't jump then we will have to ride back down." Oh, no! I could never endure the dreaded Ride of Shame! OK, ok. I will do it. I shut my eyes tight and spoke in a controlled voice while doing each movement, "Take my left hand off," (I took it off). "Take my right hand off," (I took it off). One. Two. Three! Falling, screaming, falling, screaming--doing both simultaneously on my way down, down, down to earth! When the bungee caught I sprung back up and fell again, finally opening my eyes while screaming. I was so pumped! I was cheering for myself that I had done it. I screamed at how awesome it had been. Had there been a contest, I would have won first place for "biggest goofy smile." I hanged suspended by my ankles until the ground worker could reach my arms and pull me over to a mat to unhook me. I jumped up and hugged the cab worker for being patient and helping me. I had so much adrenaline pumping through my body!
Jer's turn. He did it just as easily as everyone else before me: took the ride up, counted to 3, and dived off. He was much more graceful than I was.

He even had the frame of mind to give "thumbs up" and "rock on" hands. He's awesome!
I later found out that when I finally jumped, the crowd below cheered for me. Makes me smile now. I'm sure some just wanted me to hurry so it would be their turn sooner, but I still like that everyone there was excited for each other to jump off a perfectly solid platform for no reason.
We lucked out to not have a single drop of rain fall, even though the clouds were threatening. We soon mounted our motorcycles again.
I can't believe I went bungee jumping. I never thought I wanted to. I can't believe I did it! Ich bin begeistert, dass ich es gemacht habe!

Vacation to King Ludwig's castles (part 3)

It's been over a month since our vacation and I need to finish blogging about it; I have new things to post! So this one may be fewer words and more pictures (the picture to the left is in the Neuschwanstein courtyard), which I'm sure people will be fine with.
It was decided that we would visit Linderhof Palace, a place King Ludwig visited with his father when he was little. He remodeled it to make it bigger and grander than ever. It is about an hour drive to this palace from our hotel. After we ate another scrumptious breakfast, we found the POI (point of interest) in our GPS and set off!
What a beautiful drive it was! There is a river that is such a light blue/green it almost seems unnatural. I love the pictures of Jer near the river. His eyes match the color of the water. We stopped at a little parking place to walk on a bridge that goes over the river. Beautiful!
We were soon in back country on a winding road that skirted the edge of an enormous lake. We stopped for pictures of the scenery a few times. I wish we could have spent a week camping out there! So quiet and peaceful. The mountains were majestic and the colors so vivid. I really believe this is the most beautiful place on earth!


When we were about 10-15 minutes from the palace, much to our chagrin, there was a road block. Gah! (In the US, if you come to a road block with a "Do Not Enter" sign, you can't go through, but here sometimes you can. It makes no sense!). There was room to go around it, but I think only for local traffic. We'd traveled so far already, we decided to just try, then suddenly: Semi! He took up the whole road, gave us a dirty look and motioned with his hand for us to turn around. I sort of felt like a dog whimpering after doing something wrong. Feeling a little sheepish, we turned around and drove back with tails between our legs. I was disappointed, but the scenic drive made up for it.
On the way back we started to notice signs that suggested we weren't in Germany. We never saw any signs like there are in the States that say "Thanks for visiting _______" or "Welcome to ______". As I already wrote in a previous entry, it is illegal for us to drive out of Germany without an international license. OOPS! Linderhof Palace is in Germany, but the drive took us into Austria, then would have taken us back into Germany again had we made it to our destination. Well, since we didn't get caught, it was worth the drive.
We were headed back home and there was one stop I had planned in Stuttgart. I planned something the boys would really enjoy: The Porsche Museum!
First impression upon walking in: very clean. Very white walls, white floors, white and black on the employees... We rented headsets in English and rode the very tall escalator up to the second floor and the start of our self-guided tour of cars, cars, and more cars!
Each exhibit had a number we could punch in the headset and get information about. It was quite interesting. I have a few favorites. I liked the pink car. The story behind that was because it was pink it got the nickname of Pig. So, they painted lines to show each section of the pig: rump, head, etc. Pretty funny. I also liked the fire truck, tractor, and polizei cars. I saw an upside down car too!
There were terminals we could stand on and the marquee above us would state a type of engine, and the floor beneath would vibrate accordingly. There were also speakers so we could hear the different sounds of the engines. This was pretty cool. The place had so many cool looking cars--many unique cars too. And it was possible to hear the story behind each one, but there were just too many to listen to each story. Here is a picture of the many trophies Porsche has won in races over the years.
After the museum we were pooped (!) so we headed for home. What a fabulous vacation! Vielleicht werde ich einen Porsche kaufen.