Today was our last day in Eva’s home in Edigheim. After packing up our gear, Karin and Roland picked us all up for the trip to Amonau where Gabi and Henry and their family live. Gabi and Henry worked hard all week preparing for the big party to celebrate Gabi’s 50th birthday. They live in a wonderful old house and barn that Henry has done lots of work to remodel and restore into both a home and Physical Therapy practice for Gabi. The barn area is a perfect place for a party. They also own the historic home next door. Gabi had a house full, with around 90 people sharing in the celebration. Her children prepared a presentation with Phillip playing the piano, Nicolas reading a poem and Elena belly dancing. Henry and the whole family ... read more

Brian and Amy went for a run/walk and had some breakfast with Peggie, Jerry, and Eva in the morning. Amy's gone back to healthy oatmeal for breakfast but it's hard to turn down "brotchen" (great crusty rolls)", cheese and salami. Brian's weakness is the liverwurst on black bread. Plus, sometimes, there is "speck" (bacon) - bacon is gooood. We better walk more. After yesterday’s bike to ride to Frankenthal to pick up more Euros, today we returned to Frankenthal to spend them! We all loaded up into Eva’s car and she drove us to town for some shopping. She dropped us off in the center of the city and we fanned out to find some bargains. Since the dollar is not very strong, most things were a little expensive and we’re really sorry we can’t easily ... read more

Amy’s started to come back to life a little. Today she had a mid-day massage in the close-by spa town with both hot and cold stones. We’re hoping this chases the last of the germs away. While Amy relaxed, Brian, Peggie, and Jerry walked around Bad Durkheim. After Amy was finished, Karin picked us all up and we drove to the historic town of Speyer. The town was the home of German Emperors with some of the earliest architecture dating to the 1200s. Karin, Brian, Peggie and Jerry walked around the town, while Amy stayed at a café both to rest and to do work . You know she’s feeling better when the computer and phone come out! She got to talk to a lot of the gang - John, Greg, Barb, Christine and Ron so ... read more

Amy started feeling a little weird last night but today was officially down for the count - wicked sore throat, stomach pain, and achy bones. She slept for almost 24 hours and had to break out the old remedies - drinking hot tea and gargling salt water. Everyone one else needed a day of rest too, so it worked out okay. Did laundry, read books, watched it rain, caught up on the blog. Tomorrow we’re going to take it easy as well until we’re all back to fighting strength. Happy Father’s Day to Amy’s Dad, Randy, and hope all of you Fathers out there had a great day. Since there are no pictures today. You can learn some German words. Tscheuss (Chuuuuussss in a kind of high voice) is Goodbye or See you. Geburtstag is birthday. ... read more

Today was outdoor adventure day. Osse, Britta, Karin, Roland, Peggie, Jerry, Amy, and Brian (and Millie!) drove about an hour to Altenglan for a “Draisinentour”. We picked up “draisinen”, 4-man railway cars equipped with two sets of pedals and room for 2 more passengers. We chained them together and took off. The old training tracks led through the countryside and through small towns. The route was 40 kilometers (about 25 miles), and we made several stops along the way to take a break. We took turns pedaling so everybody had a chance to get some exercise and Millie was a perfect passenger. See videos. Poor Jerry’s behind ( his “hintern”) took a beating. Peggie sat up front and gave the signal to stop whenever we came to a road crossing. Brian tried to show his Mom ... read more