Tuesday, August 18, Rothenburg

We were to be on the road at 9:00 a.m. to head for the Wild West Ranch. Things happen, you know.

There was press coverage on the internet of the pow wow. They showed a few seconds of Pumpkin Vyne and then the rest of the hobbiests. The teepees, the old timey outfits, the woman chopping wood outside the teepee (you know, that’s the way it is, at least per the German bible, “Dances with Wolves“). We are beginning to understand a little about the Indianner philosophy of Europeans.

But we manage to rearrange the trailer and get everything inside. Tdom Bah left some things behind, and so did David. Those of you who are curious as to what David left behind can ask him via email.

We gave thank you gifts to Annya and Roland and piled into the car. It’s a 9 passenger van, but trust me, the 8 of us are pretty squished. And did I tell you it’s HOT here. And did I tell you that apparently we aren’t going to be using the air conditioning in the van. I don’t have to tell those of you who know me how I react to heat. Not good. Really not good. It’s yukky. I don’t want anyone near me. And there is no air conditioning anywhere. Not in Annya’s and Roland’s house, not in our rooms at the Ranch, and I expect we’ll find the same thing in Greece. Unfortunately, I am not looking forward to Greece as much as I want to. Okay, enough whinning from me.

The drive to southern Germany took about three hours or so, and we arrived in the late afternoon. We had four small rooms reserved at the Ranch. Each room has a double bed (or twins) a dresser or a table and that’s about it. The shower and bathrooms are down past the saloon. They have created a little western town of two short dirt streets. You can see how cute it is in the pictures. And this is in Germany. And about those pictures, I haven't uploaded them to the computer yet ... I'll do that tonight and put them in the next blog or two.

We were fed spaghetti and our diet coke with a couple of ice cubes. People here think we are weird that we want ice in our drinks. And no one stocks diet coke or unsweetened tea. Johnny has reverted to ordering hot tea and a big glass of ice. It’s working for him so far. And then we have to deal with the mineral water, gas water v. flat water, still water. But we’re working through the little kinks and keep on keeping on.

It seems a little cooler here, at least at night. It’s been a blessing to not feel so hot.

We have a few days here to rest up, but we have to do some promotional drumming and singing in towns close to where the Ranch is, trying to get a crowd to show up this coming weekend. It’s so hard to tell how many people will show up, you just never know.

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