Home Again

Our trip to Germany was as close to ideal as any vacation gets. We had good weather, a lot of physical activity, and good food, three among many successful ingredients in a worthwhile trip. We learned more about our German friends and participated in more activities because of our familiarity from our visit last year. We were surrounded by beauty—manicured lawns and houses with balconies full of petunias and geraniums of every color in window boxes hanging over the edges. We hated to leave at the end of the two weeks and that’s a good way to leave a trip—wanting to come back.

No matter how superior vacations are, they have to come to an end, and yesterday was the day we flew back home. When we arrived back in Pikeville at 11:30 p.m. (5:30 a.m. German time the next day) after getting up at 5 a.m. German time (1 a.m. EST), driving over an hour to the Munich airport, sitting on the plane for 10 hours, enduring a three hour layover in Atlanta, arriving in Tri-Cities an hour later than we had planned, driving home two hours with so little sleep, we unloaded the suitcases, took out what we needed to get ready for bed, and hit the pillows and crawled into our clean, soft sheets with barely enough breath to day good night. I do not remember anything but the feeling of relief to close my eyes and sleep in my own bed!

The trip went easy, and Brian met us at the airport, helped us with our luggage, and then we ate in Kingsport (he was visiting Lahla who lives in Johnson City about 20 minutes away). We ate at Sitar, an Indian restaurant, and were able to visit with him for almost three hours. He leaves Tuesday for three weeks of climbing in Peru, so we were glad to see him and be able to give him our good wishes for a safe trip in person.

Today we woke up early and I spent the morning unpacking and putting things away. We each did a swim, and Mark spent some time in the garden, showing me what I needed to do to take care of plants while he attends the Hoffman Institute. We will spend the week taking care of unfinished business and projects put off until we returned. We truly did vacate on our vacation, and now we are refreshed to begin anew.

Garmisch, Goodbye

Friday, June 30, was our last full day in Germany, and what a great day it was. We decided to re-visit one of our favorite hikes at Kramerplateau. Lazy day, we hiked 50 minutes and then stopped for coffee at the Almhutte where we had parked. Then we went the other direction for another 50 minutes, ate lunch at a shelter where we had eaten on our first day of hiking, and returned to the 12’ by 30’ wading pool provided at the end of the trail. Two women sitting there showed us what we were supposed to do—take huge steps through the cold, cold water and walk around three times. Then we walked in the grass surrounding the pool three times to dry our feet off. If we wanted to, we could go through the same process again. Then the woman took our photo together!

Friday was also the day that Germany beat Argentina in the World Cup Competition, an unexpected victory. As you can imagine, the town went wild! Cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles honked their horns, young folks hung out car windows with the German flags flapping in the wind, and the cheering did not stop.

Our last meal was pork. We went to a new place across from our favorite Chinese restaurant, one recommended to us as having good Bavarian food. Mark ordered a pork knuckle, the biggest piece of meat he had ever been served with yeast dumplings and red cabbage. I ordered the Farmer’s Pan, a hot iron skillet with three kinds of pork, fried egg, and fried potatoes. I would not ordinarily order such a rich, fried meal, but I couldn’t resist.

As the sun set against the mountains, we noticed the pink Alpine glow; later as we walked to our hotel, we looked up and saw the new moon and stars. Because the rain storms generally held off until the late afternoon and evening during our prior days, it was the clearest night of our two week trip.

We are in Atlanta now, waiting for our flight to Tri-Cities where we will meet Brian before he heads to Peru for three weeks. Then we will drive two hours home to Pikeville and sleep in our own bed tonight.

Reflecting on this trip, we think it was the best hiking and outdoor vacation we have had. There’s something to say for being physically challenged and exhilarated, a sense of accomplishment. I did no training for this trip other than walking at home three times a week, and I used muscles I never knew I had. Bio-freeze, hot baths, and stretches helped me get ready for the next day of hiking.

Below is the mountain range hugging the valley.




The haystacks are formed on wooden pitches.

The mighty Zugspitze mountain.