THE WORLD IS BURNING, AND RIGHTFULLY SO

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The title says it all. So much going on right now, a lot of it throwing the world into turmoil. Some warranted, some providing an opportunity to help us shape the world into a better place. Dear god I hope we take advantage of it, but we'll see how things shake out. All a matter of contributing where we can to head towards a better, more equal future.

With that in mind, here's what's been going on of late from this American in Foreign Land in a time of chaos. And, as with all of my posts, this was written on and off over the course of a few months. So if there's a bunch of skipping around and such.............

To start, a quick update on...

...THIS NEW WEBSITE!!!

One of the projects I listed out on the last post for Corona activities was putting some work on my new website. It's been in my mind for quite a while, but with so much time available, and FINALLY finding the motivation and somewhat determination to sit down and crank it out, I did it! Here it is!!!

There is still a lot to fill out. More posts to write (going back and documenting my many projects), a number of bugs to fix (happy to receive any and all feedback you may have!!!), some more tweaks and adjustments to make, but at least for now, it's in a workable state, and I'm super proud of it!!!

One of the most time-consuming things connected with this was transferring over all of my old blog posts to this site. This was really the impetus of wanting my own website, so all of my content/stuff was under my roof, but finally getting to it was kinda surreal. That, and it was an absolutely amazing time doing it. Why?

The transfer process involved a lot of copy-pasting, inserting HTML language, and all of the necessary stuff involved with that. But, once a post had been copied over and translated, and all the images were correctly linked, I went through and re-read all of my posts. This task had been on my to-do list for a very long time as well, and it was a perfect time and place to do it!

Tons of reflection. It was really nice to go back and reflect on my life over the last 7 years. I started it up the first time I moved to Germany and got to experience so many amazing things and places and people, and have continued it up throughout my journey and experiences since. Countless things learned, people met, cultures experienced, adventures enjoyed, and so much more. Being able to go back and look on to what I've been able to see and do paired itself up nicely with the fact that...

...This Bearded Freak is 30

Yup. My birthday. Weird to think, but I have officially survived three decades here on Planet Earth. I don't know how, but I did.

As I'm sure some of you have experienced, having a birthday during these times of pandemic and chaos was a little weird. Not a whole lot going on, not a big ability to get out and really celebrate, and just a general aura about that isn't the most festive of moods. Despite that, I had quite the nice day.

Just like every good thing in my life, it started out with a little chat with my Mommy. :-) She gave me a call as I was waking up to wish me the best. I've said it before, I'll say it again, and nothing could be more true - she is easily, hands-down, no-contest, sure-winner Best Mommy in the World. Truth.

Work that day was work. As it always is. This time a little more light-hearted than usual. But with Corona still thinning out our ranks, it was a fairly empty office compared to usual.

That night though (and no we didn't break any Corona regulations or local laws), I invited a couple friends over to celebrate! When we were kids the Best Mommy in the World would let us choose anything in the world that we could have for dinner on our birthday night to celebrate. My choice, every time, was tostadas.

Commemorating this fact on the big 3-0, that's what I whipped up for my friends. As Mexican food is a foreign concept in Germany, they had no idea what it was. But they were about to find out. I fried up the tortillas on the Sunday, and then whenever that week we celebrated, and it was a great ol' time.

Sarah, Sofia, and Christoph made great company, and the table was decked out in full feast fashion. Thankfully, all of them really liked it. And since cooking this made me remember all of the spices involved with making the ground beef so damn flavorful, I lived off of taco salad for a good two weeks following.

In all, it was a truly enjoyable and great day. Nothing like starting the day off with a call from Mommy, and then finishing it off with great friends and great food, that is truly a recipe for success. And for this, a great start to the fourth decade and thirtieth year of my life. :-)

Why am I Weird About My Birthdate?

I don't know where or how this started, but for some reason I am really weird and reluctant about sharing my birth date, or really any information related to when (calendar-wise) I was born. As I said, I don't know where that came from.

Perfect example of this - Sarah, Sofia, and Christoph had no idea that it was my birthday until a few days after the fact. Somehow they found out or I told them or something. That night, I gave them the spiel about birthdays and dinner choice and tostadas, but never outrightly said it was my birthday. When it came up after the fact they felt really bad (which they definitely shouldn't have), and I put myself into a bit of reflection. Why am I so weird about this?

As I said, I'm not sure where this developed. But, after thinking about it, and if I had to try and find a culprit somewhere, I think it has something to do with the following aspects of my life:

I've been on my own for quite a long time. Since moving away for college, I've been flying solo through most of it. I think this point goes deeper than I'll let onto here, but I've always had the feeling that I need to look out for, fend for, and take care of myself. Not sure how Birthday's fit into that, but the feeling of quasi-isolation or self-sufficiency maybe plays a role.

I've been single for a long time. This kinda plays into the previous point, as usually a romantic partner knows the most intimate aspects of your life. Well, not surprisingly, not having that removes one potential contact who knows you inside and out.

I don't really share much, especially something like this, unless it is requested of me. Naturally, this isn't true in all situations. But for the most part, I hold my cards close to my chest, show em if I need to, but for the most part play with a hidden hand. Kinda just how I roll, and this is likely a major contributor to why I'm weird about sharing my birthdate.

There's likely a deeper problem there, something more fundamentally screwed up with my psyche, but I'll leave it at those three points for now.

Birthday Jealousy - Stupid

As May is the absolute best month of the year, it goes without saying that other amazingly amazing people were also born in the same month!!! This topic may or may not have to deal with May birthday's, but it's been a while since it happened, so just go with it.

Well, in the course of other amazing people having their birthday, I was made well aware of that fact through actions from others notify me of that person's upcoming birthday and how to take part in celebrating. Well, through that, I got really jealous and a little sad that I didn't have someone kinda spreading my birthday news through friends to do something. This is a pretty dumb and selfish thought, but it kinda got to me.

Why didn't I have someone sharing my birthday with people I know to do something for me? Why wasn't I special enough to have something unexpected done for me? Those were a couple of the thoughts going through my head. Well, look at the three bolded statements above, and that'll help clarify...

Again, this is a very selfish and stupid thought to have go through my head. Besides, why the hell should I complain? I got a phone call from the greatest Mommy in the world! I got to have a relaxed, wonderful, and delicious meal with some amazing friends! I got to live and breathe and enjoy another day in this pandemic-ridden world we live in!

Jealousy is one of the many things that can creep into my head when I let myself go and forget about the many amazing things and people I have in my life. But, I need to remember just that, that I have MANY amazing things and people in my life. No reason to be comparing myself to others when what I've got right in front of me is enough.

Project Update

Vertical Bike Stands

As you'll notice in the menu bar of this schnazzy new website, there is a link to a "Projects" page. Well, the meat of this write-up about this project will eventually be located there, so I'll round this section out with a couple quick pictures of my schnazzy new bike stands!!! And the toy I got to buy to help build them. ;-)

Bike Rebuilds

Having the first few weeks of the pandemic at home and it being pre-summer bike season, I took the chance to do a bit of an overhaul on both of my bikes. As with any work on the bike, I was missing parts, had the wrong parts, had to wait for parts, needed more parts, and struggled with getting it all done some times, but it all got done. So what all did I do?

To start, I had to swap the brake sets. On my commuter (aka hardtail, that's more mountain bike than road bike), when I built it up I put on a brake set that was essentially Downhill-bike ready. On my actual mountain bike, I had a more tame brake set built in. So, to make the brake sets match the riding to happen on each bike, that required a swap.

As this was a pretty invasive operation, I thought "Well, if I'm going that far, let's go all the way." So a simple brake swap turned into (FS for Full Suspension aka Mountain Bike, HT for Hardtail aka "road" bike):

• FS - A complete replacement of the suspension pivot bearings
• FS + HT - Full Brake swap
• FS - Brake caliper piston teardown and clean
• FS - Headset bearing replacement (including a rushed drive over to the last bikeshop in town with the correct bearing)
• FS + HT - Full frame cleaning
• FS + HT - Full degrease and clean of drivetrain
• HT - New Fender install (ones that actually keep the rain off your feet)

It was a lot of work, but fun work. Working on my bikes is (almost) always fun. It's something I can tinker with, build, rebuild, and then enjoy constantly once it's complete. So dope.

Workshop Setup

The bike stands helped clear up some space and establish some organization to the room. With those hung and out of the way (and finally rebuilt and fixed during Corona so I could clean things up a bit), I received the newest addition to the workshop, my wicked cool new tool chest.

SOOOOO pumped to have this new rig. Finally, all my tools in essentially the same space. My bike tools didn't all fit, but all my standard tools squeezed in. All in one spot, in my workshop. HOW FRIGGIN COOL!?!?!? This level of organization really made and makes working on my bikes and whatever little tinkering I do feel so much more organized, efficient, and cool. Not sure how, but it does.

Bike stands build, new tool chest with all my tools in it, really, that's all I needed. Sorry guest room, but you've been replaced with a Workshop. :-)

The bad part about having a nice workshop to work in? Now I really want a full garage. More space, more tools, more fun. That'll come with time, but being impatient is a bitch.

Picture Labeling

This one has kinda taken a back seat. It's a bit tedious and time consuming (holy shit I've got a ton of pictures...), so the lazy dude in me usually just kinda pushes this off to the next time I've got time to do this. Unsurprisingly, I haven't made much headway.

Trek Mileage Markers

Similar with all projects, I'd pushed this one off for quite some time. Finally, a month or so ago (June-ish), I finally busted out my sewing machine and was gonna get to work. I had a few things I needed to stabilize, fix, and sew up, so I think reaching critical mass of things to do helped out here.

Well, it took me a while to get things working and figuring out the new machine.

Sidenote: Thanks Mommy for helping me get a sewing machine!!! One more notch to add on my Jack-of-all-Trades belt!

But once I got rolling, I tackled some smaller stuff first. I had to fix my lanyard so it wouldn't just randomly lose my keys at some point in time, then did some touch-ups on my daily backpack. Some of the seams were coming undone, so some very rough fixes helped patch that up and get me on my way!

The next item was to do some mileage markers for the treks I'd been on. So I whipped out my trekking backpack, and was ready to get to work. Due to the amazing wisdom of my Mommy, I did a little research beforehand to look into the specs of my backpack - was it water repellent or special in that sense?

After a little googling and REI support, I discovered that the outer fabric (notably where I was going to stich in the markers) was in fact water repellent. Why does that matter, you ask? Well, if I poke a bunch of holes into a water repellent fabric and string some thread through it, that kinda kills the water repellency for that area. Bummer.

That little tidbit of knowledge has essentially forced me to put this idea on ice. My backup idea was just to use different colored sharpies, but that's not nearly as cool. If you have any ideas of how I could put tick marks for every five miles onto my bag that is kinda meaningful and cool, that'd be dope. But in the meantime, this'll have to wait.

Video Games

The Last of Us was the first game I was trying to get through in Corona Times. That was a great game, and had a helluva cliffhanger/surprising ending, but was fun to play through.

After that, I splurged and got the full Red Dead Redemption 2 pack, and loved going through that one. That was the perfect game for Corona Times too, as you're an outlaw exploring the Wild West. Being cooped up on the couch, being able to vicariously explore a fictitous land was quite the fantastic proxy adventure. I still haven't finished the storyline of that game yet, but it's been a great game to work through!

At some point, I started up Horizon: Zero Dawn. It took a few sessions to get into it, but it being another Open-World game has been pretty fun. You're a warrior chick wandering around a post-apocalyptic world where humans have diverted back to a nomadic tribal lifestyle as demonic machines terrorize the world, and you've got to figure out how to fix it. Pretty dope.

In my game choice, I've realized that Open-World games are my jam. The choices are yours to make - what to do, where to go, and when to do it. Because of this, I'm a very turn-every-stone kind of play. This stemmed from my days playing Red Alert 2 and such, where I made sure I went everywhere on the map to know what was there and have it all on my radar. This hasn't changed, as I make sure to be aware of whatever's going down.

Other Updates

Apartment

Not a whole lot to update on my apartment. It's still cozy, comfy, and at a livable level. I've realized black tile floor is really fucking annoying to keep clean.

I've got a few projects yet on my list that I eventually want to tackle. Here's that list:

• A bar-style table for the kitchen to go with the bar stools I bought. I want to make the legs adjustable so the table can be a bit versatile, but need to do some digging on the best way to make that happen
• A stand-up desk --- BUILT IT. Aka bought the legs on Amazon and bolted it all together. Regardless, it's dope
• A hanging table for my balcony. Something that can hang on the wall of my balcony, with a table that is essentially a bar table, but that can fold down flat against the wall when not being used
• Something garden/green-related for the balcony. The idea of a hydroponics system was/is floating around in my mind, but need to flesh that idea out
• I'm sure there's more, but they're not coming to mind right now

One bad note. When I had taken my desk apart to build the standing desk, I had/have the sides and back of the desk still hanging around. Well, vaccumming one day, I had the largest piece stood up against the wall. I pulled on the electrical cord, it tightened up against that piece leaning on the wall, and down it came. It ended up punching a hole in the wall a few coins wide. My landlords were super chill about it / not pissed, so it's just a constant reminder to think things through before you start yanking on electrical cords.

Wheels

My little four-wheel Volkswagen is rolling along quite nicely! We've already been on a few little road trips down to the Alps (in Germany) so far, but I've done a few things to help christen it.

First, and I'm not sure how they keep popping up, but I keep finding scratches on it. Mostly on the back bumper. No, I'm not running into people when I park, but I'm not sure where they're coming from, and there seem to be more every time I look at it. That's annoying.

As I had on Marvin back home, I had to put on a bumper sticker. And not just ANY bumper sticker, I had to stick with tradition. So that's what I did. Shout out to Milwaukee, WI.

The next important thing was related to biking. I knew I had to graduate from the days of taking apart my bike to be able to transport it. Andy, your constant shit-giving on this point made it pretty clear. Well my vehicle didn't have a hitch, so I focused on the roof-rack variety. This is bad because they get worse gas mileage, but good because you can still use the truck with a bike strapped on.

My good buddy Franz came through HUGE in the clutch on this, as he has on so many other things! Somehow this came up in conversation, and he said he had the whole setup hanging out in his basement. A quick stroll by, fitting it onto the roof, and I was sold. Now, I'm a grown-up! I can go biking and strap my bike to the roof!!!

The last main piece I had to work on was a name. Nothing was really sticking. I got a bunch of suggestions from some friends, a bunch of golf-related nicknames, and some others as well, but I couldn't decide. I wanted something that you could pronounce similarly in English and in German, and it had to fit. The new name had been an idea for a while, but after enough toying with it in my mind, I'm making it stick. World, meet Rupert :-)

Well, what else has been going on? Let me see if I can remember...

JUS GUNNA SEND IT

I've been biking quite a good bit lately. And surprisingly it's been a good mixture of on-road and off-road.

Road-wise, I've been biking to and from work a lot. That's been my primary form of exercise, and it's not too bad. The route is about 9 miles each way (~15km), and is fairly flat. Unfortunately I've got to fight wind seemingly in both directions, but it's a good distance to listen to a podcast before and after work.

Additionally, I've done a few road-rides here in the area. It kicked off with my little adventure with Lutz, but I've also done a few big loops. The biggest yet was north along the Rhein to the next bridge near Germersheim, then back down the river and home. That was about 44 miles, and I think was my longest ride ever. My butt bones were killing me at the end.

On the Mountain side of life, things have been GOOD.

One of the bigger worries in my decision to move to Germany was how good the mountain biking scene and trails were over here. So far, things are looking like there was no reason to worry. Freiburg and Heidelberg area a little over and under an hour away from me, and they both have some awesome trails. Freiburg has easily my favorite trail so far - Baden to the Bone.

With my schnazzy new roof rack and a bike ready to ride, I've been getting out and about and exploring what's here. Both solo and with some friends. My best day of riding so far was the day before my birthday. I went down to Freiburg and put in some monster miles and elevation, and had a crash-free rage on the dirt. It was amazing. Sessioned some Baden and Borderline, hit about three new big features (Sent it!!!) and just had an amazing time. Best part was dipping into the river post-ride.

Another great day was again had in Freiburg when I met up with my buddy Franz, his wife Steph, and another buddy Stefan. I was late getting in, but as I rolled up they were chilling in their camp chairs eating a leisurely breakfast before the ride. What a way to do it!

We ripped, roared, and raged over on Baden and Borderline. Did a lap and a half on Baden, and took some breaks each time we got to the top. Then, pre-lunch, we headed down Borderline to get back to the cars. Not 10m from the end of the trail. Off a jump, go over a rock, and psssssssssssssss. Fuck me. Got a nice gash in my rear tire. Silver Linings? It was right at the end of the trail, I had a tube as backup, and the gash was so huge there was no chance it was saveable. Go big or go home.

Lunch was the most enjoayble MTB lunch I've experienced. We rolled back to the cars, grabbed our food, then headed to a nearby kiosk to enjoy. We chilled out on the grass, enjoyed the sunshine and blue skies, had some great chats and food, and just hung out. Seriously, it was awesome.

After the break, back to the trails. We were initially planning on doing the Canadian trail (seriously, that's its name), but opted for a new one around the bend. Turned out not to be nearly as cool, but we got some great views on the pedal up.

I tried out Bad Wildbad, the closest bike park, one sunny day. A pre-warning from Stefan told me the place is rough on bikes, but I was looking forward to it. The first few runs were fine, nothing special. Started on Downhill 2 and was loving it. Small crash later, I had a broken derailleur hanger. Damn.

The most recent biking adventure was with my buddies Christoph and Micha. What'd we do? The Tour de Vogel.

What is the Tour de Vogel, you ask? Well, Vogelbräu is one of the bigger local breweries, and they have three different pubs - Karlsruhe, Ettlingen, and Durlach. If you happen to get a beer at two of them within the same day and have your special receipt with you, the beer at the third place is free. Not a bad deal, right? Since those three are a little close, we decided on making it a bit of a longer journey.

One fine Sunday morning, we met up at the fountain in the Schlosspark with our breakfasts and a breakfast beer. You know, as a bit of a warmup. From there, we moseyd through Karlsruhe and over to Durlach for our first stop. Once there, we were greeted with some open bike parking, a free table, and some cute waitresses. Seated and thirsty, round one hit the spot.

Next stop was Ettlingen. We meanered our way along the bike paths, and through some fields, on the way. Ettlingen is quite the quaint little town, with a really cool town center including some old buildings and water and such. The Vogelbräu was nearby the center, and although it was a little busy, we snagged one of the few open tables, and dug in for a beer. We weren't famished but not full either, so we topped it all off with a round of Mett brötchens (raw, spiced pork; it's delicious).

Now's the part of the extended trip. From Ettlingen, we cut across the Rhein valley in the direction of the river. Our next stop was a big swimming hole along the way. And because of the weather and everyone's immediate forgetfulness that Coronavirus is still a thing, there were a TON of people there. We were hemming and hawing on what we wanted to do with all these damn people, but decided on a beer at the beer garden, then jetted out of there.

From there we got out of the chaos of people, and continued our journey to the Rhein. A pit stop was needed, and oh baby was it worth it.

Soon after, we made it to the Rhein Kiosk. This was apparently (from Christoph) a little-known Oasis just north of the ferry. But little-known wasn't quite a fitting adjective. Despite that, we got some beers, found a table, took our shoes off, and relaxed for a bit.

A quick walk/pedal up stream and we were at the ferry dock. This was the same one that Lutz and I tried to cross back in March. This time it was running! We hung out for a bit, people watched, and soon enough got to board our chart across the mighty waters.

Once across the river and in the foreign land of Rheinland-Pfalz, we had some riding ahead of us. There was a potential pitstop at a boat launch, but once we got there it was a little too close, so we pushed on to a tennis club a little further up the way. The waiter there was a bit of a dick, but we got a table, got some beers, and enjoyed the quick stop.

From here, it was long way til the last, final, and most glorious stop. Up the Rhein, over the Rhein bridge, and the meandering our way along the Alb river to get back into Karlsruhe and eventually to our last Vogelbräu stop. We got our free beer (without any pomp or celebration...), devoured some delicious vittles, and I even got to try the Vogel Whiskey. One helluva way to spend a fantastic day. :-)

Männertag, aka Father's Day, Weekend

In the spring, right in the heat of the corona craziness, there was a long string of random three day weekends and holidays. Twas quite the awesome setup, but in reality a bit of a bummer as the whole world was shut down for this time. BUT. Alas, these days were not wasted.

One of those long weekends, my friend Sofia invited Christoph and me out to her parent's farm/home in the Schwäbisch Alb. Weirdly enough, I'd heard a ton about this region, but didn't actually know where it was. Turns out, it's just Northeast of Stuttgart, and a quick drive away.

One fine Friday, Christoph and I jumped in Rupert and hit the road toward Rübgarten, a tiny little dorf (village) right in the heart of the Schwäbisch Alb. On the way, we stopped off at a grocery store for some vittles, and found out there was little franchise of Edekas in the area named Knauerhase. Christoph got a kick out of the name, but I still don't know why.

We eventually rolled up to Sofia's parent's place, and immediately were hit with an air of tranquility. Being out of the city, in the hills, it was truly quiet, relaxing, low-key, and we started to unwind as soon as we got out of the car. Christoph got to sleep in the motorhome, and I brought my tent as I opted for (and was dying to) camping out on the field. I setup my abode up and was really feeling the vibe.

That night, we grilled on the awesome patio, so much good food and conversation. One thing that really cemented itself in my mind over the weekend is just how conversation and discussion are so thoroughly engrained in the German culture. For me, not being used to it, sometimes it's a little much. But regardless, I always see it as a positive, how people talk about ideas, opinions, beliefs at such length regardless of alignment of viewpoints. Something Americans and many other cultures could learn.

After dinner? Bonfire. Fuck. Yes. I did my typical me thing and essentially just shut out the world and stared at the fire. God I love bonfires. Eventually though - bedtime.

That next day we had a big adventure planned. In Germany, that day was Father's Day, aka Männertag (Man Day). What do Germans do on Männertag? The men gather with their buddies, wander around, and drink beer. That's it. Sofia's dad was up and at 'em early to meet with his crew, and they were going to bike around from bar to bar, house to house, drinking beer, riding bikes, and having a damn good time.

Sofia, Christoph, and I didn't have bikes in the mix, but rather our walking shoes and a plan to wander around the Schwäbisch Alb. With beer and whiskey as well of course. A hearty breakfast to start a beautiful day, and then we were off!

Getting out of the tiny dorf of Rübgarten was over in a flash, and then we were right into the woods. Down some hills, through the trees, along a road or two, up, down, over, and all around the place. I was just along for the ride, and Sofia gave us quite the great tour of her Heimat (hometown).

Quite uncharacteristic of me, but for the morning, I had no idea where we were. I just kept walking along, enjoying the fresh countryside air, taking some pictures, and enjoying the day. We had some stops, saw some sights, and took advantage of the time to have Sofia show us her neck of the woods.

At some point we got spit out of the forest and into another little tiny dorf. Some people and activity around the place, and next to the dorf was a pretty well-traveled bike/walking path. This trail apparently goes through a huge portion of Schwäbisch Hall, and is part of a few well-known bike routes in the area. We turned on to it and explored and meandered with the trail until it spit us out into Untergröningen. Once there, it was time for a pit (beer) stop.

In town we strolled over to Lamm Brauerei, the local beer maker. It was right around the time things started to loosen up from the initial Corona Restrictions, so we registered at the entrance and then found some seats next to Sofia's brother's partner's table. It was a whole gaggle of women and kids, as the men were off drinking with their buddies. So we three pulled up a spot, grabbed a beer and some fries, and watched the little kidlets and their shenanigans.

Properly hydrated, we were back on the trail. But first we had to leave Untergröningen to go to Untergröningen. This didn't make sense to me.

More wandering and meandering, we were continuing on. Our path led us up a big hill and through a dorf with a big horse stable next to the road. This little place was known for something, but I can't remember.

The next stretch continued the uphill trend, and then popped us out onto this big plateu with farm fields all over. Quite the beautiful view. We made our way slowly through the fields enjoying the sunlight. Somewhere right before the next village, we rolled up to one of Sofia's friend's places and joined in the fun there.

As that day was Männertag, Sofia's friend and all his buddies were abiding to the guidelines of the day in a religious fashion. Kegs of beer, cases of beer, a full beer fridge, they were stocked up for armaggedon ready to drink with their friends for a full few days and more if needed. We rolled up, got poured a beer, and hung out. The guy has a huge garage full of foosball tables, as he hosts the local foosball club at his place. I had no idea, but those tables are pricey. A tournament-grade table can cost roughly $2,000. That's pricey.

A few groups of people came and went while we were there, and we chatted intermittently with the various beer drinkers and good-time goers. Even met a dude that lived in Hood River for a while, that or his wife is from Hood River. But go PNW!!!

Eventually we got back underway. We left the beer heaven and headed back out to the fields and walked amongst the flat crops with beautiful views of the Schwäbisch Alb. More views, more trees, more fields, some random stuff, but soon enough, we'd made it back to Rübgarten to unwind, relax, and dig into some grub. It was a long day of walking and beer-drinking, but it was an absolutely amazing way to celebrate Männertag! Good friends, beautiful weather, gorgeous countryside, and a few servings of alcohol to round it all out!

That night was fairly early for me, but after we got back, we just sat around the patio and chatted and ate. Quite a low-key night, which was probably necessary considering the day we had. Sofia's dad was back from his shenanigans, so we grilled up some good food, drank a bit more (we got to try some homemade pear schnapps, really good stuff), and Christoph became completely infatuated with Sofia's parent's Apple Juice Press trailer. Literally two hours worth of questions from him to Sofia's parents about their operation that turns back on every fall. It always astounds me to see and experience just how much of a discussion/talking culture Germany is.

Day 2 in the Schwäbisch Hall was filled with some more walking around. This time on a different route, and just a one-way route (we were surprised by getting picked up at the end!). Woke up, broke fast, put our walking shoes on, and hit the road/trail. We started for a bit along the same route as the day before, but took a different fork and encountered the dumbest park bench in the world. Yes, it's literally right in front of and staring at a fence covered in bushes.

As a walk goes, we kept on meandering along. We had a goal in mind, and Sofia kept us on the right, as well as the scenic, route there. Through a couple small villages, past a lumber factory, next to a railroad handcar track that can be rented out, and through a good number of farms and fields.

Coming out of the trees at some point we finally got eyes on our target. What were we headed for? The Altenbergturm (Old Mountain Tower), a viewing tower built right in the heart of the Schwäbisch Alb to take in the beautiful rolling countryside.

It was a short hike uphill from the nearest village to the tower, and then a good few stairs to the top. But once there, we cracked some victory beers and gave ourself a bunch of time to enjoy the 360-degree views of this beautiful part of the country.

At the top, despite it being a cloudy and overcast day, we got some beautiful views of the Schwäbisch Alb! Really, a beautiful area. Rolling hills, colorful farmland, tiny villages sprinkled all throughout the place, and little human ants running around going about their daily lives. We were able to spot Sofia's parent's place as well, just a few distant kilometers off. I got kinda gravitated to one roadway leading away from the tower. Something about its combination of houses, curves, fields, etc. just caught my eye. You'll see it...

Once we came down from the tower, we chilled and chatted at a park bench for a while, and then went down to the Jausenstation. Not sure why, but Christoph got a continual kick out of this name. I got a kick out of it, because they had beers on the honor system! We cracked open the fridge, paid our couple of euros for a beer, and squeezed some gummi bears out of it too.

We had a nice little relaxing time (I squeezed in a nap) on the socially-distanced patio with a beer and some good conversation, and some gummi bears. Sofia then pulled out the Ace-in-the-Hole and had her mom come and pick us tired meanderers up. Talk about clutch.

We didn't just get picked up because we were tired, but also because we had something else to accomplish that night. Christoph needed to jump on a train back to Karlsruhe, and so we combined that with a quick trip up to Schwäbisch Hall, the main city in the county.

It was an hour-ish drive from Rübgarten up to Schwäbisch Hall, and it was all through the winding weaving country roads in the rolling hills. Quite beautiful. Got into town, got parked, and then started exploring!

We didn't have an agenda or plan for our excursion in the Hall, but we parked and just started walking around. Turns out, Schwäbisch Hall is a gorgeous little town. A small river running through it, tons of old, pretty buildings, and tons of little nooks and crannies to explore. Definitely worth the time if you're ever passing through!

Our meandering took us on a delightful loop around town, and plopped us down at a beer garden on the water. We were all a little hungry, so we grabbed some grub and found a place to sit. Unfortunately, time was a little tight for Christoph, so we weren't there long before he had to split to make his train. With that, the little group split up as Christoph headed back to Karlsruhe, Sofia back to Rübgarten, and I was off to find me some mountains.

I still had a little bit of daylight and a long-ish drive ahead of me, so I hit the road out of the Schwäbisch Alb and headed down to the Alps. I'd been dying for some real mountains, and I already underway so I figured I'd make it work. And OH BOY am I glad I did.

Slowly the terrain changed, flat and hilly and such, but then the horizon started to grow. Mountains incoming. The approach towards the Alps is always incredible, and this was no differet. I didn't have a hard-firm plan for what to do, but I knew I was going hiking the next day (hopefully with good weather), and just needed to find a place to crash. So I pulled off the highway outside of Oberstdorf, found a empty parking lot next to a field, and turned Rupert into a camper van.

The next morning I awoke to some grey clouds, but being simply in the presence of mountains gave me the energy I needed. I rolled out of bed, took a look at the surroundings, and immediately got to making breakfast and my morning cup of camp coffee. Not a bad way to start the day.

Vittled up and energized, it was off to the hike. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, so I headed into town to try and find the road in question. Long story short, Google Maps in Europe is not all that accurate, and it led me to believe I could drive to where I wanted to despite the road being forbidden for cars. Bummer.

Time for an audible. I drove back into town and drove around for a bit, and eventually found a parking lot on the edge of town for hiking and such. Perfect! But in typical German fashion something rained on my parade, as the damn parking ticket machine only took coins. Sucks living in the fucking stone age in a 'developed' country.

A quick and annoying drive to the grocery store to get coins then back to pay for parking. Complete. It was up and at 'em.

From the parking lot it was a little uphill section that led to a bit of a plateau with a huge farm and grazing pastures and such. Quite a pretty little spot. I was looking around for the trail I had in mind, but it wasn't well signed out, and there was a strand of hotwire across the road needed to get to the trail. I hemmed and hawwed if it was the right way, but finally went past the hogwire and found the trail. Bummer that things are so different over here for hiking...

It always helps being on the right path. Because from there out it was essentially just up up and up. The trail weaved through the trees up the side of the mountain and occasionally had an opening where you could see the valley with Oberstdorf and the mountains across. Even found a spot where I could look down and see Rupert all the way down there!

As I said, it was pretty much just straight up. A long way, but I was in the zone and loving being back in some form of mountains. Soon enough though, I'd reached the first peak. Hot damn!

Oh the views. So damn gorgeous. I stopped and stood there for a hot minute just taking in the great views. And they were great. I also got to see the ridge across the way I was initially planning on climbing, and kinda glad that didn't work out, as they were having some kind of fire burn on the trail. I also was the newest bestest friend of an adorable dog at the top! He came over and said hi and immediately dropped a stick at my foot. The sweet thing was full of energy and reminded me a ton of Zoe, always ready for the next throw!

The trail continued up the mountain, and therefore so did I. It was a bit more of a bush-whack from there out, but nothing I couldn't handle for a little more solitude in Nature's Cathedral. I pushed on for another half hour or so, and eventually came to a nice, open peak on the ridge. There, I stripped off my shirt to get some sun on my bright white winter skin and dry out the damn shirt, and soak all that neature in.

Peaks. Valleys. Trees. Rocks. Snow. Heaven.

As I always do, I spent a good hour or so just sitting around and staring out at the mountains. It is such a comfort, a point of relaxation, a way to contemplate where I fit in this giant world, being able to stare out at giant masses of rock and earth. I don't know why, but I will never grow tired of that.

Unfortunately, I had it in the back of my mind that I had to get down off the mountain and on the road home before the rains set in. Not a huge fan of being on the trail in a downpour, but I was really bummed I pressed myself to get a move on. I did just that though after a good long while sitting up there.

Some more bush-whacking to get back to the original peak, then a long descent to get me back down to Rupert. WHAT a relief though, knowing there are some mountains within a few hours' drive away. I need to take more advantage of that knowledge and get into the mountains on a more regular basis. Not just because, but for my health and sanity.

Getting back to the car, I was pretty pooped. What a good hike though, a great workout and amazing time in the mountains. I took my shoes off and slipped into my ever-amazing chacos, then hit the road. First stop - grocery store. I needed some vittles for the ride home. Then jumped in the car and found a spot to stare at the mountains in the shade while I ate my lunch.

From there, it was a fairly straight shot on the Autobahn headed home. But just as you guessed it......

A Walk with Florian and some Wine

Since I moved over to Germany at an extremely weird and limiting time, there's a ton of people I haven't been able to see or catch up with since I arrived. This is a huge bummer, but with Corona and all that stuff, there's unfortunately not a ton that can be done about that.

But, in order to catch up with one special person, I was able to squeeze in some time with my buddy Florian on a free day before him and his wife Katja were expecting their new baby! So we both headed out to a place near Stuttgart for a delightful little walk in the hills and vineyards.

Baden-Würrtemberg (the German State I live in) is pretty known for it's wine. So we found a place just outside of Stuttgart with a few wineries and just wandered around the hills and such. Twas quite a relaxing walk.

The first stop was up some cool, old, stone tower - Kernenturm. It had a pretty cool view of the area, so we took the super tiny staircase the long way up and scoped out the Stuttgart region on the top platform. Luckily enough, at the bottom there was a little kiosk, so we snagged some Radlers and chilled out for a while.

Back on the trail, we came out to the top of a winery and had a view of the valley and the town we were headed to. From there we dropped down to Stetten and wandered around Y-Berg, before going up and over the next ridge to head over to Strümpfelbach.

In the land of wine, we had to take a pitstop at some point and enjoy it. The trouble was, we started on that journey a little late, and most of the wineries were closed or about to close. We walked by one that said they had a tasting going on, but that was a lie. So we pushed on down further to town hoping we'd hit a stroke of luck, which is exactly what happened.

Idler Winery was already closed. But we walked in and asked if we could snag a glass and enjoy it out on the patio. Thankfully the owner was super chill about it, so we got our wish! A delicious glass of red, an open and quiet patio, and plenty to talk about. A perfect way to take a break.

after our delightful respite from the trail, we jumped back on our feet and meandered the last little bit back to our cars. It had been way too long since we'd seen each other, and a brief walk in the fields isn't long enough to catch up, but it was an absolute pleasure seeing Florian again!

Happy to hear how well he and his wife Katja are doing. She was (at the time) a couple weeks before her due date, and since then they were able to welcome a happy healthy baby boy to the world. Stoked to hear and share that the whole family there is doing great, and wishing nothing but the best for good 'ole Florian. :-)

Before leaving Stuttgart and heading home, I headed into town to say hi to my friends Eli and Jen and their kids. Jen's become my mom over here, as every time I show up she makes sure I'm (over) fed with a drink in hand. They're a lovely and hilarious bunch, so it's always a pleasure to see them and catch up! That's exactly what we did - ate, drank, hung out, and hand a grand 'ole time. I was able to have them over for dinner a few weeks after that too, finally returning the favor! But after a while, I packed it in and headed home with a beautiful sunset showing me the way back to Karlsruhe.

Natural/National Monuments

As the last long weekend of the year approached in mid-June, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do. I know I needed some mountains in me, but was debating how to go about scratching that itch. After a while, I settled on the idea of driving over to Berchtesgaden and going from there.

The stretch leading up to it was full of crappy weather, which made me start to rethink my idea. I checked the forecast though, and things started to agree that the day I was planning on driving over (Thursday) was going to be marginal to lame weather, but the days after were supposed to clear up and be fantastic. I was banking on that 'supposed to', so with that, I had a lazy morning at home and eventually packed up Rupert and hit the road.

Surprisingly, I had a clear and traffic-free ride over the SE Germany! How delightful! I had a few podcasts lined up for the ride, snacks on the passenger seat ready to go, and had a low-key time on the Autobah. Little did I know, THERE'S A LEGOLAND IN GERMANY!?!?!?! I need to go.

I was getting really excited to get back into the mountains. Enjoying my drive, working my way past Ulm and Augsburg (decided against popping in there to check out the city; will have to do that another time) and München, Rupert and I were cruising right along. Then, eventually, the horizon started to grow. Finally, the mountains were upon me.

I stopped off for gas in the foothills, then entered the foresty valleys and growing elevation, stepping into the world I miss and love. It was a gorgeous drive to start, winding its way up and over a nice ridge. Around that time, things were coming in and out of sunny and clear, and I had to stop a few times to take some deep breaths, and soak it all in.

The journey kept going, further into the mountains. Rain was coming and going, which added to the gloominess, but I was kind of enjoying it. I wasn't sure where I was going to spend the night, before I got somewhat close to the point where I'd start looking, I hit a patch of somewhat clear skies, a beautiful mountain valley with gorgeous little homes in the hills, and a quick pull-off from the road. I had to take advantage of that.

From there, it was time to find a place to crash. Me being too cheap, and because Corona was still a thing, I had no interest in finding a hotel or anything. Nope. Rupert's not only a great car, but also an adequate home! With the fold-down seats, all it takes is a couple minutes and he's ready for a full night's sleep.

I initially pulled up at a parking lot in Ramsau, but after sitting there for a few minutes, still undecided, I headed a little further away from the highway, and ended up stumbling upon a pretty well-known entrance to the national park right on a lake. There were a lot of folks with the same idea as me, but I found an empty pullout a ways from the lake and called it good! Got Rupert ready for bed, had a little whiskey and did some reading, walked down to the lake to enjoy the night, then hit the sack.

Waking up that next morning, once I wiped off the condensation from the windows and took a look outside, the weather report turned out to spot on. Nothing but blue skies and sunshine. :-) I was stoked to get my day going.

Started off by packing Rupert up, walking down to the lake to see the beautiful blue skies and sunlight, then heading off to the nearby bakery to snag some breakfast. A little line at the door, but I gotta say. The Sammich I snagged was absolutely fantabulous. Grubbed and geared up, it was off to the trailhead.

Trailhead was easy to find, and I was pumped to get going. But before I did, I got to show an eastern European couple how to use the parking payment app option. Cool to see people open to newer technologies and ways of going about the same old same old! With that it was time to go up! The start took me over to a ridge line and a very seldom-traveled trail. But beautiful it was, along with a perfect place to take a break! Definitely wished this was more of a thing...

I kept following the trail up the ridge. It provided some views here and there, but was a good way to get me going upward. Eventually it peaked out, and the trail met up with the road. Not the most sceneic stretch, but it was a quick route to spit me out at the hut at the top, which would be my hub for the day.

My plan was to do this big loop down to St. Bartholoma, from there up a valley to climb up to the south peak of Watzmann, follow the alpine ridge to the north peak, then head down from there. Little did I know that that was a HUGE route, with probably more sketchy spots than I was willing to admit.

I started off with that plan and headed from the hut in the direction of St. Bartholoma. No sweat. On the way two things. First, there was a helicopter loading and transporting cargo to somewhere deeper into the mountains, so got to hear him come and go a bunch throughout the day. Second, there was a lookout above the Königsee before descending to St. Bartholoma, so I hit that up. BEAUTIFUL.

I did a good bit of gazing and chilling at the lookout. HUGE mountainous valley, made even more spectacularly beautiful with the Königsee throwing some amazing blues and greens to go with the beautiful piles of rock. This spot was really impressive, with the stark faces shooting right up from the water. Definitely a fjord-y vibe.

While enjoying the view and soaking it in, my plan was floating through my mind. The trail down to St. Bartholoma would be grueling if anything. And looking across to the valley I'd be going up, that could be anything... With that, I changed plans to what would become a bit of a hub and spoke adventure. Gotta love flexibility!

The relaxing came to an unfortunate end when a loud german couple sat a ways off behind me, killing the peaceful vibe. With that, I was up and off to the next spoke of the day. Backtracked a good pit from where I headed, then jogged to the left once I got back to the helo. From there, I found the start for the trail headed up the Kleiner Watzmann and up I went.

It was pretty much just a straight up shot along the ridge here. Nothing special, but time to put my head down, shift into a low gear, and start slowly make my way up the hill. It was getting hot out so I took a good few breaks, all usually timed up with the Helicopter coming back for another load.

Soon enough, this lug made it to the top! There were a few more people than I was expecting at the top, so I decided to explore the trail further up. It was a good bit of rock climbing and weaving around some towers until I got to a drop off. The actual trail was down the rock tower, so I turned around and headed back to the initial peak to hang out and enjoy the views. And that's just what the doctor ordered!

At some point I realized I didn't pack the food bag I needed to cook up my lunch. That was a huge bummer, so I snacked on a clif bar or something for sustenance. That kinda modified plans, but I didn't think about that right away.

From that peak, got to see something cool. Across the way is the Kehlsteinhaus, a giant bunker/lookout that was built for Hitler in WWII. Well, wayyyyyy back in the ancient year of 2012, Zach Tobin and I cruised down to there from Munich on our Euro Trip. Though I hadn't been back since, it was cool to see it from afar and get a bit of a memory of travels long, long ago!

It was truly a beautiful place to soak in the nature. Peaks all around, snow still sitting on the mountains, lake views of the Königsee, it all was just beautifully framed together and meant to be taken in.

Some more pics, some more time hanging out, and then it was time to continue on. I started my descent, enjoying what was in front of me. Then I slipped on a rock, fell backwards, and heard a snap. A simple mistake, a step I could take no problem, and all that led to me falling back on my poor trekking pole. The lower portion was cracked. I tried to think all was good, but a few pokes into the ground later and the damn thing was a goner. Damn.

Bummer aside, the day continued on. I eventually made it back down the mountain and onto the plateau and found myself back at the first alpine hut. I had no interest in waiting in the giant line for anything, so I used the facilities then made like a tree and got the fuck out.

Next stop? Headed up to the Watzmann peak and lunch at the Watzmannhaus! Go back up four pictures, and the big alpine house on a peak on to of a mountain ridge, that's the place. The trail started from the first alpine hut and slowly gained elevation as it followed the side of the bowl between Kleiner Watzmann and Watzmann, then shot up the hill. Turned out to be a number of sections with cables and ladders and giant metal pegs cemented into some rocks. Cool sections, but there were a ton of people on the trail, and that kinda slowed things down.

By this time, the lack of lunch was kinda getting to me. Bummer, as I had everything needed to make stuff except the bag to let it all cook. Couldn't focus on that, had to keep my eyes and head focused on the beautiful nature, the continual climb up, and keep those feet churning.

At long last (I was struggle-bussing it for the last bit), I made it to Watzmannhaus! Finally, time for a break and some well-needed and -earned food! The place was quite the cool hut (something to keep in mind as a jumping off point for future hikes...), but there were a good number of people all over the place. I was one-track minded to get some food, so plopped my stuff down and stood in line to order.

Food ordered, I had to wait for it, and unfortunately there weren't any tables or spots at tables open. Not wanting to stand, I found something to sit on on the patio out of the way and took a load off. Very well needed.

Soon enough, my food came and I dove right in. A typical German bread board with breads, meats, cheeses, and such. Twas delicious. Then a little cake to top it off. Not a bad way to enjoy the culinary side of life.

I mulled about and enjoyed the views while taking a load off on the patio, but eventually I was up and at em. Got my water partially-filled up by the lady in the hut, and I was off to continue going up. From the hut, the peak trail wound its way up to the top of Watzmann. I was going to take it for as far as my rust bucket could handle. Off I went.

Up, up, and up it went. I was slogging, but really wanted to be able to say I reached the peak. So I kept going. The start was just switchbacks, but eventually it just turned into a giant rock field so I just kinda carved my own path. It got technical, with a steep climb aided by some steel cables, and I got super excited thinking that was the peak! But nope. From there I saw a couple more ridges and no actual peak in sight. That kinda dampered my intentions, probably for the better.

I motored on a bit more, but then found myself a fantastic spot to lookout over the peaks and the Alps in front of me. Pack off, water in hand, and a comfy spot to sit, time to enjoy :-)

Catching my breath, enjoying the views, and marvelling at the beauty of the Alps and the amazing mountains in front of me. It was quite a beautiful and tranquil spot. I really fucking love mountains.

Eventually, I could tell the sun was starting to warm up it's final song for the day. I had a long stretch of trail in front of me to get back to Rupert, so I packed it in and started the long descent.

Took it easy getting back to the Watzmannhaus - no use falling and starting a rock avalanche to who knows where. Made it there, motored on, and was headed back down to the first alpine hut. At some point I was snapped out of my zone and got to meet a new friend along the way!

Just before getting back to the first alpine hut, golden hour decided to set in early. Beautiful warm yellow-orange light hitting everything and making the colors pop. Nature is a beautiful thing.

Once back at the first alpine hut, I stopped and topped off on water. No point in being so close to wrapping up an amazing day, and running out of water on the last tiring stretch. From there, it was further down we go.

From that hut, I still had a ways to go. Long-story short, it was a beautiful setting with the golden light hanging around the whole way, but I eventually made it back to the car. No idea how many miles or feet elevation, but 14 hours on the trail was one helluva long, beautiful, amazing, and exhausting day!!!

Once I got back to Rupert, I was quite pooped. I took my time cooling down and ended up taking a ghetto sink shower at the toilet, because I was caked in sweat from the day. Tired, and not motivated to do much else other than sleep, I drove back to Hintersee, found a place to park, and headed straight to bed. What a long, amazing, beautiful day!

Waking up, the skies were just as beautiful as they were the day before. I had in my head to drive up to Regensburg and do something different, but the blue skies and beautiful weather were really calling me to stay and go for another hike!

Unfortunately, I did not heed that call of nature. Dumb of me, but I'm not sure what came over me - laziness or stubbornnes. Something told me to keep on going. So I packed up Rupert, woke up slowly, headed back to the great bakery for some morning vittles, then hit the road headed towards Regensburg.

Coming out of the Alps was a beautiful drive. Weaving through the big canyons, taking some last peaks at the mountains, then slowly the walls of rock on either side disappeared and transitioned to some slightly rolly hills. Crazy how quick you can go from right in the thick of the Alps to cruising on some open farmland!

Once I got north of Traunstein, I looked in my mirrors and some peaks were saying goodbye. So I had to stop and take a break to get another glimpse at the amazing scenery I'd so thoroughly enjoyed the day before.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood, some great podcasts on the radio, and a route cruising through the fields, farmlands, and rolling hills of Southwest Germany, I was having a wonderful drive through the country with Rupert. Hard to beat a good morning like that. Eventually though, I made it back on to the Autobah, and a quick hop, skip, and jump down the road and I'd essentially reached my target. Valhalla.

Valhalla? Is that some kind of Viking Temple? Well, unfortunately, no. Yes the name Valhalla (Walhalla, as it's written in German) is a heavenly viking realm, but this Valhalla is a little something different. Namely, it's a monument to people who have positively impacted the world who were also German speakers.

This monument had been on my to-do list for a long time ever since I started having a keen interest in huge monuments, and then saw what this place looked like, so finally being in the neighborhood with a good bit of time, I was able to make my way over! Already from the Autobahn, this giant temple was visible. Then as I got closer, it just more and more massive.

I parked somewhere in town rather than at the monument to give myself a little time to get loose and to get some of the hot summer air in my lungs. The town it's nearby is pretty quaint, but soon enough I was through that and on my way up the hill to the monument.

The trail uphill wasn't crazy, but after the long hike from the previous day, I was taking it easy. Soon enough, the trail got spit out of the trees and right at the back of the monument overlooking the entire area. What a beautiful view on such a beautiful day! That, paired with the incredible strcture in front of me, I was already enjoying the visit!

Unfortunately, the full enjoyment would be put on pause as I got in line to go in. Again, due to Corona, things were limited. Limited in the sense that only 15-20 people were allowed inside at a time, and the line wrapped around the building. Kinda lame, but I came all that way to check this place out, so I wasn't going to not wait to see it. Commence the slow crawl to the door.

After about 40-60min of waiting, I'd made it! I read up a little bit on the background and build of this monument on the way, and was quite excited once it was my turn to jump in at the front of the line!

My number got called, my hands disinfected, and my ticket paid for, my time to enjoy this monument. I didn't have many expectations going into it (before reading about it), but was quite floored at the opulence and grandeur at such a monument to the many positive German-speaking people throughout history. Many of the persons memorialized in the monument (130 to be exact) are represented by busts, where as the rest (65 or so) are memorialized by plaques.

To say that the place is opulent is an understatement. Everything is marble, equisitely colored, and unbelievably well maintained as Hall of Honor/Fame for the distinguished people in German history, or as is said in the guidebook, "politicians, sovereigns, scientists, and artists of the German tongue".

I made sure to make my way very slowly around the hall to take a look at the many impactful people eternalized here. Some familiar faces, but a ton of new ones to boot, were present and honored for their positive impact on the world.

It felt like very hallowed ground inside the monument. These people clearly made a positive impact on the world, and the hall they were enshrined in was dressed to the nines to show that. To prevent me from rambling, it was an extremely impressive, beautiful, grand, and memorable monument to honor the many German-speaking persons of impact throughout time.

The plaque in the above picture reads as follows:

In Memory of all who bravely resisted the injustice, violence, and terror of the third reich.

Alas, my slow meander around the memorial came to an end, and due to the headcount restriction, a second lap around wasn't allowed. Bummer, but what an impressive sight! With that, I left the building and continued on.

Back in the fresh air, I walked back around to the back of the monument to get the full impression of the building. Got to read a plaque with a little more clarification on the history of the monument, as well as check out a bronze bust of the memorial itself. With that though, it was time to head down the massive steps overlooking the valley!

The front of the monument was really impressive. Built into the hillside, the entrance was a giant set of pedastals/staircases that started at the bottom of the hill and went up all the way to the top to meet up with the building. I started by slowly making my way down but then veered off to sit around for a second on one of the major pedastals. A beautiful day at an impressive monument with a gorgeous view of the local area. Not a bad way to enjoy the moment.

After the delightful little break, I continued my journey down the steps, being sure to stop every little bit and turn around to take in the memorial and the view. Slowly but surely, I made my way down to the bottom, battled for the only bench, and finally got to sit down to take in the monument from the lower view point. Relaxing and gorgeous.

The day was warm, the monument was beautiful, the sun was still out, and I was now on my last leg of the trip. Off to Rupert I got up and walked, and tried to ponder what to do next. The decision wasn't anything special, as I jumped in the car, made a podcast playlist, and then headed the three-ish hours home.

I thought about stopping off in Nürnberg on the way back, but the thought of getting home and chilling out on Saturday night then all day Sunday was too good to pass up. It was a beautiful driving through southern Germany, with the rolling hills and farmland, but getting home after an active and gorgeous weekend was quite nice. All in all, a fantastic mini-adventure to Mountains and Monuments.

My Personal Commentary

As we all know, the world is in a bit of a rut right now. The US being probably the biggest and most fucked up rut of all. There's been a lot going on through my mind and past my eyes over the last few months, but because I didn't write them down in the moment, here's my recollective commentary on a various number of issues, both worldwide, and specific to me.

And just a heads up, I know I'm no wordsmith. I'm not perfect, and lord knows how my brain formulates what I want to say is a perfect example of imperfection. I do my best, and know that as I try to process some heavy topics on my mind. In NO WAY am I saying this as an excuse for anything. Just a point of understanding.

Politics

It starts political, then tapers off. Hopefully we're all civil enough where even if you have a different opinion or viewpoint, we come to the table with the mindset of understanding. This is one thing I've reflected on a good bit, but at least from the US culture, once you know someone has an opposing viewpoint or opinion as you, it's war. There is no understanding, only convincing. There is no discussion, only dictating. There is no civility, only aggression.

I am completely guilty of this as well. It's hard to come to grips with the fact that someone has such a differing viewpoint as you, especially if it's a viewpoint that you believe to be harmful, detrimental, and a hindrance to progression towards a better place for the world or society. But, what we don't keep present in our minds is the mindset of understanding.

My friend sent me this video, a talk from Tara Westover, and her sentiment here is a great point. Each side of the political coin, the rural/urban divide, the [insert your category of societal split here], whittles down their understanding of 'the other side' based on a few pixels, rather than the whole picture.

I'm totally at fault for this. It's not that I want to be, it's not that I intend to do this, but I'm still working on trying to have and learning to implement a mentality of understanding rather than a gut-check know-what-I'm-talking-about mindset straight off the bat. That kind of immediate ignorant assumption of thinking you know the whole truth is not helpful, and is a mindset that I see very present in the US. This has for a long time led to further division, split, inflammation, and misunderstanding in our politics, culture, society, and daily life.

This is something I don't see as being as big of an issue. Of course there is ignorance, of course there are opposite sides of the spectrum, of course there are (many) differing viewpoints over here. That is true for almost everywhere you go. But from what I've experienced in Germany, people are able to respect differences and discuss variances in opinion, belief, mentality, and mindset, in a more open and discussion-based manner. Similar conversations that I've had with people here in Germany would likely turn into a brawl or a terminated friendship in the US. And that's not because things became heated or laced with attacks, but because that's (in my point of view) how hard discussions morph in the US.

Maybe I'm wrong here, but in the US:

• If Person A has a different opinion than Person B, Person B takes it as an attack on their personal beliefs
• If Person B states a fact contradictory to Person A's knowledge, Person A takes this as an affront to their knowledge and education

No, this doesn't hold true for everyone everywhere in every discussion. But it is hard to discuss politics in the US because things are so divisive. And due to the division and separation of opinions, people take differences as attacks rather than simply a differing point of view.

This is definitely a ramble, but moral of the story, I am going to work on coming from a position of trying to understand people's views and beliefs and mindset, rather than a position of trying to change someone or attack someone or trying to prove someone wrong. Understanding opens up our eyes to things we may not have initially seen.

Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter.

I stand with those protesting the injustices against the black community, those fighting against the deep-seeded racism in our society, and working to realize an understanding, equal, just, and a safe, accepting culture in the US a real thing. The racial injustice in the US is inacceptable, and I firmly believe this needs to change. I will admit I have not done much to support this with my actions, but I know I need to and will do what I can to support and fight for this.

Black people and minorities in the US have been screwed over, targeted, killed, disadvantaged, [insert any number of negative adjectives here] for way too long. No one should have to fear for their life as they go for a walk, go to the grocery store, or SLEEP IN THEIR OWN DAMN BED. The fact that this is the daily life of a black person in the US is revolting.

To be honest, I am unsure what all to say here. I come from a place of privilege. That is blatantly clear. I also have not stepped out of my comfort zone enough to talk with those whose lives are treated as less equal and get a glimpse into the difficult reality that they face daily. And because of that, I am likely unaware of a number of things that I take for granted in my life that would never be thinkable for others. This I realize and know I need to understand.

Despite that, I know that I sure as shit would fight for my right to live if I was treated the same way.

This video, a video highlighting some powerful words from Kimberley Jones, helped shed some light on things I was not aware of before. But the thing that resonated from me in this video is this sentence:

"And they are lucky that what black people are looking for is equality and not revenge."

Damn right.

Fuck the Status Quo

Something we've all read in relation to the Black Lives Matter movement and protests is people's objection to the movement due to the related violence, looting, and the 'non-civil' activities. In my opinion though, if your focus is more troubled by the fact that people were robbing stores in a time of chaos and protest and movement, RATHER THAN the fact that black people are getting killed consistently and for zero reason, and suppressed by a broken system on a daily basis, then I think that your focus is severly misplaced.

If I was in their shoes, I'd go fucking crazy. After centuries of repeatedly being treated as less than human, unequal, dangerous, and uncivilized, repeatedly trying to fight for equality, justice, and humane treatment in a civil, respectful manner, and continually being rejected and making no progress, fuck yeah I'd do something different.

I feel like this is fairly well clarified with the following quote (not from Einstein, but original source unknown):

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

If I keep making a sandwich and it keeps ending up tasting like a bag of garbage, I'm going to change up how I make a sandwich.

If I keep fighting for justice and equality, something vital to the survival and health of my community, in a civil and respectful manner but it keeps getting rejected, I'm going to burn the place down to make sure I get justice and equality.

How is this an Issue?

Wearing a mask is annoying. Everyone knows that. But I sure as shit would rather have some annoying discomfort over myself being exposed to, or exposing those around me to, a potentially deadly disease. How is this not a common mindset? Are people so self-centered, arrogant, and singly focused, that any inconvenience for them is unacceptable despite how deadly it could be for others?

Seriously. Wear a fucking mask. Keep your fucking distance. This virus is not a hoax. And if you think that, why? How?

Fuck the German Postal Service

Seriously, I haven't experience this much incompetence in one organization potentially ever.

April 28th - my Mommy sends me a birthday package from Portland, OR.

May 8th - it arrives in Frankfurt, Germany for customs.

July 14th - I call the Reclamation line for Deutsche Post, get forwarded four times, and eventually get told that the package was returned to the US. No reason provided.

Are you fucking kidding me?!?!?!?! In the two months that the fucking package was sitting in Frankfurt, how the fuck was I not notified that it was there or that there was some kind of issue with the shipment? Are cookies, home-made face masks, and documents a threat to national security? Are those items somehow incompatible with the import laws of Germany? If so, why the fuck wasn't I at least notified? Seriously, fuck Deutsche Post.

Another one - I sent my family various goodie boxes from Germany as a hello and something. Mommy got hers no sweat. Alicia and The Boocks got theirs no sweat. How the FUCK did Peewee's package arrive completely in shambles, wrapped in a plastic bag and stuffed inside a different box, full of flies and everthing in the box rotten and destroyed? How the fuck does that happen?

Customer Service is a Non-Existent Concept in Germany, and Complaining is not the Excuse

Pretty blatantly self-explanatory there. I'm not going to type this out, because it's just going to make me mad.

What I will say though, is that all Germans I've talked to understand and agree with the fact that there is not customer service in Germany, and all do not like that fact. If that's the case, they why the fuck is customer service still so bad over here? People don't like it, so why is it still so shitty?

The only answer I've ever heard is that Germans like to have things to complain about. Although this is true, Germans are professionals at complaining (meckern), I don't see this as a valid reason as to why being nice to people, providing a quality interaction point for customers, and just generally being helpful with incoming inquiries, is so fucking foreign here.

Coming from the US might intensify my bewilderment. I'm used to living in a society where 'The Customer is Always Right'. I will say I definitely don't agree with that statement (people can be fucking idiots), I will say being helpful, responding and supporting people's inquiries, answering peoples questions, and things that people generally take for good customer service, are things that I highly value and am accustomed to. The fact that those things are lightyears away from being helpful, let alone present in Germany, make it even more vivid.

Homesick

Despite the US being a complete dumpster fire right now (in so many damn ways), I miss home. I miss home in many ways. Here are just a few:

• My family, even moreso now that all are back in the PNW!!!
• My friends
• The Mountain Biking, and my biking buddies
• The fact that true backpacking exists and is so accessible
• The Mexican food
• Dark Chocolate M&Ms

A - that list is very non-comprehensive. And B - this does not mean that I don't feel at home or feel settled/comfortable in Germany. I'm very much ok and enjoying my time and life here. But, still, it's different. I'm not sure how to adequately describe it, but there are things I'm so used to that are present back home in the US/Portland, that are not present or not the same over here.

I feel comfortable saying that I knew this would be the case coming into this experience. But that doesn't change the fact that it still affects, impacts, or is present with me. Again, not necessarily a bad thing. Just commenting on its presence, and how sometimes my feelings for being back home can be strong.

Positivity and Things I Like

First off - Lianne LaHavas' Tiny Desk Concert. Especially the first song, What You Don't Do.

NIO, a Chinese electric vehicle manufactuerer, has an amazing EV and modular battery design. My coworker showed me some of their stuff, and I was pretty blown away by their implementation and design for battery swapping. Check this video out for a prototype of their battery swap mechanism. Wicked design and implementation. I'm interested to see if/how they become a player on the automotive stage.

Thanks to the tutelage of an amazing friend, I've recently got on a roasted veggie kick. I never used to make them, but after learning how to do it, it's super easy and super delicious. I usually include carrots, broccoli, onions, mushrooms, bell pepper, and various other things, all cut up and mixed with olive oil and spices, put on a baking tray and roasted in the oven for a while. Takes a bit of time, but dayum it's good. Check it.

Biking through town one day I got a massive smile on my face because of this giant plushy thing taking pictures with folks.

I noticed when I was making breakfast one day just how international my food is. Granted, I make the same damn thing for breakfast every day, but it's delicious and somewhat healthy, and now I realize it's supporting the global economy. (However small or insignificant it may be, and hopefully not in a negative/unfair way)

A few weeks ago, I came home from work to a poster on the gate into the courtyard - Quintet Concert. Wasn't sure how it was gonna go, but that next night I found out.

Across the way in the inner courtyard, above the big patio is a little stage, where a quintet of trombonists put on a show! It was awesome! I'd just finished making dinner and poured myself a tall glass of wine, and got to sit on my balcony and enjoy the sweet tunes of some brass on the winds. It was a fantastic way to spend an evening!

Other Stuff

I know over the past few months there's been a lot more going through my mind. And since I've got such an exquisite memory, I've forgotten most of it. On the one side it's good, because this means that this novel is finally coming to an end! On the other hand, having a bad memory already is probably not a good sign for me trying to live a productive long life. Something to work on there...

Next Up

As per usual, I finished this post just in the nick of time for me to pack things up and head off on to the next adventure! In two nights I'm driving over to Stuttgart to hang out with my buddy Yann, then on Saturday we're hitting the road for two weeks through Slovakia!!!

I cannot wait. It was a bit of a journey to land on Slovakia, but there are a good few reasons to head there right now, and I can't wait to experience and explore this new country only a few hours' drive away from home! I'll be sure to keep track of all the new things I do and see there, and cannot wait to jump on the road for my first road trip in a very long while, and a great adventure with a great buddy to boot!!!

As always, thanks for sticking around and hearing about all the stuff going on in my world! I know I ramble and write too much, but hopefully it's interesting and engaging on some level! If nothing else, I hope you enjoy all the pictures! :-)

Original Publish Date: July 29th, 2020