A Whole Lot of Catching Up

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As the saying goes, it's better late than never, and this is extremely relevant to everything in here. After having COVID middle of last summer, I've been lacking on a lot of updates and goings-on that's filled my life since then. So in the interest of getting myself and this here blog back up to date, here's a "quick" shimmy through the last year of activity.

As is always the case with this medium, quick is a very relative term.

My Love Life

Let's get the big thorn in my side out of the way first.As hesitant as I am to talk about my love life and relationships and all that jazz, I think it's no secret to anyone that that aspect of my life is not only very important to me, but also very inactive. Not ideal. But in the middle of last summer I ended up matching with someone on Bumble, and after some pretty good initial conversation, we met up for the first time in Pforzheim for a bike ride and walk around town.

The bike ride took us along the river, up onto a plateau and to an awesome bench to watch the clouds, back down to another river, then back into town. There ended up being a music fest that evening downtown so we got some food, and then headed into the music fest for a bit to enjoy the scene. One band there turned out to be pretty catchy (Vagabund by Kicker Dibs), and overall the date went really well. So well that we lost track of time, and eventually I looked at train times and was in a real tight spot. I had to say a quick goodbye, sprint with my bike to the train station, ride down the stairs and through the tunnels and barely made it to the last train back to Karlsruhe for the night.

Thankfully, despite the prompt goodbye, things went well and we really hit it off. Through July we were able to meet up a good few times, including a few trips to the lake after work, a short weekend backpacking trip in the Schwarzwald coupled with a visit to the local fire station's fest, and a bunch of random dates here and there. Things progressed quick but super naturally, and needless to say, I was ecstatic to finally have something in my love life slowly come together with such a cool, mature, adventurous, intelligent woman.

From the very beginning, we maintained really open, honest, and clear communication. That included being frank about what the future holds for both of us. Theresa was in the process of becoming a teacher, and as I learned from her about the German teaching system, that included its own long list of restrictions and complications and the like. I am/was unsure of where my life was truly headed. But on a lot of big topics we matched pretty damn well and that helped draw us pretty close together in a really quick timeframe.

Summer for her started once she was done with her Referendariat (teacher training) duties for the year, and with that she was off to continue her trek along the Via Alpina. One August weekend I was itching to GTFO of work, and set up with her to jump down and backpack some of the trail with her over a few days. But true to form I was able to do part of it as a surprise. I left town early, got down there at night to sleep in the car near Klosters Dorf, and then hike up and over a saddle to surprise her early the next day in the small town of Gargellen.

In that quick stint of the trek I was able to join, we got in four days of hiking together, and in the middle of all of it, made our relationship official. It's cheezy, but I'm kinda proud about how that happened.

In German, "friend" and "girlfriend" are the same word - Freundin. The way you tell them apart is by the presence, or lack thereof, of a possessive pronoun. "A friend/eine Freundin" is friend, whereas "my friend/meine Freundin" is girlfriend. So, to see if we were a thing I asked her "So how do I tell people about you - a friend, or my friend?" Cheeky, but it worked, and with that Theresa and I had something going.

Gonna jump ahead along the timeline of this update a good bit here to keep these topics here all bundled together.

With that, we slowly integrated our lives together as best we could. We both had a busy summer with full travel plans for both of us. In the midst of all the travel, we did our best to spend time together and have some fun. Some highlights there include going with my Mommy to a Weinfest in the Pfalz...

Went on her family's yearly outing to a Weinfest with her Dad's side of the family with Grandma in the Vogesen down in France...

Although she's a cyclist, I got to show her the ropes with some Mountain Biking in Heidelberg and even a dive into bike parks in Lac Blanc!

Christmas Market time in Heidelberg and in Karlsruhe, and then followed that up with a week down in Austria doing some snowboarding and snowshoeing.

...and a good number of other hikes, adventures, and other stuff around the area. Tons of great conversations, laughs, deep talks, and close times. But due to the nature of both of our situations, slowly we had to keep approaching some deep topics that touched on some long term implications.

As I mentioned, Theresa was a going through teacher certification. In Germany, it's a pretty rigorous process to become a teacher, which culminates in essentially a 2-year student teaching program, and once you successfully complete that you apply for jobs within the Bundesland (state/county) you want to teach in, and then begin your career. Theresa was toying with her prospects and was unsure where things were going to take her.

Pair that with my situation of not knowing where my life is veering off towards, that made for some tough conversations. Despite the strong bond that'd grown between us, it was a shit-or-get-off-the-pot kinda situation that we'd arrived at, and things got difficult. What it boiled down to was that if we were going to stay together, it would essentially mean that I'd have to be willing to live in Germany my whole life. She was not open to moving abroad, let alone outside of a 3-hr radius from her hometown. No one can fault her for that, she's a family person and that's something I admire. But that put me in quite the pickle I had to really try and work through.

As someone who struggles with big decisions, how the fuck do I work out a decision like that? It initially started out with what do I want to do with my life, and now would I be willing to never move back to my home country? Not an easy situation. I did my best to hash it out on my own and with the many friends I've got, but I had to see a therapist to work through my ideas. One of the results out of that was a big Pros/Cons list I had to produce regarding living in both the US and in Germany to help try and tackle some of the many questions occupying my head.

Well, in the interest of brevity and the fact that the true deliberations are better discussed over a beer, eventually it came down to me answering that question - could I see myself living in Germany for always? - with a no. And in turn, that put the end spell of our relationship.

Needless to say, fuck... Goddamnit. Fucking hell.

Finally, someone who's into me and I'm into them, a relationship that matches well, we're happy, we fit well together, and then life moves in a direction opposite of us which leads to a breakup. Granted, there were some aspects from my point of view that were still outstanding for me to think about, but overall, life came at us quickly and pushed things to a T. Since I wasn't able to say I'd be willing to live in Germany forever, we called it a day.

Obviously this change has sucked. It has been a tough adjustment flying solo again. Pair that with the heavy unsureness I've been lugging around regarding my future, and it's been touch and go every now and then. Overall, I'm getting through it fairly well, but being single again is a bummer.

I miss Theresa, she's an awesome woman. But now it's back to just me and we'll see what life brings next. It's no lie that having a strong relationship in my life is something very important to me. Something that I dearly seek to have and build and maintain in my life. I had that with her and now it's gone, now I'm back at square one. We'll see what happens next...

Now that that heavy, hard, emotional, and big topic is out of the way, here's what else has happened to me since mid-2022. Quite a bit to catch up on.

The Wheels on my Bikes go Round and Round

Through thick and thin, good times and bad, my bikes are things that always keep me moving and sane. Fresh air, nature, adrenaline, or just getting from A to B. Bikes are life.

In the last year I've been doing well at staying constantly in motion with both my new Madonna and trusty Honzo. Some trips around the Rhein area in summer with the great weather and great bike paths, and a good number of times out in the dirt with my MTB buddies over here shredding whenever and wherever we could.

In the middle of summer, to the pure delight of all in the area, I was even graced with a visit by the honorable, esteemable, and unmatchable Friar Gnarthaller himself!!! Collette was over for a business trip, and Colin was able to pop along for the ride. One fine work day I took off early and we headed up to Heidelberg to do some shredding. What a fucking blast! His mustache and riding game was strong (as always), and Matze was even able to join along for the ride. What a treat!!!

Due to some night testing for my automated high-beam feature, for some reason in the middle of July, I had a couple free mornings before I had to go into work late. To utilize one of them, I took my Madonna on down to Sasbachwalden and did a big pedal all the way up to the top of the Hornisgrinde. A great view on a great day made the pedal up worth it. But the Rumpelstiltzken trail wasn't all that great there from the top top on down. Thankfully the rest of the trails were, and that was one kick-ass way to start a work day.

A lot of the riding has taken place up in Heidelberg with the walking-Wikipedia that is my awesome buddy Franz. It's a great place to ride and always with great people (including his awesome wife Steph!!!) to ride with! Well, just had to round this section out with Franz nomming on some muffins from his hip-pack.

Bumming around in Brum (Birmingham)

Slowly but surely the world has opened up since the initial couple onslaught years of COVID. Since I'm over here in Europe in a different world, I knew I needed to get back into gear and start taking full advantage of that! That's been a slow build, but one way I've done that was through a quick weekend trip up to Birmingham, UK.

One of Zack's great friends, Luke, was living up in Brum as his fiancé was working for the Commonwealth Games. Not wanting to let the short distance go to waste, despite an initially canceled flight, I made my way up to the UK for a weekend with Luke! Super awesome to be able to see him and hang out!

Once I landed I found the train, headed into town, and met up with Luke! He lived pretty close to the station, so we went and threw my bag in their apartment and then we hit the town walking. Apparently Brum has the reputation of being one of the worst cities in the UK, but with it all decked out in stuff for the Commonwealth Games, I didn't find it all that bad. Lots to see and check out, so we meandered our way through town.

Jelley, Luke's fiancé, was working as an organizer for the Commonwealth Games. I'd never thought about that as a job, but that's what she studied, and was all in deep with the planning and prep for the tournament. Despite the chaos and lack of sleep, we were able to pop over to the Games headquarters and say hi amidst one of her coffee breaks!

That afternoon, we jumped into a good 'ole double decker bus and headed out to a meetup event Luke discovered. He was still pretty new in town, so he was being really proactive in finding things to do. The trip took us a bit out of town and over to a sweet outdoor bar place. Good music, some killer Jamaican food, some cold drinks, and even got to watch some lawn bowling as we sat around and chatted with some folks.

One method Luke was using to get to learn Birmingham was a thing they had going called Key to the City. Essentially a promo-program that set up a ton of scavenger hunts all around town to get to know certain areas, landmarks, buildings, or who-knows-what. In our wandering, we ended up going to a couple of them in different parts of town, including one at a football stadium, one in a shopping mall, and one at an old postage house in a big park. Fun exploration all around.

It was a quick weekend, but full of really great discussions, chats, adventures, walking, discoveries, and time to get to know Luke. Super fucking cool dude. To back up a little bit, although Jelley was there to work for the Commonwealth Games, they were on an open-ended world adventure that had been going on for a good year with no firm end in sight. Once the games were over, their adventure was set to continue, and through the chats about adventures and summer plans, I'd been invited to join along for one of them! More to come on that later :-)

But soon enough, the weekend was over and I was back on the plane headed towards Germany. Great to see and hang out with Luke in the UK!!!

Tour de Vogel - Third Time's the Charm

Tradition is tradition. Therefore, since summer was around, it was time for the third edition of the Tour de Vogel. Who can say no to some bikes on a beautiful day full of beer? No one. That's who.

This year, along with Micha and Christoph, Micha's neighbor Stephan was along for the ride. As per usual, we geared up with snacks and goodies and good vibes, but got our pedal on after work one fine August evening. After pedaling from Work to Mischa's house, we polished off an appetizer beer, then hit the ground pedaling.

In comparison to years past, and likely essentially due to the fact that it was a post-workday ride rather than a full day to roll between stops, our journey was a bit shortened. From Micha's place we rolled south down to the Seegugger for a quick drink then the Tour de Vogel started. First Ettlingen, then Durach, and finally in Karlsruhe.

Another Tour de Vogel in the books. Nothing like great bikes, fun people, and ok beer.

Peaks of the Balkans

As I mentioned earlier, while up in the UK, Luke had invited me along on part of their worldwide adventure. After Jelley wrapped up her work responsibilities in Birmingham, they were back on the move, and headed down to the Balkans. They'd booked a 9-day trek through Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro, and things worked out that I was able to tag along for the ride!

Since this was a little bigger and to a new foreign land/area, I went for consistency's sake with a traditional post about this trip. To enjoy it, head on over to my other post here: Peaks of the Balkans.

Adventures with Mommy!!!

Only a day or two after I'd landed back from Montenegro I was fit and prepped for a monumental visit. After Zack visited me the previous winter to be my first visitor out of the USofA since my moving to Germany, I was ready to welcome my dear, loving, wonderful, and amazing Mommy to town!!! She'd saved up vacation and splurged her way over to Europe and was ready to come see me in my world, and I was stoked to see her on this continent!!!

I'd worked it out that she'd jump on a train after landing in Frankfurt and make her way down to Karlsruhe with the Deutsche Bahn. Risky move for anyone with Deutsche Bahn's utter uselessness, but I figured I'd give her that experience. Well, that was all just a ruse, because instead I took off work early and made my way with an ICE up to Frankfurt Airport to surprise her when she got off the plane!!!

Going back to Frankfurt is always a walk down memory lane for me. That was where my CBYX Year really started, and that memory of standing out at the buses in the early morning sunlight with the rest of the crew will always take me back. Well I walked over that lovely bus loading zone to the arrivals area and had a bit of a wait, but after long last, my dear Mommy made it out and was officially in Germany!!! After some hugs we grabbed her stuff, snagged some snacks, and were back on a train headed to Karlsruhe.

Bummer portion out of the way to start. No family time is ever present without some strife, argument, and bummer vibes. That's always a bummer and annoying, but that's life and all about being a part of my family as we've come to experience. Mommy and I both failed on some points of communication coming into the trip, and that resulted in some spats throughout. Unfortunately that's commonplace, but no matter what happens, my Mommy is my Mommy, I'm me, and we'll always work through it and come out positive the other end. I love you Mommy :-)

Unfortunately for the rest of the week she arrived I was still on the clock. But that gave her the chance to do a little exploring around the town and the Rhein valley on her own. That led to her taking the bike and riding around Karlsruhe, jumping on a train and exploring Freiburg and Baden-Baden, and some more adventures in the area. She's a HUGE fan of bakeries (in the US what we call danishes, and in Germany essentially anything sweet you can find in a bakery), so she made sure to get her fill (or at least try) on some of those good German sweets she knew from her childhood.

A couple unique things that first week. After coming home from work one day I was surprised by some flowers that Mommy got me! No joke, I think that was the first time I'd ever received flowers from someone. And it's no surprise that it was my dear Mommy to be the one!

The next thing, toward the middle of the week, I had my fantasy football draft with the crew here in Karlsruhe. So we donned on our Packer gear and headed to the garden for the draft. She was welcomed with open arms to our little football crew, and it was a fun night with some grilling and eating and eventually the all-important draft. I didn't end up snagging a great team, but Mommy got in some great conversation, and through the small world we live in we found out that Tim used to live in Wisconsin as an exchange student. How cool!

For the weekend we had some adventures all planned out. Saturday was a bike tour of the area. That started off with the Karlsruhe Zoo (my first visit there, quite the cool spot), then off to Ettlingen where we got absolutely dumped on with some rain after she got to taste the best ice cream in Karlsruhe (if not Germany). Then from Ettlingen we rode all the way out to the Rhein! I was bummed because the Rheinkiosk was closed, but thankfully there was a little food truck open nearby. We snagged some beers and some bratwursts (she was in HEAVEN!) and enjoyed the passing rain storms under the big umbrellas next to the mighty river.

Sunday was a chance to dive into the life in the Pfalz through a Weinfest in Gleiszellen! Theresa was also able to join, so the three of us packed our bikes into the train and headed out to the Pfälzer Weinstrasse. Turns out my guest bike is a bit of a POS, so riding was a bit uncomfortable and annoying (sorry Mommy...), but we eventually made it to the village to a pretty dead festival. Not to just let it die, we went for a little walk arounnd the area in the hopes things would pick up later on.

Well the rain followed us again that day, but we wandered in the nearby wine fields and along the paths in and around the area. Relaxed, low key, and after the rain came through we got some more blue skies for a short time to enjoy. Eventually our wander took us back into town and by then the Weinfest was up and running, but was not up to standard Pfläzische Weinfest expectations from Theresa. We enjoyed some wine, the good vibes emanating from around the place, and some good fest food to go with it all. A few hiccups, but a great little excursion out to the wine foothills.

That following week I had off so Mommy and I could get out and adventure. She only had one thing that we absolutely, positively must do, so that for sure made it on the plan, but for the first day we went and played tourist up in Heidelberg. Every time I go up there it's for some mountain biking and to see Franz and Fam, so seeing the sights was pretty cool.

Honestly, such a cool town, and great to explore it with her! We went for a walk along the Neckar waterfront, persued the touristy part of town, then made our way up to the Heidelberger Schloss. First time there and quite a massive castle with a bunch to see. Including a really weird three-legged horse statue. Wasn't sure what the fuck was up with that thing. After the castle we did a little more walking around, but ended the day with a very hearty meal at a German restaurant, where Mommy went full in and got her heart's desire of Brats and Sauerkraut. I'd say a successful day!

The next day we did our first little road trip. The absolutely-positively-must-do thing was a bit in the middle of nowhere in the Schwabian Alb, so we opted to make that a bit of an adventure. To fill the first day, we headed to the Pumpkin Festival at the Ludwigsburg castle and wandered around the beautiful castle grounds all the while admiring the quirky and often really unique pumpkins and all the stuff people made with them. Amidst all the walking around we found time for a relaxed break with some pizza and wine on the grounds, and overall had a great time walking around the beautiful castle.

From Ludwigsburg we continued on and passed through a small town that apparently had a little lookout tower nearby. We did the little hike and enjoyed the lookout, then from there continued on to Schwäbisch Hall for a quick walkabout. Awesome little town with some beautiful architecture, and it was great to show her that beautiful spot. Although we could have, we opted not to stay there and get a little bit out of town to find a place to stay. Not sure where anymore, but we got checked in, and although the kitchen was closed, were able to snag some beers to go with a few rounds of cards to close out the night with some great conversation.

At our cozy little Gasthaus Mommy got the chance to experience a true, full German breakfast buffet. Definitely a different experience, but awesome for her to taste and have! It was a relaxing morning with wakeup and breakfast, but after all that we were back on the road and headed to Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

Definitely a touristy town, but for good reason. A beautiful little old fortress town, and a fun one for me to come back to. I'd been here with Lutz a couple years before, so to be able to walk around it with Mommy, see the many buildings and fortress walls and all that stuff, was pretty fun just going out on a relaxed stroll. We wound our way around and through town, tried a snowball (they were too dry and crumbly), and got in the full view of the beautiful little town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. But from there, it was off to the main event!!!

First, a little backstory. My dear Mommy is and has always been quite the seamstress. It's been a part of her life since childhood, and has always been at the ready to sew, mend, and hem clothing and anything else we've had that needed fixing or attention as kids. She's also spread that joy and ability to me with a delightful sewing machine of my own, but stemming from her passion for sewing is a massive collection in thimbles. I'm not where or how this collection got started, but I've absolutely contributed to it through all of my travels, being sure to whip up a thimble from wherever I go to help her track my movement through her thimble collection.

In her preparation and research for the trip, she discovered that there is a thimble museum in Creglingen deep in the Schwäbisch Alb. So in the planning for this first little adventure, that was the main goal. After Rothenburg we wound our way through the tiny valleys and landed at the Fingerhut Museum Creglingen.

This museum is so small that we had to pre-register (give them a heads up) for a tour. So we arrived at our prescribed time and although it was a little quiet to start, eventually a sweet lady came out to give us the tour. She couldn't speak any English so I was also acting as translator, but holy shit was my Mommy in absolute heaven! Honestly, an absolute delight to witness.

Needless to say, Mommy was absolutely tickled by the whole experience. The lady that gave us the tour was an absolute sweetheart and ready to share all the information she could on the history of thimbles, the history behind some of the pieces in the museum, the history behind her family, and backstory on how the museum even came to be. Those things and all the other questions that came up. Mommy was like a little kid in candy shop just getting some eyes on all of the many pieces of history behind the glass at this tiny little museum. It was very clear at the end of it, that she was one very happy camper that was able to really dive into one of her clear passions. So glad she was able to have this experience!

To round out this adventure we plodded from the museum to the town nearby for another little walkabout. We were both hitting hungry levels, so the restaurant in town was there to provide us with some good vittles to fill our stomachs. After that, it was back to Rupert and on the road back home to finish out the first little trip.

The second roadtrip adventure was a little bit longer and involved us heading south this time through the Black Forest. It was a cloudy and foggy drive down, but the first stop was the Schwarzwald Museum to see what life was like way-back-when in the black forest. I honestly had no expectations for this museum but what an awesome spot. The museum consisted primarily of 8 different homes and farms that had been moved from their original location to the museum to highlight some of the unique aspects and differences between the different regions of the Black Forest. Honestly, a really cool museum that is definitely worth a visit.

Going on just a hunch, but I think the highlight here for my mom was what came after the museum. To tank up after a bunch of walking around, we stopped off at the cafe to give her the chance to have a truly authentic Schwarzwaldkirschtorte (black forest cherry cake) experience. Luckily enough, although it was a bit touristy, it was delicious (only saying that because I've always been surprised at how critical German's can be of this cake no matter where they get it), and I think she was tickled to have some delicious cake. Or just cake in general - she's where I get my sweet tooth...

After the museum it was back on the road and heading south. The clouds were coming in and out, but on the way we had a couple stops with some great views out over the Black Forest. Quite the beautiful place for a relaxing, laid-back drive.

I'll admit, this next stop was for me, but we then headed to Titisee so I could reenact a moment way back from CBYX. I mean, you can be as adult as you want, but you gotta have a little child in you to keep the fun going. We found the sign to take some pictures by, then wandered around the town and lake. It was a bit cloudy and rainy, but we didn't let that stop us with the wandering. Rounded that out with some shawarma dinner, and then it was off to a hotel nearby to spend the night.

That next morning it was up and over the Schwarzwald heading east. Our first stop was to Donaueschingen, the source of the Donau/Danube river. This holds a place in my heart just because we had a bar on campus named the Blue Danube with dollar burgers every tuesday, but overall this is the source of a major waterway of Eastern Europe, so it was cool to see where it all starts out.

We got into town and headed to the source, and it was pretty well revered with some statues and a big reservoir around the source. From there we continued wandering around town through some parks and eventually out to a confluence of the 'Dube and another river nearby.

Continuing on the Donau theme, the next stop was a ways down the road near Immendingen. I'd come up with this spot through my few trips down to the Immendingen Test Center. Nearby the test track there's a spot where the river disappears from ground level and goes underground for a few hundred meters during the summer. I'd always wanted to check it out, but now with Mommy we had the time and space to head that way and see what it's all about. Kinda crazy, that such a massive, vital waterway to a large part of the world can just suddenly disappear and go underground for a stretch!

After that little nature walk, we jumped back in Rupert and then were hit with an absolutely gorgeous drive. The sun came out, the clouds made themselves sparse but beautiful, and we took the cruise along the northern side of the Bodensee. No joke, an absolutely beautiful drive. Vineyards on both sides of the road and cruising right above the Bodensee, it made for a beautiful drive. Definitely on the bucket list to do a wine tour via bike along that stretch.

First stop on the Bodensee was to Friedrichshafen. An awesome little harbor town right on the coast of the massive lake, and with quite a few cool things to check out. We got in and did a little walkabout, with a route including the cool tower with views over the Bodensee and over town, a walk along the harbor, a quick visit inside the Zeppelin Museum (still need to go back in there to piss off Zack), and then a nice little break with some food and drink at the little boat show going on. Definitely a cool town that is highly recommendable if you're passing through.

Next stop on the tour was off to Lindau, another spot from my trip from CBYX. A beautiful tiny harbor town again on the Bodensee, very iconic with its two towers at the entrance to the town's marina. Well this place was still as cool, quaint, and delightful as I remembered it. Mommy and I got a nice little walk around the harbor and up the cool lighthouse to see the town from above, then wandered off away from the main part of town around the shoreline to the big park on the north part of the island. Around there was a little food truck offering up some currywurst, so we dove in for dinner. That was enjoyed along the park, then we jumped back in Rupert to head to a cheap hotel somewhere close by in Austria. Once we checked in we headed down to the lobby again for a night cap and some cards before hitting the sack.

The next day it was time for a little treat, and time for me to relive a trip I made in November 2013. First stop was reverse order from then, but off to Liechtenstein. It's not common that one can say they've been to the tiny principality between Switzerland and Austria, but when you're in the neighborhood, why not? So we rolled through the tiny country, parked and wandered around what we could of the castle above Vaduz, and then continued on our journey.

Sarganz is just a stone's throw away from Vaduz, so we headed there next. A beautiful old castle on a rise above a gorgeous Swiss Mountain Valley, we pulled in and parked, and wandered up to the castle for a great view. The place was closed (not sure why), but we enjoyed the view, wandered around the grounds that we could, then took the alternative route back down to the car.

The last leg of our delightful adventure took us to the big city of Zurich. Mommy had her flight back to the US starting from there, so that allowed us to make a quick stop in the big Swiss city.

Once we rolled into town we went and checked in at the hotel, then from there took the train into the city to walk around and explore. We got lucky with an absolutely beautiful day in town, and took advantage of that as best we could.

Zurich with a great weather day is a really easy place to enjoy. Once we made it to the center of town, we walked along the river down to the lake and took a nice long break on a bench with a beautiful view over the water. We weaved our way in and out of the many small old streets along the way, then after our little siesta on the bench worked our way along the lakefront through a big park and took advantage of the beautiful day. Great place to expore with such a great Mom.

All the walking around tuckered us out, so we headed back towards the hotel but were in the mood for some food. Thankfully google pointed us in the direction of a mexican restaurant close by. Now I was skeptical with my ever-present shitty experience with mexican food in Germany, but decided this looked worth a try. Turns out it totally was. Got some killer fajitas that were legit and delicious, and we were able to enjoy some good food after a long day of exploring, and sadly enough, our last night before she flew out :'-(

The next morning was an early wake-up for her flight back to the US. We packed up our things, got checked out, and made our way over to the Zurich airport. No matter how much time we spend together, how many disputes come up, or where it is in the world, holy hell it's fucking hard to say goodbye to my Mommy. She's such an amazing woman and an immensely massive reason why not only I am the man I am today, but also how I got to where I am today.

It was a true treat to have her be able to come out and see me in my world away from the US and to show her a little bit of life in Germany. I wish she was closer and we could see each other more often to have those relaxed walks and spontaneous beers and just general time together, but being able to have her visit for a couple weeks was an absolutely awesome treat.

After I dropped her off at the airport, I hit the road and headed back north. It was early and I got to have a beautiful sunrise as I was heading home. I had to work that day, and from there it was back to the next steps of summer. Thanks for coming to visit me Mommy. Always a pleasure.

Day-Trip to the IAA

After getting home from Zurich, I had that day at home to work, and then the following day I was up early to get to the train station to catch a ride up to Hannover. Every two years there's a massive automotive industry trade show a the massive Hannover convention center. Since I work in the industrial/transportation side, we were able to consider this a work responsibility to head up there for the day. That and thanks to Germany's incredible transportation network (reliability and consistency is a whole different topic), I jumped in a train in Karlsruhe and a few hours later it dropped me off right at the convention center itself. Time to get to exploring.

In essence, this trip to the convention turned into a big field trip for me. I didn't have anything specific I went up to see, but since we were encouraged to go and check it out, why the hell not?

To start, I was very impressed by the sheer size of the convention center itself. Absolutely massive. It definitely says something that it has its own ICE train station, but the size of the whole place was definitely incredible. And to be able to hold a convention of large vehicles, it kinda has to be.

Getting into the content, there were some pretty impressive vehicles on display. Unfortunately (or at least from my department's point of view) there was a massive push and focus on electrification and E-Mobility, and not a lot (well, any) focus on Active Safety. Either way, some pretty cool prototypes and concepts hanging around to walk around and check out.

Towards the end of the day I was kinda getting tired. Since Mercedes was there, I and my colleagues headed to our "home stand" to sit back and take a load off. It was impressive to see how much money gets blown into stuff like this, and on the flip side we have to fight for SW licenses necessary to do the development work to be able to sell the damn trucks. Definitely a mismatch in financial allocations. But we hung out at the Mercedes hall for a bit, checked out the MAN booth for some beer and snacks, and then soon enough our train home was ready to go. A cool day at the big convention, and after a quick train ride I was already back home.

Baaaaaahston

Spark Notes - The Polarsteps Journey

That feeling of being home was short lived. The day after the IAA I was already back in travel mode and headed back to STR. This time, I was off to the Northeastern USA for the wedding of the BGs! Ben and Becca were getting hitched on Martha's Vineyard, and since the East Coast is a little closer than the West Coast, I jumped in a flying tube and made my way back across the pond for a short trip.

It was a pretty straightforward trip over, and once I landed I snagged my rental car, enjoyed some traffic getting the hell out of Boston, did a little shopping (hello REI and a necessary stop at Men's Warehouse), then it was dinner time. Since I don't make it back to the US all that often, food is always a priority for me. Although Mexican food is the clear cut priority, since I was on the other side of the country, I had to switch things up. For the first night back, I hit up a nearby barbecue joint to dive into some meat and greasy goodness.

That next morning, I got a bit of driving in and then hit up another hallmark of quintessential USA cuisine - the diner. The sweet-as-a-button hostess, the bottomless coffee, the retro vibe, and some damn good greasy food. Firing on all cylinders. The lady was super sweet and damn I dove into my crab-cake eggs benedict. Bwuh, love me summa dat! (A lot of this update is gonna be about food.)

My drive for the day would eventually take me across the water to Martha's Vineyard, but since I had the day to explore, I took the opportunity to wander around and explore on the drive over. I'd never been to the Northeast, so the chance to check out one of the most famous historical cities in our nation's history was something I couldn't pass up. First stop - New Bedford.

I did a little research beforehand, and one place I definitely wanted to go was the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Sounded cool as hell, so I couldn't let that go. I rolled into town a little early, so I walked around for a second and passed by a bunch of old historical sites before diving into the museum.

The Whaling Museum ended up being cool as hell. Definitely wasn't expecting such a cool spot, but was pleased this was on my radar. Some cool highlights:

• Massive whale skeletons hanging in the main foyer and throughout, a replica whale heart (MASSIVE) and a piece of Baleen.

• A bunch of artwork created from whale teeth.

• A bunch of great explanations of just how dominant and important the whaling industry was to the Northeast.

• The sheer international influence that the whaling industry had. Crazily enough, but there's a large Portugese diaspora in the NE because of whaling! Sailors would go from the NE, cut over to Europe, recruit a bunch of Portugese, and then off to the hunt. Then after the journey was over, a bunch of the sailors came back with to the NE!

No joke, this was a way cool museum. Really enjoyed learning more about this now quasi-extinct industry, and about the massive size of whales! I always find it crazy to think about how massive and open and vast the ocean is, and how these incredible creatures have that insane expanse to roam.

After my enjoyable meander through the museum, I popped into a cafe for some coffee and a snack, then went about wandering around town. Harbors and the boats at dock are always a cool sight for me, so that was a good highlight of the meander. But other highlights were some pretty cool stree art, the slowly increasing sunlight, and the mass of historical sights and plaques seemingly around every corner. It really is the case that the NE has a shitton of history compared to the West.

From New Bedford it was back on the road. I had to check-in to my hotel for the night fairly early to make sure I got to the evening wedding events. So back on the road and the next stop was the ferry over to Martha's Vineyard. I'd already booked it so it was just a matter of getting there. I arrived pretty early, so I had a little time to walk around the little harbor, and there I dove into my first venture of killer seafood - Lobster Tacos. Holymotherlovinggod were they INCREDIBLE. Inspensive as fuck, but damn I'm starving now just thinking about them.

The ferry journey was relatively short, but a beautiful ride through the straights along the flat and peaceful coast of Massachusetts and out to the island of Martha's Vineyard. A beautiful sunny day to enjoy the water and the view from the deck of the boat on the way over. It was a quick ride, then got into the hotel and checked-in.

After a bit of lounging around, I got a little schnazzed up and made my way over to the rehearsal after party! Dinner was served, but first stop was to give the BG's a big-ass hug!!! I was absolutely stoked to be able to celebrate Ben and Becca's big and awesome event, and holy hell it was great to see them!!! But along with them, I got to reconnect with a ton of friends from OSU - Alex, Alisha, Schwab, Maria, Drew, and so many others. Great to get caught up and see some great people, as always!

The party eventually migrated from a tent to a cool little basement bar. We had a great time getting caught up and shenaniganing. One cool spot from there was some artwork in the bar. The bartenders were super cool, and through the night some conversation sprouted, and then migrated to this incredible portrait collage of influencial musicians. One-of-a-kind for sure, and was an awesome highlight of some great music.

That next morning, I had a good bit of time before the wedding activities started up. So with the luxury of vacation I did my best to sleep in, but then once awake, put on my walking shoes and headed into town. Edgartown isn't a big harbor town, but quaint and gorgeous to boot!

It was an absolutely gorgeous morning for exploring. Full sunlight, blue skies, and a quaint little town right there waiting for me. I noodled my way around the harbor but before long popped into another absolutely lovely little diner for some breakfast. Once the good vibes and warm food filled me up, it was back to wandering around the harbor and the beach.

Since the wedding didn't start til mid-afternoon, I still had some time on my hands. What do I do with time on the weekends? Convert that to a nap! Back to the hotel for some shut-eye, and then after that it was time for one of my favorite Saturday activities - College Football. Nothing like that for focused attention or white noise. Utilized that great pasttime to get me through some ironing, then off to a pub for lunch before things got underway for the evening.

Before long, it was time to head out! The wedding was over on the other side of the island, so everyone got shuttled over there and holy balls what a beautiful spot. A big farm field on a bluff overlooking the water, it was an absolutely beautiful spot. Again, I was super honored to be able to celebrate Becca and Ben getting married, and what a great reception and party it was. Incredible food (oyster bar FTW!), tons of catching up with great people, an absolutely beautiful night, and a great campfire to round it all out. Here's to you BG's!!!

The party went late into the night, but then once the last shuttle was heading back to town, things wound down. It was a great day to be there for Becca and Ben. Truly happy I could be with them to celebrate.

Recovering from the party was a slow proces, but the next morning provided a grey and low-key mood to fit the bill. Nothing like it. To start, I cleaned up and checked out, then headed to a little cafe with a bunch of my OSU friends to grab some breakfast and get some last minute chats in before everyone split off. Great to see the likes of them and hear how everyone's doing! Crazy to see how everyone has kids and a house and everything. But after breakfast, the goodbyes were said and off we all went.

My ferry off the island wasn't til a bit later, so I got in a little more adventuring and people-seeing before I boated away. Way at the other end of the island was a lighthouse, so I drove over and meandered about checking out the area. Then my last stop was back to the beach near the wedding venue to see and chat with Ben and Becca outside the swarming of the wedding. They'd posted up on the beach with family as a last greeting spot for people to swing by and say hello. They're such lovely people, so a chance to talk to them with a little less going on all around was awesome.

Sadly, I wasn't able to stay and relax too long. I had a ferry to catch, so the goodbyes to my awesome friends were said and I was back on the road. It was a quick jump across the island to the harbor, and I got in a tick early so I could walk around and check out the little town. But soon enough, it was boarding time and I was back off to the mainland. Cool little visit to the relaxing island of Martha's Vineyard.

Once I landed back on the Mainland, I still had a few days to explore around Massachusetts. Since I'd never been that far Northeast in the US before, I wanted to take advantage of the time and see what I could get myself into! For this first section of the little mini-adventure I was off to explore around the horn of Cape Cod.

In the interest of brevity and eventually getting to the rest of this post, here are the highlights!

• A PIRATE Museum!!! Apparently there was a shipwreck not far off the coast from West Yarmouth, and a ton of items from that shipwrek were gathered and put in a museum. A bunch of interesting displays and some decent information on the boat and pirating as a whole, as well as some harrowing depictions of the slave trade.

• Seafoody GOODNESS. I went on a seafood binge this whole trip, and it all started with the lobster tacos and didn't finish til I got back on the plane home. So much good shit. Pretty damn expensive, and that sticker shock hit me more than I expected, but I couldn't pass up the chance to dive into some incredible seafood! And some other stuff too.

• The location of the very first transatlantic wireless telegraph station in the US! It was located within the Cape Cod National Seashore. Due to erosion, there wasn't anything left of the tower or its foundation other than a couple memorials, but the pictures of the former tower were pretty impressive!

• A really cool beach hike at the tip of the Cape out and back along the Provincetown Causeway. I'd rolled into Provincetown looking for something to do, and the lighthouse on the point of the point caught my eye. So I parked, jaunted across the giant jetty, then wandered around the beaches. I even made a whole pack of new friends, one of who followed me along my walk back to the jetty for a good long ways.

• Plymouth Rock! The rock that essentially started our country! Well, a little hyperbolic, but it's got a pretty key position of lore in the history of the US. So when I walked up and saw just a little rock in this weirdly grandiose structure, I was a little underwhelmed.

• Another awesome big statue. The National Monument to the Forefathers was peeking out above the trees as I was walking along the Plymouth marina, so naturally I had to pop over. Quite the cool monument there built in 1889 dedicated to the pilgrims that first came over to the Americas. One weird detail about it - the female figures had solid eyes, whereas the male figures had cutouts to highlight the irises in the eye. Weird.

• Some general spelunking, wandering, and exploring around some pretty cool coastal towns. Chatham's Coast Guard hut, Provincetown's delightful little main town area (bummer the big tower was closed), and Plymouth's nice little harbor area all provided some great little places to walk around and admire the vibe of the coastal NE.

• What is a visit to the US without a visit to the most holy of outdoor stores?

Although my jaunt around the Cape was a quick one, it was a really cool dive into a pretty unique part of the country. Sea all around, a low key vibe, and a very pretty place to be. But from the Cape, it was time to dive into another very well-known part of the Northeast - the big city of Baaaahston. (Boston, for those that can't speak Bostonese).

Boston has always been a place I've wanted to visit, and I was stoked to be able to dive in and see what this big town has to offer! Before I went into downtown and before checking into my hostel, I rolled over to the south part of town to check out JFK's Presidential Library. It was located on/near the UMass Boston campus, and was quite the beautiful spot on a beautiful day.

The library itself was massive and quite impressive. I didn't go wander through the books but rather went through the JFK exhibit and was impressed by the collection of items related to his presidency and person. From there, I went and took a walk along the water and got to marvel Boston proper from across the way.

That was a nice little excursion that then took me right to my hostel to check-in. Not common to have a hostel in the US, but I found one on the outskirts of town, checked in, and then jumped on the train to a big green monster. Luckily enough, the Red Sox had a home series and I got to go check out a game at Fenway Park!

Man, a US city with pretty decent public transportation is such a gem. Boston does a pretty damn good job with it, and using the system I was able to make it over to the park super smoothly. Once there, I did a bit of walking around Fenway and the fanfare that comes with it. Pretty iconic piece of baseball and Americana right in a massive metropolis, so I had to take it in.

Not wanting to miss out on whatever pre-game action could come, I scanned my ticket and made my way into the park. Pretty cool spot there. It was a beautiful evening to enjoy a baseball game (seems oxymoronic, but I was at the stadium so it counts). There was still plenty of time til the first pitch, so I walked around the whole park to check things out.

The game was pretty ok, Boston eventually won. But after the sun went down it got super cold, and I got a little tired. Not wanting to leave the game early, I had to dive into another Boston staple to keep me up and see it to the end. But once the game was over, it was back onto the train and back to get some sleep.

The next full day was an adventure day. Just me walking and moving around exploring Boston, so let's go! First things first though was breakfast. And for those plans I headed over to MIT to meet up with one of Zack's best buddies - Jackson! He's doing his PhD in Architecture, and I was able to squeeze in some time with him to grab some food and catch up. Beforehand, I walked along the Charles River with a bunch of rowers in action, a bit around MIT's campus (kinda new, industrial, not all that unique), got my paper's for my first day of school, and then rolled through campus to meet up with Jackson at a killer Lebanese place for some awesome breakfast.

From the MIT area I rode the metro on over to old historic Boston for a walk along some of America's fabled tales and places. Here, similar to most walkabouts, I didn't really have a true aim, so I let the wandering begin. Here were the highlights:

• A pretty trendy waterfront area with a few parks and sports courts and walking/biking paths

• HOLY CANOLI. Seriously, this shit was fantastic.

• A bunch of really historic places like Paul Revere's house, some old churches, and a few other things along the historic brick pathway connection a whole load of American Heritage.

• Nothing like a good harbor and some waterways to make a town that much better.

• There used to be a massive expressway over the major part of downtown. But in the '90s and '00s they dug a tunnel to replace the old elevated interstate, and in its place put in an awesome park through a bunch of skyscrapers. A really relaxing place to walk and explore and not be counfounded by massive bridges and traffic overhead.

• Tons of cool buildings, with a really neat mix between old and new.

At some point I'd wandered my way through the good part of downtown, and found myself over at the Boston Common. It's a big greenspace right in the middle of downtown with a good bit of history and a good few places to get out and relax. I was a bit tired around mid-afternoon, so I did my standard nappy-time to catch some rest.

Rested and re-couped, the walking continued westward towards some neighborhoods just outside of downtown. Over on that side I also ran into the Boston Public Library so I popped in and got to check out that impressive building and city resource.

Back in the fresh air I was now on the opposite side of the Charles River from MIT. It was late afternoon with some great lighting and lots of activity all around. Enjoying the day and taking it easy, I strolled along the river for a while back towards the center of town.

As evening came around, I was hunger but not sure what to do. I'd wandered back to the center of town and my lack of conviction on where to go led me to the Quincy Market. Luckily enough there was a big food market inside so I just perused until something hit my interest. Bam, Lobster Mac & Cheese. Smashed that good stuff back, did a little more walking around once the sun went down, but then was back to the hostel to hit the sack.

Wake up, check out, and hit the road. Time for a travel day. But my flight out was not til later, so I still had the morning to do something. Since I'd already checked out MIT's campus, I motored over to Cambridge to check out Harvard's campus with a very, very important first stop - Bagel and Schmear.

Harvard's campus definitely had a more intimiate, homely, welcoming vibe. Nothing but old brick buildings with green spaces and trees for the brainiacs of the university to scuttle from lecture to lecture. I perused and wandered around to kinda kill time until the Museum of Natural History opened up.

I'd heard that this museum had a lot of cool stuff to check out, and holy shit is that the truth! Fossils and specimens and info and everything galore! I had a bit of a time crunch with my flight which was a bummer, because I easily could have spent all day there. But seriously, tons of highlights. Triceratops fossils! Moose Antlers! Whale skeletons! A Dodo Bird! Seriously, this place was awesome.

With the countdown to my flight running down, I headed out and did a little more walking around Cambridge. Cool little college suburb, and for some reason, a college suburb with wild turkeys running around. No joke.

Before leaving campus I had to dive into the culinary side of life. Trying to take advantage of the history of the area, I headed over to Bartley's Burgers for a kick ass burger. Seriously, damn good stuff.

To wrap things up, there's no way I could conclude a visit to the US without one last staple. Costco.

It was one helluva a quick week and quick adventure, but a pleasure to be able to celebrate Ben and Becca - those two absolutely awesome people and their marriage! Then to be able to put together a mini-road trip around the Cape and explore Boston gave me a good taste of a new part of my home country. But as with all trips, I had to had back to the airport and catch an aluminum tube back to Europe. A wonderful week, but soon enough it was back to the daily life in Karlsruhe.

Biking (with a splash of Work) through the Fall

Once my active summer season was over, it was back to work. A few weekend adventures here and there, but soon enough I was headed up to Papenburg with a few colleagues for a week of testing. We had one guy in from Portland, so I got to join along and help out where I could. Time to roll for the 8 hour drive north.

The week up in Papenburg went pretty well. They've got a pretty sweet test track up there with a 10-ish mile long loop, so we can do a lot of pretty decent testing on that and the giant skid pad/dynamics area. That was my first time up there, and it was a pretty great spot.

In short, the highlights for the week were my hilarious coworker Thomas Unser, popping over to the Netherlands one evening to smuggle in some craft beer and sprinkles, and then swinging by the Haribo factory store on the way home to stock oup on a shitton of gummies. Aaron swiped a mystery box to take home to his kids, and I can only imagine the sugar rush that came with that!

After Papenburg (and based off of typing this up by purely looking at my pictures from back then because my memory is shit), it was just a bunch of biking. Some biking in/near Karlsruhe...

Biking down in Lac Blanc...

Biking in the Pfalz with a big crew on a big long day...

Biking back down in Finale Ligure, this time without coming home with a broken nose. Did end up snapping my chain at some point, having to sit on the floor of the shuttle bus, nomming out on some more incredible food, and have another general kick-ass time with my crew...

Then rounding things out with another venture out to the Pfalz with Stefan followed by some Packers Football and Real Chili. That's the true sign of Fall right there...

Work and Play in España

Spark Notes - The Polarsteps Journey

After that great fall filled with great weather and great biking, and some other small adventures here and there, work put me in a truck with a couple colleagues to deliver a couple test vehicles to a company down in Spain. It was a pretty straightforward task - take two trucks down and drop them off at a test track. But rather than just taking the cut-and-dry version of it, I was able to squeeze out a delayed flight back so I could stay down there and enjoy Barcelona a little bit. Oh hell yeah :-)

The drive down went by smoothly enough. Only one hiccup was a loose wire contact in an ECU that we found in the middle of France. To fix it we had to pull into the nearest Mercedes-Benz dealer and see if they could help us. They could, which helped us make it all the way down, but we had to redo the fix through some of Frank's old PassCar colleagues once we arrived in Idiada.

But with that one hiccup, there were some other highlights. Such as a cheese vending machine at a rest stop hotel. Then right at the border of Spain and France we stayed at a massive travel complex that had a few big stores. I stocked up on some chorizo, and then we went and got some sushi and Japanese food for dinner.

Soon enough we'd delivered the trucks to the test track, my two colleagues were dropped off at the airport, and I had a few days to kick around Barcelona. I didn't take vacation, so there was going to have to be some work involved, but man was I stoked to utilize the work trip for a chance to explore a new city.

To get situated, I first got to my hostel to check in and throw my things down. Since I had a few days in town ahead of me, I was ready to explore and enjoy what I could. When people here the name Barcelona, there's obviously a big soccer team that comes to mind. Well unfortunately FCB was not playing at home over that weekend, but Barcelona's such a big town that there are multiple teams in La Liga (Spain's First League), and Espanyol had a game that night! Hell yeah I was going. First was some cheap grocery store grub then I was on the train headed to the stadium!

I'm always down for sports. Live sports kick ass, and being able to check them out in a new country and culture is always fun. The stadium was pretty empty that night, and I Espanyol lost 1-0, but since it was empty I upgraded to some great pitch-level seats. Great way to start the Barcelona Adventure.

I was able to hang out in Barcelona from a Wednesday evening through to Sunday midday. Honestly, what an awesome town. Tons to do, super vibrant and colorful, GREEAAAAAT food and good beer, sun and water and good vibes, just a beautiful place to be. Through my few days, here are the highlights:

• Living the millenial life of posting up at a cafe and doing work for a few hours. I found the best one too - Gringa - killer Mexican breakfast foods to nom on some Chilaquiles while diong through some data analysis.

• In general, killer food and beer. Seriously, Tapas Culture is such an awesome thing.

• Ok, last culinary one. At the hostel I stayed at they bring someone in twice a week to cook Paella for those interested. Funnily enough it was a dude named Bobby from Alabama, but he's been living in Spain for over a decade and knows his shit. We got the original Paella variant (with the cheap ingredients, not the seafood one that it's become), and holy hell was that shit delicious!!!

Let the Commentary Begin...

(At least there would be some if I'd have gotten to it a couple years ago when it was still timely...)

Dates Covered in Post: June 23rd, 2022 - November 13th, 2022
Original Publish Date: January 29th, 2025