Inspired!

After a fabulous celebration with family and friends marking my mom's 75th birthday and Bat Mitzvah, we left Florida for Germany on the 2nd of December.


Practically the minute we landed in Hamburg - or the minute we got our first beer and donner kabab, which wasn't too much later - I told Matthias how I was already inspired to write in the blog.  We realized it was five years almost exactly to the day since we left Germany and so much had happened.  When we left, my father seemed healthy, and we were blissfully unaware about what was to come.  Living in Portland was no more than a crazy idea, a stab in the dark, and we had no idea how great it would be and how we'd grow to love it there.   Five years on, we wondered how much Europe - or we - had changed since we were last there.  Turned out, at least as far as we could tell, Germany hadn't changed much.  Of course, we got older - for example I'm now an old woman complaining about bad knees, deteriorating vision and a freaky skin condition, all of which didn't exist five years earlier.  But being in Germany brought us right back.  It was non-stop fun and amazing food!

First Donner Kebap and beer in Deutschland!  MMMMmmmm!

We arrived in Hamburg around mid-day, which gave us  enough time to grab lunch (above) take a quick nap (did I mention we're old now?) and hit the Reeperbahn in the evening.  The Reeperbahn is a street in the St. Pauli neighborhood that's famous throughout Europe as a red-light district.  I would describe it as a family-friendly red light district - and it was there that we hit our first Christmas market.  We didn't go into the "stripper tent" with its "North Pole Dancing", but enjoyed gluhwein and grunkohl and more. (for those in the know, please excuse the fact that I'm not using umlauts - too tricky on my little tablet.)

Grunkohl at the St. Pauli/Hamburg Christmas Market

Saying goodbye to the coolest Christmas Market in "Santa Pauli"

After a quick evening in Hamburg, we headed to Hannover where we visited Katja and got to see Ines, her mom, and meet the two new men in her life - her husband Timm and her adorable two-year-old son, Paul.  Despite the changes in her life, we were delighted to find that Katja hadn't changed a bit, and we had a blast touring through Hannover, enjoying the Christmas markets there, and solving the worlds problems over beer and gluhwein.  We promised to visit more often and we will!

Hannover Christmas Market with Katja

Probably after the second or third gluhwein

Breakfast with Katja, Paul and Timm (not pictured). Did I forget to mention how fabulous the breakfasts were?

Next stop was Magdeburg and a lovely visit with Matthias' parents.  Magdeburg had the best Christmas market of all so we took full advantage.  I also got to try out Achim's fantastic electric bike - can't wait to get one.  And, as if we didn't have enough good food to eat, Birgitt made us a wonderful roast duck dinner.  Mmmmm!

Eating and drinking at the Christmas market in Magdeburg

Last stop in Germany was Berlin - still one of our favorite places in the world.  We stayed in one the neighborhoods we once lived in and made sure to visit some old haunts, see the new Schloss (palace) in progress, and of course continue the eating frenzy.  We couldn't even pass up a gluhwein at the Alexanderplatz Christmas market, although we swore we had had enough.  A few donner kebaps, a few Schultheiss beers and one Schweinshaxe (each) later, we set off for Asia.

Alexanderplatz Christmas market

Construction of the new palace in progress

At one of our favorite Eck Kneipe (corner bar)

Schweinshaxe!

Because our flight to Bangkok (the cheapest one I found that didn't have a stopover in Ukraine) had a stopover in Beijing, we made use of the 72-hour visa-free travel deal and spent two nights there. Fortunately, we made it there right in between the two great smog alerts and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary (for China).  It was cold, but not as cold as we feared.  So, what did we do there?  More eating, of course, walking through the hutongs and markets, and a little bit of sightseeing that involved dragging Matthias out to see an interesting Taoist temple. The food was good and the  hutongs (old, or old-style-but rennovated neighborhoods) were fun!  Probably my most memorable experience was using one of the public toilets when we were out to dinner (most places in the hutongs didn't have their own bathrooms).  It was a row of squat toilets without doors (or real walls in between) so I could easily see the video the woman next to me was watching on her smartphone as she squatted there!  Would have stayed longer but had to rush back or Matthias would have polished off the delicious food on the table! :-)

Blue sky in Beijing! 

Best Beijing Meal!

Funky statues at the Dongyue Temple

We landed in Bangkok with a few extra kilos but were able to shed some of the winter clothes we brought with us, so it may have evened out.  Matthias did insist on a diet of sorts for the first couple days (Seriously, Thailand is no place for a diet!) but he has backed off a bit and settled for "normal-to-light eating" (as opposed to feasting).  We bypassed Bangkok and started heading north, making our way toward Chiang Rai province where we plan to do another motorbike tour.  That'll be a topic for the next post.

My first meal in Thailand was pre-packaged curry on the train - and it was delicious!

View from the basketball court in Lopbury, our first stop in Thailand

First "bike" ride outside Lopburi - more to come!

Back into the frying pan

Time to wrap up the X-America trip journal. (To start at the beginning of the trip - click here.) We've been in Florida for a few weeks already, but I'm just getting around to writing/posting this.  The trailer is tucked away in storage for the winter and we're planning our next steps.  But there's a little bit left to the story of how we got here.

Roadside BBQ joint in West Memphis

I left off the last time in Memphis.  After our roadside bbq lunch, we crossed the Mississippi and got a campsite at T.O. Fuller State Park just a few miles from Beale Street.  Of course I figured out how we could catch a bus to go downtown for a fun night out.  It worked - even better than I expected when the park ranger felt sorry for us walking down the street (a street without a sidewalk) on the way to the bus stop and gave us a ride to our connection.  Had lots of fun on Beale Street hopping from bar to bar and sampling lots of ribs and beer. And we marveled at the convenience of taking Uber back to the campsite - it was a first for the driver as well.

Friendly park ranger and our ride to the bus stop!

Our first Beale Street Beer stop - with live music, of course

Matthias on the Mississippi

We didn't have any particular destinations in mind for the rest of trip, but we did happen upon some fairly interesting places.  Our nextcampsite in Alabama was lovely (and lonely - we were the only ones there on that Halloween night) in mountains I never knew existed in Alabama, close to the Georgia border.  Then, as if on cue,  the moment we got into Florida,  it became unbearably hot and sticky.  We had some trouble finding the national forest campground I mapped out for us and I almost wish we hadn't.  The campground itself was not bad - next to a slow river - and although we were used to sites without electricity (we rarely plugged in at all), we REALLY wished we had access to A/C.  Matthias was annoyed by the campers (he dubbed "swamp people") who arrived before us (big family with rickety RV) and I was taken aback by the snake in the grass the host nearly stepped on while showing us where to park.   Despite the heat, once we settled in we made a fire (gotta have a fire!) and were almost starting to enjoy it when Matthias spotted a coral snake (poisonous!) which sent us running into the sweaty trailer.  It was a tough night for sleeping.

Alabama Campsite - just us and the leaves

Wild Florida Scenery - by the Suwanee River

Yes, Florida is hot...and weird.  But things  improved the next day - our last day on the road.  We had a nice drive along the coast and decided to live large at a state park campsite with full hookup. And, we enjoyed our A/C for just the second time ever.  We laughed about how we only used the air conditioning twice - on the first night in Leavenworth, Washington and the last night at Manatee Springs, Florida.  For the whole rest of the time we were cursing the fact that we were carrying around the A/C unit all those miles.

Upon arrival in Sarasota - PARTY TIME!

So here we are in Sarasota, waiting for my mom's big event - Bat Mitzvah and 75th Birthday party this weekend!  Looking forward to seeing the family and celebrating the milestone.  Then really looking forward to the next stage - Germany and Thailand/Cambodia!

Links to all X-America Trip photos
Part I
Part II

What's the matter with Kansas?

We're driving through Arkansas now on the way to Memphis. Feels like it's been a long time since the last post in Wyoming, so it seems time for an update. Leaving Wyoming we headed to the Black Hills of South Dakota. After visiting Devils Tower, Deadwood (Wild Bill Hickok's grave, etc.) and the surrounding area, we veered off into North Dakota. We spent a few days in the N. Dakota badlands at Teddy Roosevelt National Park, where we stayed at a pretty state park campground with the best-looking horse camp we've ever seen. We then drove to Bismarck to see the town named after the first German chancellor, which was originally settled by many German immigrants. That also gave us the chance to visit the burial site of Sitting Bull in the Standing Rock reservation.

Pretty Horse Camp

N. Dakota Badlands

Sitting Bull Burial Site

Driving back to S. Dakota we breezed through Badlands National Park – actually bucked the breeze as we drove into seriously heavy winds. I couldn't even open the car door to get out at the scenic overlook to take a picture, so we forewent the camping there (nothing to do and campfire being out of the question and not allowed anyway).  Instead, we  headed back to the Black Hills where we found a good campsite by Sheridan Lake. Matthias gathered lots of firewood and we spent the next few days exploring the area – enjoying the the views of Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse monument and the mountains from Custer State Park – and also taking care of laundry and getting an oil change. Next, we drove through Nebraska, spending one night at a local county park campsite before entering northern Colorado. We found the one remaining National Forest campsite that was still open in the Cache La Poudre River Canyon and used that as our base to explore the area and Rocky Mountain National Park. Unfortunately, the road over the pass in the park was closed for the season, but the views from the east side were lovely nonetheless. Anyway, Matthias was pretty much over being dragged around to see more spectacular scenery....

S. Dakota Badlands - from inside the car

Bison at Wind Cave National Park/Custer State Park area 

Nebraska campsite

After a couple of days of rain, we arrived in Denver for a real trip highlight – a visit with Jennifer and Brenda. They were fantastic hosts, taking us to Red Rocks, on a couple of local hikes, out for traditional green chile (YUM!) and to experience a newer Denver tradition – a recreational pot store. I'll admit I wasn't really enthused about visiting the pot store, but it was really interesting and nice – and I'm still reeling from the idea that I can go into a store and buy something for $2.50 that will get me high for six hours. I didn't have the nerve to try it because Brenda's family came over that evening, but there may be a cookie stashed away somewhere for a rainy day...

Red Rocks

At the pot store

Two great cooks (not too many) in the kitchen

Leaving Denver was a downer, not just because we had to leave our friends and drive across Kansas (we were warned to do it quickly) but also because the first Kansas State Park was really disappointing (half closed and no place to make a fire) and the next day a rock hit and cracked our windshield. Once we crossed into Missouri, though, we found an auto glass repair shop in Joplin, which just happened to be on historic Route 66 (and that lifted my mood a bit, somehow). Since we spent a little time getting the windshield repaired, we decided to shorten the drive that day and make a stop at a state park in Branson, MO, which I kinda always wanted to see. The drive through the Ozarks was stunning (hadn't seen foliage in a while) and the park was nice. Next morning we took a quick drive through Branson (no, I didn't subject Matthias to one of the shows, though I was slightly tempted) and drove through the Ozarks to a national forest campsite near the Arkansas border. Which brings me to where we are now. In about an hour I'm going to try my first Memphis BBQ and then tonight we're going to hit Beale Street. But that will have to be a subject for the next blog post – probably from Florida, where we should be in less than a week.

Windshield repair on Route 66!

Probably a good thing I didn't subject Matthias to this!

Click here for next blog post - back into the frying pan

Lost (and found) in America

We're driving across the middle of Montana. Big open sky that makes you feel small – in a good way.  

Feeling small under the big sky at Hungry Horse

For the recap:

From Idaho, we crossed the continental divide and descended into Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We had a beautiful campground on Lower Slide Lake in the national forest outside Grand Teton NP. Stayed there a few days while we took care of business in town (laundry, etc.) and visited the national park. Then we drove through Grand Teton NP to another remote campsite (had to cross a small brook to get there) right outside Yellowstone NP. Spent a couple of days there visiting the park and then emerged on the north side in Montana. We then decided that Glacier country would be worth a visit after all, and headed a few hundred miles further north. It was! Stayed over a week at a national forest campsite on Hungry Horse Reservoir. From there, we visited Flathead Lake, Whitefish and Kallispell, and the west side of Glacier NP. Meanwhile, Matthias caught a fish and we found mushrooms – both were delicious! And Matthias was also delighted to find enough firewood to make big fires for us each night.

Grand Teton from the road to our campsite

When in Montana...

Leaving Hungry Horse, we headed over the Marias Pass (the Contential Divide once again) to the Glacier NP campsite at Two Medicine Lake. Being the end of the season, it wasn't too crowded, so it was a great base for exploring the east side of the park, and visiting the Blackfeet Reservation.

Two Medicine, Glacier NP

Blackfeet Reservation

Lost:

We are enjoying life in the travel trailer – it's really not roughing it at all – with all the conveniences of a heater, stove, fridge, bathroom and a comfy bed. But I am literally (make that figuratively) LOST without internet connectivity! Okay, I suppose it's a good exercise trying to live without it (sort of like that crazy month I gave up alcohol), but it is seriously annoying. We do get wifi when we're in towns or doing laundry, but by that time I've got so much on my list (bills, travel planning, backing up photos, etc.) that I don't get to do the fun stuff. Luckily, I can download email to read later – but who's using email anymore? And what am I missing on Facebook and Instagram?? Who's changed their status to engaged, married or single, had a birthday or changed their profile photo?? Who's had a delicious-looking meal and whose kid did something cute? I may not post (hardly ever) or “like” things too much – but I was always looking! I can't even post a photo on Instagram without updating the app (and I never have the time with my brief wifi encounters). Note to my two or three followers – please forgive me! On the bright side, I haven't heard or read anything about the presidential campaign in over two weeks. Is what's-his-name still running? Ha, ha – I don't care!

New use for old lunch bag - Mushrooms!

Found:

Nature! So far we've seen whales, salmon, deer, elk, pronghorns, bison (galore), mountain goats and MOOSE! Matthias is still seeking the elusive bear, and though one of our campsite hosts showed pictures of a black bear that came through our campsite while we were there, we haven't witnessed any.

Campsite visitor

Country Music! Even though we have a Sirius radio trial that's great when there's no local signal, I'm so enjoying discovering country music on the local radio stations. Songs have super-fun topics like being drunk on a plane or how money ca
n't buy everything (but it can buy me a boat)! And the songs are seriously catchy and have me singing along in the car (poor Matthias)!

View from the trailer at sunrise

The Wire!! One of the best shows EVER! I've got through season four (please tell me there's at least another or two!) and have been watching one episode or so a night. Everyone needs to see this, and soon – the tech is dated as the series is more than ten years old – but the drama is timeless.

Late-breaking wifi-enabled update:  We just stopped in Buffalo, Wyoming for our night out. I had my sights on Sheridan, because Linda and I stopped there many years ago as there was a free campsite in the middle of town. Well, the free campsite is no more, so Matthias and I headed down the highway a few more miles, found a campsite in Buffalo (not free) and headed out for our very belated anniversary outing (way overdue – we haven't been out since we left Portland!) And we weren't disappointed. Spoke with locals, heard some down home jams, and ate decent food. Sweet.

Bank of Buffalo

Occidental Hotel and Saloon 

And now I'm enjoying wifi at our campsite. Now I've got to read a month's worth of Facebook feeds (by the way – the radio just reported, or made fun of, the fact that FB was down the other day. Ha!!)

Link to next post - What's the Matter with Kansas