Back from the Ashes

Here it is Derby Day and you can see we have already run the race and Zmo won by a nose. It was a wonderful trip and we really enjoyed spending the time with family and seeing a new world. It was an eventful trip from the start. We were an hour late leaving Wenatchee and were the last two seated on the plane to Amsterdam. The plane pulled out about five minutes after we sat down. During our second night in Stuttgart, they had an electrical fire in the elevator area. We had to go to the outside. What a Chinese fire drill. Imagine waking out of a deep sleep and going outside to hear only German. We had no idea what was going on. Jim kept us up to date. We finally got back into the apartment about 2 AM. The problem caused no phone or Internet from 4/8 to 4/23. We were in the dark about what was going on in to outside world. Annette and I traveled by train to Munich on the 14th for three days. When we got back, Jim said that maybe we would be staying longer. He was right. We got an extra five days in Stuttgart and the weather was wonderful. In the high 60's or low 70's each day. We enjoyed the extra time, but I'm sure that the household is more settled since we've gone. The top right picture is the apartment complex where Jim and Kathleen live. It was built in the early 1970's. They live on the fourth floor of the middle building. The building on the right has a top floor restaurant. We ate there one night. Very good food and you can see a long ways. The shoulder is continuing to improve and I am playing golf regularly. Annette has two quilts to finish for customers, so we are keeping busy. I will add more later.