The Glockenspiel

These pictures were taken in Munich and this is the famous Glockenspiel. If you have been there you know what a great experience it is to watch as the knights challenge each other in a joust that unseats the loser. It was raining, still a great sight. The entire process takes about ten to twelve minutes. It doesn't run every hour, just 11 AM, 12 N and 5 PM. The crowd gathers to watch. If you haven't seen the glockenspiel, go to Google and write in glockenspiel. Select the one from Munich and you will have the opportunity to watch as many people have placed this viewing online. The weather is finally warming up here. Wore shorts for the first time this year on Friday. Golfing is getting better. I very happy with how the shoulder is doing, but it will be quite before the strength is back. We had a Mother's Day Brunch with Cindy in Wenatchee. Went to a Bed and Breakfast called The Wild Ivy. The owners are friends of Cindy. He used to be a chef in California. Wow what a meal. We dined on the patio in the sunshine and thoroughly enjoy the food and the champagne. Talked to Kathleen yesterday morning. They had been to the Wilhelma Zoo and Bier Garten as it was evening over there.

These are two pictures from Heidelberg. The one on the left is a bridge over the Neckar River. There is a lock just above this bridge. The picture on the right is the local castle of Heidelberg. We spent the day there our first weekend. It is truly amazing to see the buildings that were built before the USA was even thought about. There is a high water mark on the bridge dating back to 1539. It was the highest mark of all. That must have been a wet year. I know that there is much more to see, so we'll probably have to go back.

The Food Was Good Too!

I asked Jim when we were going to have snitzel and he said how about tomorrow. We went to a little hole in the wall in Stuttgart called the XXL Snitzel Paradise. As you can see from the picture the servings were ridiculous. What you can't see is about 5 or 6 potatoes cut up and cooked with onions and gravy under the two snitzels on my plate. Jims's had mushrooms and gravy. Annette's was just the snitzel and the salad bar. There was a small guy at the table next to us that finished one of these. The three of us had about four big pieces left and we took the potatoes home for hash browns the next day. The two guys behind us looked pretty stuffed at the point of the picture. On the right you can see that Annette enjoyed the grits also. She did eat the whole thing. She said later that it wasn't very big and the bun was thin. Oh, and the beer was good as always.

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.

Haven't posted anything in a while. My shoulder is getting better. I played five holes last Friday and five holes on Saturday with Men's Club. There is no pain when I swing, so I guess that all is going well. I am still doing physical therapy twice a week in Yakima. They say all is well, but I sure do notice the lack of strength in the shoulder. I feel it will be a long time before the strength gets back to normal. I am working daily to build that area. It gives me something to do with my time. As you can see the grass is getting green and we are having a very nice end of winter. This morning came too early with the daylight savings time change. We are having our first tournament this weekend. The Winter Best Ball. As you can see by the picture I took yesterday, the weather couldn't be better. You can also notice the trees missing on the right of the fairwayof #3. The picture on the right is the area between #4 and #5. It looks like the plantings are doing well. We are getting ready for the trip to Germany. We leave on the 6th of April. Annette can't wait. It has been snowing in Stuttgart and I sure hope it is gone by the time we get there.

Big week last week. We went to town about every day. On Wednesday the Elk were quite close to the highway and by chance we had the camera. It is such a beautiful sight to see. There were probably 250 to 300 animals. As you can see they are not concerned with the passing traffic. We also purchased a new vehicle on Wednesday. We stayed in the Korean group. This is a Hyundai Tucson. Hopefully it will be as dependable as the Kia. I see the surgeon again March 2nd. I am hoping that he will let me start hitting a few shots. I am chipping and putting now. He said that in March he would probably turn me loose. We'll see and will keep you informed. We leave for Germany on the 6th of April and return on the 20th. We are looking forward to the trip and the sightseeing. We have never been across the pond. Stuttgart has had a hard winter. There has been snow on the ground quite a while. We are hoping that Spring will come before April 6th.

The Big Catch-Up

As another beautiful day dawns in Desert Aire will try to get you all up to date with the comings and goings of the Mullen family. Thanksgiving was a little different this year. With Jim, Kathleen and Zmo in Germany we celebrated with Cindy, Dave and Maggie. Cindy did a 21 pound turkey on the Traeger. We had it in brine for a day and then smoked it for about 6 hours. There was a little bourbon in the brine. It was one of the best turkeys we have ever had. We had a chance to have it again, New Year's Eve at the neighbors and the result was the same. Since my surgery on November 4th, I have been diligently working on therapy for my shoulder. We have a therapist in Mattawa which is five miles from here. It is an easy trip as compared to Yakima or the Tri-Cities. She is very good and I really enjoy her helper, who is a 49er fan. I had an old 49er sweatshirt that I had picked up from the lost and found at the Junior High in the late 70's or early 80's. It was like new and I gave it to her and she thought it was wonderful. It is an old style and I told her if she sold it on ebay, I wanted a cut. She said it was going on the wall. As you can see by the pictures, we get to see a lot of the kids in Germany. The sled that Zmo and her buddy are on was by the garbage one morning. Jim picked it up and reconditioned it and when the snow came it worked fine. The sledding hill is very close to where they live. As you can see Santa comes to Hamburg also. He looks alot slimmer than the one we have here. The kids went to Hamburg for Christmas. Jim has relatives there. They had a great time. After Christmas they went to the Hamburg Aquarium, which looked wonderful. The picture of Zmo on the Dodge truck was taken in that area. Can you imagine an old Dodge truck in Hamburg with one American on it. I thought it was a interesting shot. I don't know if Kathleen or Jim thought about that connection when they took the pic. We went to Cindy's for Christmas. Cindy is now living in Jim and Kathleen's home in Wenatchee. She really enjoys the change. She is working out of the house as a medical recruiter. She is caring for the dog and cat and I think they enjoy her too. We had a wonderful prime rib, with leftovers for sandwiches and soup. We didn't have snow for Christmas, but did get it for New Years. Cindy came here for the weekend and we had alot of football and food. Aren't the holidays fun. We saw the surgeon yesterday and everything looks good. I can use my right arm now, but can't lift anything heavier than a cup of coffee. I am proceeding with therapy and hope to be back in the swing of things in March. Hope all of you had a great Christmas and will have a bountiful New Year.