Rachel's Going Away Party

Rachel's leaving us after many years, so we had a going-away party for her.

It was at Mel's house, and most of the people who planned on coming brought food and/or beverage. I was working, so I was only able to pop in for a little bit after work.

I'm sad to see her go, but excited to see her move on to the next stage of her life.

Safety Day 2014

Today was Safety Day at Huber. This year, it was the "Huber Games," where we played games as a reward for being safe all year. I, however, did not play games, I helped run them. Every couple years, I will be on the committee, but this year, I thought I would be away on Safety Day, so I didn't join the committee. They requested my help anyway, so I helped with Wii games. I helped people play the dancing game and Wii bowling. It was fun to participate. Then, it was time for the speaker and lunch. The speaker had been injured in a workplace accident, losing both legs below the knee, and he was pretty darn cool. Lunch was catered by Blazin' Ray's, which is run by a former co-worker. The best part of the whole thing - I won a prize basket in the raffle.

The basket had coffee and coffee mugs in it. On top of that, everyone received a fleece blanket and lawn chair.

GER Day 11

We spent yesterday at Wanda's, and just hung out, due to the fact that my knees were pretty sore from all of that we've been doing lately. But today, we visited Walhalla.

It was pretty cool. There were busts and plaques commemorating notable Germans, and the view of the Danube River was pretty fabulous.

GER Day 9

Congratulations, Dodo, on graduating from High School!
Mom and I started out the day running around the old town area of Weiden, for some sight-seeing.

Then, came the graduation ceremony. It was very nice, and sweet to see Wanda tearing up a little bit.

It was nice to have most of the family there to support Dodo on his special day.

GER Day 8

Today's trips included Dodo, and with him in mind, we started out in Kemnath, for the Carp Tour.

I think we found most of the carp, but I can't be positive. The website shows a few carp that we didn't see, the map has one marked that we didn't find, there was a sign that we found with no carp, and a carp that we found that wasn't on the map. Kind of confusing, but we had a good time.
Next we stopped at Speinshart to check out the monastery.

It was totally different from the other churches we've visited, but just as beautiful.

GER Day 7

Our travels today took us to Wurzburg, for the Wine Festival.

Oh my gosh, Mom and I had a good time. Dad had to drive, so he wasn't able to imbibe as much as us, but I would totally do it again.

We tried wine at seven of the thirteen booths, and ate food at three of them. We shared food and drink, in an attempt to enjoy as much of the festival as possible. We were pretty schnockered by the time we left, but we definitely had a good time.

GER Day 6

We finally got around to seeing the Prigrim's Church of the Holy Trinity in Kappl.

It was everything I expected it to be, and pretty cool. Afterwards, we went to the Concentration Camp at Flossenburg. It was moving. Unfortunately, Dad was tired, so we didn't get past the museum exhibits. There was a Jewish Memorial, Chapel, and Crematoriam that we didn't get to see.

GER Day 5

After some consideration, we opted to go to Pegnitz today to witness the Bratwurst Summit.

I feel like it was a good decision. I really enjoyed trying out various specialty bratwurst. We only tried three varieties (chili-chocolate-orange zest, strawberry-mint, and honey-rose petal), but we also tried a fried fish sandwich, and a glass of Riesling from the Wagneria booth.

We didn't stick around long enough to see who was crowned the Bratwurst King, we ate too much and decided to head home, but if I'm ever in the area when they have another one - watch out!