282.March 25

Dover, UK to Ettlingen, Germany

I boarded a ferry in Dover at midnight and have been moving since. We will arrive fifty minutes late. I hope I'm OK with train connections. I met a young man on the ferry who worked for a computer company doing programming in London, but he had to go back to Koln. He gave me an address that my roommate Drew should call if he wants a job doing virtual reality programming. He told me to go to the Brauhaus in Koln and get a dish called Heaven on earth (apple in a pie). The train ride was fine. I had to pay a 6 mark supplement on the one from Koln.

I called Lars mom from Koln to tell her the time I would be arriving. I saw Lars, w/long curly hair in the station in Karlsrue. First we stopped to buy tickets for "Schindler's List" for his parents in advance. Lars drove me to his house in Ettlingen for lunch. I got to meet his mother, who speaks little English, but enough. Their house is incredible, all in stone (steps, floors, outside) great design. He took me for a tour of the town, a walk through the history of Ettlingen, which revealed a castle-type building (but newer) in the center where they have theatre events in the summer. Then later, a walk with his dog into the Black Forest, which borders on Ettlingen. Christina, Marcus, Lars, and I went out that night to a disco, and drank and smoked hand rolled Drum cigarettes and talked. Then home to bed quickly, sleep and sleep.

1994

Email to Rachel's father, 3/25/08

We're back, but our phones are charging. Rachel is in Decorah with my mother, and then cooking dinner at Chris and Rhondas tonight to show them our pictures and we will be back to Spring Grove tonight. She might be interested in breakfast tomorrow morning, if you would like to join her and see her pictures which we are printing out today.

2008

I rode the bike on this windy day, which wasn't so bad in the morning going away from the wind, but coming home was very difficult, or at least a little bit shaky. I had rehearsal at 18:30 to play Jesus in the church passion play, and then we joined Jill at the fitness center. Rachel and I caught up on LOST before bed.

2010

I drove the 57 Chevy to work today, after stopping at my parents house for a breakfast of ham and eggs on toast, and dropping off everything we had been loading into the back of the truck. At noon, I drove it to Cresco, and purchased a trailer for the motorcycle so we can take long trips. It is in the shape of a coffin. I went home after this via Pole Line road. I had lunch in Mable at the Hwy 44 Restaurant. When I reached Spring Grove, I help hang Jill's paintings on the walls of our shop in the Ballard House, and then unloaded the trailer from the back of my truck with a ramp made of an old picket fence. I moved some shelves around in the garage until Rachel was done giving voice lessons to the neighbors.

We went out for dinner at the Commodore in La Crescent, where Jacob met us. The Commodore has moved into the American Legion because of road construction

2011