Tyler's annual exchange officer conference was held at the Edelweiss resort in Garmisch this year and was the major impetus for our long road trip since the government reimbursed us for most of the mileage.
After leaving Rothenberg, we stopped again for a nice picnic lunch in a church yard with a view over a valley. We could hear what sounded like choir practice from inside the building, but set up our picnic blankets out in the grass since we thought no one would mind. After our typical meal of nectarines, salami, cheese, baguettes and pesto was just about finished, the bells of the church started going bonkers like it was the end of a long war! For a moment Laura and Tyler panicked thinking that there was actually a wedding or something happening in the church and we didn't want our picnic spread to ruin their moment, so we packed up in a hurry and hit the road again. Quite a funny moment in retrospect...
We arrived to amazing views over the Zugspitze peak that towers to the south of Garmisch from our room's balcony. Each morning and evening we'd enjoy the view that kept changing slightly based on the sun and weather.
That first night we had a big barbeque with all the other exchange officers and we saw a few folks we had known from previous assignments like the Freemans from Aviano, the Piazzas from A&M and Korea and a couple other acquaintances. It was great catching up with everyone.
The next day while Tyler was at work, Laura dropped the kids off for some kids club activities and rented a bike and took a jaunt out in the wide grassy valley. The bike trails were well established and mostly paved and she had a fun time exploring and soaking up the sunshine. She made her way into Garmisch village for a look around as well.
After work we headed off for a little adventure in Oberammergau where the world's longest sommerroddelbahn (summer luge) runs down a mountain into the outskirts of town. We had to race there after work since it closed early before dinner and we just barely made one of the last chairlifts up.
We each took a kid and hopped into our sleds which were secured to the shiny metal bars leading down the track. The luges traveled downhill with gravity and were equipped with a hand brake that you had to depress to go forward. If you let go, the brake would engage automatically. It was 5 full minutes of adrenaline, speed and whiplash turns to the bottom...and incredibly fun.
We met up with the Petersons and Schanneps at a restaurant on the edge of the village that had good reviews for families. The owner was a magician for many years and performed several tricks at the table over the course of the meal. The kids ate it up. Afterwards we ate ice cream at the happening joint in downtown Oberammergau - spaghetti ice was the specialty.
On the last day, before checking out, we all rented bicycles and went for a family ride through the fields in between Edelweiss and the mountains. It was sunny, crisp and beautiful.
We watched as paragliders jumping off the mountain above us glided down to a landing strip just off the bike path. Really fun!
Then it was on the road again to Italia!!
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