"If Only We Knew About This Place Earlier..."

I've found myself saying this quite a bit these days. Late last summer we uttered these words while driving through the half timbered houses adorned by flower boxes overflowing with geraniums in the Salzgammergut-Austrian lakes district. I said it again when we rolled into in Montreaux Switzerland and marveled at the gorgeous Swiss Riviera. When we stumbled upon Colmar (see pix above) and Kaysersberg in France, I said it one more time..."Damn, I wish we would have found this place earlier."

It's probably for the best. Had we discovered these places earlier in our tour, we would have gone back three, four, five times. This sort of thing kinda runs in my family. Growing up I returned to Laguna Beach every year with my family. I cannot count how many times I've been to Vegas and Palm Springs. Visiting these places has become a "tradition". Don't get me wrong, there's something comforting about returning to the same place year after year (especially in Orange County). However, returning to the same place every year means we are missing out on the joy of discovering new places. It reminds me of some of the folks I met growing up who've never left CA or ventured past the borders of Texas.

So a couple weeks ago we experienced the thrill of discovery once again when we headed to Southeast France. As luck would have it, we accidentally stopped in the medieval town of Kaysersberg while I checked my map. The kids were melting down from a long drive so we decided to let them run around while I checked my map. Best thing that ever happened to us! This place was awesome! It reminded us of a French Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Later on that day we explored the old town of Colmar which also took our breath away. This place was distinctly French. I'll take an old village like this any day over a sprawling metropolis like Berlin or London.

Kaysersberg, FR

After a few wrong turns, a colossal kid meltdown, and a couple of newly discovered villages, we finally arrived at our primary destination: Montange des Singes or Monkey Mountain. Much like the San Diego Wild Animal Park, visitors get to enjoy the wildlife up close and personal. The place was essentially a preserve for North African monkeys where visitors we're permitted to litereally walk amongst hundreds of monkeys. Once you were inside the preserve, the only barriers were for the humans, not for the animals (see below). This was one of those places that we liked just as much as the kids. Take a look:

julia and her new BFF
"We're surrounded! They're everywhere"

Happy Fathers Day!!!

Here's a shout out to all the fathers out there. Happy Fathers Day! Most importantly, I want to send some love my dad's way. Now forgive me if I get a bit personal with this but how many dads out there would fly all the way out to Europe just to run away from some blood thirsty bulls through the streets of Pamplona? ...at the ripe age of 60? How many of them would rappel down an underground canyon the size of the Statue of Liberty in Calaveras County? And just how many would go to court for their son to get them off a bogus ticket from an overzealous cop? Mine. Thanks Dad!

Thanks also goes out to my father-in-law, Gary. He and my mother-in-law made their way out here to Germany a few weeks ago to help Jen and I with the move while I was in Africa. Very cool. We found a way to have some fun too by slipping across the border and enjoying some delicious French cuisine in Sargurrimines. Still raving about it.

Now that I have kids, I too can proudly claim the dad title. While I haven't done anything uber cool with them like I mentioned in the paragraphs above, I've definitely shared some good times with Julia and Luke. Here are some pix with my kiddos from the last couple weeks:

Luke helping me out with a pre Paintball BBQ at Pulaski Barracks

Julia, Luke, a monkey and I at France's Monkey Mountain

A Taste of America

Ah, Florida! What a change from European destinations. For one, it was hot! Really hot! I'm sure our three years here in the chilly environs of Northern Europe made it feel even hotter. We all said this was good training for us as we move to a very sticky San Antonio. Also, Florida is chock full of family friendly destinations. While Europe has the Louvre and the Vatican, Florida counters with Disneyworld and Gatorland. Needless to say, it was nice to shift gears for a while.



While I was in a conference during the first week, Jen and the kids hit up all five Disney parks. I joined them the final day for a trip out to Epcot center (my favorite of all them all). I was anxious to see Europe transplanted into Central Florida. In "Germany", we got our pretzel and colabier fix while our kids tumbled around one of the many playgrounds throughout the park. I think I surprised the German girl at the counter when I was able to place my order and chat with her in German. You could tell she was happy to speak in her native tongue. Like the Germans here in Kaiserslautern, I was anxious to try out my German in the US. Aside from that, the highlight was watching our kids while they took in the park. Seeing their reactions enabled Jen and I to relive some of the magic we experienced at their age.



We headed south for Miami once we were through with Orlando. A bad cold and terrible weather prevented us from seeing much of the city but we did get a chance to see the Everglades. Seeing these alligators up close in their natural environment was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.



Another highlight of our trip was Key Largo. We fell in love with this northern-most town on the Florida Keys. We were greeted with white sand beaches, hammocks swinging in the distance, Bob Marley playing in background, warm water, and tropical drinks served up at the tiki bar. It was about as close to Hawaii as we could get without boarding a plane to Honolulu. Jen and I agreed that we will DEFINITELY be returning to this place.

The final highlight was spending a few hours with my brother Nick and sister-in-law Nena. We ran into these guys at Miami's hip South Beach. We chowed down on some great Cuban sandwiches and plantains while we washed it down with Presidente beer. Good times! Looking forward to a lot more of this sort of stuff when we return to America in a few weeks.

Downrange with America's Afrika Korps

It has been way too long since I've updated this blog. So much has happened since our trip to Bacharach that it's hard to know where to begin. In a nutshell, I've just returned from a short stint at the Naval Expeditionary Base at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti which is why I have been out of touch lately. Anyhow, the trip downrange had me travel through four continents in four days (N. America, Europe, Asia, and Africa).

My journey started in Orlando, FL where we had been vacationing (and searching for some of that Florida sun which we never really found). Eventually my journey took me through places such as Riyahd, Saudi Arabia and Dubai, UAE. Now I've been to Turkey so it's not like I haven't been to a muslim country before but seeing these places in person was very cool. The tables were definitely turned in Saudi. Unlike in the West, I was the odd man out since I wasn't wearing the white robe and checkerboard head scarf.

After a series of long layovers, delayed/canceled flights, etc I eventually arrived at my destination. Keep in mind that Djibouti isn't exactly a resort destination. Think of those commercials where you can sponsor an African kid for only two dollars per day...and make it even worse. That's Djibouti. Ten miles from Somalia. We're there to turn this place around I suppose. Anyhow, I won't bore you with the details about my work down there but I will share some cool pix. Take a look:

Galley...Navy speak for chow hall...in the center of camp

Inside "the wire" at Camp LeMonier. (Cool historical fact: The camp was an abandoned French Foreign Legion Base which explains the name)
Home Sweet Home. These Containerized Living Units or CLUs reminded me of a trailer park. However, these beat the snot of tent living

Baking in the 120 degree heat. The crazy heat reminded me of my visits to Palm Springs in the dead of summer but only more humid