Travelog for: Luke

Hi Mom!
Today my host took us to her husbands work.  We went to Marine Corps Air Station and guess what?  ~I COMPLETED ONE OF MY LIFE MISSIONS!~  I got to go on a once in a lifetime helicopter ride in a V22 Osprey!!!!  they are ONLY one place in the world and that is here!!!! my hosts husband is a Marine so me being a Police Officer, I enjoyed my trip to the Air Station very much!!

My host said that my other host had duty tonight so we took him dinner.  We drove to Taco Bell and ordered up some Tacos, Mexican Pizza, Chicken burritos and a big Mountain Dew to drink.




Since we were headed for the flight line we had to get Top Secret clearance and we were made honorary Marines for the night.  Here we are getting checked in through a locked and secured gate area.



We eat our dinner then my host takes us around the building and downstairs to the flight line.  Here we are with two famous names of battles that the Marines fought in and won.





Here we are looking out of a Top Secret area on the fight line, we look out and see all the CH53 helicopters all parked and ready to go!  These helicopters can carry 50 Marines while picking up 37,000 lbs of gear!!!  The CH53s are on the right and the V22 Ospreys are on the left. 



Here is a closer look at the outside of a CH53



No one is around so we go back inside the hanger and climb inside a V22.  Here we are posing out the window waiting for our pilot to arrive.



We both have to go over a pre flight plan and check all the gages and dials to make sure our mission will go smooth.



About 30 minutes later our pilot and his co pilot show up and they agree to take us up and out over the Atlantic ocean.  For security reasons we could not take photos of us actually up in the air inside the helicopter... but boy did we have fun!!! Here is a photo of our V22 before we took off.



Here we are ready in the pilots seat and ready to fly!!



Here we are inside of a Mighty Mite.......haha isnt it cute?  we drive it in from the helicopter back to my hosts car   I dont think they have these in Australia...... haha!



I sure did have a great time and since I did such a good job I am now have honorary flight crew status aboard any US Marine helicopter!!  hope you enjoyed the photos Mom!!!

My host has written to my mom asking her where I am going next.....she has written a few times actually and I hope my mom is ok because she has not responded.  I will not be able to be updated anymore by my current host as she now has new TVs in the home that are here for a visit!!

I arrived at my new home safely. I had to ask my former host for the password, because my new host didn't know it, so it took a few days before she could write my first update.

My host took us for a little walk around the small animal park in Forst, while her daughter sang at her musical project choir. I especially loved to see the storks in the nest.

Forst is a town in the Rhine valley, is only 5km from Bruchsal and shares a border with Bruchsal. It was first named in 1161 A.D., but there were finds dating back to Stone and Bronze Age and also finds of Romans in this area.









There are some signs in the wood. This one says: Mind gate/bar (?) Free for forestry





Some ways in the forest have names. This one is called Heiden Richtweg.





On some trees there are signs.

It's such a beautiful weather today morning, that my host took us to see the Michaelsberg and Turmberg. The Michaelsberg is belongs to Untergrombach, which is one of the surburbs of Bruchsal. Here you see the nice chapel.




The houses in the far on the right side belong to Bruchsal and the quarry pond to Untergrombach. When my host was a teenager, she loved to swim there.







You see, that the left side shows a flat landscape, this is the Rhine Valley. Bruchsal and Untergrombach are located at the edge of the Rhine Valley to Kraichgau hill country.

You also see, that the grass is very dry. By the way: This grass is called Magerrasen, nitrogen-poor  sward/grassland or species rich sward.

If it wouldn't be so misty, you could see the Palatinate Mountains at the horizon.




The houses on the left side belong to Weingarten and those in the far on the left to Karlsruhe.





Here's the chapel again.





There are many vineyards in the Kraichgau.

Then we drove to Durlach, which is a city close to Karlsruhe. We drove to the Turmberg. We had a great view to the Rhine Valley, Black Forest and Kraichgau hill country.



Here's what you can read: This tower is the remain of the old castle, which was built in 11th century by the count von Hohenberg, extended in 12th century and 1279 destroyed by Konrad von Lichtenberg, bishop of Strasbourg. The keep was built between 1230 and 1250.

view over Durlach and Karlsruhe







Kraichgau hill country

In the evening we watched the football match Germany vs. Spain. It's so sad, that Germany lost

It is so hot here, that my host took some duvet cover to fix them behind those windows, which have no shutter.

In the evening we walked through the house and opened all the windows to get in a bit fresh air. We took some photos out of different windows then.

There are many thunderstorms all over Germany. It seems that one is coming here too. See the red dark clouds




Here the clouds are blue and white  - orange from the sunset.

Yesterday the thunderstorm didn't catch us, but today we watch another dark sky. I can hear the thunder already getting closer. So we decided to switch off the electricity and sit down and read a book.

Take a look at the black roof. If you look well you can see some hail on it.

Today our hosts invited us to a open air theatre in Ötigheim. They love to go there each year. This year they watched the play. Ronja Räubertochter
We had luck, because it wasn't too hot weather.



sorry, this one is without me, because we had to zoom

When we were back at home, we decided to go to have dinner outside at a so called beer garden. The restaurant isn't far from our home, so we only had to walk a few minutes. We passed by at the baroque church St. Peter, which was beautiful in the evening sun. I will tell you more about this church soon. My host walked home and fetched her camera to take some photos with us.






After we had a really tasty meal, we walked home again. We saw this interesting car in front of the church then and my host decided to take photos with me.

Today we visited Bretten. Like Bruchsal this town is in the state of Baden-Württemberg and located on Bertha Benz Memorial Route. There live about 28,ooo people.

The centre of Bretten consists of many old half-timbered houses around a lively marketplace.Bretten was first mentioned as "villa breteheim" in the "Lorsch codex" in 767. Since 1148 Bretten had the right to mint and issue coins. In 1254 Bretten received city rights. In 1492 Bretten was granted to hold four fairs by Pfalzgraf Philipp. Philipp Melanchthon was born in Bretten in 1497.(wikipedia)


the Melanchthon house




marketplace






a red half-timbered house with red car





Stiftskirche, evangelic church




Next to the church we saw this half timbered house with the flags of the states which participated at the world championship in South Africa.




Statue of Philipp Melanchthon




a fountain and some pink houses




some shops