Mike’s Ramblings
Tales From The Ansbach Area

I’ve created a new page with some of the pictures that I took on our trip to Geiranger. I used a new program and so far it looks nice. I might have to re-create some of my other galleries with it. Anyway, you can find the page here

As second page of pictures can be found here.

As I wrote a while back, we got back from our vacation up in Norway last Wednesday. What a trip. It was absolutely fantastic! We left on the 1st of July headed for Kiel. That part of the trip was uneventful, and we got on the ship bound for Goteborg, Sweden. I’d been waiting for two years to enjoy the buffet on the ship, and the wait was worth it. The food is great, and I totally enjoyed every bit of it.

We arrived the next morning in Goteborg, and drove off the boat. Wouldn’t you know it, they were working on the road leading to Oslo, and we had to take a detour. Thank goodness that Jane noticed the bright orange signs to Oslo. Once out of town, we headed north. We stopped in Nordby as is our habit. We had a bite to eat and bought the last cheap gas for a while. I don’t know it was that cheap, but it was better then Norway. A couple of hours later we arrived at Matt and Camilla’s new house. It’s beautiful. They are really lucky to have it. It’s bigger than the old house and there is finally room for the kids and all their toys.

The next day we spent with the kids, and did a bit of shopping for a house warming gift. It was nice to see the kids having room to play and not having to worry about tripping over the toys.

On Friday, the 4th of July, we took off for Geiranger Fjord. It’s about 425 KM from their house. On Norwegian roads, that’s at least an eight hour drive. For most of the trip the roads were OK, and we made good time. But once we turned off the main road onto the road leading to Geiranger. I’d read a bit about this trip, and knew that the road was curvy. The thing is that curvy doesn’t begin to describe it. There are something like 38 hairpin turns on the road. You also need to know that it varies between an 8% and 10% grade downhill. It is not a road that one can do any sort of sightseeing and still drive. We arrived at our cabin around 5 in the afternoon and I was tired. What a trip. Here is a picture of the cabin. .
We were in the third cabin from the left. It was quite nice and had everything we needed. We fixed dinner, and relaxed for the evening until bedtime.

Saturday we went into town after breakfast. We wandered around, made a couple of purchases, had coffee, and then returned to the cabin. We fixed dinner, watched a bit of TV and then headed off to bed.

On Sunday we went to the Fjordcenter to see how things had changed. It’s amazing how folks lived in earlier times. They actually built farms on the side of the mountain, and tried to make a living. They are all deserted now. I guess it didn’t work out so well. We watched a show of pictures from the area, and it was beautiful. But they didn’t have a DVD in the right format so I didn’t get it. Then it was off to have lunch and take the Fjord cruise. Lunch was great, but expensive–about $50 for sandwiches and drinks for the two of us. We got on the boat for the tour, and it was crowded. I took pictures when I could. One of the prettiest sites was the 7 sisters waterfall. .

The Suitor waterfall is on the other side of the fjord, and the legend is that he is trying to court all the sisters. On down the fjord were the farms that had been abandoned. We thought that if there was a way, it would be a wonderful vacation spot. But then again, no electricity, or running water, so that squashed that thought.

As we returned to town, the wind started to kick up and clouds started moving in. By the time we got around to our cabin, it was raining hard. Little did we know what was in store for the drive home. We had dinner, watched a bit of tv and then went to bed.

When we got up on Monday, it was cooler and a bit cloudy. We cleaned up the cabin, loaded up our gear, and headed out. I’ll always remember that place and hopefully we’ll return again one day.

So we’re headed out, and have to drive up that hill again. The bends in the road are still there, and it takes a while because I was unlucky enough to get behind a camper that was having trouble with the corners. Well, that and the buses coming down the hill. Once we got on top things settled down and we drove along looking at the scenery. It was then that we noticed the new snow on the ground. The road was clear, but there was about 2 inches or so of new snow. Now this in July right? It isn’t supposed to snow. I guess that storm was a bit stronger than we thought. I’m just glad that the road was still open. It will close in September or October until next year.

We drove leasurely back to Asker to stay the night with the kids before returning to Germany. It was a fun trip and I wish I could have stayed longer. But then there wouldn’t be a reason to go back next year. I’m already planning that one.

We left on the 1st of July for a short vacation to Norway. It was a wonderful trip and we had a great time. Everything including the weather worked out beautifully. I’m going to put up a page with some of the pictures that I took of Geiranger Fjord. What an awesome place.

Anyway, more to follow soon.

Today was my last official day at work. Ahh, retirement. The best part is that we leave for Norway tomorrow. We’re really excited about going this year. The kids have a new house and we are going to Geiranger Fjord for 3 days. Once I get back I hope to have enough good pictures of the area to make a gallery.

Hang in there. We all reach retirement one day. It’s just that for some of us, it happens to be now, and not later.

Mike

For the past 10+ years I’ve worked at Rainbow School. It’s been a good time for the most part, and I think that perhaps I’ll miss it just a bit. It’s time though. I just can’t get enthusiastic any more and I dread the beginning of the school year.

It’s actually pretty amazing that I stayed as long as I did. There were some times that I thought I’d just quit and walk away. But I stayed, and everything worked itself out. Now as I’m cleaning out my desk and getting the room ready for the next person that takes the job I find things that I haven’t seen in years. I can’t believe that they were still around. I guess it’s because I’ve always been a packrat and don’t throw things away until I’m absolutely sure I won’t need it.

I hope that I’ve served the school well. I hope that folks appreciate what I’ve done. I’ve always tried to help. There were times though when I was used just a bit. But that’s OK. I usually made up for it later.

Anyway, this is my last week. I’ll be gone pretty soon, and won’t be worrying about how the school is doing. How much furniture is there to move the weekend before school starts? I won’t know, and for once I won’t kill myself moving it. Hopefully because we didn’t get any new teachers, it won’t be too bad for whomever comes in after me.

Good by Rainbow. It’s been fun..

Last night was the school end of year party. It’s the 11th one that I’ve been to, and one I’ll remember. You see, I am retiring at the end of this month. It’s been a great time working at the school. I’ve really grown to appreciate the teachers and all that they do. I remember at one time I was going to be a teacher. Boy, I can see now that I’m not cut out for that!!

I’ve enjoyed working with a lot of different folks, and learning as well. I’ll always have good memories of Rainbow Elementary School. We’ve got about two more years here and then we’ll finally head back to the States. For now though, I’ll be around the house, and work on computers as I want to. It will be fun.

Earlier I wrote about watching a Norwegian Sea Eagle nest in Norway, and how interesting it was. This has really been interesting and we just got word that there will be a banding of the chicks on Monday 2 June after about 1700. It will be broadcast over the internet as they have a camera mounted that points at the nest.

I think this will be exciting. If you decide that you’d like to watch along with the rest of us, you’ll find the nest camera here. I am sure it will be something exciting.

I read an article on CNN’s website today that finally hit the nail on the head. According to the article, SUV and pickup sales are dropping and the folks that own them now are having a hard time getting rid of theirs. Now why do you suppose this is?

How about $4+ for a gallon of gas. That hurts when you are driving a vehicle that gets 12 miles to the gallon. Never mind that they are road hogs. The article says that they are dropping in value, and folks can’t get their money out of it. If you owe $20,000 on the truck, and it’s new value is only $12,000 you are out of luck. You can’t trade it in because the dealers can’t get rid of them. What a shame. I don’t feel sorry for these folks at all. It was all about keeping up or having the biggest vehicle on the road. Guess what. While this was going on, the rest of the world was improving the design of cars.

I own two cars that average about 25 miles or so to the gallon around town. Depending on how fast I drive on the highway my highway mileage averages 30 or so. Now don’t get me wrong, I can get there a lot faster if I want, but I don’t have to. Nor do I spend $50 to fill up weekly.

It’s about time these gas hogs were put in their place. Preferably in the junkyard where they can be torn apart and made into something a bit more effecient.

We’ve been working on the yard since spring, and it’s finally to the point where it’s presentable. I took some pictures this morning, and have put them up on a personal page. You can take a look at them here . Enjoy! We sure are!

Late last week, someone happened to put a flyer on my windshield. Normally I just throw them but I happened to look at this one and it was interesting. It was the flyer/menu for Mama Mady’s American Diner. I thought that was interesting, and it looked like it might be a good place to try.

Today we decided to go there for breakfast. They advertised an American Breakfast and it was. We had bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, hash browns, pancakes, orange juice and coffee. Everything was done right, and we really enjoyed the meal. Now you have to understand that it wasn’t completely American, but it was a pretty good imitation.

Now for the rest of the story. The owner is an old friend although we had no idea until we walked up. It was Madeline from La Stella a long time ago. When she left LaStella, the service and food started going downhill and we stopped going. But now she has this place and from the looks of it, it’s going to be a winner. It’s located right on B14 in Oberreichenbach close to the base. It’s a good location, and I’m sure folks will start stopping by there. The cook is Angelo who also used to work at LaStella. It was like old home week.

I’m sure we’ll be returning so that we can try some of the other meals besides breakfast. I’m looking forward to one of the burgers, or perhaps a steak. Now that sounds good.

Update Sunday 11 May — Had a report from Nancy, our good friend. She said that she went by later on Saturday and tried the burgers. She says it was definitely good. So folks, there you have it. Another good report. It looks like we have another ‘favorite’ place to go.

If you have an opinion or a suggestion of a place to try, let me know. I’m always up for a new place to eat!

Update Friday 16 May — Our Thursday night dinner crowd went to Mady’s last night for dinner. It was great. She does the best burger in town as far as I’m concerned. She seemed to be pleased with the crowd, and everyone had a great time.