This is the view of Heidelberg from the castle.

The end of the Europe trip.

So, we left Rome in the evening, and headed back to Germany. We got to Hahn late late in the evening (Or early in the morning, depending on how you look at it...) so we stayed at a hotel there by the airport. The next morning we got on a bus to Ramstein to see Claudia, and to have dinner with DeAnna, another bridesmaid. Here we are, enjoying time together. The three of us haven't been together in YEARS, so it was sort of like old times, but instead of living by Wright Patt, we were hanging out in Germany. It was the same, but different. ha ha

OK, so I didn't like the one of the three of us. But here is one of them that I do like. We were sitting by one of the castles that we saw...but don't ask me which castle.

OH, we went to Triere. We saw a dude with...ummm...warts? I took a picture in the hopes that Erin could help the poor man.

Rumor has it that she's some sort of wart doctor, or something like that.

The highlight of the whole trip? Something I didn't even get a picture of, but I'll do my best to describe it.

We flew back to the States on a chartered commercial flight from Ramstein to BWI. Most of the plane was filled with troops coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. We landed and it took about an HOUR for our bags to come through. The section of the airport was only for military - we had our own immigration, our own baggage claims section, and our own customs. As people were finally getting their bags, we heard the biggest commotion outside of the door to the "real world". Cow bells, whistles, cheers...it was a little boggling at 11:30 at night. So, when it was our turn to follow the crowd through the door, I was moved to tears. There were over 50 or so volunteers there to meet those troops. They shook Chris's hand and thanked him for serving our country. They hugged me and thanked me for supporting him while he served. The gave the kids baggies with cookies, waters, chips, fruit, etc. And they knew that we were only coming back from vacation. We were loaded down, had the kids, and the two car seats stacked on top. They didn't care - they were there to thank whoever came through that door. None of those volunteers were family members of the troops on the plane. They were just there to say "Welcome Home."

I can't wait until I live in a city and can volunteer to be there for the troops returning from wherever. I hope they appreciate it 1/2 as much as we did.