Summary -

Well, we have now been home for a week and we are getting settled in fairly well. Our friends were terrific this week. We had a couple of dinners with them and we got to catch back up with others. This afternoon was especially fun at the neighbors. They set up a few inflatable pools in their front yard and we brought over a plastic slide and some yard sprinklers and the kids had a great time while we sat there and drank beer in the shade of a tailgate tent. Very classy.

This morning was also Ellie's birthday. Everyone was amazed that we were able to pull that off a week after getting back. Andi did a good job setting us up at the kid's museum, so all we). really had to do was show up with food (and drink, which we forgot). I was amazed that so many people were not coming, then decided they would be able to show the day before. Luckily, we still had enough tickets for the museum for everyone.

I was doing daily updates on facebook before we left and I thought I would put copies here. A few days of things I would not miss, some things I would miss, and some things I was looking forward to.

One week left in Germany. Things I won't miss: "red man" rules for crossing the street or risk a fine, potential fines for insulting people, fines for driving on the highway without a toll sticker (Austria), expensive licenses and testing for everything (driving, sailing, hunting, fishing, golfing)

Six days left. More stuff I won't miss about Germany: riding public transportation, people staring at you, limited laundry facilities, and shelf toilets.

Five days left. More stuff I won't miss about Germany: paying for ketchup/toilet access/drinking water, parking on streets blocking traffic, big heavy doors, lights on timers, and having a flat-rate brothel next to my son's preschool.

Four days left. More stuff I won't miss about Germany: bottle deposits on everything, broken glass and graffiti all around, cigarette butts everywhere, punks left over from the 80s, lack of suburban sprawl, and socialized medicine.

Three days left. More stuff I won't miss about Germany: really crazy drivers on the Autobahn, no fast food other than McDonalds and Burger King (maybe a KFC), super slow and bad restaurant service, no personal space / people bumping you, rainy cold summers, long winter nights, dirty stone floor in our apartment.

Two days left. Last of the stuff I won't miss from Germany: mullets, bad customer service, shops closed early and on Sunday, expensive food and clothes, no big mattresses, having to register your address with the authorities, people blocking the train and elevator exits, "fade-away" trains, stinky people on the train, and no air conditioning.

One day left. Stuff I WILL miss about Germany: castles and museums, being able to drive to a lot of old stuff, spas, the Wrights, time with Drew riding to school on the train, food (cheese, meat, bread, beer, and spatzle), so many automatic espresso machines, beergardens, beer sold everywhere, crazy holiday schedule, Legoland, and lunches with my girls and the occasional Drew.

Headed to the airport soon. Looking forward to: friends, family, house, yard, bbq, real mexican food, Moe's, SC weather, real football, friendly people, my big TV, Tivo, Wii, a comfy bed, a comfy couch, English everywhere, 24 hour Walmart, my office, my giant monitor, teaching, beach trips, our cars, the BigMo, pickup trucks, the Y, and our dogs.

Some numbers about our trip:

• Nearly 50,000 km on the car we leased for a year
• Over 40,000 pictures and movie files generated
• Over 90 GB of movies and pictures
  
• 21 countries visited, including Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Andorra, and Vatican City
• More than 10 trips to Legoland, Germany
• Over 14 months in Germany
• Nearly 200 unique beers tasted
  

It is slow at work right now, but I managed to get out with a couple of guys to the Flying Saucer. This is the place where they put a commemorative plate on the wall for you if you drink 200 different beers (3 per night max). I was making good progress to finish a few years back, but then we had kids. I have been stalled near 100 since Drew was born. Some of the plates are colored representing guys that have cycled 200 beers four or five times. Oh well, you can't win them all.

Spaten Hefeweizen at the Flying Saucer - One of the better wheat beers I have had, amazingly.

It also makes sense to end up here, since I started this blog after I had a going-away beer with some guys from work at Rockaway's. Cheers!