December 1 through 9

Written December 4 through 14

Dear Friends and Family,

We have a fairly ambitious Christmas travel season this year and I'll try to keep up our diary record, to keep from forgetting what we did when. Marianne is already in California, so I will just note what I have been doing "as a bachelor".

Bavaria

I did manage trips to two Christmas markets, one in Nuremberg and the other in Bamberg. Mostly I needed to pick up a few things for our US travel. Both markets seemed a bit quieter than normal this year, but I can't tell if that's the economy or just when I happened to visit. I expect Christmas cheer is pretty high on German priority lists, so I will assume it's just my timing.

Some Pictures, the first two lines from Nuremberg:

Maryland

On the First of December, I flew from Nuremberg to Frankfurt to Washington, DC. I was treated to an uneventful flight and the nine-hour flight from Germany to America was actually pleasant. The flight was about 20% full and I had very few neighbors. This was a trip where economy travelers definitely had more room than those in business class.

My first US stop was to visit Ryan and his parents. (Grandkids always get top billing. Mom - Suzanne - and dad - Geoff - get mention though.) This would be a two-part stop, with a Virginia work assignment squeezed in between. Part 1 included Christmas present for Ryan, hanging outside Christmas lights, and an excursion to a pair of Smithsonian museums and the National Christmas Tree in downtown DC. All fun, and nice to be able to re-establish connections with the young people.

		First a Christmas present and then some lights.
A Saturday trip to the Smithsonian, starting with a Metro ride.
	Watsonville, CA.	Portland, Oregon of the 1950s	An historical saying from a revolution long ago.
And the Air and Space Museum		.	Apollo Controls
	DC on a clear night is magical, especially with Christmas trees.

Virginia

This was a business trip, but I did my best to see friends as well. I have not had much of a chance to visit folks in Lynchburg lately, so it's the season. I especially want to thank the Stoudts, the Harringtons, and the Flecks for dinner invitations as well as the invitation to Angelo Mercado's retirement lunch. Honest, I did some work too.

My only pictures were from the Sunday evening parade, complete with bands, kids, cars, and floats. A great small-town tradition, one I would repeat later in the trip.

	Waiting by the seed store.	Getting some good food. What exactly ARE deep-fried Oreos?
Bands, kids, re-enacters and plenty of cars of different flavors.

Part 2 of the Xmas trip will be in Colorado, highlighting another small-town street parade.

Stay tuned!

John