Stone Tower

I'd say we've gotten pretty good at exploring Europe, but we're terrible at exploring the area that we live in, and Kaiserslautern has a lot to offer!  We have our favorite restaurants, bars, and hang outs, and we love the movie theater in Landstuhl, but we haven't discovered a whole lot of activities yet.  (Mostly, because our weekends are our only time to actually see Eric upright with his eyes open, so we hunker down as anti-social brats who do movie marathons in our living room, absorbing as much of the 2% of his time that the Army allows us).  And since our traveling has come to a dead stop, it was time to go out and spend an afternoon doing something that our "home" city has to offer!

This summer has been hell.  A hot, horrible, sweaty, no sleep hell.  100°+ temperatures for weeks on end with no AC is, to me, hell.  Please don't roll your eyes and tell me to suck it up.  I saw an article a few weeks ago about how Americans are giant babies about our air conditioning, and while I try to assimilate as much as possible to the European lifestyle, I steadfastly disagreed with it, or more so, the title of it (some of the points the article made are worth a read).  

But still, I really miss air conditioning, and I don't feel bad about that, at all.

Thankfully though, with August came a sweet reprieve from the temperatures, and I was reminded again of how much I adore this country!  The weather was so perfect this weekend that Eric decided to take his little family on a hike up to Stone Tower, which I never even knew existed.  I figured it would be a great way to spend the afternoon together as a family, and Eric promised beautiful sights and great picture opportunities.... and kept reminding me of this when I started to whine because the hike felt a lot like exercise.

My babies. 

As a Midwestern gal, the beauty & peace of the South Dakota prairies goes deep into my bones, but my heart has discovered the forests of Germany and it's forever changed because of them.  I love the trees, serenity, smells, the different shades of green, and how the forest knows exactly how to spread the sunlight around so that the entire place sparkles.  Personally, I think it's good for the soul to be surrounded by sparkles.

The hike up to the Tower took about an hour because I am embarrassingly out of shape, but also because I stopped a bunch to take pictures.  But once we got to the Tower, Eric was right... the views were beautiful!  And it was nice to see the city we live in, and the hills that surround us, from a different angle.

That's my baby's arm sticking straight out waving at me.

Our traveling has slowed down because of a busy summer camp schedule, and also in preparation for visitors arriving next month, pumpkin festivals & Christmas Markets around the corner, and a big Christmas trip we have in the works, but that doesn't mean we are lacking in things to do and see, it just means that we need to get out and explore a little, which we've been terrible about doing.

Kaiserslautern has a bunch to offer, and I feel bad that it's taken us more than 2 years to really get out and explore beyond our essentials like grocery stores and wine shops, but it's better late than never... oh, who am I kidding.... I'm kicking myself over all of the missed opportunities to really get out and experience this awesome city!  I've got a little more than a year to make up for it!