Camping

We had just moved into our new house, met the people at church and we got invited to the ward camp out.  Thankfully we knew where the camping stuff was!  We went to a place in the Thomas Jefferson National Forest.  It was in the mountains!  We actually camped in the mountains!  This is so exciting after living in FL!  I was COLD in JULY!  It was great :)  The campground is also right in the middle of the Appalachian Trail, and we did a short hike on it that took us into West Virginia.  Tyler was ecstatic about that - a new state crossed off his list.

 Standing in Virginia and West Virginia!

 Two tired kids who had a blast running around playing with all their new friends and getting very, very dirty!  In fact, I actually just threw Brena's shoes away when we got home they were so bad - they weren't even worth saving!

The Move From FL to VA

Moving stinks.  I did NOT want to leave my beautiful house, awesome neighbors, perfect life, good friends, my YMCA, and I could go on and on.  But, here we go.

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!  We didn't go to our ward pancake breakfast and bike parade because I didn't want to miss my gym class - I only have a few precious classes left and I didn't want to miss one!  So we loaded everyone up in the morning and headed to the gym.  That night we went down to St. Augustine to see their firework display.  It was very impressive!  But, way too crowded for me.  We did fireworks in the driveway the next night because everyone was way too tired after coming home from the firework display in St. Augustine.  It's so sad to think this is the last holiday in our home!

Germany: June 19

We decided to take a break from tours today.  We were wiped out!  We rented bikes and toured Garmich.  We rode for a long time.  First stop was to view the ski jump from the 1936 Olympics held right here in Garmich!

Then we went on a big hike to see a beach, waterfalls and a river :)

 The view of the river from up high...my toes tingled we were so high! 

 My love.

After that we biked to the Olympic center.

 Funny story here.  The bike I was given wasn't working well.  I was complaining about it to Tj and he was acting like it was just me.  So, finally he switched bikes with me.  Well, he soon found out the bike had issues too and was irritated with it.  Well, we got to the Olymic training center and Tj tried to ride his bike up on to the sidewalk and he went head over heels over the handle bars!!  I saw the whole thing like it was in slow motion and I was laughing so hard I was crying.  You can see the two women there in front of that car that witnessed the whole thing.  They didn't know if they should laugh or cry!  I felt bad laughing, because I was worried about him, but it was just funny.  He was fine, but really mad at the bike :)  Needless to say, when we got back and turned the bikes in they got an earful from Tj and we didn't pay for that bike rental.  That's a story we'll never forget!

Germany: June 18, Neuschwanstein

We arrived at Neuschwanstein and the castle was huge! There was also another, smaller, castle next to Neuschwanstein - it is the Hohenschwangau castle.  Hohenschwangau was the official summer and hunting residence of Maximilian, his wife Marie of Prussia, and their two sons Ludwig (the later King Ludwig II of Bavaria) and Otto (the later King Otto I of Bavaria). The young princes spent many years of their adolescence here. Ludwig loved the area so much, so he decided to build Neuschwanstein here for himself.  He was said to have been a recluse.  He died before the castle was finished and it was opened to visitors in 1886.

To get up to Neuschwanstein, you have quite a hike!  But, it felt good to get some exercise after sitting on a bus for the last 3 days, and an airplane before that!  We had to wait before our tour started, so we hiked up higher for the higher views!  There was this little tiny bridge that thousands of us tourists were trying to get onto for this picture.  It was a little insane, and scary!  We were really high up on that little bridge!  This castle was the inspiration for the Walt Disney World castle.  I can see the resemblance.

 That's the little bridge we were all crowded on!

 Apparently, the castle is always undergoing construction.

Then we got to go on our tour.  Photos were strictly prohibited inside the castle! 

 A replica of the castle.

The views from here were just outstanding.  I think it's so beautiful it almost doesn't even look real!

Then it was back to the resort.  We walked around Garmich again, and of course had to get our daily dose (or two) of gelato!