End of summer

The move has been completed but boxes remain to be unpacked. I think that I will not be retired enough years to get to all of the boxes that we brought to Florida.

In June, I flew to Seattle to pick up a pickup and camping trailer so it could continue being used for fun and entertainment in the early years of retirement. While in Seattle I got to see many people and enjoy their company. The time went quickly and soon we were on the way to the East.

The first night was spent at the rest stop located on the Continental Divide. I was unprepared for the morning chill and we were soon off and done the mountains into the beauty of a Montana morning.

Three days later we found ourselves at the border of Florida and three hours later arrived home.

Two days after arriving home, I had surgery on my left eye to re-attach the retina. My dad was left to his own devices and trying to fix a few lingering problems with the truck and various little house projects as we awaited the arrival of my mother. When she arrived at Orlando, I was again allowed to hold my head up and drive. One of the highlights of their visit was a trip to St. Augustine where we toured the old town area. The oldest wooden school was on the road intermixed with various shops and eating establishments. A curiosity was the preserved building and area where slaves were once sold in a darker time of our history.

After Dad and Mom left in early July, I spent most of my time recovering from the surgery and waiting for an opportunity to return to Maryland to visit my kids and grandkids. Shortly before the recovery was over, I learned that my retina was again detached and underwent a lengthy process to repair the eye. This is where we are today, waiting on recovery and release to travel.

In the meantime, we recently got a phone call inviting us to meet Dad and Uncle Bob in the Cape Canaveral area for dinner. We departed the house as they departed Alabama. As we arrived in the Titusville area, two problems happened. The first was that the airport where they were supposed to land was closed for runway repairs. Secondly, after another phone call from a diferent nearby airport, it was learned that they had suffered a flat tire on landing.

Lucky for them that a Chrysler scissor jack was just the ticked for lifting a Mooney, we soon discovered that the tube was bad but replaced both the tire and tube to be on the safe side.

My beautiful bride took the above picture and insists that the title is "How many Zimmerman men does it take...to find the flat..to change the tire...pick something, she laughs too hard to ever finish.


Finally, after the tire repair was complete we retreated to our respecive places of residence with me and my wife getting home just after one AM. We were pleased the following morning to receive another call indicating another day of aircraft readiness repairs. We decided to meet at the "half way" point for dinner. This happened to be Daytona Beach: 74 miles for me, about 40 for Dad. I selected a restaurant which specialized in fish and we had a wonderful meal and fun. This time, we all got home at a respectable time and my dear old dad gave me an opportunity to take a picture to remember him always:

Moving is a drag

So, after nearly 30 wonderful years working at a job that was not that, I retired on April 30th.


Not content to sit in a not-yet-owned easy chair to watch all the television programs that I never saw, we decided to move to another State. Because I was much younger only two weeks ago, I decided that we could save a lot of money by moving ourselves. Apparently, there seems to be some evidence that the brain deteriorates when one ages and has your totally out-of-shape recently surgecally-repaired body doing things which are painful.

Two 24 foot box trucks and a 16 footer for the rest has brought what will be saved to its new refuge in Florida. We have been on a brutal schedule to empty 6 or more boxes a day so that everything is in place before our first visitors arrive at the end of June. If that is not enough, I will be on a cross-country journey for three weeks of June.


Our new house is South of Jacksonville, Florida.

We have rakes and collected over 50 bags of leaves and yard debris to set out for pick-up. We have also planted some roses and hibiscus.

We were a little short on some furniture items, so a trip to the local Salvation Army store resulted in our getting a couch and some dining room furniture.



We are getting closer to having things done. I expect that we will only put out 30 bags of yard debis this weekend. I also hope to have all boxes out of the house amd the dining table cleaned off (maximum lemon pie points for that one).

Memorial Day was a holiday for all of us and in a future post, will share some pictures taken at the town park.

Back to the Grind...not

After all the summer fun, we continue to have a good time as the colors change on the trees. Other events have happened and can now be documented as the information for getting on this site was finally remembered (in the middle of the night in a flash of inspiration).


In August, a puppy and I fell in love with one another. Teeka (named after an Ewok of Star Wars fame) had no other choice but to come home with me.

Teeka is half Cocker Spaniel and half Poodle. She is fun, playful, and is a bundle of energy. She is as happy as she looks in the picture.

In October, we celebrated a pair of birthdays for Dalton and James. Peggie designed the party to enjoy an American Indian theme. We had Navajo tacos, Indian cookies (corn meal and honey), and later enjoyed a recent discorvery of S'mores over the campfire. All had fun and played Indian games and Indian crafts.

Chief Aidan

The Three Little Indians

Peggie also made each of them a headband which contained a card with their name written in Cherokee. I had to download the character set in a font which I could print.

The day after the party, our good friend Dave flew in for another visit. We enjoyed his company and went to several new places. The new Air & Space museum next to Dulles Airport was impressive. I plan to return soon as the number of exhibits require more than a day to see.

Enola Gay

We also spent a day enjoying the fall colors in Shenandoah National Park. The weather was spectacular and we took many pictures.

Finally, on his last day we toured the Holocaust Museum. This was a sobering experience and all of us were greatly moved by the emotion elicited by the way the exhibits were displayed. I would hope that we never forget the lessons we learned and allow this to ever happen again.

Summer Fun

We have had fun so far this summer with both the Kids and the Grandkids. Jordyn and Dalton were able to attend the summer fine artrs camp hosted by the county school system. Children through 6th grade were able to participate in Orchestra, Band, Art, Dance, Chorus, or Theater. The finale wes a presentation to all the parents with a wonderful production.

Jordyn participated in Chorus

Dalton participated in Theater

Aidan staying cool.

James is just (and always) happy.

Pawpaw with his tiny bass caught in a formerly sterile lake.

Of course the biggest change this summer was the difficult decision to trade in the beloved Jeep for a car with more "old people" comfort and better economy. As I was about to begin the few repairs to my VW Rabbit deisel (50 mpg), my oldest proclaimed: "Dad, you are almost 60! Go get a car with airconditioning and other comforts." How could I let my poor sons down. My wonderful and important better half sent me off to the vultures with the instructions that I could have anything as long as it had 4 doors and leg room in the rear seat. I did not look far. I found a car with the nicest wheels, grill, and color and was immediately in love. It had the 3.5 L V6 engine and I did not know what else until it was in my posession. It turns out that it had most of the options and is now known as the TV car. It has an entertainment system including TV and wireless headsets. It also includes GPS and bluetooth. A 30 GB hard disk allows me to copy my music CD's so I do not have to carry them inside the car. In the fall, I will try opening the power sun roof to enjoy the air. This winter, I am sure I will enjoy the heated leather seats. All of my boys and grandkids approve of grandpa's choice.

The Red Drag-on

We all hope our summer is fun. More updates will follow as they come.

The Grandkids (AKA Grand Kids)

Because I have returned to work, my spare time is not like it was when I was trapped. It also means that I can again play with my grandkids and have fun.

Aidan finally got to have a sleepover. Our favorite game is Evil Pawpaw accompanied with Tickle Monster. There are many rules and formalities in playing this game. Aidan must run, scream at the top of his lungs, jump on the bed, and take sanctuary under a blanket on the couch where he becomes "a pile of dirty laundry". My role is to hide and leap out at him when he comes searching, growl, and do the appropriate amount of tickling. Lights being off will ensure the Evil Pawpaw. Lights on bring back the nice Pawpaw.

Dalton and James got to visit recently when they lost power during recent storms. We went out to a great restaurant for a "garbage pail lid" full of ribs, BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, corn bread, cole slaw, baked beans, and other delectible foods. After dinner, we returned to the house and watched a movie before they had to go back home. They are fun to play with and we miss them when they do not visit.

We were invited to Jordyn's 5th grade graduation ceremony. It seems crazy that she will begin Middle School next year. We were very proud of her and the accomplishments she attained in school. She received an academic award for grades and citizenship. Many in the school received these awards and many parents and grandparents were rewarded with the satifaction of seeing their special person recognized.

However, Jordyn's name was called later for another award. The Richard Portee award is presented to a student who has a high achievement despite adversity. It was established by a teacher many years ago and is the only recognition which included a monetary award. There were only 4 different single awards and Jordyn received one of them. We were very proud of this young lady.

Finally, we had the pleasure of sitting with Dalton during the ceremonies. His high grades and citizenship resulted in his selection to be an Usher for the graduation. We were met at the entrance by a handsome young man in a white shirt who gave us our program. Just before the ceremony began, the same little guy bounded into our row of seats to hug his Pawpaw and sit with us.

Leaving Germany

All good trips must come to an end and so did this one on the 22nd of March. I was missing my family and friends at home and so on the 2nd day of Spring, I arose to put my suitcases in my car and found that there was a bit of snow around.

After scraping off the windows and loading the car (both trunk and back seat), I began my journey to the airport.

Looking at the on-board GPS, it appeared that Autobahn A63 was a clear straight shot. Hmm, it looked a little different out the windows, but I cautiously increased my speed to a prudent level: eager to get home and all.

Somehow, I missed several exits to the airport in Frankfurt mainly because I was worried about finding a gas station on the right side of the road that gave Green Stamps and took credit cards. After a quick U-turn (translation: less than 25 miles out of the way), I made my way back to the correct exits, got gas and turned in my car to the rental agency who acted somewhat surprised that the car was in perfect condition.

It was a good thing that I arrived early. There are many lines to stand in at the airport and I think there is an international conspiracy to develop more lines. I had to stand in a line to pay for an extra bag after standing in a line to check the bag in. When I got to the front, they said I had to go back to the other line to get the bags weighed first, then come back to the line again to pay. Now why wasn't the guy in the first line knowledgeable about that? Anyway, there was no way that the lines were going to dampen my spirits when I was on my way home. I flew home in a 747 which remained quite clean for the long flight across the Atlantic. I landed at Dulles International almost an hour early. The person responsible for picking me up actually heeded my advice and arrived 45 minutes after my scheduled arrival so that he would not have to wait for my to clear Customs and Immigration. There is an urgent need for baggage watchers for people traveling alone when they have much too much luggage and there is an urge to use the facilities after being on the plane that long. I was 2 minutes away from declaring an emergency when my ride arrived and thus, the headlines in the next day's paper were again some mundane thing about elections, or some other silly thing.

It seems that the last leg on the local Beltway seemed to be longer than anything thus far on the day's journey. After a long time I finally got home to kiss my bride:

It sure is good to be home...

The Black Forest

I thoroughly enjoy the Black Forest. The forest is no more black than the Black Hills of South Dakota, but both are dark when viewed from a distance.

The journey to the center of the forest is about 3 hours in duration. There are many kilometers of unrestricted (that is WOOHOO to some of us) Autobahn so I suppose that the trip is longer than it would seem.

I love the town names: Landau (the Star Wars city), Karlsruhe, Offenburg, Wolfach, amongst others. Traveling south, the road is flat and straight as it basically follows the Rhine River on the western border (France on the other side). At the proper ausfahrt we leave the Autobahn and begin the easterly drive into the mountains. The countryside shows centuries of maintenance and some of the hillsides look like well-manicured golf courses. The river we follow has had its banks raised and turns straightened so that it looks more like a canal than a river. When we get to the mountains, the ascent is rapid. During the early spring, before the Algore effect had taken place, the outside temperature dropped 1 degree C every 2 KM. This picture was taken on a previous trip in the summer, but does a good job of representing the beauty of the approach to the Black Forest.

Triberg is the ultimate destination and is about in the center of the Black Forest. It is also the location of the tallest waterfall in Germany.

Downtown Triberg

The Waterfalls

Of course the waterfall is not the reason most people come to the middle of the Black Forest. They come to shop for a genuine cuckoo clock carved and assembled by one of the many artisans who reside in this area. I made friends with the people in House of 1000 Clocks. I have enjoyed their company on many visits and their selection of clocks is very good. They are also the only shop who has a negotiated warantee service within the United States. They enjoy showing their clocks as much as we enjoy looking at them. It never seems to be an imposition to demonstrate the music, cuckoo, or hang clocks together so that one can compare them.

Ian and his wife Siglinde related stories and Black Forest history to us as we shopped for clocks. In the end, they surprised me with a gift which was signed by everyone in the store.

After one of our speedy trips to Triberg, Ian suggested taking a back road north through the heart of the mountains. Elevations at some points was over 1000 meters. Even though there was a lot of low-hanging clouds that day, the scenery was beautiful with the snow.

At one point, we stopped to hike up to a lake that was formed during the Ice Age. The road was snow covered and steep. We walked uphill for over a kilometer to get to the lake.

The road continued to meander until it took a dogleg to the west and ended in Baden Baden and where our Autobahn entrance was available for the remaining trip home.

Here is a video of the clock store interior. Please enjoy the sights and sounds of the clocks and excuse the poor photography from a rank amateur.