in Germany
- To view the photos click on “Photos April 2006” above.
Before we start with the travel journal, we should perhaps
set the scene and the list of characters involved.
- Renée’s sister “Jeanette” and her husband “Klaus” live in
Diedorf, Germany along with their younger daughter
“Nadine” The cats “Trixi” and “Susi” also belong to the
family. “Kristin”, the older daughter lives close by in
Augsburg with Tom.
- Renée’s stepmother, “Mutti/Oma” lives in Altenstadt/Iller
with her sister “Tante Anna”. Altenstadt is on the Bavarian
side of the Iller river and only a few kilometers from
Erolzheim.
Erolzheim is in the state of Baden Württemberg and is also
where Renée’s youngest sister “Angelika” (“Geli”) lives with
her husband “Egon”, daughter “Julia”, son “Tim” and
“Scotty”, the Golden Retriever.
- And now on with the travel journal.
- On April 1st, Renée, Jeannette and Klaus went to
Altenstadt where she met the Elderly-Care-Giver, Barbara
(see photo). Barbara is from Poland and job-shares with
another lady from Poland. They take care of the two
elderly ladies for five weeks, and then return to Poland to
their own family while the other one takes over.
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- It was a pleasant surprise how well Mutti/Oma looked, despite all of her health
problems. She was alert and realized who Renée was. Everyone had tea and cake that
had been bought on the way there. Egon picked Renée up later that afternoon and
drove to Erolzheim, where Tim’s Confirmation was to take place on the following day.
Jeanette and Klaus stayed in Altenstadt at the local hotel “Zur Sonne” where
Jeanette’s class reunion was taking place that evening which continued until 3 AM.
Jeanette was only physically there the following morning at the Confirmation. Kristin,
Tom and Nadine arrived from Augsburg/Diedorf and Nadine had apparently followed
her mother’s example in staying up late.
The Confirmation ceremony consisted of only six young boys and girls, but was quite
inspiring. Afterwards there was a wonderful meal at the restaurant of “Schosshotel
Erolzheim” (see photos). The food in Germany made it very difficult to keep a
“Diabetic Diet”.
Renée returned to Diedorf while Jeanette had a few days off before returning to her
night shift as a nurse. Unfortunately, Jeanette came down with a virus or the flu and
so the next few days were spent on shopping, etc. in Augsburg rather than spending
time with one another. Renée then spent the rest of her time in Erolzheim with Geli,
Egon, Julia, Tim and Scotty. Mornings were spent with Scotty, walking in the woods,
and afternoons with the rest of the family when they all arrived home. Since
Altenstadt is so near, trips were also made to play cards with the elderly ladies.
On April 11th, Geli and Renée met Jeanette and Klaus half way between Erolzheim and
Augsburg for a “prisoner exchange” where Renée was transferred back so she could
be taken to the airport the following day for her return trip to the USA.
In El Paso, everything arrived on time, including the luggage and we all drove to White
Sands Missile Range where we had parked the RV in the campground. During Renée’s
trip to Germany, Chuck had stayed there. The winds coming off the Organ Mountains
reached well over 50 mph several times at night. Renée experienced it a few nights
after returning when we were certain that we were going to lose the top of the RV.
Actually, nothing was damaged but it was certainly difficult to sleep while the whole
room was rocking! On the 14th Renée had a doctor’s appointment and she had been
so successful with her diet, blood sugar and blood pressure readings that the doctor
decided to take her off the Glucose pills and blood pressure medication.
We stayed at White Sands until April 18th and drove to Holloman AFB where we spent
two nights for additional doctor’s appointments. Then on the 20th we drove to Percha
Dam State Park, south of Truth or Consequences.
Percha Dam State Park lies directly on the banks of the Rio Grande and we found a
very nice spot to spend a few weeks. Shortly after we arrived, we met a couple from
Hamburg (see photos) who were on a five month tour of America. Although we forgot
to get their names, we did give them our website address. If they read this, perhaps
they will also sign our guest book!
Dick visited us often and we showed him a riverside campsite at Caballo State Park
that we had discovered. Caballo State Park consists of two parts, the lakeside and
somewhat south past the dam is a riverside area. Further down the river and across
I-25 is Percha Dam State Park. The riverside areas are shaded and quite beautiful
(see photos). Dick found the riverside area quite nice and decided that he would camp
there when he came again. We had to make a trip to Holloman on the 25th and Dick
decided to make a trip to Bosque del Apache (a wild bird sanctuary) for a little bird
watching, then to drive on to San Antonio, NM and meet us at the Owl Bar & Cafe (We
reported on the Owl in our December journal.)
After the doctor’s appointment at Holloman, we drove to Carrizozo. Since it was still
quite early, we made a detour and visited the ghost town, White Oaks. (see photos)
We were quite surprised because we had visited White Oaks many years ago and
instead of a ghost town, it was growing in population, with some buildings being
restored!
After a short tour of White Oaks, we drove on to San Antonio and met Dick at the
Owl. He had arrived about two large cans of Foster beer before us and by then was
quite well acquainted with the waitress! Our Green Chile Cheeseburgers were as good
as ever and after eating, we followed Dick back to Percha Dam.
The banks of the Rio Grande south of Truth or Consequences are a bird watching
paradise, not only at Bosque del Apache but in Caballo and Perch Dam State Parks as
well. When Dick returned on his next visit, he stayed on the riverside of Caballo S.P.
which was only a short distance from us. The variety and various coloring of the birds
are truly astounding. We enjoyed sitting on the banks of the Rio Grande while Lobo
enjoyed the water. (see photos) In the evening we grilled and sat beside the campfire.
The following day Renée suddenly began having extremely high blood pressure
readings. She called the clinic and since they had no appointments available, they
referred her to another clinic in Alamogordo. A package was supposed to arrive via
UPS (which didn’t) so Chuck stayed at Percha Dam with Lobo. By the time she arrived
at the clinic in Alamogordo, she was feeling quite strange with a severe headache. She
went to the bathroom and took her own blood pressure reading. It was 227/133 with
a pulse of 109! This was verified by the clinic staff and they immediately transported
her via ambulance to the local hospital where she spent the next five hours while they
brought her blood pressure down to 119/80 with medication. She was then allowed to
leave and traveled back to Percha Dam, arriving about 10 PM.
The following morning, the blood pressure again began to rise and we drove together
back to the hospital where they brought it down again and wrote a prescription for a
supplemental medication. After numerous visits and continuous monitoring, the blood
pressure is again under control but the reason for the episode remains a mystery.
We had plans to have left New Mexico by the end of April but this medical
emergency has slowed down our travels.
And that’s the way it was…
To be continued.
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