30 August ’04, Monday. What do you know about the German U-boat’s? I knew that they were submarines and a constant scare to the Allied war ships of WWII, but that was about it for me. Today we visited a German U-boat. We had an opportunity to go into it and explore all the nook and crannies. Touch the torpedo’s and all the controls, and even the periscope. It was a deadly weapon. Not only to the “Allies” but to the German crewmen as well. We attended the memorial to those lost in battles and accidents from WWI and WWII. A staggering number lost….dad’s, brother’s, uncles, husbands….30 thousand men in all, dead. Their names, birth dates, and date lost, are now located on brass tablets at the memorial. We saw were each boat was to have sunk…..it is pretty sobering. Yesterday I missed the pictures, today I got them. On a lighter side, we did go grocery shopping and spent our budget. It really is a reality check, when you get back from the more “inexpensive countries” like Hungry, Poland, and the others we visited after those. After our grocery shopping, we went to the U-boat and then headed back to the campground. I hate to admit it, but we got lost. I think we made at least 3, but it was must likely more, U-Turns before we found our road to the campground. It is dangerous for us to be out here with out some serious maps to help us find our way home. Tomorrow…..moving south to Lubec Germany

29 August ’04, Sunday. Sometimes someone just has to come up and hit me over the head….AGAIN, I left the van thinking that I probably wont have a reason to take the camera with me…..WRONG !!! I Promise I Will Not Leave My Camera Behind Again !!! I made up for one of the two mistakes, but the other was a once in my life time occurrence (unless I wait around for another week that is..). Imagine if you will…. Young boy’s and girl’s competing against each other, evenly in this sporting event. At the conclusion of the challenge, they all head back to the home base at one time…say 30-40 kid’s from 7 – 15 years of age. All are excited and moving about with a lot of energy and excitement. All have a parent or two, and group of friends waiting and ready to help with the final chore’s. The problem is everyone can’t fit into the small area that everyone has to get out from….it’s a “wait until your turn comes up” and who can wait when you’ve got some stories to tell all… Summer is ending, the weather couldn’t be better, and you’ve just had the day of your young life. All the fantastic colors abound, making the event even more exciting. A couple of the classes that they compete in are “Shark”, “Starfish” and “Sea Gull”….I’m talking boating, more precisely sailing in a small dingy and, they are having a great time. As they approached the sloped boat launch area they are met with everyone ready to load their “yacht” aboard a small trailer. Once the dingy is loaded, it is pulled by hand up the hill and laid aside to rest until the next outing. It was a photographer’s paradise and I without my camera (and who say’s I’m a “Photographer” anyway?) One of the other “Photo Opts” missed, was the beach and the beach crowd. This is a great summer destination especially if you are looking for a wonderful beach. White sand, warm water for this far North, great little beach cabana’s, an incredible boardwalk with dozen’s of marvelous boutique restaurant and coffee houses. We stopped at one for lunch (I’ll bet this is no surprise to anyone) and had a great salad. Tomorrow….I promise to do better

28 August ’04, Saturday. The drum of the huge diesel engines on the ferry were all it took for us to drop right off to sleep…. Unfortunately, neither one of us got a good nights sleep. Hard bed, “totally dark” stateroom, a lot of noise from the wake hitting the ship and shaking all the bulkheads, loose nuts and bolts, and somewhat worried about how “Bumble Bee” was doing down in the far parking lot in the hole of the ship. As morning approached (and how were we to know, with this room of ours so pitch dark ?) we began to hear the ship stirring. Time to roll out and hit the shower. I must tell you, the shower was so small that there was no way you could turn around or pick up your soap if you were to have dropped it. As it was, we did get our showers and make it down to breakfast. The rest of the day was spend going from the top deck (outside) and then back to the lounge to watch a little of the Olympics on TV. That leads me to ask…what the hell happened to the USA Basketball Team ?….Argentina???? Well, we were to arrive in Kiel, Germany at 5pm local time and we were right on time. Our arrival into the bay was wonderful. We had a sunny, cool, and a little windy day to come into port. The water was full of sailboat’s enjoying one regatta or another and the beach was crowed with sailboards with para-sails to pull them along at high speed. Each para-sail was a different color and together they were beautiful. As our ship carried us through the channel and into the bay of Kiel, Louise and I noticed a campground right on the water. Making a mental note of were it was, we made a point of finding it. Success…. Tonight we are right on the bank of the bay and looking forward to seeing the ferry we arrived on carry on across the water with it’s new passengers. This passage is one very busy passage for the large ships. It has been quite a wonderful sight since we arrived. One after another has passed in front of us, including some of the largest cruise ships. We also arrived this evening with a bad electrical cord that attaches us to the main electrical outlet here at the campground. Without it we don’t have electric for all of our needs….refrigerator, lights, and MY COMPUTER…. Our new, and I do mean new neighbors Egon & Rosi, and Dieter & Tanja (we had only been here for 10-15 minutes) jumped right in, cut one of their cords, supplied this new cut off end to me AND, attached it for me, AND made sure that we had all that we needed before getting back to his dinner. What can you say…Great People !!! Thank You !!!
Tomorrow…. Do some research