The Boat Ride

As we left the hotel for the airport, we got our passports back. I guess nobody in our group were spies, or they didn't find out what happened to us in Jerusalem. We flew out of Berlin and went back to Frankfurt, where we saw the giant cow again. We then got on a bus for a tour of the German countryside. We went to several towns including Rudescheim, which has one of the smallest streets in the world, or at least that's what they said. We also went to Koblenz, where Sandra's father was during World War II. The bus had a radio that was tuned to Armed Forces Radio, and we got to hear pop music. It was so refreshing. Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Get Down" was a favorite, and "Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree" became our theme song. We changed the line "It's been three long years" to "three long weeks". Also, Sandra would take naps on the buses. We laughed a lot about her sleeping with her mouth open, but she denied that. I got a picture of her doing that and showed her later. She was amazed. We got on a tour boat on the Rhine for a supposedly three-hour tour. We saw castles and other stuff. We were amazed at the farmers who were growing corn on the sides of mountains. Cows were even grazing on the hills. How they didn't tumble down, I will never know. The trip continued for six hours. It turned out that we were going upstream, which made it so long. Everyone spent the time differently. Some just enjoyed the sights. Some napped. Others interacted with the boat crew. Sandra used to say, to quote a Stephen Stills song, "If you can't be with the one you love, Love the one you're with". When we finally docked and got off the boat, I took a picture of Sandra coming off the boat. There were 22 guys from the crew watching her through the windows of the boat. We got back on the bus and went to Weisbaden, where we were going to spend the night. By now, we were almost two weeks into our trip. It was a little misty that night, kind of like what we had seen in London. There was a big park across from our hotel. I went over there that night and sat to think. I wanted to ponder what had happened so far, and what was to come. Some of the others of the group went out to a club. I didn't do what Mr. Vivian wanted me to do, in that he wanted me to stay with them no matter what. But, this night was a night to reflect. And unwind.