Christmas In USA - New Year In Germany

For the first time in three years, I was able to spend Christmas at home in Michigan. God worked the timing of my next assignment to Korea perfectly so that Lana and I could be at home for the holidays between assignments. My sister also was married while I was home, so another blessing. Our time in the States didn't involve too much as we just wanted to relax with family and enjoy the time off. There was plenty of snow this year, and with my Dad's 4-wheeler and a buddy's snowmobile we enjoyed the snow a lot. We also did some "redneck" sledding...10 sleds pulled behind a John Deere tractor. Sometimes you have to be creative when the land around you is so flat!

A few days after Christmas, Lana and I flew back here to Munich to help her get settled into the new apartment and spend a few days with the Germany side of the family before flying on to Korea. On New Years Eve we took a day trip to Berchtesgaden in the southeast German Alps, near Hitler's Eagles Nest and Lake Königssee. I had been to the Eagles Nest previously, so we spent most of our time at the lake. Most of the lake was unfrozen so we were able to take a ferry ride to a small town on the lake that is only accessible by boat or a long hike over the mountains...no roads. There is a very popular church in this town, St Bartholomew's Church, which is in the picture below. Lana and I enjoyed a nice walk and then had some hot chocolate to warm up a bit. Later than night we celebrated with Lana's grandparents near Lake Chimsee. Lana of course loves Europe since it's her home and my time here has given me a great appreciation for traveling and seeing other countries. We hope to make it back to Europe sometime in our Air Force future!

In a few days Lana and I will fly to Seoul to begin my tour at Kunsan. Thankfully it worked for me to fly on the same flight she's working...another Godsend. We'll spend a couple days in Seoul together during her layover and I'll head on to Kunsan when she flies back. Once I'm settled a bit at Kunsan, I'll post more.

More Pictures:

Lake Königssee

Squadron Trip To Austria

The weekend before Lana and I left Italy we were able to take part in our squadron's ski trip to Austria. It was another chance for us to hit the slopes for some good snowboarding and hang out with the friends we had made during our time in Italy. Some of the ladies in the squadron made arrangements for us all to stay in a nice pensione/gasthof in a town close to Salzburg called Kirchdorf. This is close to the well known ski town of Kitzbühel where we spent all of Saturday enjoying the snow. I've said it before, but it's great snowboarding with Lana...we both enjoy the mountains and she's really good!

After a day on the slopes, it was back to the gasthof to clean up for our squadron Christmas dinner. Some of us were a little annoyed we had to dress up after a day of snowboarding, but the evening was nice. It was also my farewell dinner...kind of a sad moment for Lana and I as we didn't want to be leaving. But, such is the military life and it was time to move on. Our squadron commander said a few words about Lana and I before giving us a chance to say some things. I wanted to say more than just, "Flying is awesome, I've enjoying being in the 510th, keep working hard, etc." Even though all of that is true there is more to life than flying fighter jets. I may not always be the best example of this, but it's true. I wanted to point out the fact everything in my life has been a blessing from God from flying the F-16 to meeting Lana in Europe, God is in control! It's why Psalm 31:14-15a is at the top of my blog...our times are in His hands.

Sunday morning Lana and I said some last goodbyes before driving to meet her grandparents 30 min away from where we were staying. Our car was packed full of things we didn't have the Air Force ship, and the plan was to have her grandparents take it to their place so Lana could pick it up later after getting settled back in Munich. Lana also went with them because she had a flight to L.A. the next day. After eating lunch together, we parted ways and I started the drive back to Aviano. This time it was shorter for me to drive to Innsbruck and then south back to Italy through Cortina. To make a long story short, my trip took much longer than normal due to my route being closed due to snow. After about a 7hr 30min (usually 5) drive I was back in Sacile. The next day I finished my the last of my paperwork at the base and flew to Munich the next. Flying from Venice for the last time was strange, but I was eager to see and travel Asia during my time at Kunsan.

Lana and I are in the US now with my family enjoying the Christmas season. The last time we were all together was at our wedding about 15 months ago! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

More Pictures:

Kitzbuhel, Austria

Leaving Italy...On To Korea

Tomorrow morning I catch a flight into Munich to meet up with Lana on our way to the USA for my sister's wedding and Christmas. I'm officially finished here at Aviano having completed my final outprocessing paperwork about an hour ago. We're both excited at what the future holds and look forward to flying and traveling around eastern Asia over the next year.

Last Wednesday I had what fighter squadrons call a fini flight. It's the last flight a pilot has in the squadron before moving on to another. I was scheduled for an ACM fini, but due to weather we had a flex to something different. It was strange stepping to the jet and flying what I knew would be my last fight with the Buzzards...the time has flown by, literally! After the flight my squadron mates taped me up and sprayed me down with a bunch of water in standard fighter pilot tradition. I came away with only a couple scrapes from the wrestling match which took place just prior, which is more than a couple of my attackers could say.

Another fighter squadron tradition is to put a pilot's name on a jet canopy along with the dedicated crew chief's (maintenance chief) name. My name was put on tail 443, and just today did I get out to the flight line to get a quick picture before leaving. Many ask if it's the jet I always fly, and the answer is no; we fly whichever jets maintenance has ready for us.

Well, the plan tonight is to get a quick workout in and then enjoy a nice Italian meal one last time before leaving. I'm not sure how Korean food is, but I'm pretty sure I won't enjoy it as much as the local Italian pasta and pizza. I'll be to Korea in early Jan ready to start the next phase in my Air Force career with the 35th Fighter Squadron Pantons! Push it up!

Thanksgiving Weekend

On Thanksgiving day I joined some friends from the church/squadron to enjoy the standard meal with turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. In all there were about 30 people, so I actually felt somewhat at home with the large crowd. Many times back home we have 30-40 people at my Grandma's place for the holidays. Lunch started soon after 12:00, and there was a lot of great food. I actually did a decent job as pacing myself this year and didn't eat too much.
Around 2:30 I was ready to hit the road to Zermatt, Switzerland. A few of us had rented a station wagon for the weekend, which was already packed with our clothes and snowboards. We felt a little bad for leaving the party so quickly, but the drive takes about 6 hours and we didn't want to drive through the mountains too late at night. The weather forecast had also called for snow, so the pass could've been difficult. Lana's flight schedule had changed last minuet, so unfortunately she wasn't able to enjoy the tirp over the weekend. She left for a flight to San Fransisco and wouldn't be back until Sunday morning. She's a great snowboarder, and I really missed her on the slopes!

We arrived at our hotel, Gasthof Weisshorn, around 10 and called it a night so we'd be ready to hit the slopes early the next morning. Lana had found this gasthof on the internet in the middle of Zermatt and close to the main ski lift....a perfect location. Friday wasn't the best snowboarding due to bad weather and winds, but we enjoyed being on the snow again after the summer. At noon we had lunch at an apres ski on the mountain and finished the day around mid afternoon.

Saturday was much better! The weather had cleared up and the view of the Matterhorn and other parts of the Alps was...well, just take a look at the pictures. What an amazing Creation! We bought an international ski pass for the day and were able to take advantage of both the Swiss and Italian snow. Both sides of the mountains were great, but I actually thought the Italian side was a little better for snowboarding. The bad weather from the day before had brought over a foot of new powder. We spent the whole day up there and were back in Zermatt around 4 o'clock...time for a shower and nap before getting dinner.

That evening we enjoyed cheese and beef fondue, similar to what Lana and I had eaten our last time to Switzerland. The next morning we hit the road about 11 and arrived back in Sacile by 5. I'm thankful I was able to see Zermatt again before leaving Italy, and now Lana and I are planning a couple more snowboard trips before I leave Europe...how I wish the Air Force would let me stay here! We'll be snowboarding in Austria on the squadron ski trip the middle of December and we're planning Austria over the new year as well.

Ok, the moving compay will probably be here in a little bit to pack my things destined for Korea and I need to make sure they're in order. By the 5th, our apartment will be completely empty and we'll either be staying with friends or in base billeting until we leave...I only have one more flight left here at Aviano, crazy!

More Pictures:

Zermatt, Switzerland

Packing Up

Last weekend, Lana and I spent most of the time packing our things in preparation for the movers who will be here on 2 December to load our household goods onto a truck. Thankfully we don't have too much, and it will definitely easy the stress of moving. We have three separate areas of things around our apartment...one is headed to Korea with me, one is headed to Munich with Lana and the other back to the USA to a storage house in Virginia.. It will stay there until I get an assignment out of Korea and will be shipped to the new location.

I don't remember if I mentioned it previously or not, but Lana and I bought an apartment in Munich for her to live in while I'm in Korea. My assignment is what they call "unaccompanied" which means I can't bring a family...the base doesn't have the facilities (big hospital, school, etc.) to support families. Lana can come to visit me for up to 30 days at a time, and with her Lufthansa job we plan to see each other every month. She can actually work a flight Munich direct to Seoul, so I hope to take advantage of a free night's stay in a nice hotel downtown. Since the government pays for Lana to have a place in Munich, we decided it would be a good investment to buy rather than continue to give our money away in rent to pay someone else's mortgage. After I leave Korea, Lana will move out and her mom will continue to rent the apartment from us.

I have two fly days left here at Aviano before we hit the road. One is early next week before the movers come and the other the week after before our squadron ski trip to Austria. The second week of December I also have to do a refresher course in both water survival and combat survival training. I did both of these after I finished pilot training back in early 2005, and they're good for four years. We will eventually finish up the paperwork and leave Italy by mid December...time flies! We're looking forward to being in the US for my sister's wedding and Christmas with family before I head off to Korea.

The picture above is of the mountains just to the north of the base, which I took today. We had our first big snowfall of the year a couple days ago and we're all gearing up to hit the slopes for some good snowboarding. I'm leaving tomorrow again for Zermatt, Switzerland to enjoy the Thanksgiving day weekend snowboarding with friends, but sadly Lana had to fly to San Fransisco and won't be there. We'll be back together Sunday to finish packing the last of our things as we get ready for the week ahead. I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving and great Christmas season...there's a God who provides and was born to save the world from sin!