Hot Summer, a Brand-New Wiggins, and Cool Fall sailing!
We arrived back in Kansas, USA on Saturday, June 6. We picked up where we left off on our apartment construction, installing a large new Onyx shower and a split unit for heating and cooling the bedroom. We installed some shelves and hanging rods in the closet, painted and finished wall and door trim and then painted and hung doors for the bedroom and bathroom.
In Early July we began our '2026 Visit The Kids' tour, first driving north and east to visit with our son Taylor and his wife Haley in Davenport, IA. Randy helped them install a new kitchen floor and a water softener. We got to see Haley's family perform with their German Band on the 4th of July. Haley plays the flute, her Dad and brother play trumpet, and her grandfather plays keyboard. They are very entertaining!
From Iowa we traveled further north and way west, to visit with our oldest son Brad in Billings, MT. We helped Brad install new carpeting in his living room and hallway, and got to spend time playing with Kingston too!
Our next stop was south, to Thornton, CO to see our daughter Rachael and her husband Austin. We helped replace the upper deck and stairway on the back of their home. Oh yes, and the sunset from the new deck was beautiful!
While in the big city, we stopped to pick up a new mattress, a California King. After 36 years, we finally have a bed that is long enough to accommodate Randy's entire height!
Back in Kansas, we continued working on the apartment. We moved our new bed in, and began sleeping in our nice cool new bedroom.
On August 1, one of the cooler days so far (low 90's), we took a ride on the motorcycle north about 50 miles to Pawnee Rock. This famous rock stands about 60 feet above the flat prairie, offering a spectacular view of the Arkansas (pronounced ar-KAN-sas) River valley below.
Originally used by the many different Indian tribes in the area as a sacred place, and to scout for buffalo herds, Pawnee Rock became a landmark for travelers on the Santa Fe Trail, and marked approximately halfway between Franklin, Missouri and Santa Fe.
Many of the Santa Fe Trail travelers carved their names in the rock, and much of the rock was used by the railroad in the 1870's, and also by settlers in the area who needed stone for building. It was neat to stand on the rock and view the valley where covered wagons and settlers had once traveled.
Back at the apartment, we got the bathroom floor laid, then installed the vanity and toilet. In mid-August we had our new carpet put in at last! We bought a new couch and a dining room table, and have moved most of our things out of the camper now.
The kitchen floor and new appliances will be put in place after we return in November, and we will be able to move in completely. I'm really looking forward to having a real oven again! We also plan to add a split unit to the kitchen/dining area.
On August 17 our son Taylor's wife Haley gave birth to our first grandbaby. The little doll's name is Lottie Francis Wiggins, she weighed in at 8 lb. 2 oz. We hopped in the truck and headed north to Davenport, IA to see the new family.
Here are just a few photos! 😉
Haley's grandmother knitted that adorable little purple dress.
Everyone is doing just fine, and Lottie is growing quickly. I had no idea how wonderful grandbaby snuggles would be. ❤️
Don't worry, I will be sure to keep you updated with recent photos!
While we were visiting the kids, we took a walk along the Mississippi River to the Government (Arsenal) bridge in downtown Davenport. This iron bridge was built in 1896, and has an upper deck for railroad traffic, and a lower deck for card, bikes, and pedestrians. The bridge connects Davenport Iowa with Arsenal Island Illinois. We strolled across to the Illinois side, and were just in time to see them open the swinging portion of the bridge to let a large riverboat through. It was pretty amazing!
We also had a visit from this little guy, he hopped right up onto my finger. He was about 2 inches long. I had never seen such a tiny praying mantis!
We had to get back to Kansas to pack up and get ready for our flights to Greece. So we stocked up on Lottie snuggles😌, said good-bye to the happy new parents, and headed back south. Randy's buddy Brian and his son Quint gave us a ride, and we left from Wichita on Saturday August 22, stayed one night in Chicago, then continued on to London, then Preveza. We arrived back at the Cleopatra Marina on Monday August 24, and began to prepare the boat for sailing.
I always seem to have cool full moon pictures at the marina!!
We gave the exterior of the boat a thorough cleaning with the power washer, then rinsed out the water tanks and refilled with fresh water. There was still some technical work to be done, and we had a few extra days to wait. We decided to take a quick trip to Nuremberg.
We knew that Nuremberg was famous for the Nazi trials beginning in 1945, but we had no idea that it was such a beautiful old city. The buildings and architecture are just lovely.
On the other hand, we also learned that Adolph Hitler first began to gain popularity in Nuremberg, the first Nazi Party Rallies were held there, and anti-Jewish measures intensified as the Nazis became more powerful.
Here are some pictures of the enormous Palace of Justice building, which holds the famous Courtroom 600, where the first several Nazi war criminal trials were held. We were able to sit inside the courtroom, and could see where the prisoners, prosecutors, judges, translators, and spectators sat. They gave an interesting presentation with real footage from the trials. It was a very emotional experience.
After touring the courtroom, we walked across town to the Documentation Center Nazi Party Rally Grounds. The museum there is huge, with loads of information and photos about the history of Nuremberg, and beginning in the 1920's, the history of the Nazi Party. The large-scale Rallies were held from 1933 - 1938, and construction was planned for several monumental buildings. Many of these projects remain unfinished due to the onset of WWII.
These are pictures of the city of Nuremberg and some of the Nazi parades and demonstrations that took place there. 'Der Sturmer' was an antisemitic newspaper.
Here are some pictures of the huge area dedicated to the parade grounds, which included the Zeppelinfield, where one of Count Zeppelin's airships landed in 1909.
During the war this area was used to house thousands of prisoners of war and civilians in camps. From here many were deported to ghettos and extermination camps. Nuremberg also became a frequent target of Allied air raids beginning in 1942.
After an exhausting afternoon learning about Hitler and the effects his actions had on this city, we decided to treat ourselves to some German beer and delicious sausage. We also sampled a yummy Apfelstrudel with vanilla ice cream.
We headed back into the Old Town section of Nuremberg, and took an easy walk up to the Nuremberg Castle. It was beautiful, and the views from the top were stunning.
Here are more buildings in the area. The streets are narrow with cobblestones, opening up into a large Market Square.
The next morning we took a train toward Munich to visit the Dachau concentration camp memorial site. Riding the train through the pretty scenery toward the camp, it was hard not to think about all of the prisoners that had made this same journey from Nuremberg.
The camp was built in 1933, on the grounds of an old munitions factory. It was to house political opponents of the Reich. Dachau is one of the earliest concentration camps.
The entrance to the camp is through the gates in the center of the building below. The main gate had the saying "ARBEIT MACHT FREI', translation 'Work Sets You Free'.
There are plaques posted in honor of the American Army units that were involved in liberating the camp in April 1945.
This area was used for roll call, and counting the prisoners each day. The barracks (32 in all) were lined up in two columns of 16 buildings. The Camp Road ran between the barracks.
The first row of barracks have been reconstructed, but just foundations remain for the rest.
This photo is captioned "Prisoners on the Camp Road 28 June 1938".
The interior of the barracks have also been reconstructed, and we could walk through. They were original built to house 200 - 250 prisoners, but by the end of WWII the numbers grew up to 1600 - 2000 prisoners in a single barrack. There were two washrooms, one in each half of the building. The last pic below shows lockers where the prisoners could keep their plate, cup, and eating utensils.
The last area we visited was the crematorium, where prisoners were taken to be executed. We slowly walked through the building. First a room where they were told to undress for a shower. Then the actual shower room, where poison gasses were used to asphyxiate them. Next a room where bodies were kept, and last, the room with the crematory ovens. I didn't take many pictures, it was just awful. 'Brausebad' translates to 'Shower'.
We walked on a short trail through some woods nearby, and several different religious memorials have been set up honoring those who had lost their lives here.
We took the train back through the countryside to Nuremburg, and flew back to Preveza early the next morning.
The re-work on our thru-hulls was completed just in time for us to splash on September 3rd. We stayed at the marina for a couple of days to make sure the leaks had been fixed.
We are back to sailing in Greece! The weather is cooler, and there are fewer boats and tourists. Its a great time to be here! We plan to pull the boat out of the water on October 31, and should be back to the States shortly after that.
In our next post we'll share some new places that we hope to explore.
Until next time, here's one more Lottie pic to hold you over.
And one more thing,
GO DODGERS!!!
Cheers!!
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