Friday, September 23, 2016

Where in the World IS Annie Love? And, Finding Liam






One of Annie's photos from her first full day in Berchtesgaden.  I'm assuming that's the hotel where she is staying while attending a major geocaching event.  Annie and her colleague Bryan are representing Groundspeak, Inc. at the Geocoinfest. 






Berchtesgaden is a municipality in the German Bavarian Alps. It is located in the south district of Berchtesgadener Land in Bavaria, near the border with Austria, some 30 km south of Salzburg and 180 km southeast of Munich. 

To the south of the city the Berchtesgaden National Park stretches along three parallel valleys.                                                                       ---from Berchtesgaden Facebook page


Yup, Annie's on another world travel, and, as usual, she took along her flipflops and her Sounders scarf.  The flipflops are especially important because she and those flipflops are famous in Germany (a clip of them and Annie's feet moving on down the Camino Santiago aired on German TV this week) just in time for her to arrive in Germany.  

If you think flipflops along the Camino turned heads, you can imagine what they probably did when she and Brian toured a salt mine. 


The photo from Eagle's Nest (described below) was taken an hour or so ago.  That Sounders scarf has traveled the world with Annie. 

Annie and Bryan have a busy weekend ahead with all the geocaching activities---and to think she'll be here in Sandpoint sleeping in her own bed this time next week. I think she removes her flipflops when she goes to bed. 

In other news, Laurie and Pache will compete again at the Nationals shortly before 1 PDT today.  Good luck, Laurie. 

Here on the home front, Bill and I are breathing easier one more time, thanks to Liam. Yesterday, when he was just about at the house from playing in his pasture, Liam's nose went down, his ears turned deaf and off he went.

Things got frantic for Bill and me as Liam, oblivious to any concerns, moved on toward the south.  Foster followed but came back. 

I drove into our neighbor's driveway.  She thought she had seen Liam go back toward our place, but we learned later she had actually seen Foster.

So, I rushed back, climbed on the 4-wheeler, raced through the entire woods and saw no sigh of Liam.  In the meantime, Bill was walking through the woods with plans to hang out at the west end, lest Liam go that way. 

I drove back to the house, climbed in the car again and drove down Selle Road to the west. Seeing no sign of Liam, I turned around just in time to see him cross the road from the south at Murray's place, headed toward home. 

I also saw cars stopped at our turn.  Apparently, one of our neighbors had seen him on his initial run and was sitting in her car, watching for him.  When I assured her that I had spotted him, she moved on. 

I once again pulled into the Kauble's place and saw Liam in their front area.  Still oblivous to anything but where his nose was taking him, it took a couple of calls and then a "sit" and a "down."  Liam finally stopped.

When I walked up to him, I thought he had rolled in some needles.  Well, they were needles okay, but the kind that come from porcupines. 

I put him in the car, drove home, took him to the garage and found Bill who was still in the woods.  We went back to the house where he grabbed a pair of needle-nosed pliers and some gloves.  

As I held, he pulled out the quills.  Fortunately, most were on the surface, and only one that stuck out just a half an inch or so, caused Liam some discomfort as Bill had to try a couple of times to pull it out. 

Liam behaved sensibly, though, and we managed to avoid a vet visit.  My hope is that the experience might have some impact on his nose-to-the-ground sojourns. Only time will tell, but I do think the experience was slightly traumatic to the young pup.  

And, I know it was more than traumatic for both Bill and me. 

Guess that's enough from the home front.  Got lots to do today while keeping track of Liam here at home and of those family members who have followed their noses to their individual passions.  

My advice to them---let's look for positive endings and avoid the porcupines!

Happy Friday.  Check out photos and info. below. 





Berchtesgaden & Eagle's Nest

From Salzburg, the fairytale scenery of Germany’s Bavarian Alps leads to Berchtesgaden, Hitler’s mountain retreat, and Eagle's Nest (or Kehlsteinhaus), the southern headquarters of the Nazi party.

Brilliantly positioned on top of Mt Kehlstein, the lodge boasts some of Germany’s most amazing views of the snowcapped Alps and valleys. The chateau was commissioned to celebrate Hitler’s 50th birthday in 1939 and was built as a retreat and meeting house, although it was seldom used due to the outbreak of war.

These days, visitors come here to drink in those fabulous views and dine at the onsite restaurant and beer garden. While you’re here, you can take a tour of the Kehlsteinhaus and the mountain’s bunkers, including a glimpse of the reception room’s red marble fireplace, a gift from Mussolini.



1 comment:

Diane Rice
—DocuDoctor
said...

So glad Liam emerged safely from the woods!