Location: Garmisch, Germany, Day 2

I went Skydiving, I went Rocky Mountain climbing; ok, maybe not mountain climbing and maybe not skydiving (not this post) but I did go paragliding :)

What an experience is all I have to say; not as much of a rush but it is so amazing to feel that sensation that all you have to hold you up is a canopy and it's your job to get it up and carrying you.

So if you notice these houses at the bottom of the hills; they were what we were expected to run to. We were told to sprint straight on for these houses and hope that the wind catches your chute and pulls you up. The thing that sucks is that once the chute goes up you feel like you hit a brick wall and it takes everything in you to try and keep going.
This is the amazing Cindy who told me about the paragliding; see, she's runing, you run, run, run, run and run until your legs don't touch the ground anymore. Then up it pulls you; try not to fall though as you are running because that might be problematic as it was for her ;)
And yes, I took pictures while gliding down, this is only ONE of the many. I also took pictures of Garmisch and my shoes of course. It was really cool and I highly suggest it if ever you get a chance, just go somewhere that has an amazing view like this one (Oh, and it was cold but it did feel nice).

Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know.

Location: Garmisch, Germany

After spending the previous day driving and in Neuschwanstein, we had arrived in Garmisch finally!

Garmisch is what we Americans that get to live in Germany while with the military escape to; it's basically a resort. During the winters it gets to be CRAZY busy since there are some amazing ski runs in the area, including the Zugspitze which I was fortunate enough to get a first hand view of in a way not many do (post on that is next.)

We spent the weekend in the pool, walking around the town of Garmisch and really just enjoying the weekend we had together. After this we weren't going to see Michelle anymore, she was leaving after that weekend and Cody was due to deploy shortly there after; so we tried especially hard to enjoy the weekend.

We were also blessed to have Grandma Norton and Cousin Kimmy (oh, she's going to kill me)... I mean Cousin K-dawg with us at Garmisch.

Us enjoying the weekend with family included dad taking even MORE pictures of the family... I think we have enough now... I enjoy that he did it, I think it was for a good cause it has been a really long time since we've had that many of our family members together, but too many family portraits is what causes us going from a nice picture of our family like this one...

To a rough and tumbly kind of picture like this one...Ah, it is love...

We did get a lot of family pics that were cute and I'm happy to share some of them with you :)

One of the mom and grandma:

One of just the Ray girls (minus Michelle who was off trying to keep Cody safe):

One of just the Ray boys (minus Cody who was off galavanting somewhere):

Another of just the Ray girls (again without Michelle, but these are just the monkey-Ray girls):One of just the Mom and Dad, I like it!!!!: One of just the females on the trip (where is MICHELLE?) PS, like I'm a full head taller than everyone? Oh, and that's WITH mom wearing heels:

So dad and I, we couldn't help ourselves... we just had to have a sword fight in the middle of town; took a couple pictures of this and in some of them you get an awesome look of bystanders just LOOKING at us :)

We saw this really cute dog, but we weren't allowed to touch him, he was working:

Look, I found Cody and Michelle:

And finally, anyone who reads my blog a total of two times will come to see that I have a fascination with fountains, if there is a fountain in a city, I will find it... why should Garmisch be ANY different?

So there you have it, another post CLOSER to being caught up, though I still have the whole summer to go through...

Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know.

Location: Neuschwanstein, Germany

After Stephani's high school graduation (congrats to her) we headed down to Bavaria, yeah, Bavaria is not that great... hehe, have you been there?

First stop, Stuttgart to get Cody of course. While there we had to wait for mom and dad to get gas in their car so we had a LITTLE fun with picking on Steph and her bear. It's not our fault. Don't make such a big deal about it and we won't torment you so. We made him ride outside the car... don't worry, he still made it to Garmisch with us! (Dont' judge me!)

Onward to Garmisch, pitstopping in Neuschwanstein, aka, Cinderella's castle. So it's my second time going, it is pretty cool, I mean the drive is nice, but you can't take pictures inside the castle... or can you??? Ask my dad whether or not you can... this is his pride and joy... he was being a little bit of a rebel and took a picture inside, funny thing is he did it without looking through the eye piece, without focusing it, without even aiming and he got a good picture. Too bad it flashed and he got a little embarassed about that...So Neuschwanstein was cool, but we were all a little tired and needing some sleep, it was later in the afternoon and we still needed to check into our hotel... OH OH, while at Neuschwanstein my dad got a little timed phot happy and made us take about 20 family pictures... quite literally we were taking family portraits every 10 feet or something. Probably my favorite:It was a good first day, with so many more to come.

Where in the world is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know (late, but you still know!)

Location: Way far away, Germany; High school graduation

Alright, so I'm playing MAJOR catch up, forgive me, but someday I'll be able to balance school, traveling, blogging and hopefully working.

So it was a crazy day when I graduated, but not 4 years (almost to the day) later I'm headed down to some German city out in the middle of nowhere near Pirmasens... yes, it was a drive and even then we were still limited to seats. Still a touchy subject for our family; anyhow!

So we get to this little theater, it was nice, definitely more grand than most stages for high school graduates and we wait in the hot back side of the theater for that oh familiar (in my eyes overplayed) song of Pomp and Circumstance. The crowd rises and in walk the grads, you can imagien my surprise when I realize that her graduating class was much bigger than mine. We take our seats and let the LONG program begin.

I loved living in Germany, really I did. But I HATED having to do things for TWO countries. For example, at the beginning of the ceremony a senior sang the American national anthem, yay, we can sit, Oh wait, no, not yet, listen to the German national anthem. Oh, now you want to sit? Just kidding, time for the invocation (which makes me wonder, if there's an invocation why do most places NOT do a benediction? I know, spoiled Mormon over here), after the invocation, ok, now you can sit.

Welcome to the Kaiserslautern American High School graduation of 2009! Cheers errupt, but oh wait, what is that in the background? The same thing... in GERMAN! Are we going to do this for everything? I know we are in Germany, but it's an AMERICAN high school. You just said that!

**Side note... when I graduated from a foreign country I don't think we translated the welcoming. Granted it might have been way too hot, but still!!**

So we go through this whole speach done in english and then we have to listen to it in German (yes I can speak German, but I don't think ANYONE needed to hear it in German!). So imagine the fear when I thought that we would be there for 17 hours listening to people say one thing in English and then in German. I was hoping they wouldn't need to translate the names of the graduates... How dumb would that be? Ezekiel Graham... Azikehl G(rolling r)ahaaaam... I'd be pissed!

So we watch as the pool of red, seniors, await for their turn to stand, walk to the side, wait in line for their name to be called, receive their diploma, pose for pictures, return to their seats and sit. Was my graduation that bad? NO! it wasn't, I will tell you why!!!

At this graduation they would say, Ezekiel Graham (was that even a real person? I don't know...) and then, Ezekiel's favorite memory is blah blah blah blah blah blah blah he is headed to such and such school to study blah blah blah blah blah where he hopes to persue blah blah blah blah blah... cheers... Next... can you see why it took about an hour and a half to get through 100 kids???

Needless to say when Stephani's turn came I waited for it to get quiet then yelled at the top of my lungs, LOVE YOU ANI! Did she hear? NO! What a waste of breath that could have been saved for my death bed Steph!

Lucky for us because R is towards the end of the alphabet after watching Steph walk we were near the end. I feel bad for the Valedictorian or Salutatrian or even anyone whose last name is Adams! They see their kid walk and then it's like... BORING! Yawn fest over here!

After they all walked they did the hat toss, Steph did NOT throw her hat... good ole Ray tradition (I wonder what would happen if nobody threw their hat.. what a lame picture...)

We made our way out the doors and through the hoards of masses that thought it would be a good idea to mingle IN the foyer instead of in the courtyard just outside the building and finally found Steph, not easy when looking for a midget! It's almost like it'd be easier to lay on the ground and look for her between people's legs.
What a happy day, welcome to the real world Steph... and don't worry, I won't post pictures of you and Erik holding hands at the Ice cream parlor we all went to after ya'lls graduation. ;)

Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know!

Location: London, England (Day 3: London Bridge, Tower Bridge and Tower of London)

Alright, so after Wicked and a full day of Bike Touring the last day was already upon us.

Phew, what a day! What a way to end the weekend. So we started off at a museum, for FREE! It was funny, we walked around that museum for like ten minutes trying to find the ticket booth and finally we asked the guy where the ticket counter was and he told us there are no tickets because "it's free..." Yeah, we laughed at ourselves too.
We then walked out to the London Bridge and we were not impressed... AT ALL!
But then we walked a little further down the Thames (?) and found the Tower Bridge. Yes, I think if I was going to buy any bridge the Tower Bridge would be the one I would want.
The Tower of London was closed by the time we got to it. So we could only do outside shots.
All in all the weekend was tremendously amazing. I don't think I could have asked for more with a weekend out of Germany, good people, great fun, amazing times that will only come for a few more months.

Where is the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know.

Location: London, England (Day 2: Bike Tour, Big Ben, London Eye and Lloyds Bldg)

Day 2: Bike Tour, Big Ben, Eye of London and Lloyds Bldg So after Wicked the next day was full of fun and adventures. It started off with a bike tour, really one of the best tours I've been on in all of Europe and grateful we did this the first full day we were there.

This Bike Tour, the Fat Tire, had us on cruisers and we hit up all the major sights crossing the majority of the things off the list of must sees.

A TON of pictures. I took nearly 400 pictures over 4 days; so forgive me if I don't post them all.
English Brandenberg Gate anyone? This gate is in the "War Park" where it has numerous monuments from all the wars England has ever been involved in.
WWII I do believe...
Buckingham Palace; this was as close as we got. They were running dress rehearsal for the Queen's bday so we couldn't get closer.
And of course, if the city has a fountain I will find it! This one was made so the spout moved so persons standing near would get wet hahaha!
Lion in the square with Big Ben in the background.
This building is actually the Naval offices of London, can you see how it is shaped after a ship? Kinda sorta? the two towers have wires that attach to each other, much like that of the masts of a ship.
London is to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, this plot of land right here is going to play host to beach volleyball with the Eye of London in the background. Westminster is only a short hop skip and jump away as well as Big Ben.
Westminster Abbey, rather grand is it not? Our tour guide told us horror stories about traitors who were tortured and made public.
A view one more time of the Eye. We did not go on it, but it was wonderful to see, it just didn't make sense to pay 30 GBP for a ride where you would have to stand and be in with about 30 other people... eh, no thanks!
This over crowded fountain is actually a memorial to Princess Diana. They wanted something besides a statue.
Throughout the fountain, it's circular, there are different 'areas'. Some are a little more calm like this one.
Others more rough...
And then others more rough and shallow. All depicting different times of her life.

That was the end of our bike tour. But not the end of our day.
A picture of the eye in it's entirety.
Hey look kids, Big Ben!
What movie was that line from?
Just so everyone knows I was there, here's a pic of me.
Did you see that sunburn?
Then we have the Lloyds Building. It's a building essentially where the inside is outside. the stairs, elevator, air ducts, etc.
And I couldn't help taking this one picture of the tree outside the building. Love how it is lit at night.

Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, Now you know.

Location: London, England (Day 1: Wicked)

Eric, you are falling behind!!!

Broken up day by day...

Alright, so I went to London, yeah, I went about two weeks ago now, but OOPS, I get busy traveling the world ok?

So let's get started. it's so awesome being able to fly up to London for $30, including the taxes.

Day 1: Wicked! The whole reason for this weekend really was to go to a play, Wicked, and everything else was just for fun :)

Wicked is the story of how the Wicked Witch of the West (OZ) got to be wicked. I had heard so many amazing things from other people I wasn't sure how it was going to hold up to its reputation. It was still good, and truly funny! The good witch really made the show though, what a ditz. I know I'm blonde and should take offense but I couldn't help but laugh. She is insane.We weren't allowed to take pictures of the play, obviously, but I did get some of the stage setup as you can see.
After the play we walked around the city a little; it was a really nice night with a moon that was an amazing brightness. But that ended the day for us. What a way to start the weekend.

Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know.