Frankfurt pics from HOME!

 I finally made it home and I am so glad. We had a rough flight home and the landing was the worst part. We landed in Charlotte with winds gusting 30 mph. It is amazing how a 30 mph wind can push around a huge Airbus 330! On our final decent, the wind would push the plane to the right, making it bank 20 or 30°. The pilot would then have to correct by banking 20 or 30° to the left. This rocking back and forth while falling through the air was enough to put even the seasoned fliers on edge. And then there were the drops. They say the wind can actually pull the air from beneath the wings and cause the plane to free fall straight down. This usually happens and you only drop a short distance. The problem is, if you are only a short distance from the ground, that means you land sooner and harder than planned. We dropped like this twice in the last minute of flight. The guy sitting beside me was a military guy with 23 years of flying experience. He "talked us down", meaning the whole time we were landing he was saying stuff like, "the pilot is doing a good job", "he's got this", "we are almost on the ground", ect, ect.  But the real shake up came after we touched down. The back 2 wheels touched and then the front wheel come down. About the time the front wheel touched, a gust of wind picked up the back right wheel off the ground! We were literally going down the runway on the front and back left wheel and the whole plane felt like it was sliding sideways a little. After what seemed like forever -probably 5 seconds- it set down and straightened up. During this wild twist to our landing, the guy beside me went completely silent. After it settled down and we caught our breath he said "I don't think he meant to do that!" If I don't have to ever fly again, that would be fine by me. The only problem is, I'm back on a plane tomorrow morning for Indiana. I've already checked the weather and we are supposed to have thunderstorms in both places. Ya'll keep me in your prayers!

 I wanted to post a few pics from our final day in Germany. We drove Thursday afternoon to Frankfurt to be close to the airport. Frankfurt is huge, like Charlotte or Atlanta. Everyone had always told me to stay out of Frankfurt, it was crazy. Well, being the smart young man I am, I talked Larry into going to Frankfurt to do some last minute shopping. Lets just say that all the stories I had heard of Frankfurt were understated! The place is beautiful and huge, but driving downtown is like being in a rat race and not being able to tell where you can and can not go. I managed to get us through the streets and to a parking garage. It was in the 30's and misting rain, so I did not take my camera. I took a few shots with my cell phone. That place was awesome. Any woman who loves to shop could easily spend a week there. The main drag was 6 and 7 story shopping malls as far as you can see. Seriously! I would love to carry Andrea and give her a day to play, but I have a feeling it would probably cost me dearly.

This is only a small sample of the whole place.

No cars in this area. It was HUGE!

On top of the main strip, you had side roads every few 100 yards. They were also lined with shops!

It was a cool experience, but I'm still so glad to be home.