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September is the start of our favorite time of year for volksmarching. The days are shorter; the weather is cooler and walks are plentiful. It also means the annual Heidelberg volksmarch is near. In fact, it’s Sept. 8-9. This will be an outstanding weekend of volksmarching through the beautiful Heidelberg area. Sadly, it’s the last walk for the Heidelberg club due to the move to Wiesbaden.It would be nice for readers to participate, and, even better, to volunteer to work at the event. No amount of effort on your part is too small. Several veteran volksmarch volunteers will be on hand to assist you. For more information, contact Rob or Cath Floyd at civilian 06227-841226, send questions to the Heidelberg International Wandering Club at hiwc@yahoo.com or check out the club’s website at hiwc.de for more information. • September also means wine festivals. The Ramstein Roadrunners club is planning an Oct. 13 trip to Allenbach and Piesport, Germany, that includes a volksmarch and a visit to a wine festival. The Roadrunners will start by joining the Allenbach club for a walk in the lovely Hunsrück. Then it will head to the town of Piesport on the Mosel for Federweissen and Zwiebelkuchen at the city’s annual wine fest. Piesport is home to the largest Roman wine press discovered north of the Alps.The bus will depart from Ramstein North Chapel parking lot at 9 a.m. and will stop at the Friesen P+R to pick up Baumholder passengers. It will return to Ramstein at about 7:30 p.m. The cost is $35 for club members and $45 for non-members. Sign up and pay by Sept. 18 and receive a 20 percent discount.To sign up, contact Gene Behrends at (home) 063-7146-8875, (cell) 017-0367-1573 or by e-mail at parrotdad@hotmail.com.• The Sept. 1-2 weekend's walks in Höheinöd (convenient for walkers in the Kaiserslautern Military Community) start both days at 7 a.m. at the Sportplatz Sägmühle. You can start the 5- and 10-kilometer trails until 2 p.m. You have to start the 17-km route before 1 p.m. All trails close at 5 p.m. For directions to the Höheinöd event and details about other upcoming events in Germany, go to the web address that appears under our photo.

If you’re driving on A62 from the Kaiserslautern/Landstuhl direction heading toward Pirmasens, take the Höheinöd exit, which is located within a rest area. Go about 100 meters, slow down and take a sharp right-left jog.At the sign, turn right toward the traffic circle and follow the signs to the start. If you’re coming from the Pirmasens direction, heading toward Kaiserslautern/Landstuhl, exit at the rest area on the opposite side and take an immediate right turn after only 20 meters. Turn right under the bridge and proceed to the traffic circle. • For walkers in the Stuttgart area, the volksmarch in Weissach is a Stammtisch event. Look for the club’s blue flag in the start hall. This event is Sunday only and starts between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. The prize is a toy Mercedes.• Next Wednesday’s guided walk in Gengenbach will be led by the town’s night watchmencq. The walk starts at 7 p.m. and the routes are 5 and 10 kilometers. If this event is anything like the night watchman’s tour in Rothenburg, it will be a lot of fun.• After-action report: Our brief excursion to Gettysburg, Pa., was wonderful; full of history, ghost stories and a nice walk at Gettysburg National Military Park.

We arrived in Gettysburg Friday afternoon and did some sightseeing in town. After dinner at the Dobbin House, we went on a haunted tour of the Gettysburg area. The last stop was at the barn on the property of the Battlefield Bed and Breakfast, where we were booked for the night. There were no spooky visitors at the converted farmhouse that night. Bob was not too upset about that!

Saturday morning, after a story about the fighting around the old farmhouse we stayed in, we were treated to an excellent breakfast. Then it was off to walk the battlefield. After getting the walk instructions at the Gettysburg YWCA, we went to the new visitor’s center at the park to start the walk. We followed the instructions for the “Battlefield Day 3” walk and were soon walking along Hancock Avenue. Monuments to Union regiments and soldiers lined both sides of the road. We went past the copse of trees that marked the high water mark of the Confederacy. These were about the only trees on the walk and soon it was very hot. We had plenty of water with us and drank it all. We passed up visiting some re-enactors in an effort to complete the walk. At the end we had a nice rest back at the visitor’s center and then hit the road back to Lorraine’s family in northern Virginia. Since Baltimore wasn’t too far off the return route, we stopped by the Hard Rock Café to enhance Bob’s guitar pin collection.It was a successful, educational and fruitful trip all around.E-mail volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO, AE, 09752.

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