Here’s to another good weekend of walks. Don’t forget, Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday. Be sure to set your clocks back one hour before going to bed Saturday night and then get up early to enjoy the extra hour of walking!
• The club Schnelle Füße Koblenz always has a very nice fall walk. This weekend it starts in Winningen, near Koblenz, Germany. In the past, the trails in this area have gone through forests with magnificent fall foliage and beautiful views of the Mosel River. Walk routes vary from 5 to 50 kilometers. The club also offers a 25-kilometer route for bicycle enthusiasts. The prize is a wine glass for the shorter walks as well as the bike event. A beautiful patch is the prize for the marathon routes. Doors open at the August Horst Halle at 7 a.m.
• Folks in the Kaiserslautern, Landstuhl and Baumholder Military Communities can enjoy the Kindsbach, Germany, event this weekend beginning in the Mehrzweckhalle by the Bahnhof. The 5- and 10-kilometer trails are open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. For the 20-kilometer route, start Saturday between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. and Sunday 7 a.m. to noon. This event has no prize, just IVV credit.
• Reichstett, France, is having a Halloween walk Saturday evening. The 10-kilometer event starts between 3 and 8 p.m. at the Salle des Fêtes in Reichstett. You must finish the route by 10 p.m.
• Good luck to the Stuttgart German-American Wandering Club as it takes a bus trip to a walk and a visit of the Frankenstein Castle. Sounds like a party on wheels!
• Sunday is the day for the big military flea market in Ciney, Belgium. Bob will use the extra hour to get to the gates before many of the thousands of military buffs who will attend. Wish him luck!
• The Spangdahlem Holiday Bazaar will be held this weekend. We plan to drive down Friday and hit the bazaar when it opens Saturday. It’s time to meet our friends Serge and Diane Duplain at the entrance tent and then start our Christmas shopping in earnest. Bob will be looking out for friends Ed Lapotsky and Peter Dupré of Aviation Arts and Collectibles at Peter’s booth. Peter’s specialty is aviation artwork, but he also carries a variety of other military prints and collectables.
High on our shopping list is artwork from our friend Michel Beberashvili Hothum, whose prints of angels are truly heavenly. We’ll also be on the lookout for pottery from Soufflenheim, France. We love Jacky’s pottery from Poterie Graessel. If you see us at Spangdahlem, come up and say “Hi!”
On the way home, we hope to do the walk in our favorite town of Bellevaux, Belgium. We’re a little bit apprehensive about the hills after a morning of walking all over the bazaar, but the beautiful autumn colors will be spectacular. A nice Bellevaux beer to cut the dust of the trail will be nice, too.
This column appeared in Stars and Stripes on Oct. 25, 2012. Email future volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO AE 09752.
