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This trip was a culmination of what would otherwise appear as three unrelated events. The first part of the planning process came about from events that happened 350 years ago. Through lots of years of genealogy research I discovered church records originating from a small town northeast of Frankfurt showing that my Pinnecker family lived in Büdingen between 1660 and 1766. So I decided I wanted to go see this place. Once I decided to go to Büdingen the trip began to take on a unique shape. |  |
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The second part of our trip planning begins in 1999 when Patti and I signup for a camping and kayaking adventure in Alaska. This trip included Pack Creek Brown Bear Sanctuary and an exclusive trip to the isolated fiord portion of the Hubbard Glacier. On this trip we met Pieter Vonk from Gouda, Holland who we befriended during the course of 10 days of wilderness travel. A few years later Pieter visited us at our home and we likewise wanted to visit Pieter in his home in Gouda, Holland. |  |
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The third part of the story begins in the summer of 1987. We met Dieter and Liz Gutmann while camping in a remote location in Kenya, East Africa. We have remained in contact with each other over the past 17 years and finally had a chance to visit them in their home near Hamburg, Germany. |  |