We landed about 10:45 a.m. today. Wow, I felt so unprepared. Renting the car was intimidating. I feel totally uncomfortable speaking German. Luckily, Mohammed, at National Car Rental, speaks great English and German. He is maybe of Arabic or Turkish descent or something similar. He was most helpful and I thought he rightfully told me (or so I thought) that I had no insurance. I finally got the car about 2:30 p.m. and set out. I saw a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the A61/62/63(?). I had decided to set out for Zweibrücken to scope it out. I shot pictures of the former base housing elementary school. It appeared to be abandoned at first. However, the Germans apparently do run a school there. The American Youth Activities building (AYA) is still intact, complete with lettering. I couldn’t tell if it is still being used or abandoned. I should say that Germany has allowed the vegetation to grow. Former base housing is overgrown. No lawn is mowed and no bush is trimmed. The air base exit used to be clear but is now overgrown. The autobahns in the west have medians overgrown and the vegetation has obstructed many scenic views. The road to Mauschbach is almost unaltered with the exception of a roundabout in front of the new outlet mall, which was very confusing. Dietrichingen is bigger than I remember it as is Mauschbach, which I couldn’t pass all the way through due to construction. Mauschbach has a Gasthaus now; but I don’t know if they had it then or not. Our former “apartment” and the landscape remain virtually unchanged.