Today was absolutely beautiful. It may just be that we have jumped to summer. It is Saturday and we took a short trip to a geologic site known in Germany as the Felsenmeer or Rock Ocean. This region was used by the Romans who prized the stones as raw material in their engineering projects.
Here we are at the bottom of the canyon with Elder and Sister Swift from Virginia. He is a Federal Judge serving as a missionary in the legal office in Frankfurt.
Here is David looking at the way the Romans supported the saw while they cut the stones. The saw would be supported by the weights and pulleys. The blade would be cooled with water and sand. But it was still hard work.
The park erected this face with a stone hat. Marilynn and Sister Swift check it out.
This an interesting Roman game called "circular mills". You win by getting three stones in a row. It seems to me that the guy that gets his stone in the middle has the best chance to win. The other guy must simply block.
They did have a cool play ground for the kids. Here you see the three-headed dragon that supported the teeter-totter and climbing net.
Here is Elder Swift looking at the slippery slide. The cool thing is the log stairs that have been cut out of the pole.
This is a view looking up the Rock Ocean. These are actually big boulders.
About half way up the mountain is this bridge where we stopped to take pictures.
Here you can see the small stream that cuts away the dirt to expose the rocks. The poor trees are fighting a loosing battle which leaves their roots exposed.
This is a shot of the bridge with Marilynn and the Swifts on the other side.
Here is Marilynn and David sitting in the shade before going on.
Here is Marilynn and Sister Swift talking in the shade of the trees on the edge of the rocks.
This is the Giant Column which was made my the Romans in the 4th Century. It is over 30 feet long and weighs 27.5 tons. This thing was hand cut by masons, but it appears that this stone cracked or had another flaw and was discarded.
It is reasonably hard to walk in the boulders. We found this guy bouncing on the back wheel of his bike and hopping from boulder to boulder--it was pretty impressive.
Marilynn stopped in front of this hiker's hut.
David, Marilynn, and Sister Swift stood on this rock. It is called the Altar and shows the marks made by the Roman masons.
We stopped for a snack in front of the Altar--to the left of Marilynn.
Here are some of the rocks in front of the trees.
Here is the bike rider hopping around on the boulders.
By afternoon as we left the park there were more and more people that were starting up in the hot sun.
We stopped for lunch on the way home. This is what I ate. It is liver dumpling soup.
