Mon, 21 Nov 2011, 13:05 PM Team Summit Germany Troop Visit Blog- Day 1

Courtesy of Jon Knapp

RAMSTEIN AFB, Germany, --

Greg Anderson Photo copyright 2011 NHRA

For the second consecutive year, a contingent of four Team Summit drivers, including 2011 NHRA Pro Stock champion Jason Line, his teammate and 2010 champion Greg Anderson, Pro Mod racer Rickie Jones and Dan Runte, driver of the legendary Bigfoot monster truck, has headed to Germany this week to visit the troops at the Ramstein Air Force base. Throughout the visit, each driver will offer their thoughts on the event, including an update on the day's activities.

In today's edition, Greg Anderson, driver of the Summit Racing Equipment Pro Stock Pontiac, weighs in on the team's trip overseas, as well as Team Summit's first day in Germany:

Our trip got started on Saturday morning when Jason and I flew from Charlotte to Washington-Dulles, where we met up with Jim Greenleaf from Summit as well as our guides for the week, Wayne Reed and Dieter Protsch. From there we boarded a United 777 for the nearly eight-hour flight to Frankfurt, where we would meet up with Dan and Rickie, who were coming in on a separate flight from Chicago.

I was actually surprised at how full the plane was, but fortunately it proved to be an uneventful flight. Knowing we had a full week ahead of us, we tried our best to get some sleep on the flight, with varying degrees of success. Once we arrived in Frankfurt, we cleared customs, caught up with Dan and Rickie and met up with Silvio, our Armed Forces Entertainment appointed driver for the week, who took us out to our bus.

I have to say none of us expected to see the vehicle that awaited us. Not only was it a full sized bus, but it had an interior suited for a band or other group, including a rear lounge and bunk beds - quite the set up. Although we were told that we would be swapping this vehicle out for another later in the day, but it still gave us quite a laugh, with several of our weary travelers taking advantage of the sleeping quarters during the one-hour drive to Ramstein on the Autobahn, as well as subsequent drives throughout the day.

Once we arrived at the base, we checked in at our hotel for the stay, the Ramstein Inn, which is located right across from the airfield, where we took a little time to clean up and have a quick bite before heading out to our first activity. With no official meet and greets on our schedule for Sunday, we were taken over to a very unique transportation museum in the town of Sinsheim, which was about an hour's drive from the base.

To be honest, I have never seen such a diverse collection in one place. The first thing you see as you pull in the parking lot are all the planes mounted on the roofs of the various buildings, including a Concorde and TU-144 supersonic jet liners, both of which people can climb up into. In addition, they have several huge buildings packed with everything from an extensive collection of military equipment including tanks and other armored personnel carriers to massive locomotives to high-end collector cars and race cars from every form of motorsports, including drag racing. It was extremely interesting and a pleasant and relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

Our final stop for the day was for dinner at a little restaurant near the base called Maxi's, where we enjoyed wienerschnitzel and potatoes served with three sauces, which was delicious. It was a fun evening, with everyone having a great time before heading back to our hotel to bunk in for the night.

Tomorrow our activities start in earnest, as we will spend the first of three full days visiting with the troops. We have an early start in the morning, meeting for breakfast at 7:00 before heading to our first stop, the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to spend some time with some truly deserving people, signing autographs handing out goody bags and spreading some cheer wherever we can. It promises to be a fun day, and I know one of my fellow drivers will be back here tomorrow to tell you all about it. Have a great day!

Outside of the museum mentioned, showing the planes on the roof of the building.

A dragster on display inside the museum, as described.

Another two drag racing vehicles on display in the museum.

Team Summit members looking at a massive crankshaft in front of an equally large locomotive inside the Sinsheim museum.

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