Back at my starting point

This will be the final post for awhile.  I am back in Hiedelberg, back at the place where I began this summer's trip almost three months ago.

I was camped on the northern tip of the Adriatic Sea, right where Italy meets Slovenia, right at Trieste, Italy. All of Europe is on vacation now, so the campground was very crowded and so are the highways.

I rode up to Trent (Trento) Italy and from there headed up toward Timelsjoch Pass through the Tyrolean Alps. These mountains are so beautiful they almost bring tears to the eyes.

At about 5 pm it started to sprinkle rain. I spotted this beautiful Italian hotel with the German name of Edelweiss. The place was packed with vacationers, but they had room for me and even a place in their garage for Odysseus.

It wasn't particularly expensive, despite this being high season, and the room came with a five course supper and a scrumptious breakfast. The following morning was clear, but the roads were packed with cars and motorcycles.  I had to be on constant alert. As I rode higher and higher into the mountains the clouds started to appear just above my route.

There were a lot of tunnels, some of them very long and impossible to get a picture of.

Not only was it vacation, but it was Sunday. There were scores of motorcycle riders and bicycle riders on the narrow, twisty mountain road leading up to Timmelsjoch Pass.

Odysseus and I climbed higher and higher with one switchback after another. Soon we were above the clouds.

The valley was a long way below us. Once again, the view was incredible. I just love mountain rides.

At the top of the pass, the clouds were so thick that there wasn't a thing to see.

This is the border. We are in Austria again.

As Odysseus and I came down off the Pass, we were below the level of the clouds in just a few hairpin curves. There is still snow up there despite it being mid-August.

There were also a bunch of the ever-present cows. I often wonder how the farmers keep track of their animals.

The scenery didn't end with the Pass. It kept on going for mile after mile.

Around 2 p.m. I entered Germany and (Wham) right at the border the autobahn began. No more creeping along. It is time to go about 75 miles an hour. Still, though, the road was packed with people headed home from their Sunday outing in the Alps. I sure didn't like dealing with all that traffic at autobahn speeds.

By 6:30 on Sunday I was back at Stefan's place in Heidelberg, Germany. I think he was surprised to see me because I had sent him an email earlier saying I wouldn't be there until Monday. It turned out that the extra day gave me just the right amount of time.  For one thing, I changed the oil in Odysseus, did some other maintenance on him, and gave him a much needed bath. The bath alone took hours. Motorcycles are really hard to clean.

There are sure a lot of people here at Stefan's place right now: from America, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa. It has been great fun talking with them and going out to eat together.

Yesterday, I went to the Sinheim museum near Heidelberg. I have wanted to go there for quite some time. The extra day I have gave me the time to go there.

It is a "technology" museum -- No dusty statues and vases at this place.

They have old cars and sport cars and motorcycles and locomotives and military things and just about every sort of motorized vehicle you can think of.

They even had airliners that I allowed to climb around in. What fun.

Speaking of airliners -- I am all packed up and ready for my shuttle to the Frankfurt Airport. It will be here at 4:30 a.m. tomorrow morning (yawn). I am ready to be home. I will miss Odysseus though. He has to stay her at Stefan's along with about 100 other motorcycles until I come back to ride him again.

Bye for now.

Ron