The Mosel Valley

My luggage finally arrived, and I got Odysseus loaded up and ready to go. First thing was to get gas because I had to have the gas tank almost dry to ship the bike across the Atlantic.  I was running on fumes when I got to a gas station, and it cost me almost $35.00 to fill the tank. It is a good thing I get about 75 miles per gallon when I ride.

Then, an immediate problem. My GPS wouldn't charge. So it was back to Stefan's workshop, take off the seat, and find the problem: I had not hooked a relay up correctly. That solved, I was ready to go off exploring.  I had planned to ride into the Alps, but it was snowing up there today, so I decided to head for the United Kingdom instead.  I have to be in England on the 30th for a Horizons Unlimited meeting, so I thought I would just take my time and head toward England now.

I had planned to stay off the Autobahn, but my route put me on it immediately. It wasn't too bad, as long as I was careful getting into the left lane, because it is really true that they drive very fast in that lane.

I am riding along the Mosel River. It is absolutely gorgeous: castles, and narrow roads (perfect for motorcycles, which I saw hundreds of), and thousands of grape orchids.

 

 

This is my first camp. It is cold (40 degrees F) but I can handle it as long as it is not raining.

 

 

What do you think of this handsome guy? He was there to keep me company as I set up my tent.  He is a male Mandarin duck. I've only seen them in pictures before, so I was honored that this guy wanted to spend a little time with me.

 

 

Do you like this castle? There are hundreds like it along the Mosel. This one was well worth the half mile walk I took up to see it. Can you believe it is still owned by a single family?

 



 

 





 

Here it is again. This is the way wagons and horses came in. Pretty impressive, huh?

 

 

 

Here it is from the courtyard. I couldn't take pictures from the inside, but it was really something to see.

 

 

I wanted to show you one of the barges that go up and down this river. They are very small by American standards. I get the impression that each one is owned by a family that live aboard.

 

As I type this, I am surrounded by Germans who are watching a soccer game on TV. They are really passionate about it: laughing and clamping and making comments.  I wish I could enjoy it, but I can hardly hold my head up, so I am going to head for my tiny zelt (tent).

 

If I am not up early tomorrow, I will have to wait because they are closing the highway for a big bicycle race.

 

More later,

Ron





Heidelberg, Germany

Hi from Heidelberg, Germany

I am sitting at Stefan Knopf's place wishing the sun would come out (it is 45degrees F; 9 degrees C) and there is a cold, cold rain (Br.r.r.r.). But bad as it is for me, it is even worse for Stefan because he is trying to put a new roof on his house. Rain is terrible for roofing.

I got here yesterday, but my luggage has yet to arrive. I know that it is at the Frankfurt airport, and so is my nice, warm jacket and my sweater. The airline called here and talked with Stefan this afternoon while I was out exploring, and they told him they would deliver my luggge tomorrow. He says he got strict with them and told them it has to be today, but we will see about that. It is 8 pm now, and still no luggage.

I left the Evansville airport, close to where I live, two days ago. It was a short flight to Dallas, Texas, where I was to pick up my direct flight to Frankfurt, Germany.  But we had to circle for an hour while the Dallas airport waited for the thunderstorms to clear off the airport, and then the plane I was on had to land at another airport to get more fuel.  So, by the time I got to Dallas, my flight to Frankfurt was gone.

They did get me on a flight for London, England where I picked up a connecting flight to Frankfurt. I made those connections okay, but my luggage didn't.

I was excited to see Odysseus, my motorcycle, when I got here to Stefan's house. Odysseus was sitting in a big warehouse along with a lot of other motorcycles. This is just one of two or three warehouse where Stefan stores bikes for people from around the world.

Here is one of the bike riders.  This is Dean Tanji. He rides a Vstrom like mine. I didn't get pictures of any of the other people here because they left early this morning to go off exploring on their bikes. I took this picture of Dean while we were eating breakfast at Stefan's guest kitchen.

Here is a picture of Stefan's workshop.  I rolled Odysseus in there today and got his battery hooked back up and did some other odd jobs on him and changed his oil.

 

 He is all ready and eager to get rolling, Can you tell? (He is the handsome dude on the right.)

I went out to explore Heidelberg a little today. I had to do it by train and tram because my warm motorcycle clothing is in my lost luggage.

I went to see Heidelberg's famous castle up high over the town. I apologize for the poor quality of these pictures of Heidelberg I took from the walls of the castle. I had to use my IPhone camera. I do have my better camera with me, but its battery is (guess where ---).  Right.... in my luggage.

Here is a picture of the town of Heidelberg. Pretty, isn't it?

 

 

Heidelberg is just right for bicycles. There are separate bike paths everywhere that keep them away from cars and buses.  I love riding my own bicycle back home,  and would do it all the time if we had bike paths in Illinois like they do here. Everyone seems to ride here, from old people to the very young. They put their bikes right on the train to get to town, and then head off to do their shopping. Perfect.

I hope I will be able to start off exploring tomorrow. I will have to make at least one change in my plans. I had wanted to go ride some of the passes in the Alps, but I hear they are snowed in.  I think I will head for England instead. I have to be there for a Horizons Unlimited meeting in a week anyway, so I guess going that way now will work Okay.

Its going to be cold camping. Maybe I won't be able to do that. I think maybe I will try staying in youth hostels instead. I have done it before. They are clean and inexpensive and, most important right now, warm.

(A quick update: I ran out of battery on my laptop before I could post this blog, so now it is Friday morning and I am eating breakfast. And guess what--- my luggage is here! Stefan told me a few minutes ago that it arrived just after midnight. Now I am all set --- I have my warm clothing, my charging cords, my spare batteries. Now it can be cold (but not rainy please)

More later,
Ron