Go Germany Go

To Endingen, Germany -- 51.1 mph, 12.4 mph, 600 ft

It was another wet night -- Meg and I scrambled out of the tent at 2 AM to unplug our electronics and batten down the hatches.  Fortunately, once a snooze, Dex and Kylie tend to sleep like the dead, even with the drumming of heavy drops on the rain fly. Although we packed up the tent wet this morning, we once again lucked out for the ride with grey but dry skies.

I expected Miss Cranky to direct us back across the bridge to Switzerland and north into Germany; instead, she kept us in France and led us onto a small path beside a quiet canal heading north.

With the Alps becoming a distant memory, we happily pedaled along. Kylie and I worked on times tables, Meg and Dex decided to try learning all the US presidents. A few days ago, we had met a group of Germans as we were pedaling through a small town in Switzerland. One of them helpfully cautioned that riding along the Rhine is fun for 100k or so, but then it's just boring... well... I'm not bored yet!

Lunch was outside a Super U supermarket where we did our daily shopping. It was fun chatting with a French man (Laurent) and his young daughter. He lives in Germany but came across the border to shop and was very interested in our trip.

Kinder Egg toys in action

Meg and I still marvel at the crazy network of tiny roads crisscrossing this rural area dominated by small farms - wheat, corn, and grapes.  And, for the first time, we noticed cherry trees heavy with fruit.  Without Komoot, there’s no way we would have ever found our way onto these paths that led us right to the doorstep of our friends at Schwalbenfpad 10.

It was fantastic to see Axel and Marion. I first met Axel in the late 90’s as a mechanical engineer at Intuitive. Axel was my engineering counterpart at Schoelly, the manufacturer of the Intuitive 3D endoscope. Over the years we've met numerous times. In 2008, both he and Marion visited our Beach House during their honeymoon travels to the US national parks.

Marion with little Theo

They treated us to a traditional German dinner -- sausages, ham, hard cheese, bread rolls, bretzel, and a wonderfully sweet local white wine.  Although Meg and I don't remember everything that happened during the big 9:00 p.m. soccer game -- Germany vs. Italy -- we were awake for the shootout, with Germany prevailing 6-5. Go Germany Go!