Big news today. We got another late start. It was impressive to see the Swiss boys off by 8:00. They were planning a lunch stop in Kassel… our final destination! I wondered where they were when we rolled out at 11:05.
What's crazy is I'm usually awake by 7:00, while Meg, phone in hand, has usually been awake for at least half an hour -- email, Facebook, a few games of Scrabble, or Candy Crush.
Somehow, though, we manage to spread out our morning activities over a 4 hour period. By the time we leave, I’m practically ready for lunch. In any event, we used the cool but sunny morning to catch up on the blog, which was a good excuse to let the tent dry out. Dex and Kylie quickly seized the opportunity to run off to the camp playground. I wonder sometimes if they’re just starved for playtime with all the hours sitting on the bike each day.
Incredibly, two miles into the day’s ride and for the first time on the trip, Team Green (Kylie and I) got separated from Team Gold (Meg and Dex). It's not unusual for Kylie and me to a wait a half minute or so at the next turn, particularly when we've had to make one of our frequent U-turns. Having the strength advantage, I’m usually able to wrestle the bike into submission and get rolling again in the new direction, curbs, gullies, and drainage ditches be damned. This time, though, even without a course correction, Meg was nowhere in sight.
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| Before we knew Mom was MIA |
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| Reunited with Team Yellow |
Fifteen minutes, two texts, and three phone calls later, were were all reunited a mile from our starting point. Now seemed like a good time to officially make Meg my friend on the Find Friends app. I’m sure the ability to remotely track each other will only contribute to our marital bliss.
At 1:45 our stomachs were growling as we ducked under a couple closed railroad gates (no train in sight) and headed to the nearest Rewe food store. We lucked out as it started to rain and we found some tables near the bakery to raise our blood sugar levels. We seem to have given up any pretense of eating healthy, usually stopping at the bakery first to pick out our favorite treat. I'm partial to the cherry roll overs, Kylie to doughnut holes or croissants, Dex favors ham and cheese pastries, and Meg is a wild card.
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| Meg says it makes her giggle every time |
There were a few steepish climbs today, forcing us into our granny gears again, though they were thankfully short. At 5:00 we found ourselves riding through the surprisingly large city of Kassel, in contrast to the half dozen small farming towns we’d ridden through earlier -- half timbered houses, stone streets, modern tractors and the strong smell of manure. With 10 miles to go, no one seemed particularly excited to be sitting on the bike seats, so we left the zigzagging Komoot route and stuck to the straight but zero shoulder roadway.
As has been the case the last couple days, we bounced along a ton of dirt and gravel roads. Two miles to the campground, with mist dripping from the trees, we almost ran over the brightest orange slug, we’ve ever seen. We saw dozens of the awesome orange “carrot” slugs, clearly occupying the same wet hillside habitat as our very own northern CA Banana Slugs.
Just for fun, we choose the final “shortcut” down to the campground along the edge of a hillside pasture.
Our Campingplatz Fulda Freitzeitzentrum was just what we needed, small grass patch, nearby bench and indoor restaurant. We threw up the tent before the drops started to fall, headed off for long hot showers, and then toasted to another good day in the saddle.
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