Reason has prevailed!
We have been struggling with the logisitics of doing the ride that we had planned: riding the Moselle River followed by the Dutch route to Barcelona, taking the ferry to Italy, touring there and then riding back through the Alps and on to Germany. In the end, it felt like we were attempting two wonderful trips in one. As well, we have less time than usual this year as we have spent time in Iceland at the beginning of the trip.
So, we have come up with a route that will get us to Italy and give us the time to explore at our own pace without rushing to connect with ferries and find connecting routes. Ironically, the route we have chosen is one that we considered at the beginning of our planning.
This is the plan: We will revisit the Main River for a few days starting in Frankfurt, then at Wertheim, we will head south on the Tauber River and follow the Romantic Road ultimately connecting with the Via Claudia Augusta. The VCA will take us over the Alps (gulp!)to Italy. We look forward to focusing on rides in Northern Italy before heading back through the Alps, most likely along the Alpe Adria to Salzburg....or possibly through Slovenia. We'll figure that part out once we see how our time (and legs) are doing.