Last night the heavens opened on me and my tent. I was pretty sure the tent would not leak but man it was coming down so hard, all night, I started to wonder how much it could take. In the end I was dry but most my stuff was either soaked (tent) or a kind of musty ickiness. Still, I was happy that I personally woke up dry.

The rain didnt let up much today either. I can tell this part of the world is beatutiful, if only I could see it. But rain and clouds was just about it, scenery wise. The rain didnt ruin the day but it did put a little damper on it....get it, DAMPer!? Ha ha ha.

Anyway I really didnt ride that far, and after about 2pm when I checked the weather report and saw rain for the next 48 hours, while I was schlepping a soggy tent and gear, I decided it would be a zimmer frei day, which means a bed and breakfast, but not really free because frei means available. Zimmer means room if you were confused.

I felt kind of bad. I had not planned on a non-camping night for a while, but when I met 4 German women at my "zimmer frei" and they told me they had planned a week long hike but were so fed up with the rain they were taking the train home tomorrow I didnt feel as bad.

"You can come back another time," I said. "You live close."

"Oh, nowe cant! We live in northern Germany, that is far!

That is far? 😶🙄. In the Land of #1 people commute farther than that, not that that is good thing.

I told her I was from the U.S. Of A and once again got questioned on why I would come to such a dark, dangerous, backwater, place like Germany and Austria without a chaperone. Though it could have been worse. She could have asked me about Trump.

Anyway, I stayed in a zimmer instead of camping. So sue me.

Tomorrow I am hoping to do a LONG day, even if it is in the rain. Once I get over the Rechen pass, 80ish miles from my current locale, the weather will improve by virtue of topography. I am all in for sun!!

I forgot to mention my frustration in that i seem to remember zero to very little German that my grandmother taught me as a kid. But one thing i DO remember is numbers 1-10. It came in handy at the zimmer place because the non-english speaking innkeeper asked me to write down my passport numbers on the form. Of course I cant see little numbers worth a damn without my reading classes which were the bike. So she read them to me, in German, and I nailed it! Sweet!

I almost forgot! I crossed into Austria today!

See you down the road...

(Pics soon)