Meteors, Mountains and Motorhomes

So blog 23 then, and well into our 5th month of being away. Although I've not quite been true to my word of sticking to the weekly blog, I am at least only a day late with this one, it being Friday today. You find us in Germany, Obertsdorf to be precise, and it's been a bit of a mixed week, but more on that later.

The last blog saw us place along side the Titisee lake, and ended with a big storm which meant we didn't have the 2nd lake dip we were planning. Still a nice cool evening meant we could indulge in a lovely chilli and a Morse as our evenings entertainment - for anyone who isn't aware, we never watched Morse first time around (I'll plead being too young), but both enjoy a good murder mystery (nothing too gory, think Midsummer Murders and the like!) so Jase bought me the entire back catalogue for Christmas - all 33 discs! After a bit of a break during the hot weather, we are back on track and about half way through!

Friday morning, and a much brighter start to the day. After a nice breakfast and last showers in the best shower experience to date, we packed up the van and headed to Bad Waldsee. The reason for our destination was the Erwin Hymer museum which contains an entire historical reference to all things motorhome and caravan related. They also helpfully have a free Aire in the car park! On the way we past Carthago world (another motorhome manufacturer) and we had a brief stop and wander around, Some of the fancier motorhomes (with price tags of €200,000+) were simply stunning! Almost as interesting was seeing the amount of infrastructure around the place - makes you realise what big business it must be.

On arrival at the museum we had a spot of lunch, and then headed for a wander around the town of Bad Waldsee, all set around a lovely lake. The buildings were stunning, especially the inside of the church. We also managed to net the cheapest ice creams of the trip so far - €1 per scoop, yum!

Once back at the museum we realised that we'd hit the place right on the same weekend as the "Old Timers" festival which started the following day - great news. The evening was spent watching for shooting stars (the annual Perseids meteor shower was due to peak this coming Sunday), and we saw 5 good ones in about 30mins.

Saturday morning was another lovely sunny warm day, but thankfully without the heat of previous weeks. We headed into the museum and first had a look around the Old Timers exhibition - essentially loads of old motorhomes and caravans, all lovingly restored and most still being used for adventures. Of interest for us were the earlier evolutions of the Westfalia (same as ours).

By far our favourite were the Swiss couple who had taken their van across North and South America - 18 countries, in 18 months - just as you think you are being quite intrepid, someone tells you otherwise! Their tales and pictures were truly amazing, and gave us quite something to think about......!

Into the museum itself, and the collection is fantastic - literally from the first generation motorhome and caravan right through to the concept vehicles. What really struck me is all the different layout changes, and how styling changed with the fashion of the day. I am fairly relieved that the flock wallpaper and wooden ceilings have become a thing of the past!

We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling at the van, and listening to the 1960's band - the whole theme of the Old Timers event had been based around the British love of the outdoors and summertime - although I think we only saw 1 other British car all weekend! We also did a bit of star gazing in the evening and managed to see another 4 shooters before getting a bit cold.

Sunday morning and we had a nice lazy start to the day. Our initial stop was for a a quick van service at Isny - an Aire sponsored by Dethleffs (another motorhome brand) and this lovely view.

We then drove across to Eistobel which we'd spotted in a leaflet picked up locally. It was a lovely riverside walk to a couple of waterfalls. Once we'd found a suitable parking spot (it was very busy, and we've since realised that Sundays in Germany are how they used to be back home, with very little open and it being more about family time), we packed a little lunch and headed to the trails. €2.50 each and we were in (bargain compared to some National Trust places). The walk took us along the river and through to the lovely waterfalls - what we didn't expect though was plenty of people bathing at various stretches! Although on the walk back we took a paddle ourselves and enjoyed the refreshing waters too!

Once back at the van we headed to a free Aire I'd spotted on Park4Night (free app detailing places to stay for motorhomes). It was a layby spot near the village of Argenbuhl on a view point - we wanted a dark place for the peak of the Meteor show in the evening, so we headed up with fingers crossed. Well, Park4Night surpassed itself as this was a stunner! Only 2 motorhome spots, but no one else there yet, we pitched up and took in the view - simply stunning. Suffice to say the place was perfect for stargazing, and I reckon we saw about 100 shooting stars along with around 3 really amazing fireballs in the 3 hours we stayed out. A truly magical day in so many ways.

Monday morning, and the views were every bit as amazing. After a relaxed breakfast, we reluctantly packed up and rolled away from our layby - we could have stayed another night, but the wind was picking up, and the forecast was less than favourable for later in the day.

Our first stop was a Vaude (outdoor brand) factory outlet shop which was only 10km down the road - worth a look we thought. Well, it wasn't - it was a very hot warehouse, with stock that can't have been on "normal" sale for 20years, full of the rudest Germans we've met to date! For Friends fans, think Monica, Phoebe and Rachel in the Bridal shop in Brooklyn! Our unfortunate experience here sort of set the tone for the rest of the day. We headed across to a small town called Ravensburg (yes, as in the games manufacturer) and for the pay Aire we eventually found, after 2 laps of the town. Should have been €8.50 for overnight, but on trying to pay on card, the machine would have none of it. Almost ready to drive away, a friendly Italian couple saw our woes and consoled us by saying they'd had the same trouble with no less than 4 of their cards and handed us their ticket which was good until 7pm that evening. We set off to explore the town, but I don't know if it was the weather which by now had turned to drizzly rain, or our issues in getting parked, but it was far from an inspiring place. We did our best to enjoy a wander round, and did managed to replace Jase's flip flops which had become part of Boodles' Bounty during our stay with Tess & Nige and also get me a better bag (early birthday pressie, thanks Dad x) but heading back to the van, it was clear there was nothing more to keep us in town. At least we'd not spent on the overnight parking I guess!

We decided to head on, and after a brief Lidl pitstop we found another pay Aire very near to Lake Constance where we pulled in. It wasn't the cheapest at €9 per night, plus extras for water and electricity, it wasn't the most inspiring place, and it's at this point that the wheels ever so slightly fell off the Jexit wagon for me. As I am sure many of you will agree, it usually is the daftest thing that tips you over, in this case it was the lack of a 50c piece to get the electricity working, but fair to say I felt like I'd had enough. We didn't feel at all comfortable in Germany, everything was so different to what we'd grown used to over the past 4months in France, and our experiences to date were of locals being less than friendly, to the point of rude. The walls of the van felt like they were closing in, and the rumbling thunder and rain didn't help. Reflecting back I think there was also much emotion from saying so many farewells over recent weeks taking their toll too. Anyway, long story short, Jase managed to piece things back together and over a fantastic couple of curries that he cooked up, we got things back on track.

The next morning, and feeling a little fragile after such an emotional evening, we took things fairly slowly. Our initial plan was to head for another, more expensive lakeside Aire, but on reflection we grabbed a better pitch and decided to have a walk around locally to see what the area had. Turns out we were located about 3km from a lovely lakeside town called Meersburg where we spent a lovely few hours wandering about.

We also indulged in a stunning couple of cappuccinos along with a local favourite which is like a plum crumble cake - yum - nothing like a good walk and bit of cake to sort your head out!

Having had such a lovely day we decided to stay put for the next couple of nights - at least we had plenty of change to feed the various meters now!

Wednesday morning and a glorious sunny day, and after seeing the Zeppelin flying around us, we headed off on the bikes for a ride along the lakeside cycle path. Now I know it is still summer holidays back home, but traditionally over this way things start to calm down from mid August onwards, or so we thought. Turns out this part of Germany is on holiday until almost mid September! Cue one cycle path feeling more like a motorway! Still, we had a nice ride and went up as far as Ludwigshaven, stopping at Uberligen for lunch on the way back (cheese covered pretzels, yum!).

Back at the van we managed to see another few shooting stars in the evening, and tried to organise the next stage of our journey.

Thursday and moving on day. We had a fairly early start and serviced the van before leaving - finding the people on the water point before us either didn't know how big their tank was or didn't have change, but left us with a free full tank, both solar showers and water bags! Saving us about €1.50!

We rolled out of the campsite and headed to the end of the lake where we had a browse around a camping shop (one that Jase had been looking forward to seeing) and a supermarket called Kaufmann - it's here that our German adventure starts to look up, as we've finally found better priced food. I reckon we did a similar shop in France for about €50 and here it was €35 - even with some branded toiletries that I've not seen for months (outside the goodie bags that friends and family have been bringing me!).

We also now felt more clued up on the Aire system here - yes they charge, no you don't get much for your money, yes you need change and yes they are way cheaper than a campsite (€40+ this time of year). So armed with that information, we made sure we had ample cash for the stays ahead. The journey to Obertsdorf was stunning. Amazing vistas all the way.

On arrival in town we found the Aire and picked a good spot. The reception desk was only open between 5-6 so we headed to town for a lovely wander around. What a lovely place, and not at all what we expected. We are surrounded by mountains, and situated at the bottom of the Nebelhorn which is at 2,224m complete with cable cars up. It feels very much like Whistler in Canada, although I think Obertsdorf understands the summer season way more than Whistler does (they just feel like they are constantly waiting for the snowfall!).

Once back at the van, we paid the (very rude) operator for the 3 nights we'd decided to stay (€59.10) - the first time I've think I had change literally thrown at me! We then enjoyed a lovely BBQ of steak and halloumi.

And so to today, Friday. The forecast had been a bit iffy, but so fair we've had pretty much a sunny day with a lovely breeze. I've done all the van chores for the first time in a few weeks, and am sat outside with views all around. After the gloom of Monday, I think Germany might be pulling some points back. Yes the Aires are expensive for what they are, but food and diesel are both cheaper, so probably its evens overall. Jase is out exploring the area ready for a day out tomorrow. From here we intend to head further across towards the Bavarian Alps on Sunday.

And that's us all up to date. Not the easiest to write this one, with a wobble mid week, but I always wanted this to be a true and fair reflection of our adventure, and that means ups and downs. No need to worry though, it's all behind us now as we look onwards and upwards for #Jexit.

See you next week, until then, stay safe

J&J x