Monday, May 16

May 16 Monday
Scott took off very early – but I was just awake enough to call out “bye” as he went out the door in his blues. We slept a bit longer then, but got up and going, loaded the car, and drove away at about 9:30 a.m. I first set the nuvi for the shortest distance, which should have been more scenic. It was very nice, a curvy, forested road toward Trier. I realized, though, that the route was going to take us through France. Not that I don’t like France but we wanted to see more of Germany. So went back to faster route which took us back on the autobahn for a while. There was construction several times, so the way was slower than we’d expected. Found out that there is something called the “traffic program” that must get automatically set off when we pass something, it overrides what we are already playing and starts babbling in German. Since we can’t understand most of it, we switch it right back.
Got down toward the Black Forest area in early afternoon. By now I really needed to make a rest stop and after several false stops (broken restrooms) we finally stopped at a travel plaza near Baden-Baden. Found out that when you have to go pretty bad, it’s really hard to remember what pocket of your travel vest has your euro coins when it costs 70 euro cents to get into the bathroom! Everything turned out ok. Then Steve came in and found out that it cost money to use the bathroom. Not happy with that, I saw a family bathroom left open before the turnstile. I kept watch while he used it – potty was probably only six inches off the floor. But it was free. We ate our lunch in the rest area then got off the autobahn at the next exit which was the B500 through Baden-Baden and into the Schwarzwald. We missed a turn in town and ended up almost having to enter the casino’s parking garage. Got turned around again and ended up back where we needed to be, and headed out of town. I do think it would have been a great experience to go to the spa there but oh well.
We passed through some beautiful country – hilly, wooded. Great motorcycle road if we’d been on Goldie. Made several camera stops. Then went through a period of passing through lots of small towns as we headed toward Triburg and Furtwangen. We finally had to stop for gas, too. The rental agent had NOT told us how to open the gas cap. We finally figured out where to push and got the car filled. I think it was $1.58 per liter.
Continued on and it was getting later than we had planned, so just drove through Triberg without making a stop. We wanted to get to Furtwangen before the Deutsches Uhrenwangen (clock museum) there closed. Made it with time to spare so enjoyed the tour of all the old clocks, especially the cuckoo clocks. We did a bit of shopping for a cuckoo clock in some nearby shops but Steve didn’t like the selection. Not sure why we need another cuckoo clock in the house, but guess this one would be one HE picked out. This is his big want for the vacation, and especially since he doesn’t feel that great still, not gonna argue this one.
On to Titisee-Neustadt where we are staying the night in a gastezimmer on a farm. A very nice room, with nice people as hosts. She speaks very little English, I speak very little German. But we managed to communicate. I did print out all our emails back and forth that confirmed our reservation, so that helped. We have two twin beds together, comforters & pillows (with a chocolate hear t on each pillow) a bathroom, balcony, and even a satellite TV. Of course the TV is all in German but have to admit it’s interesting watching Family Guy in German.
After checking in, we decided dinner was next in line. We spent some time in both Titisee and Neustedt trying to find someplace that didn’t look too expensive and was still open. Ended up at a place that had a very long menu. Steve played it safe and ordered pizza, so I did the same. He also saw “milchshakes” on the menu. Ordered one for 4 euros and it came in a really small glass. Steve whined about how everything is overpriced. I know he doesn’t feel good, but he has to be open to new things if he wants to have a good time here. He wanted to stop at the local Mcdonald’s on the way back to the motel so we did just that.
Tomorrow the plans are to shop for a cuckoo clock again, head for Teufenthal, Switzerland, where Steve’s dad’s family comes from, and then through Switzerland to the Martigny area. We discovered we can’t take the rental car into Italy so have to rethink that plan a bit.