let the road trip begin
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009by Rach, who has not reached vehicle-driving status yet
Rasthof near Leipzig, Germany
Away by lunchtime? Hopeful, but unrealistic.
Rob had to do a change-trains-three-times-trip to the insurance company to pick up our “Green Cards” – not the sort that let you work in America, just cards to validate our insurance Europe-wide. Useful to have.
His fairly early return was welcome, but no signal that we were ready to leave. He still needed to take our portapotti up to the dumping station and empty it out, and fill up our drinking water container in case we ended up sleeping on the side of the road for a couple of nights. But even then we were not ready. We had tried unsuccessfully for a few days to buy a hose (so that we can refill our water tanks), and had one last shop to try, so that necessitated a drive across town. After the bikes were tied to the roof, that is. While The Men went shopping, the rest of us threw together a special birthday lunch. Cake with quark-n-cream and cherries-n-chocolates on top fit for a now-3-year-old (actually we didn’t throw it together out of nothing – I had taken The Little Four shopping before breakfast, while the bigger ones made the porridge, and we’d picked up the yummies then). Happy Birthday ER3!
We’re so glad you like your new-for-you doll, that we found at the flea market! Your big sister, Jgirl14, fashioned the skirt and blanket from a tablecloth, I knit the top of the dress.
Doll-without-a-name-still has featured in every photo taken since lunchtime today! She napped with you in your carseat, shared her blanket with you, and has been dragged everywhere you have gone since we sang birthday greetings on the side of Africa Street in Berlin. Once we had done the dishes, there on the side of the road, we were almost ready to leave. Just had to get the gas bottles filled. In a different part of town, of course.
Finally, as the big hand neared the twelve and the little hand almost hit 4, the convoy was off, Rob driving the Bear Cave, and Grandpa following in “the other one” (naming discussions are in still progress – Rob wants something bear-ish, which rules out reader suggestions of Helga or The Shoebox. So far Grandpa has suggested something to remind us all that it is supposed to be the Quiet Vehicle, a place of retreat from the madness that is our family en masse – but nobody appreciated my offering: “The Monastery”. Someone else said something about “Grizzly”, but that’s a bit rude when Grandpa is sleeping in there. We’ll keep thinking!)
For about four hours (including a daisy-picking coffee stop and dinner stop) we drove along the Autobahn. Without a doubt we were the slowest vehicles; everything overtook us! But we enjoyed the scenery – flat fields full of greenness with the occasional village-complete-with-church-spire popping up looking idyllic. Tall sweeping elegant windmills in clumps like small groves of trees dotted the landscape, and we saw our first old-fashioned windmill too.
As nightfall approached we pulled into one of the many “Rasthofs” (a parking lot with public toilets), set up beds, lit sparklers with the birthday girl and put the porridge on to soak for the morning. We feel a road trip routine emerging. We haven’t gone a long way, but as the saying goes, a journey begins with a single step. We are on our way to the source of the Rhein in Switzerland and plan to follow it northwards before veering off to Amsterdam…today we crossed a few rivers, including the Elbe and other lesser known ones…..soon we’ll be at the really famous one.
Van With A View:
Time on the road: 3 hours
Distance covered: 229km
rayres