High Water and Oktoberfest Lite

We're back in Germany without internet access, so I'm not sure if I ever uploaded the last post from Austria. I've got a lot to do whenever I find the next internet point.


I feel like Alice in Wonderland - everything's bigger here!

We've had a lot of rain lately, and I must say I still prefer the rain to the intense heat. It was one of those days in Deggendorf when it was raining early in the morning and looked like it was about to rain all day, so we decided to stay. Of course it didn't rain from the time we paid for another night at the campsite, until later that night when we were walking back to the campsite from the Volksfest in Deggendorf. But the Volksfest made our staying worthwhile - drinking beer under a huge tent listening to a great band play German music. I actually recognized some of the songs from the radio station Matthias' parents listen to. There must have been over a thousand people in the tent, and Matthias said that's what Oktoberfest in Munich is like....only bigger and more expensive. We had so much fun we didn't mind the rain pouring down on us as we were walking back.



Or the fact that it was still raining the next morning when we woke up. Hell, the Volksfest was on all week, and we could stay if we wanted. But then it stopped raining, and as we were deciding whether to stay or go, the camper that was parked between our tent and the river packed up and moved, revealing that the river threatening to come over the bank! The little beach that had been there the day before was underwater and it looked as if the water could actually rise up and wash our tent away (at least to me). So, we packed up and left, at which point (of course) it started pouring and continued to rain all day. Actually, the rain stopped just before we reached the next campsite, so we had a chance to sort of dry out before we set up our campsite. Then again, nothing would really dry out for the next couple of days.



The next day, although it didn't rain much, we rode through a lot of mud, and had to take a lot of detours as the bike paths by the river were flooded. Fortunately, our campsite near Kelheim was open and relatively dry, so we set up our tent and went out to the local beergarden. As we were enjoying our beer under the shelter, the sky opened up and let out a downpour! We rode back to our tent to find that all was still dry inside, but we were on the edge of a huge flooded area. I persuaded Matthias to move the tent a few meters toward higher ground, which was a good thing, because within the next hour, the entire area where our tent had stood was flooded. But on the bright side, that marked the end of the rain for a few days. We've enjoyed cloudy, cool, but dry weather as we ventured into the Altmuehl Valley, what will probably be the last leg of our trip. It's really beautiful, but I've got to say that at this point, I'm nearly immune to beautiful. I'm just about ready for a real bed...after 60 days in a tent.

More pictures online. See link to August 2010 photos.