Day 3 and 4 of Our Cycle Tour

I swung my leg over the bike saddle after checking one last time that my luggage was secure.  As we peddled out of the campground gate, I prepared myself for the longest leg of our journey, over twice as long as the first.  We sped under the trees ready to begin our 70 km ride.  After many kilometers, we felt the pressing need to refuel our bikes, so we stopped in Hattingen for lunch.  We enjoyed our varied dishes while listening to a very accomplished accordion player.  Finally moving on, we made one last refueling stop at a biergarten beside the Ruhr.  (No, sorry, I did not get a taste of German beer.)  After pounding up an apparently 18% grade hill, we found our campsite and settled down on the long grass for the night.

The next morning, we believed that, after 30 km of biking, our effort for the trip would essentially be over.  But, at the end of the 30 km, we found a different situation.  The train we planned on riding back home was full.  And so was the next one.  We ended up dragging our bikes back down and back up flights of stairs.  (For those people who have never lifted a bike with luggage on it, that's not easy.)  Finally, we struggled into a simple Public Transportation train, but only to get off in Cologne!  It was because of Mr. and Mrs. Gundlach's clever thinking that we transferred to another platform where the train en route to the Gundlach's home would start its journey.  It would have nobody on it!  And so, we eventually made it home, even if there was a bit more biking and hassle than normal.  (We decided on the way that on days like that, trains should pay the riders, not the other way around.)

We were home, but Jackson and I immediately began preparations. 

They would hiss at you if you came too close. 

I think we counted 50 ducklings that crossed the path. 

"Where do you want to go for vacation?"

"Oh I don't know. But I do want to live in a barrel on a campground!"

"😐"