Day Four

DAY FOUR

We had a relaxed start the day – Kurt and I were up and about by eight am. Being fairly high up (the Black Forrest is largely a mountainous region covering a large portion of South West Germany), the day started misty and cold. We decided to try out the luke-warm showers again since we had paid for them, only to be pleasantly surprised to find they were hot. After a filling breakfast we made our way from Dornsetten to Grafenweiler (20km) to hunt down a kettle for the camper and swimming shorts for Kurt.
One might assume a camper van would come with a kettle, but then you’d also assume coffee mugs, dishcloths, blankets, a snow spade and hosepipe would also be included… Anyway we did have to use our snow chains this morning which was fun - well we didn’t exactly put them on as much as drive over them to get out of the seven inch deep snow around our parking spot. The drive to the shops was itself very scenic, rolling hills and valleys surrounded by dense, dark Pine forests blanketed in gleaming snow. I got out several times to take photographs only to discover later that my aperture settings were too high so everything washed out, bummer.

Kurt’s swimming shorts ended up being tracksuit pants now cut below the knees and the kettle has been put to good use upon our return. One thing the Germans do have down are their bakeries. Every supermarket and most street corners seems to boast one, however it’s an unfortunate fact that biscuits, bread and cheese don’t lend themselves to weight control.

I think by the end of day four we’re finally feeling settled into our mobile home after all the retrofitting we’ve had to do, and Kurt is settling into driving the beast through narrow streets with speeding Germans all about.

We’ve enjoyed different aspects of the trip so far, Castle Hohenzollern was a highlight for me with its massive ramparts and awe inspiring setting on a hill dominating the town below. The Black Forest has been really great too, I didn’t realize it was such a large area including mountain ranges, towns and cities with considerable industry and commerce.
Hopefully we’ll get a swim in tomorrow at our next stop over, Bad Durrheim. I’ve been wanting to try out some mineral springs or a heated pool for that matter so Kurt is indulging me. Right now we’re off for dinner at the camp sites restaurant – last night I forgot to tip the waitress which resulted in straining international relations so Kurt is going to offer reparations after dinner.