Wandering Retirees

Today we became riders again! I picked up our rental from Edelweiss Tours this morning. They were really helpful and a capable young man named Lukas walked me through all the details and got me on my way. The bike is a BMW R1250rt, newer but nearly the same as my bike at home. Of course I had to make sure of it so I rode a little out of the way back to pick up Connie. Well, maybe more than a little.

Eventually I made it back to our pension. Connie was ready and off we went, heading east back towards Innsbruck. Riding back roads we turned north and made our way to Garmisch – Partenkirchen in Germany. Some friends of ours, Bob and Bernice, have family and have vacationed there many times and rave about it. Now we know why. When we stopped for lunch, we found Garmisch to be pretty, quiet and relaxed. And we were treated to truly majestic peaks all around. Still. Again.

We left Garmisch heading west on Rt 23 with an idea to mosey home. However, as we neared a town called Grainau, the bike suddenly and inexplicably turned left toward a pretty little lake called Eibsee. We spent only a short while at the lake because it’s a big tourist and recreational destination. (We try to avoid those when we can.) Still a pretty ride.

The Zugspitze Arena is just breathtaking. German Rt 23 turns south to become Austrian Rt 187 at the border. Some great switchbacks near Fernpass and more stunning geography. Still heading south, now on Rt 179, we passed next to (Lake) Fernsteinsee which surrounds an island with the ruins of a castle, Ruine Sigmundsburg, and Schloss Fernsteinsee to the right. Schloß Fernsteinsee dates back at least to the 12th century.

We kept heading south until meeting Rt 189 which took us back to Obermieming and our beautiful room. It was so wonderful to ride again with my Queen and get acclimated to the roads here. A beautiful day