Wandering Retirees

Tonight we met all the whole tour group. Strangely enough everyone is from North America. There are five riders and one passenger, Connie. Our tour guide, Michael, hails from Germany. He is the architect behind many of the Edelweiss Extreme tours. We started the evening with an orientation and then had dinner together. Everyone seems quite eager to get started tomorrow.

Hank did a rider’s course earlier in the day with Michael and one other rider in our group. It was really helpful.

Connie took a long walk in the woods and spent some time around a local lake.

We are packed and ready to roll. Hoping to get a good night’s sleep.

Today was a day of transition to the next stage of our trip.  We checked out of Pension Seelos and moved our baggage train to Gästhaus Neuwirt which is close to the Edelweiss Bike Tours.  Beginning with a meeting tonight, we’ll prepare for our week on the road.  All that riding gear we lugged from home is getting put to use.

We headed out for a couple hours of riding south and west of Mieming. We rode by a couple of pretty and rather secluded mountain lakes near Kühtai. (You can Google it if you like.)

The roads were perfect for riding and seemed pretty comfortable to some of the larger farm animals around, too. We met two very pretty brown draft horses clopping their way up the middle of the road. Fortunately, they left us enough room to scoot gently by. No one, animal or human, was overly tense so this must be a fairly common occurrence in this predominantly agricultural area.

A bit later, we rode by some substantial leavings in the road that were both abundant and distinctly aromatic. Sure enough, we came to the source: a half dozen cows lounging and frolicking (?) about the roadway. Real free range cattle! Unlike our encounter with a herd of cattle in Colorado on our tour in 2017, the cows weren’t alarmed. No one seemed put out. We all just eased on by each other while trying to dodge the bigger road apples.

We stopped for cake and coffee then started back toward Meiming.  A little shopping for incidentals was important. Most stores and businesses are closed Sundays and we didn’t want to miss stocking up on snacks.

And here we are.

A last note. We had a question about border controls. Based on the Schengen Agreement, 26 European nations have open border agreements. It’s as easy to travel from France to Germany as it is from NJ to Pennsylvania. While staying in Austria these past few days, we had lunch in Austria, Germany and Italy. I find it’s still difficult to wrap my head around the fact that we move easily between different countries, sometimes without even noticing.

Today we rode west out of Meiming then turned south on Rt 186 through beautiful small towns with exotic names like, Silz, Sautens, Umhausen, Pilze and Rainstadl. Every community had its own church built with graceful spires reaching to the sky. They were clearly well built and many centuries old. It strikes me that these are testimonies to a faith and determination of people who have endured hardship in the shadow of such mountains. But I digress.

Beginning just south of Obergurgl (quite a name!) we came to the fantastic road rising to Timmelsjoch Pass, called naturally enough, the Timmelsjoch Pass Road. I’m a pretty conservative rider and I found it served me well. The road was in good shape but very demanding at first, though I soon began to feel the back-and-forth rhythm of the tight curves and switchbacks. Most of the journey to the top was spent in the lower gears and it was fun! At the top there’s a motorcycle museum if you care to stop in. But parked all around the summit were literally hundreds of bikes, of all makes and sizes, a veritable modern museum that morphs by the minute.

A word about the weather. Back in Morrisville today it’s about 100 degrees F. In Paris, it was nearly 95 degrees a couple of days. In Mieming, Austria it’s about 85. At the top of an alpine pass, it’s usually much cooler, between 45 – 60 degrees. And windy. And often cloudy with little sun. Hmmm. That translates to a lot of coolness at 50 miles per hour on the back of a bike. Hence, you’ll notice we have pretty warm protective gear. And we plug the gaps very tightly. And sometimes we keep it all on when we stop. We’re seeking warmth, not anonymity. If you’ve ever ridden, or walked in a strong cold wind, you’ll know what I mean.

The top of the Pass (at 2175 meters, or about 7100 feet) looks over the Ötz Valley of the Alps, which is beyond stunning. We paid €15 for the privilege of coming down the other side of the mountain into Italy. The ride down, once we tore ourselves away from our cameras, was a delight. The hard part is getting used to the idea that there is enough room for both a motorcycle and a regional bus on those tight turns! There is, you know.

After a great lunch we ventured north and east to the Passo Stovio Jaufenpass on Italian Rt SS44. Again, the ride was magnificent as was the scenery. In passing, I can’t say enough about our rented BMW R1250 – it has more than enough umph to get us whever we need to go.

We wound our way back to the Pension Seelos around 7:00 PM. We are tired but exhilarated, too. Tomorrow we change our digs to a Pension affiliated with Edelweiss Tours and get ready for our week long tour. We can’t wait!

We want to give a shout-out to Michael, the owner of the Pension Seelos, Alpine Easy Stay. Michael suggested our route for today that while fairly ambitious (about 300 kilometers over all) turned out beautifully. Michael has been so welcoming and helpful. He’s a 3rd generation owner of this Trip Advisor rated pension. He and his wife put their own stamp on the establishment and it’s a very airy, warm and modern home away from home. We just love it here and highly recommend it.

A beautiful day for a ride. We set off around 10:30 heading west along Rt 189 through towns whose names sound very different to the American ear. Towns like: Imst, Mils bei Imst, Landeck, Grins, Pettneu am Arlberg and St Anton. The valley became more narrow and lush and seemed almost otherworldly to us Americans from the mid-Atlantics.

We stopped at a Gasthaus in St. Anton (also on the Arlberg River) for lunch. St. Anton is known as a rather famous and pricey ski area.

The Gasthaus was quite fancy inside; the outside where we sat seemed to attract bikers and hikers. So naturally we met 3 younger riders from Munich, Germany riding smaller off-road bikes; and an older gent from Innsbruck wearing cowboy boots, leathers and riding a tricked out Harley Davidson Dynaglide, of which he is immensely proud. There were a number of big Hondas gliding on by with geezers on board, and crotch rockets by the dozen.

After lunch we headed north through the winter resort towns of Stuben, Zürs and Lech on Rt 198. We traveled through part of the Zugspitze Arena again. It was heavenly (again!). We then wound our way back through the Fernpass and Fernsteinsee as we did yesterday. We don’t push the speed, yet the twisties, especially the switchbacks, are so much fun and very satisfying. This is such good prep for our tour next week.

Connie has taken a ton of pics and vids today. Hope those she shares give you a taste for what we saw.

A note in passing: I’ve used words like quaint, cute, neat and charming to describe the towns and villages we’ve ridden through. It feels sometimes like we’re encountering a country and people frozen in time and neatened up for the benefit of tourists like us. The truth is very different. The towns and homes we see are filled with hard working people who are raising families and building lives just like we do. We sometimes ride behind big farm equipment and construction vehicles and transports who together are making their country work and grow, again just like in America. We are so aware that we are guests who stay for a short while and revel in the wonders of their land. And we’re grateful for the kindness and generosity with which we are met. Acting like guests in someone’s home. That’s the ticket. And a big hint.

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

Hi! Not much to write for today. We packed our stuff up and moved about 20 miles to a Pension in Mieming. We’ve unpacked our stuff — or more accurately, it exploded out of our cases. So we took a walk, ate some food and will head to bed shortly. Seems climbing the Kafelekar yesterday did us in.

We met and had a great visit with a man from southern Netherlands by the name of Arno.  He and his wife and four kids are vacationing in Innsbruck.  His family is fascinating on many levels.  Arno is a polyglot, being fluent in at least four languages, though it may be six.  The rest of the family is also multilingual, and the oldest son who is twelve is so fluent in English that his primary concern at present is his accent.  Everyone plays instruments: Arno (French Horn) well enough to lead several regional orchestras.  He’s also a horticulturist who publishes a journal for fellow farmers across Holland.  We had a chance to satisfy some of our mutual curiosity about each other’s country and the bits of the world we have seen.  Great time with some thoroughly impressive folks.  

That closed out the day yesterday.

Tomorrow, we pick up the bike and start getting acclimated to riding in Austria. Can’t wait! And that’s it for today.

We enjoyed another low key day here in Innsbruck.  Took a bus into town to buy some sundries and then back to Hungerburg to begin an excursion to the top of Hafekelar, a beautiful mountain overlooking Innsbruck to the south.

Hafekelar is resplendent with hiking, bike and ski trails and is really popular for locals and tourists alike. During winter, most of the slopes are really challenging with some inclines (declines?) of up to 70%. That would be a “no” for me, by the way. There’s a gondola from Hungerburg that reaches the top in two stages, climbing quickly to about 7,400 feet. With a little more climbing the old fashioned way, we got to an overlook for a huge swath of the Inn Valley to the south, and a tutorial on how glaciers work to the north. To the west were sure footed sheep with bells around their necks, grazing away and studiously ignoring the humans. And it’s neat to be suddenly engulfed in a passing cloud – it really cools you off pretty fast.

We scrambled about for a while taking lots of pictures. We also sat a bit, caught up in the wonder spread all around and before us. We feel very grateful.

Tomorrow we move up the valley a bit to Obermeeming from whence we will commence our motorized adventures. We will continue, however, to stop at likely looking cafes for a coffee and maybe a Strudel. We are getting to really like this treat!

This was a day of rest and a wee bit of sightseeing. Our destination was the beautiful city of Hall-in-Tirol, about 10 miles east on the Inn River in Austria. The Inn continues to flow mostly eastward until it joins the beautiful Danube River at Passau, Germany.

Hall, as it’s called, became an important city in the 13th century because of the salt mines close by. Salt was long a precious and strategic commodity throughout Europe and remained so for centuries. (Kind of like oil is now.) Salt was often used as a form of currency and generated a lot of wealth for those who supplied it. Hall supplied salt to Switzerland, and much of the lower Rhine valley and the Black Forest in western Germany. So Hall and much of the region became prosperous and vibrant. That meant great buildings including churches, financial and trade houses, and so forth. Which helps explain the impressive historic city we visited today.

We took a local bus this morning and arrived in Hall around noon. Nearly all businesses are closed on Sunday, so there was very little traffic and no crowds to speak of. Of course the museums and most historic buildings were also closed. But the churches and many gardens were open. There are flowers everywhere in well tended gardens and window boxes galore.

We visited the Parish Church of St Niklaus, first built in the early 1200’s we think. It has survived many wars and renovations and is a now a beautiful – and maybe a little overwhelming – Baroque church. Connie has some wonderful pics of the church and it’s environs. One note – there’s a medieval chapel on the church grounds. This Chapel of Ste. Mary Magdalene is austere by comparison to the cathedral, but dignified and respectful. There is now a commemorative stone fixture set into the front facade dedicated to the many men of Hall who were killed in the First and Second World Wars. It reminded us of markers dedicated to lost soldiers in towns across America. Another reminder of war’s horrible cost.

On our way back, we stopped for a coffee (of course!) and rested our feet while a procession of marathoners ran/trotted/stumbled by. Judging by their expressions, I’m not sure they were really having a good time but we enjoyed it.

Back at our apartment we’ve just finished supper and are enjoying some more quiet time. Later this week, it will be time to ride!

We are back on the road! Some of the time will even be on a bike! We’re currently in Hungerburg, a small village up the mountain a bit from Innsbruck, Austria. We used mundane planes and trains to get here and are now acclimating ourselves to a new time and environment. And what an environment! If you like rugged mountains and green valleys and quaint (though modern) villages, this is hard to beat.

In a few days we will rent a motorcycle and begin getting used to riding here. The language and signs and roads are different from the States – a kilometer is NOT a mile, so going 80 means something very different here. We will be riding a newer version of the bike we already ride so the equipment will be similar. All-in-all we are so excited!

End of the Line

On the 28th we rode long and hard to get to Beaver Falls, PA, just northeast of Pittsburgh. Then on the 29th we ground out the entire PA Turnpike to home. We’re sort of sorry to say we didn’t stop to see much. On the other hand, we’re not too sorry. After 8 weeks we were eager to get home, sleep in our bed, and have no need to keep track of our stuff that has to be repacked each morning. So on Monday the 29th, we hustled until we pulled into our driveway, parked, and fell off the bike in exhaustion.

Well, not really. There was no falling, though we were hot and exhausted. So we scrambled to empty the bike, get into the A/C and take long, cool showers. And start the laundry, especially the bed linens. And pick up the yard after the last storm. In a word, we were glad to resume our normal, everyday lives.

We are so grateful we had the wherewithal and opportunity to take another magnificent trip across the continent. And we’re so blessed to have a nice home to return to.

Over the next couple of days, we got the house in order, changed our road weary duds into clean clothes, slept in beyond hotel checkout, washed the bike (OMG – 2 months of accumulated bug carcasses!), lounged and took naps. Busy few days. Yup.

It’s now a week later and I’m finally around to closing the blog. Thanks for your patience, gentle reader. We’re back on track in the grandparental role, ready to welcome a new grandson into the world (Ben and Aabha) and spend some time with granddaughter, Cora (Tim and Anna). We’re in touch with our volunteer groups and are almost acclimated again (not) with Delaware Valley summer heat. So the beat goes on.

Just a few random thoughts and impressions that have been rattling around my brain pan that haven’t made the blog until now.

Remembering Crater Lake in Oregon is a recurring pleasure. The stunningly blue waters of the lake we saw on June 23rd and 24th are as vivid a memory as any we’ve had. This 1949 foot deep body of water is contained in the caldera/crater of a volcano that will become active again. So below the waters is a cavern of superheated magma that will one day boil the lake away. Sitting on top of such immense fires, the lake and its environs suffer under temps as low as -40* F, and receive up to 44 feet of snow every winter. Let that sink in for a second. Forty-four feet equals 528 inches. That’s as tall as a four-story building. Spring, summer and fall last all of 5 months from min-May to mid-September, and the rest is winter. Shall we all now complain about our winters? That would be, no.

Tolls. As in $56.50 from the western terminus of the PA Turnpike to the Rt. 1 interchange. Really? That represents almost 5 hours of gross income at the PA minimum wage of $12/hour. Long trips by car are affordable to fewer and fewer people. I know I couldn’t have afforded such a toll structure in my early years. Yet the cost of maintenance and upkeep is significant and rests largely on the States. There’s been some talk about a federal infrastructure program. Hoping.

We have mentioned meeting some exceptional people during our travels. There are a lot of wonderful folks in all areas of the US and Canada who hail from all backgrounds of religion, politics, socio-economic status, so forth. Those things don’t matter so much when you meet someone face to face, shake their hand and listen with an open mind and speak with kindness and humility. We realized we were guests in each town we rolled into and tried to act that way. Of course there were some crumb-bums along the way who had a problem with a stranger. (Mark would say there’s no one stranger than we are. But I digress.) Not unlike the crumb-bums who live on the streets in our towns who are our neighbors. We need to get over the inevitable fact that we are different in many ways, but have much more in common.

For our part, we are constantly amazed at the doors that people open into their homes and hearts because we see persons instead of caricatures. It is our choice how we decide to see our neighbor. Just saying.

It has truly been a pleasure and an honor to share our story with you. It’s a little humbling to think you all actually wanted to follow along on our journey. Your interest and kind comments have added so much to our pleasure.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, and so long!