Final day in Germany?

After much consideration and consultation with the traveling Dutch and bike shop employees, we have opted to depart the Rhine at Cologne in order to skip several days of industrial riverside. Instead we have cut west towards the Maas river at the corner of Belgium, Holland, and Germany, and we will head down the river from Maastricht.  This means that we finally are departing our many weeks of river riding and are now happily back into farms and villages-

We saw a novelty for us today at a farm: a you-fill milk stand.  One Euro deposit for the bottle and an indeterminate sum for the liter of fresh milk -

Except for the countless reasons it wouldn’t work for us in the heat, we were tempted.  If I knew of one of these near home, I would certainly frequent it.

In honor of our country change, and to revisit a memory of Liv’s, we successfully sought out Spaghetti Ice tonight.  This establishment had the largest selection of different varieties, including asparagus ice.  That one I hadn’t seen before-

When the kids found the recently departed  Hedgehog in the campground, there was no question but that a suitable burial was necessary, and they did a masterful job-

We are ready to depart Germany, I must say, as the Germans' lackluster attitude towards velo tourists is wearing thin.  Tonight’s campground is completely un-signed, hidden behind a gate you wouldn’t know opened, and has all the splendor of a county park in some run-down suburb of Los Angeles. Not unsafe, but just an afterthought next to the highway (and still 25 Euros, though). Their approach to bike lanes is similar, with very broken pavement being the norm, and it is not uncommon for a lane to end at a fence or a parking area, and then begin again some time later.  All fine, and still better than much of what we have at home, but our home routes are not touted as world class and extensively covered with signage.  The Dutch are purported to be much better at this than any others, and we would like to get back to a minimum of French quality camping if we can.  

After 8 weeks on the road camping, we are starting to show some wear and tear.  I was very saddened to hear today that we have only 4-and-a-half weeks left, which seems so short.  Hard to believe that a vacation that long seems short, considering that it is several years of accumulated time at most companies, but as this is our once-in-a-lifetime fling, it still feels short.

“Oh Dave, tell us again how hard it was to take a 3-month vacation in the lap of luxury in Europe...”

-Dave