Alps 2008
  
 

Day 16

July 4

  
 

I am up way early - even for me - to see if I can find a camera shop in the town. We are going to Luc's so we have plenty of time but I am on a mission. Today is also my lovely wife's birthday, so I leave her a message on her cell phone. With the time differences, I know better than to call back to the house. As I meander around the streets I keep my eyes open for anything that remotely looks like they would sell cameras. I see plenty of places to buy wine, toys, beer mugs, clothes - but no cameras. I'm really hoping to find another Olympus since I just bought 2 new 2 gig memory cards. And if it were to use the same battery (since I have an extra one of those) that would be nice too. Finally, tucked way off the street I see a familiar Kodak sign - and they sell a variety of cameras - but no Olympus. As I head back toward the hotel doing my window scan, something catches my eye as I pass a perfume shop. Sure enough in their front window they have an Olympus Stylus camera with the box. I make careful mental notes of where they are so I can find them again.

 
 
 
  Shortly after I get back, it's breakfast time so we head down the steps and across the narrow road to the restaurant. Dave must be pretty important since they have his name written on a plate on the table. I guess they couldn't figure out how to spell mine!  
 
 
 

Breakfast is good and as we eat, I tell Dave -

"Well, I found a couple of places that sell cameras. If it's all right with you, after breakfast we can wander back up there and take a look."

Dave is quite the photography buff and I know that he has forgotten more about cameras than I will ever know. So I highly value his opinion since I don't figure that they are going to give one away in this tourist town. So we finish up and I lead the way back to the first shop that I found. Dave is familiar with a couple of the models they have but they will not be open for another 30 minutes or so. I tell him -

"Well, let's go to the place that had the Olympus and check it out."

They are now open, so we go in and ask about the camera in the window. As best as I can explain, I let the lady know I need to open the box and see what kind of battery and memory card that this camera takes. She has no problem with it and I pop it open and take a good look. At 199 Euros (about $310 USD), I want to be sure that I can at least use my memory cards. A memory card is not included with it, but she shows me the ones that it uses - which are exactly the ones that I have plenty of with me. It uses a different battery that mine, but I figure I can't have everything. The other ones up the street are cheaper, but this one suits me well so I pull the trigger after taking a deep breath. I know I can probably get the same camera back home for about half this price, but I ain't back home and I've still got pictures to take. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and realize that it's just part of the price of admission. She fixes me right up and makes sure that she has the warranty information correct. With the business done, we head back to the room so I can put the battery on charge.

 
 
 
 

I put one of my old memory cards into the new camera when I get back to the room just to make sure that it does not do an automatic 'reformat' when a card is inserted. Then I snap a picture or two to see that my memory cards will work. The next challenge is to see if my old camera whacked my other card and all of the pictures that I have taken so far. So I swap cards, hit the view button and nothing is there. My heart sinks lower than low and I think -

"Well, I was afraid of that."

I look once more at the memory card and I realize it was the wrong one. When I insert the correct one in, I can view all of my pictures and boy am I one happy camper! Just to be safe, I remove it and put it in a safe place and reinsert the other memory card. It shouldn't be problem but at this point I sure don't want to loose over 1,000 pictures. Soon it's time to get on the road, so I pack my stuff up and do my hyper room search one more time just to be sure I've not left anything behind.

  
 
 
  With my river bag on my back, I gingerly make my way back down the 479 steps (oh, that's right there are only 33)  
 
 
  and across the street to load up Snow White. We get checked out and then carefully back the bikes out since the entrance into the parking area is a pretty steep cobblestone ramp of sorts.  
 
 
  Dave is going to take me down the Mosel Valley for a while before we jump back on the Autobahn. It is a nice, easy ride through various small villages ...  
 
 
  and incredible 'clinging' vineyards that just run right up the hillside. From my seat I don't see how they even harvest the grapes since they are on such steep inclines. But they must have it figured out since they cover most of the hillsides surrounding the river. I sure wouldn't want to get into a kicking contest with the folks that pick those grapes!  
 
 
  The road follows alongside the Mosel River which reminds me a lot of the Cumberland river back home in Tennessee - wide and flowing between the lovely green hills.  
 
 
  Every now and then the route takes us across the river through ornate arches like this one which might have been a toll gate at one time.  
 
 
  Soon we pass vineyards that are even more vertical that the earlier ones. I don't see how the dirt stays on the hillsides, much less the vines.  
 
 
  As we approach the city of Cochem, the Reichsburg Castle stands guard over the city. Some parts of it go back to the year 1000. It and the city were destroyed by King Louis XIV in 1689 when he occupied the area. The castle remained in ruins until it was purchased and rebuilt in 1868 by Mr. Louis Ravené.  
 
 
  The quiet city square is a good place to take a break and look for souvenirs. I manage to pick up a few more refrigerator magnets for my elderly friend back home. She will have quite a large collection of new ones when this trip is over. This seems to be the tourist place, judging by the many trinket shops that line the sidewalks. But time is slipping away, so we get back on the road soon.  
 
 
  The nice thing is that I don't have worry about where we are going, I can just follow Dave. The weather is nice, the roads are nice, and there's plenty of shade here.  
 
 
 
As we are getting close to the autobahn, I know that these pastoral scenes will soon disappear as we approach warp speeds.
  
 
 
  So I enjoy our route as we pass through the small villages on the narrow roads that just curve around the buildings. That is one thing that you come to appreciate in Europe and the UK - instead of tearing down a building to make to road wider, they just pave around it and figure the drivers can sort it out as need be.  
 
 
  Soon we reach the autobahn and we are rolling along at a good pace. And again the need for fuel comes up with rapid frequency at this pace.  
 
 
 

At one fuel stop, we pass a bike that Dave believes is a older Goldwing. I tell him -

"Nope, it's a Suzuki not a Goldwing."

When we pull away from the pumps, the rider rolls over to us. His name is Robert and he is riding a Suzuki Cavalcade. It was Suzuki's shot at the touring market that had a lot of advanced ideas but also some technical problems. As it turns out, Robert has friend in Tennessee who owns three of them. He is headed to the European Cavalcade rally today. We chat a little bit and wish him a safe, non-eventful journey as we all have to be back on the road.

 
 
 
  Soon we are approaching Antwerp on our way to Ghent. Little do we know what lies in store for us once we approach the city.  
 
 
  I thought that the traffic in London was a bit mad, but I have to give Antwerp traffic the award. It is absolutely the craziest place I have ever ridden. A motorcyclist in front of us with wide saddlebags starts to filter, so Dave and I follow his lead, hoping to escape this madness sooner than later.  
 
 
  Soon we are out of the mess and on our way to Oostaaker, the village near Ghent where Luc and Miss Annie live. They have offered to put us up for the evening and Moff is joining us there. Since we will be heading to Moff's home then straight back to London to drop the bike off, I take the time to rearrange my gear in the proper bags for toting down the street to Brewer's Inn. I figure that way it will be just grab the bags and the bike will be ready to turn over. Toni, who we met in Ieper, soon comes over on his Honda 750 police bike, still equipped with all the police gear.  
 
 
 

I tell him -

"That's what we needed in Antwerp. Just turn on the lights and away we would have went!"

He tells us that he is supposed to keep the lights covered but there's a twinkle in his eyes that tells me he has not on an occasion or two.

  
 
 
  As it turns out, Luc has gotten a green weenie from a previous party that he attended and required a trip to the emergency room. He has broken out in a fierce red rash all over and the medicine he is taking has pretty well wiped him out. Luc is not able to do the BBQ as he had planned, but Toni is the man, and he steps up to the plate - and the grill - and we don't have to starve after all (not that we couldn't live off the fat of land for a few days).  
 
 
  Luc and Miss Annie are restoring an old farmhouse so right out their backyard is a beautiful cornfield. It's a great view for an old country boy like me.  
 
 
  The food is absolutely delicious and we get our fill on the delightful grilled sausages, salads, and bread.  
 
 
  Then we find out that was just the appetizer! There's baked potatoes with mushrooms and steaks big enough to stretch across the plate, grilled to perfection by the master griller Toni.  
 
 
  And being the gracious guests that we are, we 'force' ourselves to eat the steaks and potatoes. After all, my Momma always taught me to clean your plate and if Momma says do it, you ought to do it!  
 
 
  Then after dinner, Luc and Miss Annie break out the Belgian chocolates just in case there is any empty space in our stomachs. Trying to good guests, we once again 'force' ourselves to partake of their hospitality. But we want to be up early tomorrow so we can get my bike turned in on time, so we head for our sleeping arrangements. Since Dave and Moff have a reputation for making so much noise snoring, Luc graciously lets me have his daughter's room all to myself. I appreciate it because it so hard to get a good night's sleep with all of their racket making. Soon the lights go out for me and I don't seem to hear a thing.  
 

Totals For The Day -

Countries - 3 (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium)

Miles - 276

Passes - 0

Hairpins - 0