Where's Bertie? He's in a free Stellplatz in Feuchtwangen. Water and electricity are available for a fee. (Exact location: 49.16109, 10.32728)
Weather: wall-to-wall sunshine and hot (36 degrees)
Last night we watched the thermometer, willling it downwards until finally, just before 10.30pm, it stumbled below 30 degrees and we started making moves towards bed. It was 5.20 this morning when the light streaming in through all of the open rooflights woke me. I duly got up and closed the blinds, but further sleep then evaded me, so at 6 I thought I may as well take advantage of the coolest part of the day for a run.
Visually my route was lovely and largely shaded, but I hadn't appreciated when I'd looked at it on Open Cycle Maps that a chunk of it was on roads (quiet roads - but I'm accustomed to off-road cycle routes in Germany). Nor had I appreciated that once I was down at the river, I would continue to descend, causing me to spend the outward leg thinking about the ascent on the return.
A free Stellplatz with individual hedge-bounded pitches. It's not in a pretty location, but the town has made a big effort to make it nice.
We thus proceeded to chase that shade, moving our chairs closer and closer to the conifer hedge behind Bertie, until we were almost joining the sparrows inside it. Once we lost the shade there, we had gained it outside of Bertie's main door.
In amongst all this sitting, thought was given to walking into town for a look around. The conclusion reached was that it was just too hot to contemplate such activity.
Instead, at 5pm we donned our swimmers and wandered next door to the Freibad (outdoor pool complex) where the entry fee had just dropped from the daytime rate of €3 to the evening rate of €1. It was worth that just for a shower!
A few lengths were swum. We sat on the side of the pool semi-immersed. We sat in the shade of a tree with a crossword. We enjoyed our first mains-water showers since we left home 6.5 weeks ago. It was possibly the best €2 we've spent so far on this trip.
We got back to Bertie to find the sun just caressing the corner of his huge windscreen - and we'd not put his eyemask on. With the side windows and door closed, the temperature inside had increased to 41.5 degrees. Ouch. If we abide by our usual 'no bed until it's below 30 degrees' rule tonight, it could be an awfully late one. I think we'll be investing in a little electricity later, to run a fan to help things along.
Weather: wall-to-wall sunshine and hot (36 degrees)
Last night we watched the thermometer, willling it downwards until finally, just before 10.30pm, it stumbled below 30 degrees and we started making moves towards bed. It was 5.20 this morning when the light streaming in through all of the open rooflights woke me. I duly got up and closed the blinds, but further sleep then evaded me, so at 6 I thought I may as well take advantage of the coolest part of the day for a run.
Visually my route was lovely and largely shaded, but I hadn't appreciated when I'd looked at it on Open Cycle Maps that a chunk of it was on roads (quiet roads - but I'm accustomed to off-road cycle routes in Germany). Nor had I appreciated that once I was down at the river, I would continue to descend, causing me to spend the outward leg thinking about the ascent on the return.
It may have been a road, but it was quiet and gloriously shaded in the early morning.
The early start left us ready to hit the road by just after 9am, by which time the temperature was already in the mid-twenties. Oh, the glory of cab air-con whilst driving! Pity the drive was only half an hour, but it was cheering to see that our chosen pitch (yes, a pitch, not just a parking space) at our new location had some shade, for us, even if not for Bertie.We thus proceeded to chase that shade, moving our chairs closer and closer to the conifer hedge behind Bertie, until we were almost joining the sparrows inside it. Once we lost the shade there, we had gained it outside of Bertie's main door.
In amongst all this sitting, thought was given to walking into town for a look around. The conclusion reached was that it was just too hot to contemplate such activity.
Instead, at 5pm we donned our swimmers and wandered next door to the Freibad (outdoor pool complex) where the entry fee had just dropped from the daytime rate of €3 to the evening rate of €1. It was worth that just for a shower!
A few lengths were swum. We sat on the side of the pool semi-immersed. We sat in the shade of a tree with a crossword. We enjoyed our first mains-water showers since we left home 6.5 weeks ago. It was possibly the best €2 we've spent so far on this trip.
We got back to Bertie to find the sun just caressing the corner of his huge windscreen - and we'd not put his eyemask on. With the side windows and door closed, the temperature inside had increased to 41.5 degrees. Ouch. If we abide by our usual 'no bed until it's below 30 degrees' rule tonight, it could be an awfully late one. I think we'll be investing in a little electricity later, to run a fan to help things along.
Make the most of it while you can! In a few months you'll be shivering in your quilts...
ReplyDeleteIndeed - I said something very similar to Mick yesterday. I do very much prefer hot weather to cold, but these few days are testing my limits of comfort.
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