From Oy-Mittelberg,Bavaria to Bad Peterstal,The Black Forest

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Tuesday 22nd September
From Oy-Mittelberg,Bavaria to Bad Peterstal,The Black Forest
It has been an enjoyable two nights here in Oy-Mittelberg,despite the pillows that go with the bed!!and we would have liked to have stayed a bit longer but there are more places to see and today we have a drive of about 240km to the northern part of the Black Forest and an apartment in another small village awaits.
Frank and his wife have really done us well with their breakfasts and this morning was no exception when they produced our own large portion of the scrambled egg and speck dish and this after we thought that there wasn’t going to be any as there were no dishes for it set up on the breakfast bar.
We won’t need lunch today!!
The weather was fine overhead when we left Oy-Mittelberg and started off on route #309 heading for Kempten and then west towards Lake Constance.We had wanted to stay in the Lake area but the places available through the dozen or so websites we have for checking accommodation didn’t have anything in our price range and anyway we are glad that we got a good fdeal in Oy-Mittelberg to enjoy the Herr and Frau Bock experience at Gasthaus Ratskeller.
The attraction of the lake was the view but if the last two days were anything like today then it is just as well we didn’t stay at or near Lake Constance because the lake was hidden from view by dense fog even as late as midday.
The lake is actually a huge bubble of the River Rhine and its location in a valley together with the current weather pattern of warm days and cool nights has resulted in dense fog until the sun gets strong enough to disperse it as the day heats up.
Route #31 follows the lake in a north westerly direction for all of its 50 odd kilometre length.The land next to the lake supports intensive horticulture with apple,pear and other fruit orchards as well as vineyards in the rural areas and in each of the larger towns we passed through there seemed to be some sort of industrial plant to employ the population living in the vicinity.Traffic along the lake was very heavy and we had been out of the habit of dealing with opposing trucks for a few days although to be fair drivers are much better in Germany taking less risks than in Eastern European countries.
The road itself doesn’t actually travel next to the lake at any point and we would have had to cross a continual stream of opposing traffic to get down to the lake edge and even then there was nothing to see further than a few metres out due to the fog.Oddly enough though back up at the level the road was above the lake the fog was not an issue in driving and we could see the orchards and vineyards on the hillsides quite clearly.So we didn’t bother about getting across and down to its edge.
At Ludwigshafen we left the lake and as we climbed higher on route #14 the sun came out completely to give a fine warm day again as it had been when we left Oy-Mittelberg.The forest to the left of us was dense and forms the outer part of the Black Forest, a strip of Germany that is about 160km long and 50km wide,and our destination for the end of the day sits in the northern part of it.
The scenery driving this road is not that special but of course we have been spoilt with several days in the Alps where around every corner there was a different amazing view to goggle at.So it probably is a little unfair to say that this road was ‘boring’.
At Tuttlingen we took a break for lunch.It is a small city which looks as though its heyday was in the past with the shopping plaza a bit tired looking.There was no Mc’D’s that we could see so we headed for the Rathaus to find a WC after parking RR in a small parking building.The Rathaus is always the centre of the town and if it doesn’t have a WC then there has always been one nearby.
We purchased some lunch which included a Berliner,a type of donut filled with raspberry jam(yum) and walked down to some water we could see near the shopping centre.The water turned out to be the Danube although at this point in its travels it wasn’t nearly as large and wide as it was in Vienna.In fact what we were sitting alongside may have been a tributary of the real thing perhaps a short distance away.We didn’t go looking to find out.
Gretchen has been looking for something to read since she finished the two books we brought with us and in a local book shop the proprietor showed her the small selection of English paperbacks from which she chose something to keep her occupied when I am writing this blog(the rest of the time the laptop is on she is playing solitaire trying to beat her last score!!).
Back on the road and we continued in a northerly direction towards Rottweil on the #27 and then switched a little more westerly on route #462 and then #294 to Freudenstadt.In doing so the road took a steep descent into a narrow ravine like valley where the town of Schramberg was located.There seemed to be a good size population and initially as we drove along the floor of the deep ravine we speculated what would make people live here as we imagine that the winters must be rather severe given the narrowness and how deep the ravine was.Then all was revealed as we drove by manufacturing plant after plant all of considerable size.There must have been 5 or 6 in the space of about 10km.
The road came back out of the ravine as we approached Freudenstadt and it was here that we spied a Kaufland supermarket and drove in to purchase supplies as we expect that the small village we are heading for over the next 3 nights won’t have much of a supermarket, if any.We were out of luck as this Kaufland was a general store and had little in the way of groceries.We would just have to trust whatever Bad Peterstal had to offer.
On the way back to the main road we noticed a Renault car dealer and with the need to have a 20,000km service soon we thought we would see what they would charge and perhaps we could come back the small distance from Bad Peterstal to have the service done over the next day or so.After working through what we needed done to RR the lady came back with a price of €240!!We had been expecting somewhere between €90 and €140 so we will leave it until perhaps we find a Renault garage who does just servicing so that we don’t have to contribute to all the other employees wages with our service cost!!!
The last 20km to Bad Peterstal passed quickly with the final 5km down another steep descent to the narrow valley in which the village is located.We found the place where we needed to pick up the key but drove onto the next village about 6km away and found a Penny Market and a Netto(both discount supermarkets)and got the supplies we needed to top up the grocery box.Then it was back to Bad Peterstal to pick up the key.
Frau Kessler had been expecting us and as she looks after the apartment for the owner, who lives about 70km away, she offered to show us up to the apartment on the steep hill above the village.
The apartment has everything we need including a fully equipped kitchen although no oven but a microwave.There is a small terrace with outdoor furniture overlooking the valley and village below and we think we will be very comfortable here for the next three nights enjoying the surrounding Black Forest.
No photos today as the fog didn't help in wanting to get some scenic shots.

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