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Published: June 21st 2009
Today was outdoor adventure day. Osse, Britta, Karin, Roland, Peggie, Jerry, Amy, and Brian (and Millie!) drove about an hour to Altenglan for a “Draisinentour”. We picked up “draisinen”, 4-man railway cars equipped with two sets of pedals and room for 2 more passengers. We chained them together and took off. The old training tracks led through the countryside and through small towns. The route was 40 kilometers (about 25 miles), and we made several stops along the way to take a break. We took turns pedaling so everybody had a chance to get some exercise and Millie was a perfect passenger. See videos. Poor Jerry’s behind ( his “hintern”) took a beating. Peggie sat up front and gave the signal to stop whenever we came to a road crossing. Brian tried to show his Mom the airplane signal for STOP (two closed fists held up together), but instead Peggie gave a signal very similar to the one used by Tommie Smith and John Carlos in the 1968 Summer Olympics to signify Black Solidarity (see pictures). We all got a kick out of it and wondered what the locals were thinking of the crazy Americans. We stopped in St. Julian at
Mille taking it all in
Millie sat or just laid nicely for the whole trip, taking in all of the sights.a little café for a drink and the owner was from Florida. Amy was a little surprised when, after speaking German, he asked us “What’ll you folks have?” We pedaled some more and then had a nice lunch in Lauterecken, which was the halfway point. The trek ended in Staudenheim, where we loaded a bus that took us back to the starting point. After a short drive, we met Eva for dinner. The restaurant specialized in regional dishes and Brian ordered the “trilogy” of wurst, liver dumplings, and a fried cake made of cow stomach and other yummy ingredients. Wow! Was that good! For some reason, no one else really wanted a taste to try. Especially not Amy who stuck with the Rumpsteak and Kartoffeln (potatoes) - playing it safe is safe and was also very tasty! Peggie, Jerry, Amy, and Brian drove home with Eva. We ended the evening listening to Eva Cassidy’s Songbird CD and having Aunt Eva tell us some of her stories about living in China, moving to Germany around the time of the War, and memories of France, and the U.S. Before we knew it, it was after midnight. Tomorrow we head to France for
Sights from the Tracks
This is an example of the kinds of little towns we pedaled through the day.
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Scott Foisy
non-member comment
Faster...faster...faster...
Looks like you are having a great time and getting lots of exercise! I head for France tomorrow via Munich. Enjoy! Scott