15 –16 July ’05, Friday-Saturday. Rhine Falls
I know I was awake, showered and ready to make coffee by 6:30am this morning, and it felt good. The sun hadn’t been up for long, it was still cool, and it was quiet. This day was going to be a busy one for the Chouinards… Not much longer, and I was hearing some rustling from inside their motorhome and I knew that they knew just how quickly they were going to jump into this final morning. It is never easy, and it is stressful, although I think Mikleane was handling it pretty well. They had to have the coach back in Wolhusen by 9:30 and it was about 12 miles outside of Lucerne. On top of that, they had to go through the “final check-out” and then with luggage in hand make it over to the train station for the start of their trip to Paris and the Eiffel Tower. We said our final goodbye’s and they were heading out of the front gate of the campground. I’m sure they are going to be missing the camping, but going on to Paris and then back home and all that they have left of the summer…we’ll miss them as we miss everyone at home. Louise and I finished packing up ourselves and were on the road just after 9am ourselves. We had a wonderful time in Switzerland, and we would highly recommend it for a vacation for everyone. The only real positive of leaving and getting out of the country, was it is VERY EXPENSIVE. One of the exceptions of being expensive, is the price of “petrol” (gas). We did find it to be about $1.80 US less than Germany per gallon. Other than that… Well, we left Lucerne and back-tracked for awhile. We went up past Zurich and Winterthur, and then due north heading to Stuttgart Germany. On the way, we came upon (just by chance) a waterfall that we had heard about from a couple we met about 4 weeks ago. Just 3km south of Schaffhausen is Rhine Falls. This just happens to be the largest waterfall in all of Europe, although it only drops 23 meters (80 feet prox). The amount of water flow and the vantage points all around it make it really something to see. There is no doubt, you can get right at the most powerful point of the fall, and it makes you wonder “just what the hell are you doing there that close !!!”. We were out on a platform that is cantilevered out to the most powerful point of the fall, and it is REALLY close. The location is also pretty and unique. There was an old church and Closter that has now been taken over by a hostel and other “tourist” retail shops and restaurants. We were happy to have stumbled onto this and hope we got some good pictures. We arrived in Stuttgart about 3 in the afternoon and found the campground. The campground was located just inside the city and right next to a huge stadium and the river Neckar. As we pulled up to the gates of the campground, we noticed a lot of police action right in front. There were a number of young people that the police seemed to be searching, but what the heck, we pulled in anyway. As we got out of the van and approached the reception desk, the lady behind it said “We do have room for your van, but I want you to know that there is going to be a 3 day concert going on across the street and there are going to be a lot of the “”young people”” here at the campground…there will be a lot of loud music, drinking and having fun…are you sure you want to stay here with us ???” What the heck…we stayed. As it was, there were a lot of “young people” with their tents, some music, drinking, and a few sick people in the morning, but it wasn’t all that bad for one night anyway. But did we want to make it all the way through 3 nights, I don’t think so…besides, it was too hot in this campground and we wanted a little shade for the weekend. We checked out and headed south about 40km (25 miles) into Tubingen.
I know I was awake, showered and ready to make coffee by 6:30am this morning, and it felt good. The sun hadn’t been up for long, it was still cool, and it was quiet. This day was going to be a busy one for the Chouinards… Not much longer, and I was hearing some rustling from inside their motorhome and I knew that they knew just how quickly they were going to jump into this final morning. It is never easy, and it is stressful, although I think Mikleane was handling it pretty well. They had to have the coach back in Wolhusen by 9:30 and it was about 12 miles outside of Lucerne. On top of that, they had to go through the “final check-out” and then with luggage in hand make it over to the train station for the start of their trip to Paris and the Eiffel Tower. We said our final goodbye’s and they were heading out of the front gate of the campground. I’m sure they are going to be missing the camping, but going on to Paris and then back home and all that they have left of the summer…we’ll miss them as we miss everyone at home. Louise and I finished packing up ourselves and were on the road just after 9am ourselves. We had a wonderful time in Switzerland, and we would highly recommend it for a vacation for everyone. The only real positive of leaving and getting out of the country, was it is VERY EXPENSIVE. One of the exceptions of being expensive, is the price of “petrol” (gas). We did find it to be about $1.80 US less than Germany per gallon. Other than that… Well, we left Lucerne and back-tracked for awhile. We went up past Zurich and Winterthur, and then due north heading to Stuttgart Germany. On the way, we came upon (just by chance) a waterfall that we had heard about from a couple we met about 4 weeks ago. Just 3km south of Schaffhausen is Rhine Falls. This just happens to be the largest waterfall in all of Europe, although it only drops 23 meters (80 feet prox). The amount of water flow and the vantage points all around it make it really something to see. There is no doubt, you can get right at the most powerful point of the fall, and it makes you wonder “just what the hell are you doing there that close !!!”. We were out on a platform that is cantilevered out to the most powerful point of the fall, and it is REALLY close. The location is also pretty and unique. There was an old church and Closter that has now been taken over by a hostel and other “tourist” retail shops and restaurants. We were happy to have stumbled onto this and hope we got some good pictures. We arrived in Stuttgart about 3 in the afternoon and found the campground. The campground was located just inside the city and right next to a huge stadium and the river Neckar. As we pulled up to the gates of the campground, we noticed a lot of police action right in front. There were a number of young people that the police seemed to be searching, but what the heck, we pulled in anyway. As we got out of the van and approached the reception desk, the lady behind it said “We do have room for your van, but I want you to know that there is going to be a 3 day concert going on across the street and there are going to be a lot of the “”young people”” here at the campground…there will be a lot of loud music, drinking and having fun…are you sure you want to stay here with us ???” What the heck…we stayed. As it was, there were a lot of “young people” with their tents, some music, drinking, and a few sick people in the morning, but it wasn’t all that bad for one night anyway. But did we want to make it all the way through 3 nights, I don’t think so…besides, it was too hot in this campground and we wanted a little shade for the weekend. We checked out and headed south about 40km (25 miles) into Tubingen.