25 June ’05 Saturday
Before leaving the Boppard area, we had to have the oil changed in “Bumble Bee”. I have always heard that if you have any problems, they happen in 3’s. Well, who’s been counting ??? When they put “Bumble Bee” on the lift, they came to find us…”you have a drain plug that is no good and if we change the oil, it may just drop out and you will lose all of your oil”. Trying to have courage, and stay calm, I asked them just what that meant… They wouldn’t change the oil, unless they could replace the plug and, to do that, they must “order” a new plug and, they must “fuse a bolt onto the old drain plug”…OK, how much ??? To make this a little shorter…changing the oil and filter, with a new plug…$85. Euros…. What is a person to do ??? About noon, we were on the way, following the Rhein River further south. Fact is, we followed it until Wertheim, which is just before Wurzburg. We found a campsite that had lots of trees, and we needed lots of shade…the weather has changed, and it has turned hot and stickey with a capital “S”… In the morning, as we were looking for the internet café we had been told about, we found the town market was in progress. One of our stops was at a display of Turkish Olives, and I just couldn’t pass. Fact is, we not only bought the olives, we bought some of the finest loaves of bread (round Turkish) we had ever had…I should have bought twice as much of both as I did buy. We then turned down the beginning of the “Romantic Road”. We passed such towns and villages as Tauberbishchofsheim, and Bad Mergenthelm, and a few others, until we stopped just outside of Dinkelsbûhl. The drive down to this point was like driving through the back roads of eastern Washington, with the exceptions of the villages….they were old, and all had their own character to tell their stories. Last night we walked into the village of Dinkelsbûhl, just before 9pm, and we wanted to follow the “Night Watch (man)” through the village. Dinkelsbûhl is a walled village with cobbled streets, pastel colored multi-storied buildings, and an sidewalk café about every 50 feet. Our tour with the “Night Watch”, was fun, although he only spoke German and we couldn’t understand a thing he said. One thing we did understand, is when he approached one of the restaurants, he blew his horn, sang a little ditty, and a young lady showed up with a glass or 2 of wine. He would then sample the glass and then pass it around so we could all taste the pleasure of this restaurant. This went on for about an hour and then we had to find our way back to the campground. Tomorrow….More Romantic Road…
Before leaving the Boppard area, we had to have the oil changed in “Bumble Bee”. I have always heard that if you have any problems, they happen in 3’s. Well, who’s been counting ??? When they put “Bumble Bee” on the lift, they came to find us…”you have a drain plug that is no good and if we change the oil, it may just drop out and you will lose all of your oil”. Trying to have courage, and stay calm, I asked them just what that meant… They wouldn’t change the oil, unless they could replace the plug and, to do that, they must “order” a new plug and, they must “fuse a bolt onto the old drain plug”…OK, how much ??? To make this a little shorter…changing the oil and filter, with a new plug…$85. Euros…. What is a person to do ??? About noon, we were on the way, following the Rhein River further south. Fact is, we followed it until Wertheim, which is just before Wurzburg. We found a campsite that had lots of trees, and we needed lots of shade…the weather has changed, and it has turned hot and stickey with a capital “S”… In the morning, as we were looking for the internet café we had been told about, we found the town market was in progress. One of our stops was at a display of Turkish Olives, and I just couldn’t pass. Fact is, we not only bought the olives, we bought some of the finest loaves of bread (round Turkish) we had ever had…I should have bought twice as much of both as I did buy. We then turned down the beginning of the “Romantic Road”. We passed such towns and villages as Tauberbishchofsheim, and Bad Mergenthelm, and a few others, until we stopped just outside of Dinkelsbûhl. The drive down to this point was like driving through the back roads of eastern Washington, with the exceptions of the villages….they were old, and all had their own character to tell their stories. Last night we walked into the village of Dinkelsbûhl, just before 9pm, and we wanted to follow the “Night Watch (man)” through the village. Dinkelsbûhl is a walled village with cobbled streets, pastel colored multi-storied buildings, and an sidewalk café about every 50 feet. Our tour with the “Night Watch”, was fun, although he only spoke German and we couldn’t understand a thing he said. One thing we did understand, is when he approached one of the restaurants, he blew his horn, sang a little ditty, and a young lady showed up with a glass or 2 of wine. He would then sample the glass and then pass it around so we could all taste the pleasure of this restaurant. This went on for about an hour and then we had to find our way back to the campground. Tomorrow….More Romantic Road…