Friday, 2013/08/31

Some final preparations and getting ready for the motorcycle trip. I'm get going just before 12 o'clock.

I'm choosing the highway, because I really want to get to the south as fast as possible. First traffic jam is already before Hanover. The Navi calculates a detour. For some reason the tracking of the route fails for the first two days of riding, so the track shown below isn't  the actually ridden track, but only the planned route.

It will not be the first traffic jam that day. I'm choosing the highway in the direction of Halle. Again and again, the traffic slows down and with my panniers riding between the lanes is not easy. And when the traffic finally stops, people get out of their cars and stagger around on the driveway in the hot weather as if they are drunken.

Towards evening, around 6:00 pm, somewhere in Upper Franconia, traffic stops again because of an overturned truck, as I learn later. I decide for the nearest campsite. This works perfectly with the help of the ADAC camping guide, which I've installed on the Garmin sat nav before departure. You can choose from the nearest campsites along with a rough rating and some information and then get navigated to the one choosen. Quite practical, especially when there are not many campsites along the road.

The campground is nicely located. After setting up the tent next to a pond, I have dinner in the restaurant of the campsite. I'm very hungry because I didn't had much breaks during the day. You can sit outside in the wonderful weather and I'm sitting at a table with two Swiss women, who were traveling with a camper van in eastern Germany. Nice conversation. I like to hear Swiss German.

Back to the tent and am approached by two Franconians, who have pitched their tent next to a small camper van nearby. They are on a weekend trip for paddling. Pretty funny conversation with them and they invite me for a beer. Nice entertainment before I have my first night in the tent.

I sleep at least a few hours, even if I keep waking up and have to go to the bathroom twice. But for the first night in the tent after years, that's pretty good.