Climb Every Mountain (Posted on 8/15/16)

Maybe an appropriate title for the blog entry but certainly my least favorite song from the movie.  Probably because Maria didn't sing it.  Anyway...

Selfie in the alps!

Still seeing amazing things on the bike tour, but also dealing with challenges.  Right now, we're in a very nice campsite by Rosenheim, Germany.  But there's a group of young people not far from our tent (it's Saturday) and Matthias is concerned about being able to sleep.  We'll see how loud they are...  We've also got some issues with our bikes.  Matthias' bike is making a weird noise and something seems to be wrong with the brakes.  I guess the problem with buying really nice e-bikes is when there's a problem, it's a big deal.  The bikes are great, and the battery power really helps when climbing hills (you still have to pedal, but I feel like such a cheater when I pass people on non-powered bikes!)  But we bought a special brand so there are aren't a ton of "authorized dealers" to find when there's a problem.  So we're heading back to a town we visited before with an appointment for bike repair next week.  Not too bad, as the town was really, really nice, but disppointing because we had just reached the heart of the Alps when things started to go wrong.  Yeah, I'm a little cranky.

Is this not the most beautiful spot to have bike problems?!

After Salzburg, we rode a short distance to Bad Reichenhall in the foothills of the German Alps.  We found a nice campsite there and the next day rode our bikes (or pushed them thanks to the GPS sending us on what turned out to be more of a hiking trail which was too steep and stony for my citybike) to my first ALM!  This was very exciting for me, as Matthias had told me about Alms for ages - pastures high up in the mountains where farmers would bring their milk cows for the summer to graze on grass and flowers to make  the cheese special, or something to that effect.  The Alms are also beloved destinations for German "wanderers" (hikers) as they serve food and drinks - the better ones serve homemade cheese, bread, butter, etc.  And some also offer a place to camp for the night.  Anyway, it's dreamy - high in the hills, fantastic views, the sound of cowbells and the smell of cowpies, well.... that's even good, too.  Pictures don't do justice, and after seeing my first alm, I didn't think any could top it.  But each one we visited had its own charm - some had better food, some had better scenery, but all were great!

My first view of my first Alm

Best Beer Garden in the world! 

And another view 

And another...

And now that I think of it, the bike problems do tend to have silver linings.  On Saturday night in Bad Reichenhall, my bike computer failed.  And that didin't just mean I'd be without my beloved GPS (I do kiss it every time it helps me find our destination), but without the computer, the motor doesn't work.  Wouldn't be so much of a problem if I didn't buy a citybike with only 8 gears instead of my 21-gear usual (next time!).  And since everything (everything! except restaurants and gas stations) is closed in Germany on Sundays, we knew we had to wait until Monday to even check it out.  So we had to stay another night in Bad Reichenhall, which gave us time on Sunday to hike up to a beautiful Alm and have fabulous dinner in a beer garden/brewery in town.  On Monday morning we found a bike shop and the solution was simple - all we needed to do was reset the computer (all four buttons at once - I tried everything else and this was NOWHERE in the manual!!)  So, we had ample time for a little side trip to Königsee.

Königsee!

Biergarten in Bad Reichenhall

SteinerAlm by Bad Reichenhall

Our next stop was Siegsdorf, where we stayed at an old farmhouse campsite (turned out to be Matthias' favorite, which is good because that's where we're heading back to to have his bike checked).  It was basicallly just around the mountain from Bad Reichenhall (not far as the crow flies) so we got to do more "mountain biking" and visit an Alm with the best cheese so far.  After that, we rode to Kufstein, Austria, where we waited out a horrible rain day (and I got a horrible haircut).  Luckily our tent stayed dry.

Our tent at the Siegsdorf Campsite, with the Alps in the background

We were again lucky as we packed up the next day just before the rain started and had a mostly dry ride up the Inn River to Hall in Tirol (Austria), just outside of Innsbruck.  The campsite there was packed to the gills, but the scenery beyond the landscape of tents, RVs and trailers was pretty spectacular.  The next day, we took a scenic ride with a change in altitude of over 1000 meters (thank you e-bike!) with of course a stop at a beautiful Alm along the way.  Unfortunately, Matthias' brakes started to make noise, and when he took off his wheel to inspect, a bunch of other things when wrong.  So we had to stay another night and visit a bike shop in Innsbruck the next day.  The silver lining?  We got to spend the day walking around Innsbruck, something we probably would have skipped if we decided to move on.  The bad news:  The bike guy said Matthias needed new brakes, so we decided to turn around and head back down the Inn river instead of heading deeper into the Alps.  Next time!

Campsite in Hall in Tirol - our tent is tucked away on the left-hand side -can't see it.

Minigolf course next to our campsite in Hall in Tirol

Alm by Hall in Tirol

Innsbruck!

On our way back, we stopped at a campsite (we had passed by in the reverse direction) in a beautiful area called Alpbachtal (Alpbach river valley).  We had another rain day (but not all day pouring like in Kufstein) so we stayed, and I got to take advantage of the tourist card that was part of our camping package.  That included free admission to Tiroler Farmhouse Museum, which was an open air museum with various rebuilt farmhouses from throughout the area - many dating  back to the 1500s - in a beautiful landscape.  I loved seeing all the different house styles, especially since I had been seeing the houses for weeks and always appreciated that part of the scenery. I constantly think how the mountains, rivers and landscape here are beautiful, and how the landscape in the USA compares.  In the US, the mountains are bigger and maybe more spectacular, but what makes the difference here is the look of the buildings (farms, old castles, towns, etc.) along the way.   I had to drag Matthias to the museum but he really enjoyed it. In the afternoon, I rode my bike to a gondola/ski lift (also part of the tourist card deal).  The scenery was somewhat stifled by clouds (it was a rain day) but there was an Alm and a few cows up there to keep me company (couldn't convince Matthias to come with me on this one).

Baurenhöfe (farmhouse) museum

At the museum - just like the scenery along the way, but with explanations

Top o' the mountain selfie with the cable car in the background

Cows to keep me company

The next day, the weather was (a little) better so we rode to Rosenheim, where we are now.  Okay, "now" is a few days ago, when I left off writing this....

In Rosenheim, we spent a rain day riding to a bike shop that gave us the bad news that we needed to travel to another bike shop to get the work Matthias needed done.  The next day, we took a trip to Wasserburg am Inn - the town wasn't all that spectacular, but the ride was nice.  And on Sunday, we got to go to a dorf (village) fest, which was a true highlight.  Great bands, great food and great beer, along with what seemed to be the whole town (and more) decked out in traditional Bavarian garb.  Fantastic!

Stercklfisch (fish on a stick) at the dorf fest  

Little village - BIG beer!

The whole town was here!  Even Heidi's grandfather (can you find him in the picture?)

Now we are back in the campsite on the hill in Siegsdorf - Matthias' favorite.  We've got a couple days to kill before our bike appointment so we'll be heading back into the hills to visit a few more Alms.  Just under two weeks to go before we need to be back in Gommern for Matthias' father's birthday bash.

Dinner at the campsite restaurant in Siegsdorf. Turns out today is a Bavarian Holiday so we couldn't buy groceries and had to eat in the restaurant.  Oh darn! 

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