19 April 2024 – Deutschland Deutschland Unter Wasser

Miles driven today = 105

Total Miles to date = 4,381

We’ve been rather rudely awakened two days on the bounce now.  Yesterday we had Church bells clanging incessantly at 6:30am and this morning our smoke alarm inexplicably went off at an almost identical time.  We have no idea why other than it seems to be rather oversensitive.  It went off the other day when Lisa was spraying some perfume about and the only explanation we can think of for this morning’s episode was possibly due to some dust being blown about when the heating kicked in to counteract the external temperature dropping to just 2 degrees.

We got underway and very quickly found ourselves pulling over again to admire this small lake, the Fernsteinsee, which is home to a scuba diving centre and is also overlooked by an attractive looking Castle.

Then, climbing steeply, we crossed the 1,200 metre Fernpass, and as we did so the weather took a turn for the worse.  With heavy snow settling on the trees and grass I had to employ extreme defensive driving mode on the steep descent.  We passed through the 3km long Lermooser Tunnel and stopped briefly for diesel and bread rolls before another tunnel whisked us over the border and into Germany.

The road morphed into the A7 Autobahn.  Snow continued, turning to sleet and then rain and then ceased completely for a while as we dropped in altitude.  But 5 kilometres before we reached our destination at Ulm the wet stuff started again and it hasn’t stopped ever since.

Ulm is supposed to be a great place for a stopover.  Amongst other things it boasts a 161 metre Church tower, which is the tallest in the World.  But with the rain, 40mph winds and temperatures not exceeding 5 degrees all day, we’ve basically confined ourselves to barracks, played cards, caught up with some sleep and reassessed our options for the next few days.

The Wohnmobilstellplatz (that’s what they call aires / sostas here in Germany) is chockablock full this evening.  I’ve no idea whether that is standard for a weekend in Ulm or if there is some sort of special event going on.  There were certainly a lot of vans heading into the Alps when we exited them today so motorhoming season seems to be well and truly underway and there are some monster trucks here, one of whom thought it appropriate to empty the contents of his vast toilet tank down the grey water grid as we walked past earlier.  It’s €14 a night to stay here.  The ticket machine wouldn’t accept any of our cards and you can’t pay using notes so we have blown the entirety of our washing machine Euro fund.  We had considered the possibility of spending a second night here but with no easy way of paying for it we’ll be moving on again in the morning and let somebody else fight over our spot.

20 April 2024 - No Room at the Inn