From the Bodensee to Neuschwanstein (Jim update)

The lure of the deluxe camping place was very tempting but we only stayed one night. The kids played again in the pool the next morning as dad made a couple RV repairs, we got situated, and prepared to roll down the road. By this time we were getting pretty facile at the process of converting the camper from sleeping set up to driving set up and back. (lots of moving cushions, folding of sets & beds, and repositioning of stuff involved)

We planned on going to Garmisch and going up to the top of a mountain via a cable car. The Zugspitze is the highest mountain in Germany so we thought we'd try that. Arriving late, we camped at a roadside gravel pull off on a mountain road (free camping!) but the next morning it was unfortunately foggy even at the top of the mountain. So we said to heck with it and drove toward Neuschwanstein castle in southern Bavaria.

Neuschwanstein is the disney-looking castle you see in lots of pictures of Germany. We parked at the bottom of the hill in a spot approximately 2 inches wider than our camper. Measuring it later, the spot is actually also 3/4" shorter than our camper but we made it fit. As I implied, we're really getting the feel for this camper van business!

The walk up is long and steep but the boys made it. As we had a couple hours to wait for our tour slot we dediced to hike up to a bridge over a gorge with really dramatic views of the mountains, lowlands below, and the castle. It was truly eye popping. My eyes also popped a bit more as I felt the wooden deck of the 50 foot footbridge bounce under the weight of a hundred tourists or more. Crossing the bridge we started on a gravel path around the mountain. Unfortunately it didn't have handrails in most parts but did sport some fairly steep seventy or eighty foot drop offs. In the end, Kathy and I started to have heart palpitations watching the boys on the 'Death Path' as I decided to call it later and we had to turn around. Even holding the boys' hands it felt way too dangerous. Clearly the krauts aren't as concerned about litigation as we are in the U.S.

We toured the castle which Kathy and I had visited before and the boys liked it.