Wednesday, August 18 - Leiphiem to Donauworth

Well today has been an interesting day. Again started in a light rain but it did quit soon. The road was mostly small gravel for the early morning with fairly good signage. I have tried to become good at spotting the signs. They are about 6"x6" square. You know when you miss one.

This is the trail along side of the Donau. It is on a straight and level dike. Ocassionally they turn off the dike and then back on the dike. This happens when there is a small stream flowing into the river. These can be muddy. The mud is thick and can grab your front wheel. I did a header at one such place.

This is the picture it was not a pretty sight. I landed on my right side which is little sore but there was no blood and no broken beer bottles. If it slows be down tomorrow morning I will take the train past some high hills on the way to Newburg. If so, I may alsotake it to Ingolstadt and then ride my bicycle for about 30 km.

 This is a typical small church in the town of Faimingen out side of Gundelfingen. I swear that I think J. R. R. Tolkien made up some of the names for the towns in Germany. Maybe he just used them for some names in his history of the Elves in Middle Earth.

This is a km sign on the river telling the distance from the Black Sea. It is for the barge men. I have not seen any barge traffic yet. I hope to soon. I will take a picture as soon as I do see one.

This is a nice church in the Town of Dillingen a.d. Donau. I stopped for a break and to ask directions. There was good signage, I just wanted to talk to someone in German.

This is my friend Heike (pronouced "Hike Ah") We rode together the last 30 km to Donauwoerth. She is a social worker (go figure) from Frankfurt. She practiced her English and I practiced my German.It was interesting. She was camping with some friends.

This is Bob "Der Dickie" oder "Die Hummel". Too much chocolate, too much beer, and too much spaetzel.

 My Hotel for the night. The Hotel Goldener Greifen. Nice with internet, but the restaurant is closed for Holidays.

The Catholic Church in Donauwoerth. It was very pretty but too dark for pictures. I lit a couple of candles and prayed. I wanted to pray for the sign makers and the sign installers but did not believe God would think much of such a selfish prayer.

This is a picture by request for James. It is the best I could do taday. Maybe I can do better tomorrow.

This is the ruins of a Roman Temple just beyond the Church in Faimingen. It was said to be from about 300/400 AD. This picture is out of order, but I am too tired to fix it. Total distance traveled today is approximately 74km. Total distance traveled  is approximately 475km.

Bis Spaeter