It was a beautiful morning, overcast, but the green foothills reaching up behind the homes were very picturesque,
though I’m sure I’ll be cursing those foothills later.  Right now we were cursing the headwind, luckily there was not a pending storm we had to outrun, so we would take it slow (as if we had a choice).
We were only in Switzerland for a mile or two, then the trail crossed the German border.
We stopped in a bike store to see if they had a map we’d been looking for and he recommended we bike the Switzerland side, “much prettier”.
It wasn’t far down the road we found a hydro electric damn
and crossed the Rhein back into Switzerland.

Having biked on only flat land for the past two weeks, we really noticed any bump in the road.  These hills seemed like small mountains given our unconditioned legs, but the scenery was spectacular.

At the top of one of the hills coming into a town we ran into a bike problem.  Luckily, we were able to find a bike store that fixed the problem with only 40 minutes lost,
then ready to ride.
Switzerland’s east side of the Rhein was beautiful,

but there were several times the bike path was dirt and very bumpy,
at points we though we were not on the right path.  Luckily, these two pretty horsewomen pointed us in the right direction.
Saw a lot of swans

and on a couple of occasions, them coming in for landing.
Beautiful scenery
beautiful fields
everything perfect except the strong head wind.

After 38 miles we saw a way to get back to Germany, smoother paths and better bike signs and took it.

We had not seen a single biker for 38 miles and as soon as we turned onto the bike path in Germany, they were everywhere.  Entire families on tour, with young kids (probably as young as six) on their on bikes, some loaded with gear, but everyone smiling.  And we could understand why, just spectacular.

We made a sharp right turn and almost collided with this darling church.
Another sharp turn yielded a straight uphill climb, a least 14% grade, certainly not what we were ready for,
and the picture does not do it justice.
But the vista……Up one more hill and we were in the small little town where we had decided to stop.  Jerry had found this very charming hotel

that serves fabulous local beers and wines

and a “pretty” but scrumptious dinner.  Note: the German wines are much better than I would have ever imagined (not sweet) and as good as the best Californian wines we’ve ever had.

A quick walk around the two block town yielded farms

and flowers everywhere.

….and then to bed.

We apologize to all, our internet signal has been spotty at best, so if we do not respond to your emails, or post for a day or two, it is unpreventable.