Day 17 - Baptism by Fire

Day 17 (Sept. 19th) - Today, we left Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

I really wish that we had a couple of more days here.  I would have liked to have taken a hike in the countryside around the town and have taken the Night watchman’s tour.

Our hotel stay was less than I expected (but still expensive).   We had another great breakfast.  The girls filled themselves up on cold cuts and bread.

Ruth Ann in front of Cafe Uhl where we stayed in Rothenburg

Rothenburg's medieval outer wall

Lanes for bikes and pedestrians by the road

Waiting for our train at Rothenburg's station

I purchased a Bavaria Ticket for 29€ at the train station.  This ticket was good for travel for the whole family for the whole day in Bavaria—great deal.  Again, we had to change trains a few times with only 5 minutes to spare between trains.  We got to Munich around 1:30 p.m., and then took the S-Bahn to Markt Schwaben, a suburb of Munich. 

Unfortunately, it was raining for most of the day.  We exited the wrong side of the station and had a hard time figuring where we were.  Renae asked a young couple with a baby in a stroller how to get to location we were looking for.  They asked a man who looked like Santa Clause in a small, yellow municipal landscaping truck if he knew the directions.  He had me jump in his truck, and drove me to our destination, DRM (Deutsche Reise Mobil).  The manager of the RV rental shop had me hop in his van and we picked up 3 of the girls.  He went back and picked up Renae and Leah.

The manager only spoke German to me.  He was very nice and gave us extra dishes and chairs.  Fortunately, DRM had a college student who spoke English who showed us how to use the RV.  We packed up the RV with all of our stuff (we left our luggage at the DRM). 

Sarah in front of the RV we rented from DRM in Munich

Sarah and Elizabeth at the little kitchen table in the RV

Back of the RV (bunk beds in back not seen)

Next, we drove to Kaufmart (a discount store like Super Target) and picked up groceries.

The RV we rented is a 6 speed manual transmission.  I haven’t driven a manual transmission in about 15 years.  When we got to the store, I realized, I wasn’t sure how to put the RV into reverse.  It took a little experimenting, but Renae figured it out.

Picture this, it’s early evening and cloudy.  It’s been raining.  I’m in an RV I’ve never driven before with a 6 speed manual transmission, and I haven’t driven a manual transmission in 10 years.  Our Garmin isn’t picking up a satellite signal.  While trying to get out Markt Schwaben, I nearly went the wrong way down a one-way street. 

Fortunately, we get the Garmin working, and it immediately takes us on the autobahn.  Right after we get on, a semi-truck on the side of the freeway pulls back into my lane.  While turning on a curve, one of the cupboard doors flies open and out flies a glass bottle of decaf coffee.  Renae and I are yelling at the girls to stay buckled while driving down the autobahn during rush hour.  The Garmin directs us through downtown Munich as we try to decipher the road names.   

We finally got to Thalkirchen Campground.  I’m hoping they take a credit card because I’m down to only 18€ after paying for groceries and diner.  Fortunately, I didn’t have to pay right then.  But there were several security guards and shuttle buses taking people to the Oktoberfest.  As we drive by all they young men drinking beer in the campground while were looking for an open spot to park the RV, I had a flash back to my first trip to Rocky Point—we decided to go during Spring Break when the girls were very young and in school—totally unaware that it was college student party scene.

Our camping spot at Thalkirchen

The Isar River was right behind our camping spot

Sea of tents for the young, beer-drinking partiers

It’s 9:30 p.m. and surprisingly quiet.  I guess all the partiers are still in the beer tents.  Everyone is in their PJs (except me) watching the Heffalump Movie.  This is not a typical Oktoberfest evening.