A Loooong Travel Day

So I left my house at 8 am Chicago time on August 30th, and arrived in Passau at 10 am Chicago time on August 31st. I am exhausted.

The flight to DFW was fine. The flight from DFW to Frankfurt was delayed, a little, then a little more, and eventually an hour. I had a very nice woman sitting next to me and we chatted a bit, including sharing a laugh over the light in front of her that kept flashing and our window shade which slowly crept up every time she pulled it down. The cabin crew tried fixing the flashing light; no luck. They covered it with a napkin, which barely did anything.

After dinner I went to the bathroom and came back to BOTH of OUR lights on - and they wouldn't go off! The cabin crew eventually shut them off at some main switch, and covered the flashing light with foil. And we eventually got some sleep. At least this was a long enough flight (10 hours) to get decent sleep in between meals.

We got to Frankfurt 1 hour late due to the delay, and then there was the usual wait at the gate, and then the train station was in another terminal.... so I missed the 10:02 train by a couple of minutes. The next train was at 12:02. So one hour delay turned in to 2.

The train ride was very nice, through some beautiful farm country and woods. Then the clouds descended. And turned gray. And started raining.

I finally got to Passau around 5 pm, and the guy from the bike tour showed up 30 minutes later. So I have my cute little bike (picture to come) with panniers, and all of my materials and maps. All I need is a good dinner and beer and I am ready for bed and a fresh start (in the rain, apparently) tomorrow!

Bumpy Start

Finally got packed last night - that bike helmet really is a space hog! I did however manage to get everything into my carryon and a backpack.

After I got up this morning, I noticed Dozy hadn't eaten overnight and when I checked her litterbox, she hadn't pooped. We had been at the vet the day before for a checkup and they had felt stool in her digestive tract, so I knew it was there. I called the vet and there were no doctors in yet. The tech advised leaving authorization for the catsitter to get medical care for Dozy, and let the catsitter know to watch her and check the litter box. If nothing changes, he needs to take her in. :-(  There wasn't much I could do short of cancelling my trip. So I had a chat with Dozy and told her she MUST be there when I get back. I'm going to worry in the meantime.

On the way to O'Hare I realized that I had not packed everything... I had no charged for my US phone or iPod. Damn. So now I have yet another set of chargers, purchased at airport markup.

Hopefully things improve from here. Fingers crossed.

Map of the Ride

This is the map of the ride I'll be doing. It's just shy of 250 miles; I'll average 35 miles a day. Every time I think about it I get a little intimidated - I've never done that many miles per day for more than two consecutive days.

So I will fly into Frankfurt, take the train to Passau, and get my bike and the detailed information on the first night. The next day I start biking!

Packing is a little challenging. The weather looks a little cool, especially at night, so I'm going to need layers. I'll wear the bike shorts while riding - they're a little bulkier than normal shorts. And I want regular clothes for evenings. I'm going to need to be a little creative! Good thing I'm starting now so I have time to adjust.

Countdown: One Week Away!

One week from today I will be winging my way to Frankfurt via DFW! All of a sudden it's almost here. I did start packing this morning - by taking the hand-washed jersey off the shower rod and tossing it on top of my suitcase.

It's a sleeveless jersey, though, and the weather forecast for Passau right now is looking like I may not need it:

Friday

Partly cloudy with a chance of rain. High of 81F. Winds less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 20%.

Friday Night

Partly cloudy with a chance of a thunderstorm. Low of 54F. Winds less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

Saturday

Partly cloudy with a chance of a thunderstorm. High of 70F. Winds less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

Hmm. Hopefully it improves before next week.

Countdown!

Just under 3 weeks away! Hard to believe.

After a car v. bike incident earlier this week, I had to take the week off of biking. Next week I'm traveling for a few days so won't be biking then, either. I'm a little concerned about these breaks affecting my vacation, but what can I do... hopefully I'm in good enough shape to bounce back.

I got my Austria guide book in the mail yesterday. It's not a great help for the small towns on the Danube, only covering a couple larger towns and sights. It's very thorough on Vienna of course. I guess this will force me to be more impulsive and go with the flow!

I've read a few blogs about the Danube trip, and that's been helpful. I just found another today, he just finished the same ride, and he likes beer - so it's a pretty good resource! I'm trying to make some notes.

At some point I need to work on a packing list....