We were lucky with the weather today. The day started and ended wet but for the most part it was dry. As we woke and ate breakfast, the window was being pelted with a hard rain. By the time we packed up and load the bikes the rain had slowed. Once underway the rain stopped and didn't start until we were about 30 minutes from our accommodations. By the time we were at the youth hostel, we were pretty much soaked.
The past few nights we have been staying in Bed and Breakfasts. Each time they have been clean and comfortable. Tonight we have our second stay in a Youth Hostel. The Youth Hostels in Europe are very nice and have a number of families staying in them along with a number of youths. I think we will be looking for more Bed and Breakfasts going forward since they seem to work better for a family and are similarly priced to the B&Bs.
We completed our ride today at about 2 PM showing that our riding speed and navigation skills are both improving. We didn't get lost once today!
We rode through more farm country today and more farm country smells. Yesterday a farmer was spreading manure on his fields right next to the road. The smell was overwhelming. All I heard from the back of the bike was “It stinks. It stinks.” My reply was “Pedal as fast as we can so we can get out of this smell!” By the time we left the stink zone our eyes were watering and I don't think my nose will ever be the same. Ten minutes later, our eyes were still watering. Today we didn't hit anything that bad but we did hit a number of minor stink zones.
These smells should be over as we are leaving the agricultural section of Germany and heading into the Industrial part. The Ruhrgebiet (area around the Ruhr river) has much of Germany's heavy industry. This grew from the abundance of coal in the area. Duisburg is at one end of the Ruhrgebiet. Our youth hostel is right beside an abandoned steel mill that has been turned into a park.
We are entering the Ruhrgebiet!
A tug boat pushing a barge. Very typical site on the Rhine.
Dad working on the blog!
The Industrial Park. You can wander all over this area.
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