We had expected to limp over the line this week. We have been so keen to get home that we just thought we’d drive, pack, clean, tolerate each other and collapse happily inside the door of 18 Wallis Close on Friday morning.
So, to the last day. It could have begun badly. The day before we had decided to drive to Trier. We pulled up at the van park there in the afternoon and it was like a scene from West Side Story meets The Terminator. Concrete everywhere, and the site was nestled between a freeway and an underpass which was decorated with graffiti and filled with burnt out cars. The ground was covered in broken glass.
A quick decision was made – to move on. Who knew whether the next van park would be better? But it couldn’t be worse.
And so it was that we woke up on our last morning on an island in the Mosel River. Green grass, great playground, outdoor table by the river. Steep, green hillsides all around, some covered with grape vines. We sat out there to have breakfast and were joined by a family of two ducks with their six ducklings who climbed up out of the river. After brekkie the boys played, Mike washed up and I sat by the river and read my bible.
We then left and drove up out of the valley – winding roads and beautiful scenery. We listened to the ‘Sons and Daughters’ CD by Sovereign Grace which was great too. We had run out of food so found a McDonalds for lunch and as we went in we found the local vouchers for massive discounts. And, the boys met a family from Coffs Harbour in the playground!
After lunch we kept driving (and I kept cross stitching) to the RV depot to pick up our bags so we could pack them during the afternoon. Mike asked the man there where we could stay the night. He suggested a truck stop 2km away as the nearest van park was 30km. Despite that, we decided on the Laubach van park.
It was gorgeous. Helpful, English speaking Saskia who ran the place loaned us a vacuum cleaner, gave us a shady site right next to the playground and when we asked for a family friendly dinner location, she said, ‘the schloss is a great place to eat. Not too expensive and kids are welcome.’ Dredging through my year 8 German… schloss… ‘isn’t that a castle?’ ‘yes, it’s the castle in town’. Me, trying to sound calm, ‘that sounds lovely’. A German castle!!! For dinner!!!
The boys spent all afternoon playing in the playground with a fantastic old fashioned water pump which flowed to a series of troughs and dams. There was also an Olympic sized trampoline which had a workout from Luke! And Michael and I packed and cleaned and managed to get it all done.
So, then, out to dinner. It was everything we had imagined. We ate out in the courtyard next to a statue and, as the dusk fell, retold our whole odyssey, with everyone chiming in with favourite parts and funny stories. Despite the lack of English from the waitress we managed to order schnitzel, wedges and salad for all the boys and by miming various animals worked out what most menu items were! Moselle for me and German beir for Michael complemented the meal. We then sampled one of each of the three desserts on the menu. It was fantastic.
The only glitch came when we went to pay… they didn’t take visa… so the waitress led Michael back out into the marketplace to an atm. Phew… we’d still be there washing up otherwise!
What could have been a very ordinary day was a Beautiful Day. We are so thankful to God for His kindness and generosity. What a way to end our odyssey.
Karen
!!!!
ReplyDelete