We travel to compare our imagination with reality.
I we travel to compare our imagination to reality, then the Antelope Canyon exceeded all our expectations. What a variety of forms, shapes and colors.
Very close was the “Horse Shoe Bend” of ht Colorado River and we were surprised how unprotected the area was and how many tourists went close to the edge.
As we were not sure, whether I could do the trip down to the Colorado River in one ore only in two days, we booked this third day. It was a relaxed viewing day.
As soon as it was decided to really visit the Grand Canyon I was determined to go down to the Colorado River and not only take a few pictures from the top and carry on to the next National Park.
I left at 05:30 a.m. for the 1.500 m down and 1.500 m up again. I came back at about 16:00 p.m.
Today brought a complete change of scenery from lush vegetation to the complete opposite of deserts and naked rocks. But the excitement was nonetheless.
BIG Surprise finding a canyon where military fighter planes train low altitude maneuvering guided by a pensioner couple.
Still on the way to the real Death Valley.
Finally at the lowest spot of Death Valley, not for the faint hearted.
Coloured soil in warm afternoon light was a delight.
At Dante’s Peak for sun set.
Next on the travel plan was the “Giant Trees National Park” called Sequoia. What can one say without repeating again and again? Tremendous trees, astonishment about nature, humble feelings in front of these giants.
It must be mentioned that all the National Parks were very well organized and maintained.
At Moro Rock nearby, which was found by Andrea in her travel guide.
The steepness and views of that stairs was a big challenge for me to overcome. I thought “when my friend Perikles can do it, I must also be able to.” 🙂
After yesterday’s late afternoon stroll to mirror lake and back to the entrance, today we would do some serious hiking. Another experience which triggers the wish to come back for more.
At the highest point of that trail.
Descending slowly to the bottom.
After a long day’s hike still enough energy to celebrate a round birthday.
We were in the season of melting snow and glaciers and mighty waterfalls.
Blow up!
Famous General
Climber’s paradise anyway!
And for mirror lovers…
The Bridge
“Water World”
Village of Sonoma
Bueno Vista Winery
The one and only
We went on foot all day and found the proof of San Francisco’s famous image to be true.
Palace of the Fine Arts
First view of that incredible bridge.
Most enjoyable tramway with more views.
After the only acceptable breakfast in all the 3 weeks we headed for the Big Sur which included the famous Microsoft Windows screen saver image of a picturesque bridge. Carmel by the Sea offered a charming setting and invited for a leisurely stroll. Famous movie star and producer Clint Eastwood was major of that place some time ago. In the afternoon we drove to Silicon Valley to visit friends from Stadt Haag. Manuel owns a software company for Cloud security Shield-X. We arrived then late in San Francisco where the steep downhill roads created quite some challenge with the headlights of oncoming cars blinding you tough.
The Big Sur
On the way to Carmel by the Sea we stopped at a monastery.
Carmel by the Sea
Hotel La Luna was a bad choice. We were shy to spend some more money and had big regrets. A learning curve for next time!
This would be the last day of 43 days on the road. It will be 100% highway and still need lots of attention. I had to have 3 “pit-stops” to make it mentally. At the end of the day homecoming was sweet.
Approaching border to Austria.
Approaching Haag.
Do not come with empty hands 🙂
I left the small village of Molinet early as heavy rain woke me up anyway.
Quick breakfast.
Distance breaker in Mulhouse,still in France.
Coffee break at Starbucks before departure to Germany.
Long distance highway and “Bundesstrasse” driving.
I ended up on the same camping ground as in 2019 when I cycled from Haag to Lindau and around the lake. Fond memories…
I was lucky with my parking again. It was free until 09:00 a.m. I could drive to the free area in the attached sector. Then: Cycling to town.
What a stunning place at the Atlantic Ocean.
I asked in a coffee shop at the harbor for internet. A rather unfriendly male “no”. Next door was restaurant with two charming ladies, and I received a friendly “of course”, you are welcome…
I sat down and updated “time-travel.net” as well as Facebook. This time only “teasers” on FB with cross reference to my website.
Time has come to head east towards home. I found a fuel stations with reasonable prices near La Rochelle and all was set.
Snacks anywhere on route eastwards.
Tremendous weather movements.
Romantic villages.
Evening in the Auvergne.
Searching and finding quite and free parking near a church.
Long distance driving is a different ball game compared to sight seeing on the bike 🙂
Cycling in Nantes was easy and the distances manageable. I liked the calm atmosphere and the tidiness all around.
In town.
Les Machines de l’île
Around town.
On route to the south, towards La Rochelle.
First glimpse of La Rochelle.
Big mistake not to have downloaded the Google Map of the area. It cost me lot of time to find parking. Ups.
I must remind you, that I looked for parking late at night and tried my luck in that area. What a blessing to be safe.
I always was fascinated about Neolithic monuments. Stonehenge in the Salisbury Plains is pulling me again and again like a magnet. I felt quite some excitement again heading for Carnac.
It is difficult to say the least to describe the impression with a few pictures. There are 6 fields of stone rows over 4 km. There is a monument of a scale which can only be absorbed by walking it completely up and down. Which I did not, only two of them. There were always tombs involved, so the thoughts are it represents a message of the transition from life to the after life.
Near Carnac is a the a semi island and at the far end the village of Quiberon. Unfortunately the weather was playing games with me so the no of spectacular pictures was limited 🙂
Bad weather, good dining.
After a late lunch I headed for Nantes and found Camping de Nantes. A very recommendable location.
I was not so sure about Brest but I felt it should be visited once you travel in the Bretagne. It was a little plain, but also with some charm.
Main attraction is the dominating Castle.
Pointe du Raz is the most western cap of France. I was looking forward to it and was collecting lots of energy from it.
It was late afternoon but I was still fit and headed towards Carnac. I came until Loirant and found some quite parking with luck.
I left Lion-sur-Mer early and headed for Saint Malo, found good parking just a little outside town and activated my bicycle. I watched a big ship passing an narrow spot.
From inside St. Malo, slowly waking up.
Some other travelers recommended the village Erquy to me. But I did not have the motivation to search for the hidden gems which are definitely there.
For the search of the Granite Rose I started in Louannec. It was not was I was hoping for. But I had a great cycling round partially over rocky terrain at the beach.
In search for colors.
The couple which recommended Erquy to me also praised Tregastel. It was not on my radar. Here I found my Granite Rose. Of the finest.
With the change of light colors varied a lot.
I was looking for a beach to find fossils. According to the net there should be some in Houlgate and Lion-sur-Mer.
From Houlgate:
In the background are the black rocks where they found Dinosaurs and one could have found other smaller fossils. High tide, no way to reach.
Unfortunate timing 🙁
From Lion-sur-Mer
PATTERNS and FOSSILS!
Smart light fading slowly.
In the morning I was woken up at 06:00 a.m. from marketeers. What a shock, but they were actually kind and guided me out of the parking. After the empty fuel tank yesterday another straining exercise…
Found perfect parking near the library and did my morning routine in peace again. Jumped on the bike to explore the market and search for a building which I had missed yesterday.
Found Presbytère Saint Etienne
From the toll road to Etretat.
From Etretat Cliffs And Beach
From very charming Honfleur.
Waked up early, left early for Rouen.
My fuel gage betrayed me with drastic consequences 🙁
From Rouen.
From the way to Caen -> Lisieux:
Arrived in Caen on time and found parking near town again at the yacht harbor.
As one would expect by now, I started my sight seeing tour on the bike.
View from the castle on top.
Again my parking locations was close to old town. Asked for direction and only had to follow a tramway track.
Numerous canals in Gent.
I am so often catching weddings, which I really enjoy.
All around the “Korenmarkt“.
Continued to Lille in France and did not expect too much. What a pleasant surprise was waiting for me.
At my return to the parking I observed groups of people entering the Belfried von Lille. I was curious and followed. Should somebody ask for a ticket, “oh, I do not speak French (Je ne palpar française) 🙂
It was a free exhibition of local artists. So enjoyable.
Two of my top favorite artists.
After the exhibition.
I considered to stay overnight where I was. But at the end of the consideration I moved on and stopped at a quiet parking lot on route to Rouen.
The morning was sunny but very windy. So I opted to drive to Den Haag instead of cycling the 14 km. To find parking was another lengthy exercise but eventually successful.
Parking at the yacht harbor “Vissershaven” was not expensive and close to town.
The Royals stay private.
Great weather, great social life.
Tranquil flea market near Escher House.
I was looking forward to some famous Dutch painters in the museum of arts. But found only a handful. The rest was so depressing.
From the piers.
In the late afternoon only the question was again how far to go south west. This time i voted for Lille in France.
Due to quite some delays because of traffic congestions and one detour from my side I had to change to Gent which was one hour shorter. Ingrid has often mentioned its charme and beautiful building ensembles.
From my app “Stellplatz Radar” I found free parking near the Gent Rowing Club near the city center…
After the unpleasant happenings last night I was relaxed again and after the morning routine took the bike and cycled to town.
Found also the “Kulturspeicher” cycling along the river.
A rare version of a “Meerjungfrau”. (Check Kopenhagen!)
The most charming castle of “Evenburg” is a little outside, worthwhile the cycling.
I followed a recommendation of friends to visit Ditzum, which was indeed a romantic fishing village.
After some consideration how far to travel towards the west I decided for Den Haag, which I had in mind for a long time.
I stopped then some 15 km short on a camping ground in Leiden.
I started very early in the morning, the first trucks left before 5 a.m. and I followed about 05:30. New trick.
Arrived in Flensburg early, found an ALDI quickly and stored up my groceries. Followed more an intuition than lots of analysis and headed for Husum, which should be a charming fishing village south-east of Flensburg.
I am addicted to mirror images.
From the crossing over the Elbe near Glückstadt avoiding the Hamburg tunnel.
Langesund is not a small place but the center area is manageable. After the leisurely breakfast I took a stroll to “town” hoping for a coffee shop with internet to catch up with postings, etc. But I was not hopeful indeed. And as hope dies at last, I followed a man towards what looked like a store. Arriving there the shop had attached a wonderful cafe area and – internet access for free. Did lots of work…
Rolling onto the ferry meant to say Good Buy from Norway. I had so many moments of peace and happiness, of awe for the beauty of their nature.
Arrival in Hirtshals after quite a shaky crossing.
The rest of the day led onto the superb Danish highways in strictly souther direction. Now it was time to look forward to warmer temperatures and different experiences.
I skipped the plan to stop in Alborg and carried on to a highway parking spot near Suldrup much further to the south.
The plan was to spend some time in Drammen and work on the Blog and the carry on to Langesund to await the ferry on Monday, 14.09.20, 14h30. It almost turned out that way.
From Drammen
Found Starbucks quickly and spent time on time-travel.net
But on the way to Langesund I got appetite for a last round of golf in Norway, found the club in Larvik, got a tee time within 20 minutes and a great couple, Knud and Cordula, to play with. What a piece of luck.
Which led to a rather late arrival in Langesund. And strangely enough a lady was sitting on some stairs of a closed cafe, followed me to the place where I wanted to park and advised me where the official (free) parking was around the corner. How friendly of her.
This morning I took the bike into a different direction and found of course new places of interest.
From the way back along the river a rather creative zone.
Only when I moved the bike back onto the rack I realised that my air pump was missing and the smaller lock which was taken out of the small bag. Friendly enough they left me the spare tube 🙂
Around lunch time I took the motorhome to Sjoeylist Marina Camping. Also a rather plain site but with all facilities and safe.
Again onto the bike a exploring semi island of Bygdoy which has all sorts of Museums, forests and beaches.
From the Maritime Museum of course
Greetings from Kon Tiki and Thor Heyerdahl
The way back to the Marina led through woods and along beaches most relaxing. Started the routine to find a place for coffee and internet and was successful. When I left the young waitress asked a few questions regarding my travels and home page. Which was nice of her…
My Garmin navigation directed me on a side route to Oslo which showed a lovely agricultural countryside. It was leisurely peaceful ride. I just could not find a place for a coffee.
On arrival I found surprisingly quick a suitable parking area. Not for free here, 300 Kr ment 28 Euros for 24 h. It was very near a hotel and the city center. Took it. After a while organising myself to a ride to town I realised that I would not like to meet some of the characters passing through around me at night. So I parked neared to the hotel in the front and jumped on the bike.
The wind was chilly, the excitement limited, so I went back to my place. Again in the hotel lobby I had the usual cappuccino and worked on their internet. Could not be better.
This would become the day of waterfalls and bridges again. Whereby the stretch between Andalsnes and Lillehammer I drove on Wednesday, 26.08.20, about two weeks ago the first time.
From excellent engineers and brave workers.
Not for the faint hearted, eh?
From a creative mind.
Back in Lillehammer, same parking, same Cafe in the Park, same lady in the fountain radiating her beauty.
Between Kristiansund and Alesund is the rather famous Atlantic Road. Unfortunately I had rain and strong side winds to keep me busy on the steering wheel. I just had the smart phone attached to the windscreen and took a video.
Atlantic Road.
Not only on the Atlantic Road but all the way to Alesund I was in a storm with strong headwinds and side winds so that I needed 4 bar on my air suspension on the rear axle. Heavy rain showers made the pleasure perfect. Short dry spells in between.
In Alesund at last.
The picture showing myself in the blue jacket was taken by a young lady waiting for her friend. She advised me to go up the steps to the restaurant in the distance. I would have missed that probably.
Alesund from the hill. Reminded me strongly to Reine. A german speaking gentlemen called it the most beautiful town in Norway.
So many ladies coming up suddenly, I could not resist to document this 🙂
From the way back to the motorhome.
On the way back to the motorhome (which parked in a very unromantic but free area), I found again a “Quality Hotel” from the same group as in Kristiansund. I went in for the cappuccino and worked on their internet for quite some time.
My parking in Trondheim was a little uphill, so the start with the bicycle was easy. Wait for the return… I found many spots where I were in 2017 on my way back from the North Kap. That is not difficult because the central area is not very large.
From Trondheim to Kristiansund.
Parking Kristiansund near the yacht harbor.
From the stroll to town and back.
First thing in the morning was to thank that family again for their hospitality. There was not much further conversation because of quite a language barrier.
Drive back to the parking at Torghatten and get ready to move upwards again.
Pattern on the walls
View to the north
From the stroll on the northern side.
Leaving Torghatten on route to Trondheim.
The last picture was taken the next day only as it was late when I found the free parking spot in Trondheim – in cycling distance to town. Well spotted.
The plan was to drift along the coast in Helgeland. Last night I left that route because of the bad weather. This morning looked a bit friendlier and I found a way back to the coast. How tired I was last night can be seen by the fact that I did not take any picture from my parking location.
From Mo i Rana to Tjoetta
Between Tjoetta and Vevelstad
Arrived at Torghatten
From the stroll around the mountain with the bike.
When I looked for parking overnight, I asked somebody and was invited to stay on their yard in front of the house. A family from Lithuania.
Time has come to say goodbye to the Lofoten. Reflecting that I almost gave up and pushed then up to here in two days I was very pleased and grateful that I had 8 smashing days.
Caught the ferry really at 07:00 a.m.!
From the transfer to Bodoe.
Heading south along the coast on the Fv 17 into Helgeland.
Stopped here and there for a break and some photos. Got the motorhome quite leaning.
Waiting for the ferry from Jetvik to Kilboghavn.
The waiting for the ferry and then the driving was strenuous and I changed my destination from Nesna to Mo i Rana and turned off in Maela.
It was already late and dark when I arrived in Mo i Rana, found quiet parking and called it a day.
Last evening I had a great chat to my Austrian countrymen Rene and Magdalena. Amongst others they recommended that I climb “Reinebringen”, a hill which overlooks Reine. It has almost only steps and is easy to manage.
It was a short way to walk to the entrance of the path. After the bridge I turned left into a rather small single walking trail. I did not get suspicious although the Austrians spoke about steps. I thought they will come shortly.
To cut a long story short, I ended up in steep terrain where I could neither go forward nor backward. I called Rene and he saw me from the distance. He said, you are on the wrong mountain, you turned much too early. So I had to take my heart in my hands and pull myself together to get down again. It really cost me lots of blood, sweat and tears…
It went all well and I carried on the 20 minutes on the side of the road to reach the “steps”.
I believe the pictures speak for themselves. As it was very windy and chilly up there in about 460 m, I went back down after some 30 minutes. The steps had an average height of about 30 cm. That requires careful descending.
Just mention that my muscle pain (from the lactic acid) lasted 4 (!) days. Not used to so many steps downhill.
Carried on to the very (south western) end of the Lofoten Islands, to A.
Spent the evening in A in a well positioned and recommendable restaurant Rorbuer.
One can see there was now sunset in A so I decided to drive still to Moskenes to queue in time for the ferry departing tomorrow at 07:00 a.m.
If you look at the distances I drove, you can see that some of the hotspots are really near to each other. The day will evolve in a most enjoyable manner (must have mentioned that before).
Already yesterday I met a German doctor who knew Norway, the Lofoten and actually Arctic and Antarctic very well and he recommended a few more “musts” on the Lofoten. So first thing in the morning led me to Fredvang Beach.
Fotos from the road to Fredvang.
Cemetery Fredvang.
Another lengthy walk at Fredvang Beach.
Some might say they are repetitive. I cannot get enough of these baches and became addicted walking along them.
Fredvang fishery, which I discovered myself 🙂
Next stop will be Lund, another recommendation from Mr. German doctor.
Mr. Blacksmith was a pleasure to talk to about his craft.
The day still had much more to offer. Heading for Reine.
I had to stop at that place for a snack with a view.
Images from Reine.
In a distance northwards.
When I look at it, quite an amazing eventful day, still without any stress, just relaxed roaming from sighting to sighting.