by Ben

This year's jaunt to Germany was pretty laid back compared to many of our previous adventures. The major difference was that I was traveling with just my Frau Dee Dee. This was a first in that I have always traveled by myself or with Dee Dee and others (other friends, other relatives or myself and Larry). This was Dee Dee's fifth trip to Europe but the first with her own personal tour guide. And I don't think she realized how privileged she was... :)

First order of business was finding reasonable airfare - something that is increasingly hard to do. I ended up finding a fare with Air Berlin that was a hundred dollars cheaper than anything else out there. The consolidators (bucket shops) just don't seem to have much to offer anymore (especially since American Airlines curtailed their operations). The Air Berlin flight was via the regular American Airlines non-stop flights from DFW to FRA. Everything was exactly the same except that I couldn't order a special meal for my wife because the ticket was in Air Berlin's name (go figure). Airfare and trip insurance locked in...

Second order of business - car rental. I will always use Gemütlichkeit (Bestor family) until they prove unreliable. And I don't expect that to ever happen as long as the Bestor's are personally involved. Top notch organization. That doesn't stop me from checking around for a better deal but as usual there was nothing better in the offing. Andy found me a deal via AVIS that was a hundred dollars better than anything else out there. Car rental locked in...

Since this trip was all about rest and relaxation - I decided to look for four locations that would provide max down time. My favorite accommodations are of course farms with my favorite room being one with a balcony (hopefully overlooking green pastureland with animals grazing below). This year I found three farms and a nice Pension - all with balconies. Three nights in the Odenwald - four nights in the Simonswald valley (Schwarzwald) - three nights in the Gengenbach area (Schwarzwald) - three nights along the Rhine. Accommodations locked in...

Double check packing list - essential documents (passports - two ATM cards from two different banks - a credit card for petrol) - a few hundred dollars and a few hundred Euro from previous trip - six novels and an iPad for entertainment - ready to roll. Daughter drops us off at DFW - flight delayed 1.5 hrs - poor in-flight entertainment - food just tolerable - flight crew polite and friendly - pretty much the norm for AA nowadays. Arrived FRA an hour late but no problems otherwise. And believe it or not Dee Dee endured the flight with minimal stress. The landing was a little hard for her to handle but she didn't need a puke bag and that is always a good sign. Easy baggage and customs process - picked up AVIS rental (small Toyota Yaris - manual trans) which was all we needed - plugged in my handy-dandy Magellan GPS (which I had pre-programmed with accommodation addresses) - and we were quickly out of the airport and on the A5 heading south for the Odenwald. Dee Dee was the primary (and only) driver for this trip. She did great the entire trip but she did need a little jet lag nap before we made it to our first destination. She could have made it if not for the number of Umleitungen we had to negotiate that morning.

We began our trip with a three day stop at this very nice farm. The Odenwald is one of my favorite areas of Germany and just about an hour from the Frankfurt airport - making it a good location for the first overnight after arriving at Frankfurt. This Ferienbauernhof is located just off the B47/B38 between the small villages of Gross-Gumpen and Klein-Gumpen which are suburbs of the village Reichelsheim.

The owners were on vacation in Italy and had left the operation of the farm with their very nice son, Chris. This vacation farm has 50 beds available for guests and since his parents had not planned for any other guests this week - there was no lack of accommodations. We chose a large bedroom with ensuite bath and a large balcony overlooking a beautiful valley. Chris (recent college grad working on his PhD) was very friendly and spoke several languages, including English. He was not used to running the B&B side of the family business so I made it easy on him and suggested that we forego the normal breakfast service. He agreed to adjust the price of the room accordingly and told us of bakeries and restaurants in the vicinity where we could have our morning coffee and pastries.

This ten generation farm has it's share of cows (up to a hundred - depending on the season), calves, pigs and horses. This is more of a cattle farm instead of your typical dairy farm. Several cats and a beautiful, sweet natured Sennenhund (Swiss Mountain dog) named Bella.

Visable from our balcony was a Gasthaus with a limited menu but good food and large portions considering the very reasonable prices. The 8 Euro Jägerschnitzel with Kartoffeln, Gemüse, and Salat is a bargain.

We also drove down through the Odenwald to the Neckar river, followed it East as far as the Burg Guttenberg and made it just in time for the 11am Birds of Prey showing. Having seen the show several times in the past we knew what to expect (lots of eagles, falcons, buzzards, vultures, etc) and even though the show is entirely in German we always enjoy it.

From the Odenwald to the Central Schwarzwald area is a drive that would normally take about three hours. That's assuming that the Autobahn is free of Stau and construction projects - which is seldom the situation. But with several reststops along the way it becomes an easy trip and we arrived in the Simonswald valley shortly after noon. Off the Simonswaldtal main road (L173) turn towards Griesbach. From the valley floor the road slowly becomes a winding one-lane mountain path that had my Frau praying a lot. She ended up playing chicken with several local residents - knowing they were more familiar with the road so relied on them to do any backing up required. Dee Dee loves driving those types of roads - she just hates meeting anyone on them... :)

Our accommodations for the next four days were absolutely perfect. A large bedroom with a couch, flat screen satellite TV, private balcony, nice size kitchen, bathtub, shower, separate toilet, all inclusive. Also included was an excellent breakfast buffet with eggs, Brotchen, homemade jams and jellies, and a nice assortment of meats and cheeses.

From Simonswald we made several daytrips to Titisee, Triberg, Furtwangen, Hexenloch, Emmendingen, Waldkirch...

and a meal in Urach at the Gasthaus zum Sternen with Len and Shari (members of our Stammtisch group).

An excellent restaurant in Simonswald...

From Simonswald it was an easy drive to the Gengenbach area where we would spend our last three nights in the Black Forest. We decided to take a scenic route via the Schutter valley where Dee Dee, Amy and I had spent a few days back in 02. There is one particular valley off the main road (L102 - Talstrasse) - called the Laulisgraben. Several nice farms in that valley where Larry (PStuyvsant) and I stayed previously (the Grundbauernhof) and one where the family and I hid out for a few days (the Schwörerhof).

Our objective for the day was a farm near Gengenbach that I have had my eyes on for many years but for one reason or another I had never worked it out to be able to stay there. The Kälblehof is a good sized farmhouse and Ferienbauernhof in the village of Fussbach and turned out to be the best place of this trip (as far as accommodations go).

A large bedroom, separate lounge with couch, two recliners, Sat TV, separate large kitchen,

very large two sink, bathtub, separate shower bathroom, essentially the entire floor of the house. No breakfast but that was agreed to before booking - Gasthaus 800 mtrs away for breakfast but we never used it - too many bakeries around.

Our last night at the Kaelblehof saw the sky open up with a thunder and light show and buckets of rain. The only thing better than cows in a meadow below your balcony is a cool, refreshing rain storm.

Gengenbach, as always, was great (ate with Stammtisch friends Len and Shari again). Spent a few days running up and down B33 - Schiltach, Wolfach, Haslach. Stopped by the Rotbauernhof in Gutach to book rooms for next year. This is an excellent farm that my travel group of mail carriers will enjoy next June. With the Vogtsbauernhof within walking distance and a Sommerrodelbahn just across the way (with a Biergarten) - we couldn't ask for a better location for a few days.