Winter Van Trip 3

Like the past two years, we braved the cold and went for another shorter trip between Christmas and Newyear, the same direction as 2 years ago, to Germany and the Eifel mountains.

We’re a bit more careful now on parking, since getting stuck in Wales once. Frozen mud puddles are not as bad as wet mud puddles however.

Taking it slow, with lots of hikes to keep the dog entertained, we ended up in Mullerthal, which was unexpectedly very cool.

The dog has obviously grown and changed a lot since we got her in Sarajevo, she used to be very scared and not have much confidence going anywhere. That’s really changed and she has some naughty moments where she just seems to want to run away from us and enjoy doggy-freedom. We almost couldn’t catch her a few times here, so she had to go on the leash for the rest of the trip!

It was generally much easier than the first time to find spots to camp. Also the first time with the van in this area we had no kitchen and cabinets!

We must’ve done a decent size walk every day, it’s probably the best thing about having a dog now: you’re forced to go outside more, especially on these trips with the van. It might no always seem like it but we do have lazy days in the van, or where there’s just a lot of driving.

The dog obviously hates sitting in the van for long periods (she never wants to get back in after a break), so we feel guilty and have to compensate that for her now.

Lots of castle ruins were seen on this trip. Generally we got better at finding places to go and so on. You can only get so far with online research, we’ve experienced this tends to lead everybody to the same places.

It’s equally interesting to just see what outdoor apps like Viewranger present in terms of walks, what the paper brochures at the tourist information service say, or even to just randomly go and stop somewhere, and see if it’s interesting.

On the way back we stopped at our spot in La Vallee De l’Eau (picture unrelated), where we had our Newyears’ eve dinner just the way I like it, deep in the forest, away from everything. It was a good trip!