December 8, 1999
Milan, Italy to Hinterweidenthal, Germany

As Americans we are sometimes in awe of Europe for its old history and deep culture. However, it is sometimes startling to remember that some of the countries in Europe have only recently become countries. Germany was not a country, but a region made up of princedoms until the 1880's when Otto Von Bismarck united the German states into one country. This is also true with Italy, the great city-states of this region, were finally united in 1866 under Giuseppe Garibaldi. Despite the relatively short history of these countries, a great deal of European history and culture flows from the veins of this region. It has given the world extraordinary works of art and architecture; it has been a major battleground of Europe; it is the origin of many myths, legends and fables, and has enriched America with many of its children. Its buildings, mountains, rivers and forests bear witness to its wonderful past, and I know I will one day return to this unforgettable area.

A rest day is not necessarily what it seems, as you now have probably all read all day yesterday was spent "resting" (working on the Rovers). But, I will stop my complaining and get on with the story. Previously, we did not have many options in terms of road choices, however, now roads and options were now abundant. We were in the heart of Europe and we had some decisions to make on what route to take to England, through France, through the Alps, through Germany, via Luxemburg, what, where? Everyone had sat down in the course of the morning or last evening to look at the possibilities, but no decisions had been made. At this point everyone was tired so we were looking for the shortest way to Calais. However, it was not that easy. I had read that there was cheap gas in Luxemburg; Nick wanted to take the Rovers through the Alps, and if possible on the Autobahn, Chanda really didn't care; Papalino, our hotel manager, wanted us to see the greatest sights of Central Europe; Doug just wanted to see his wife; and Jeff was not too far behind Doug in the abyss of loneliness for his girlfriend. When all was said and done, we realized, only later unfortunately, that no one had made any decision.

After a sentimental good-bye ceremony, pictures and a wine exchange we were off about mid-morning. Papalino had given us directions from the hotel to the Swiss border so we were set. An hour later we drove by our former hotel still looking for the way out of the city, thankfully enough we found the proper road within two hours of leaving the hotel so we only wasted the morning. After some swearing, and a great workout (the vehicles do not have power steering) we had finally figured out where we were going, either that or we had divine intervention. Although we were still speaking to each other, at this point there was a recurring theme of frustration. It seemed as everyone had their own issues with each other and thankfully Russ was with us to clean up the blood. The morning provided a good base of frustration from which to work, then as the day progressed confusion mounted as everyone in the group had decided independently their own way in which to get to Calais. There was an unwritten, unspoken, but, understood law of whatever you can do I can do better, (try watching someone untying a knot) and this was in full effect. The explosion came when we approached upon a Y in the road. After a flashing of lights, and honking, we pulled over to confer. Conferring led to shouting, venting, and some mildly hurt feelings. No one person had made a plan and communicated it to the group, yet everyone had made a plan and thought their plan was "the plan". I must confess that I was quietly in the middle of this mess, proving a point in my own true "two-year-old fashion". I had felt that my navigation skills were not appreciated, thus I would not participate in any sort of navigation on this day. Russ did a great job of minding the nursery as we solved the problem. Thanks Russ for bringing the average age up to about 10 years. At this point we were literally and figuratively wearing nothing but dirty laundry. Sorry team, but it was true. All this to say we were tired and communication had broken down.

We were, however, able to work through this and move on. We crossed the border into Switzerland unchecked, and all that was required was a road tax. Switzerland was beautiful, towns nestled in the mountains, trees, rivers, and I think the world's longest tunnel. I believe it was over ten kilometers long, that was amazing, but exhaust fumes within the tunnel were pretty strong at times. Night fell but we kept on rolling and rolling, we rolled into Germany, had dinner and continued for about an hour. We camped in a farmer's field right off the highway and we slept uneventfully.