I woke last night to the sound of thunder, How far off I sat and wondered...

Actually it was this morning. Apologies to Bob Seeger. 

The forecast was looking pretty crummy for today, and waking up to heavy rain and thunder didn't seem like a good omen. But that cleared up soon and I was back on the bike. 

Got a little sprinkle of rain, then enough to put on my rain jacket, and then enough to fully suit up!  

After that I had my lunch in a tunnel under the railroad tracks and waited for the rain to lessen. It did, some. 

I rode on and eventually it stopped raining altogether and I shed the rain gear. The rest of the ride was sweet. 

Tonight I'm in Bacharach, a small village in the Rhine Gorge. The village looks like you think old German mountain towns should. Narrow cobbled streets, half timbered buildings, and a church. I love it! 

Funny thing. All the guests in this hotel are American except one. 

Here's some highlights from today. 

Cute little city tour cars in Mainz

The Rhine 

Strawberry festival in Erbach. Funny what you run into while cycling. 

They made them small over here. 

Sun dials on the side of a church. I saw these on a few other churches. It was cloudy so I don't know accurate they are. 

Restored loading crane. This is where it really started to rain. 

Rainy day selfie. Not the high point of the day. 

Old railroad stone and truss bridge that was destroyed by the Germans as they retreated. You gotta wonder if they really thought they could still win the war at this point. 

It had been a pretty impressive bridge. 

All the river cruise ships pull into Rüdesheim. All the tourist shops reminded me of Duval Street in Key West. 

Took the Rüdesheim ferry to Bingen across the Rhine

The hillsides are covered with vineyards. 

Old castle across the river

Unique 'You are here' sign. 

50 degrees north latitude. Nice that they put that on the path. 

Why did the snail cross the path? I put a Euro by him for scale. A Euro is a little smaller than a quarter, but worth about 87 cents. Last year they were near equal to the dollar. 

Burcharach!

Here's a few more views of the village. 

Enter here

Exit here

No trouble with directions today. Despite the rain, this was a very good day. Hope you're having a good day too.