Monday, July 22, 2013

Austria!!!!

We breathed a sigh of relief as we crossed the border into Austria--we were so ready for some beautiful countryside after 3 days, 4 nights in busy Prague!  Soon thereafter a couple bored Austrian Polizei (police) stopped us.  We couldn't imagine what for other than the wild nature of how our van looked.  Perfect packaging for vagabonds!  We finally understood that what they were concerned with was that our rented vehicle didn't have the initials of it's country of origin--GB (an oversight of the rental company).  After a bit of discussion, they asked if we could just write the initials on any random piece of paper and tape it to the inside back window of the van.  We ripped a blank page out of Grant's journal and did just that!  That apparently satisfied them and they let us go.  Phew!  Another relief! Thank you Lord!

Yesterday we spent driving through some of the foothills of the Alps and lakes and ended up camping at a nice quiet place near one of the lakes.  I have unfortunately come down with a pretty bad cold and am coughing quite heavily so when we pulled into our campsite around 7pm, I was ready to crash already!  Please pray for my recovery.  Coughing is so exhausting and it's no fun being sick when we're supposed be enjoying ourselves!  Every time I cough I feel as if the life has been sucked out of me!  Headaches and general malaise are other symptoms I am suffering from.  I'm really hoping I feel better on Wednesday so that we can especially enjoy our time with Uncle Gerhard in Germany.  The stress of travelling, losing sleep and change of diet have really taken their toll on me--unfortunately.  We were able to do a short run along a beautiful biking path this morning and then plunge into the lake to cool off.  Swimming in an Alpine lake was so refreshing!










After much effort of researching maps, GPS, travel books and internet, we have finally found the hike my Dad took my older siblings on when I was five years old.  They all went but not me because I was "too little."  Tomorrow is my chance to do what I couldn't do then.  I'm really praying for enough
courage and energy to make it to the top.  Then after our early mountain hike, we will drive through the Hohe Tauren National Park--one of the most scenic drives in the world complete with mountains, waterfalls, lakes, meadows, flowers, etc.  Then on Wed morning we will wrap up our time in Austria with a Freulein Maria biking tour through Salzburg. It will include meaningful Mozart places and also filming sites of The Sound of Music movie.  Can't wait! Will post pictures after the fact.

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