We packed up after eating a breakfast of hearty meusli, and hit the road at the late hour of 12:30. Our string of late departure times for the last few days continues. On the road, everything felt distinctly German. You know you're in Germany when there are fields of hops lining the paved bike path you're cycling along!

Here is Tyler during a brief bout of sun. You wouldn't know it to look at it, but it rained about three minutes after this photo was taken. It has been raining on and off (but mostly on) for weeks!

Today was a day of fields. Green fields of wheat blowing in the wind, shoots of corn, and many meadows filled with wildflowers.

All the rolling hills and wide vistas of green fields reminded us of home.

Today shouldn't have been a difficult day, but I was very tired and didn't feel like riding.

We had planned on staying at a campsite just outside of Eichstätt.

…but when we found a great free-camp in the forest just a few kilometers from our intended destination, we decided to call it a night. It was a good thing, too, because we were just finishing setting up when a huge batch of rain rolled in. It was one of the strongest showers we'd experienced yet, and we were relieved to have made it inside before the brunt of it hit. Had we still been on the road, we would have been drenched!

After the rain petered out, Tyler got out our oven and cooked up the frozen pizza we'd bought at the grocery store earlier.

With our electronics completely out of juice, journals and emails and even Tyler's work could wait another day. Instead, we enjoyed our pizza and beer and fell fast asleep to the sound of trains roaring by our little neck of the woods.