Driving to Garmisch

Driving to Garmisch

Sunday morning we hit the Starbucks one last time before getting on the road (since none of us slept last night we needed a couple extra shots in our lattes). We drove for a couple hours and stopped for lunch in Ulm. It was a random stop there, the GPS showed a few fast food choices, which turned out to be in the train station, and we knew soon we'd be heading in to forest/mountain area with few places to stop. Ulm turned out to be a pretty neat place and we added to the list of places to see so we can go spend a little more time there. They have a huge church which is the tallest church in the world! The foundation for the church was built in 1377 and the steeple measures 530 ft, and contains 768 steps to the top where you get a panoromic view for miles at 469 ft in the air.

We decided to go the scenic route into Garmisch which takes you down into Austria, past a lake called the Plansee and then back into Germany. When we came to Garmisch last winter we drove this way and you might remember this photo

From Driving to Garmisch

taken at the same lake. I said then it was one of the most beautiful places I'd ever seen in my life. Now, in the summer time it looks totally different, but equally as gorgeous, it still manages to take your breath away. I want to retire here and look at this lake every day! When we visited in the winter it was dead, we were the only people for miles on the road and we were all alone taking pictures on the shore that day. Summer time is totally different with cars parked on every inch of road shoulder for miles before you even get to the lake. The lake was full of boats and the beaches full of people enjoying the spot. Colin was very excited to get out of his car seat for a little stretch. When he got down to the shore and saw it was covered in rocks he was in heaven. He threw rocks and played in the water until we had to take him, kicking and screaming, back to the car. Fortunately he only had about 45 more minutes to ride before we made it to the hotel. This time we decided to stay at the military resort there called Edelweiss. It's more like an American hotel and we figured it would be more comfortable for Shelby's parents and it had a pool and playground for Colin. Still no air conditioning but at least we had a fan in our room and it was much cooler in the mountains. The rest of Germany was having a horrible heat wave, we picked a great week to take off to the mountains!