Wildehausen to Gnarrenburg

Tuesday June 12, 2018, 92 km (57 miles) - Total so far: 474 km (295 miles)

So excited to wake up and get to Bremen, about 39 KM. I left camp at 7:30 a.m. under an overcast sky and arrived in Bremen around 10 a.m.--when my phone battery died. There's really no explanation. I charged it last night to 100%. The only thing I can think of is I overused it navigating into the city, but compared to the first day when I had it talking to me, it lasted 70 KM. Anyway, I found a cafe and plugged in. I bought my typical 3 pastries, eating two and saving the croissant. All for 3.80.

I was sort of blue. People were mean. They wouldn't give me keys to the toilet, no internet, they yelled at me loudly in German. I was afraid I was stuck in a grimy city. In Germany! Then along come 2 Dutch cycle tourists. We sat and chatted and then I asked if I could follow them out of the city. We were all set when they stopped to read a bike sign and a woman riding by asked them if all was okay. All in German. They handed me over to her because the couple was going another direction from me. She had me follow her and brought me to the old city center--yay!I I would have left without seeing it. Then as it was noon the bell tower and chimes went off. I lucked into what the tourists were there waiting for. At tourist info we talk about where I should go and BOUGHT a map. I know, I finally broke down.

Leaving the city was a dream. First, the lady, who was about 70 and her friend that she ran into also on a bike, who was maybe 80, insisted on riding me to a good spot where I saw bike signs. I followed then and also had the map. So I was golden. Except--the wind, the cold.

I made it to Gnarrenburg, about 90 KM for the day. Not a lot. I was trying to decide if I should ride 19 KM more to Bremervorde, where I wasn't sure there was camping. It was now 4 pm. But here was camping and several other cycle tourists. We can talk to one another! And I had a fantastic chat with a young girl outside a supermarket. We talk for like 15 minutes. So, overall tired, but not lonely. It gives me hope that tomorrow I will meet other cyclists.