Trip miles 430
-8 overnight
The drive through industrial Essen and Dortmund was made
cheerful by bright blue skies and fast-moving traffic on well tarmacked roads.
These things count when you are putting down miles in Bertha! Once through the
industry of factories, car dealerships and flyovers the road opened out into
the beautiful agricultural Oberwalder Land. Long rolling hills of neatly
ploughed fields were home to pretty hamlets of brick farmhouses and wooden
cruck-framed barns.
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| Bad Sassendorf frozen pond |
Staying on a farm outside the small town of Bad
Sassendorf we headed out into the cold for necessary supplies of drinking water
and bread. We walked back at dusk passing the town ponds and skidding ducks.
Opting for a short cut we found ourselves in the landscaped grounds of a
high-end orthopedic rehabilitation centre. Joining the crutch-bearing
residents we affected hopefully convincing limps and exchanged pleasantries in
order to exit through the hotel-style lavish reception area.
Back at Bertha it was time to batten down as the
temperature plummeted with the blood red setting sun and the silver moon rose
in absolute polarity across the field opposite.
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| Clear skies - a cold night ahead |
