Got an early start today as we have a long drive ahead of us – nearly to Munich. The estimated autobahn driving time is 3.5 hours, maybe if I drive really fast, we can get there in under three. On the day we landed, I was quite happy to be hitting a quick 100mph on a 2-lane highway. Now, out here on one of the fastest roads in the world, the A3 autobahn, I’m struggling to get past 120mph. This car is just too underpowered; I’ve got BMWs passing me at what must be between 180 and 200mph. They roar by after coming up blindingly fast. This little VW feels like an ancient putt-putt that scoots along at a pedestrian pace. Instead of flying the entire distance to our destination of Pfaffenhofen, we detour through Ingolstadt to a small village just north of where we’re going. Any ideas what it was that might have brought us here?

There is one downside to speeding down the autobahn, and that is that it is like flying. In the clouds at 35,000 feet above the earth, you see little but vast areas of nearly nondescript land, sky, and clouds. There is a similarity to that when down here on an autobahn, villages lie in the distance but are quickly out of sight, not that you can look at anything when such concentration is required to maneuver in traffic where some people are driving at 80 mph and on occasion there are those who are gliding just above the surface at over 240mph. So when I get the opportunity to leave the race track, it’s nice to slow down to check out the local area. Most of what is here between Ingolstadt and Pfaffenhofen is farmland, with many fields dedicated to growing hops. We are, after all, in Bavaria; beer plays a big part in life down here.

Schnecke und Maus – Snail and Mouse. These are the nicknames given to Caroline and Stephanie by Jutta; they also happen to be two of the creatures made of yarn on display at Wollmeise Yarn Store in Pfaffenhofen, Germany. This store is a Mecca for Fiber Junkies. Wollmeise is famous worldwide. To be here, one has reached the Holy Temple of Fiber. I think I used all the superlatives I can find for the moment.

While the women are drooling over yarn and ‘colorways,’ I’m in need of the restroom. You must know that yarn stores are primarily women’s places, a man-free zone for the most part. So, to find a restroom covered in graffiti, you know you are somewhere very different. From all over the world, visitors to Wollmeise have left their mark high and low and side-to-side in this small uni-sex bathroom. I must have spent 10 minutes in here reading where people have come from and how much this place means to them. Some of them have seemingly taken mortgages out to afford to leave with pounds of this beautifully dyed wool. As I finally emerge from the ‘klo,’ Caroline and her sister are still working on choosing their first skeins. It will be two hours before their shopping bags weigh enough that they start to feel satisfied. I even chose some yarn for myself, Caroline will be making me a new hat and a pair of socks with my choice.

That’s right, it’s a bag full of Wollmeise yarn. Ask someone who knows this stuff, and they’ll tell you that Caroline has scored the equivalent of a box of treasure. Looks like we’ve got an early start to needing to buy an extra suitcase for the trip home.

We spent the majority of the day on this excursion. By the time we got back home, Klaus and Katharina were back from their horseback riding trip in Fulda, Germany. We won’t get to spend much time with Katharina yet, as she’s going to South England on Monday for a week-long trip as part of her studies. For as tired as everyone was, we all went to sleep too late, others even later than that.