It is not often that we find ourselves in one spot for
three weeks. In order for this to happen
the stop has to either have in-pitch drainage (known over here as a comfort
pitch) or be so stunning that moving Salt out and back for dumping is not
considered a chore. It turns out that
Camping Brunner am See in Dobriach, Austria offered the perfect
combination: Stunning comfort.
We had no preconceived notions about this area; as previously
reported, we headed up to Austria to escape the heat of Slovenia and took the
first campground claiming a comfort pitch.
Maybe it was due to the lack of preconception but the area’s beauty
stunned us into a languor that suited our vacation-mode attitudes. Really, you can get quite spoiled (and fat) when
you hardly have to move in order to see an awe-inspiring view. Thankfully the area offers easy access to tennis,
hiking, biking and swimming otherwise my waistline would be in much worse
shape. (Have I mentioned my addiction to
the local pretzel bread?)
Also as previously reported, the crowds initially
diminished after the third week of August.
We had almost a week during which we thought the campground would remain
half-full and thus we didn’t worry about turning Salt around (remember, we are
still parked in such a way that, if people moved in across the drive from us we
would not be able to get out.)
To our dismay, starting around the first of September, the
leisurely unemployed (or just the smart European vacationers) starting filling
up the campground; with an average age closer to 70 than 7, they are,
thankfully, a much more peaceful group than the young families. However, watching the pitches fill, we
quickly realized that our inability to move Salt had returned.
So one day during the Great Migration (the incoming and
outgoing of the motorhomes during this time was tremendous: Every day at least a dozen came and went) we
spotted an opportunity to turn Salt around.
We hitched her up (much to the delight of many watchful eyes), drove her
further down the row, turned left, pulled through two spots, backed up into
another spot and completed our three point turn; pulling back into our pitch
with Salt’s nose facing toward the exit.
We could now leave at will. Well,
just as soon as SP had the caulking done.
The supplies arrived, the weather cooperated (day after
day of lovely 23/76 degree sunshine!), SP had us patched in a day and we had
the hideous blue tarp back on the ground where it belonged. With our return to the USA looming ahead, we
felt pressure to resume the Aventura and decided to head back south to
Slovenia.
On the designated driving day, I woke up and took The
Noses for a long hike up into the woods and then down along the lake, two hours
in total. Arriving back later than usual
with the warm sun shining I wondered why we were leaving this heavenly spot,
voted for one more vacation day and so talked SP into staying another 24 hours.
Topping my morning hike with a quick swim, some
sunbathing while SP waxed Salt, and another epic tennis battle in the afternoon,
it was a perfect last vacation day.
Happy and tired, we settled into our camp chairs with chips and gin to
watch the final parade of people by Salt.
(She must be, by now, in more home movies and pictures than most
children. Some people try to take
pictures in a nonchalant manner, “Hey, I’m just out here taking pictures of all the caravans” and others are more
direct often just standing right in front of us staring, photographing and
filming without saying a word [in any language.] The latter are not my favorite people; the
former I often invite in for a closer look.)
Staying so long in one spot always makes us a little
soft: The stressors of towing on small,
windy roads to another unknown location (will we even be able to fit in the campground?) weighed heavily
on our minds as did leaving Austria; what a lovely place. We are trying to come up with one descriptor
for each country and Austria’s effortlessly became “Elegant.”
Having no joy for the back roads of Slovenia, we opted to
use the Motorway down the eastern side to Bled.
It was a short drive, so short in fact that I voted to keep heading
south unless the area and campground really rang our bell. But the bell tower was rocking when we pulled
into Camping Sobec and became deafening upon our first view of Bled.
-K
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