We've had enough less-than-optimal stopover experiences on the road to ensure we're never complacent, but last night's overnighting spot was another cracker. It was supremely tranquil and there was always a sense we were completely under the radar.
It even came up trumps with the trail cam in the form of a northern raccoon. This species was an education to us as we never knew raccoons even existed in Europe until today. Maybe unsurprisingly, man has had more than a hand in this regard. A bit of research revealed the species is now well-and-truly naturalised, having being deliberately introduced (and having escaped from fur farms) around a hundred years ago. It's now, again unsurprisingly, regarded as an invasive pest and frequently shot. Slow handclap, in so many ways... as is so often the case, Homo sapiens.
In addition to the raccoon, we also spotted a weasel at first light and, just after breakfast, were also visited by a large poplar longhorn beetle (pic). I (Emma was 'busy', naturally) had to shift the beast off the roof just before we set off to ensure it came to no harm; I swear it weighed a full kilo.
Shortly after setting off we took on some Czech fuel (£1.19/l) and then dibbed (yet again) very temporarily into Poland before arriving at the Poland-German border. Here, we met with something of a surprise. There was a contingent of Polish border control staff and police on one side of a bridge over the river that marked the border, and a contingent of German border control staff and police at the other. Very much a hard-ish European soft border, if you will. Hmmm...
Cars and trucks were being randomly selected for checks and, of course, we copped for a tug. The German officer that dealt with us was polite and friendly and, once he'd seen our passports, went on to show some genuine personal interest in the truck. The interaction was altogether affable and notable in as much as it was very ordinary and familiar: in a western European kind of way.
It's been about a month since we first left Germany and entered eastern European countries, where (Romania excepted) the default interpersonal presentation very much involves a taciturn and undemonstrative countenance. We've kind of got used to this over the years but it was unexpectedly thrown into perspective when it suddenly struck home that a working German police officer was by far the most overtly friendly and jolliest chap we'd encountered for weeks!
Bottom line: if you smile or otherwise randomly offer friendly greetings or gestures once east of Germany, people may well think you are up to something or - even worse - an American. It's probably best to stay po-faced and not be tempted to fill perfectly legitimate silence by bleating on inanely about the weather.
Post check we bumbled a while on some of Germany's anonymous smooth roads before stopping for lunch whereupon Emma-the-Restive immediately ran off into some woods whilst I ate some cheese and tomato toasties (the result of trying hard to improve my nutrition). After her allotted 45 minutes she came back suitably fatigued with excited tales of a haunted house in the woods. I had chocolate digestives for dessert.
More unremarkable smooth roads followed lunch before we turned up a very not smooth track where, after bouncing along for a while, we called it a day and have since spent the evening (coordinates).
It's actually proved quite nice here. I've seen some decent woodland birds and, as daylight faded, we saw fallow deer and a boar emerge from the woodland to forage in the adjoining field. Once again, a nod to the thermal imager. We were late to the party with this tech and it beggars belief what we have almost certainly missed on previous trips.
In the same vein, the trail cam is deployed...
Post composed at 22:20 on Thursday 21st August from our intended overnighting spot N 51.21878°, E 13.67794° / http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:51.21878%2C13.67794