The days are getting shorter and the nights correspondingly longer, and the rain, which seems to be one of the dominant features of the northern European fall, has become defintely colder. Sometimes in the rain I can smell smoke coming from wood-burning fireplaces and I think of happy German families nestled around the hearth, roasting chestnuts and things of that nature. I had my first crash in the morning riding from Münster to Paderborn when I was staring at a directional sign and ran into a wooden fence - but it was a low speed impact, and the only damage was to one of my rain covers, which I will patch with my innertube repair kit. The camping season is definitely coming to an end, and since Essen my tent has been all by its lonesome in the tent meadow, although the caravaners are still there. It was raining when I pulled into the campground at Paderborn, and the reception box (pictured here), which I thought looked like a green Checkpoint Charlie was unmanned. When I located the caretaker I only paid 5 Euros (!) and the old woman even gave me free shower coins (Hooray)! In the wee hours of the morning some sort of animal was making loud rustling noises near my tent and then stuck its hand under the vestibule, but went off running when I clapped my hands. I think it was a raccoon, but I am not sure. (9/22/04)

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Paderborn, Germany