The previous day we'd planned on getting back in time to do laundry, obviously, we didn't. We ended up getting back maybe five minutes before the laundry mat closed. So, our dirty clothes got to wait an extra night to get washed. This morning we woke up, ate, took showers (even though I tried to use as little hot water as possible I ended up using it all), and got our nasty dirty clothes together. I took out of my suitcase maybe 5 articles of clothing, everything else stayed in the suitcase and went to the laundry mat with Poppy. While Poppy was down the hill I typed up some more blogs. I must say now that there were some things in these blogs that I'm probably going to want to add in at some point. After writing these unfinished blogs I put the computer away and tidied up my room. A paper that the bungalow renters gave to us asked us to please clean out the fireplace and fold our sheets. Before Poppy went down to the laundry mat he dumped all of the ashes out of the fire pit, and just when he got back we started folding the sheets in our rooms. Taking my well-constructed snake pit apart wasn't very enjoyable for me. I liked that cozy room, even if I'd dumped my dirty clothes on the floor when I changed.
I made sure to take pictures of the bungalow before we started packing our things up. After Poppy came back (for the last time-he'd traveled up and down that hill several times throughout the process) with the semi-damp clothes we packed our suitcases, grabbed our things (didn't take long for me because I'd put my stuff into my backpack while waiting), and got into the car to head towards an Ibis Hotel.
We got on the road at about 11 so it did not take long for us to get hungry and want to stop to eat. We ended up stopping in Blankenheim to grab a bite to eat. I think that we were also attracted to Blankenheim for it's elusive burg. We'd searched for the burg while on the road before and hadn't found it. This time we saw it as we were searching for another road.
Funnily enough we found the road we were looking for and a place to eat AND a post office by passing through to the other side of town. We ate in the cafe (where I got an incredible apple pie thing and Poppy got two deserts and a salad) and then started heading down the street to find the entrance to the castle gate. As usual, Ahmee and I stopped to check out the cards. This time we were both looking for something special. Ahmee found one card for Uncle John and Aunt Cynde, while I found one for the Beckermans which had a smiling sunflower and the word Danke underneath (this is German for thank you). When we went inside the store to find out what some of the other cards meant we were thrilled to discover that we'd stumbled upon a post office. While we were there we grabbed envelopes, stamps, and assorted cards from outside. While we were there we asked the woman at the desk if anyone lived in the castle. She said that there were people living in the castle. Apparently you can rent a part of the castle to live in. I think it might be like apartments. 
This made us want to check out the entrance more. Funnily enough we walked through the gate that Ahmee'd seen from main street, but we didn't want to walk further. We had loads of fun looking at the town and in the windows. It was yet another picturesque town that we all adored and wanted to spend more time in. We made our way back over to the car where we noted the fountain that was shooting up at random intervals (we'd seen it go off from the cafe but when we looked again it was gone). Shortly after this we got back on the road. I think that the road that we took that day was the most curvy one we've been on so far. I'm glad that it was. If the road hadn't been curvy I would've been typing and I would've missed out on the beautifully covered mountains that we passed through (Ahmee and Poppy call these hills but I call them mountains because they remind me of the Appalachians). These mountains were covered in trees. While the bare mountains of Scotland were equally beautiful, these mountains reminded me of home and the colorful leaves only brightened my mood. I was very disappointed when we came out of the windy, tree-lined roads to move on to flat, straight, and barren roads. It was then that I pulled out the computer again to write.
We drove down to Koblenz where we discovered that the Ibis hotel we wanted to stay in was in the middle of a rather large city. This city was slightly smaller than Louisville and it was right next to the Rheine River. After we got to the hotel, ate, and got back to the room I jumped on the computer to send off my schoolwork and to receive any more schoolwork. I felt incredibly comfortable there. It was as if I was back in the Ohio River Valley. 
I think I might be more of a city-girl than Ahmee and Poppy though. The noises that always accompany the city don't keep me awake all night. Actually, I fell asleep very fast there with the noises and in Paris with TONS of noises.
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