We continued north along the Rhein river valley as far as Koblenz where the Mosel river meets the Rhein. At this point we turned to follow the Mosel valley. The valley is another lovely area of vineyards. The valley is broader than the Rhein valley - the river is a little smaller than the Rhein. The mountains don't appear to be as steep. Now we are travelling mostly west.

The autobahn is on top of that high bridge that you see a part of in the picture. There was a rest area underneath where we stopped to relax and take a few pictures. There was no WC (toilets of any sort) in this rest area. By this time I really was wishing for one. I noticed a couple of cyclers stop just past the pillar and one of them went off down towards the river alone. Afterwards I thought I should have tired the same thing. I am a modern urban gal and using the bush isn't really my "cup of tea". The sign gives the facts about the bridge.

A little further along the river we saw this lock so got out to watch the boats being lowered or lifted I don't remember now. This big flat boat was the second one loaded with sand that we saw in the lock. This one had a number of plastic sand toys on the top of the pile closest to the cabin. A woman walked along on the side of the boat behind the red wall where the ladder is and helped a child on to the ladder. The child went down into the sand and we thought he/she might stay and play but he/she went back up the ladder to the adult. It was a very hot afternoon so perhaps that sand felt very hot to the feet.

I wonder where the sand was headed? The previous boat load of sand was headed the opposite direction.