9 Not all Red Roads are Red

From the sea back inland, our next stop was Plitvice (PLEET•vit•sah) Lakes National Park. We made good time on the Autobahn as we approached a decision to travel further down the fast highway or take a shortcut. On the large foldout map we were using, the thick blue lines marked the autobahn, the thinner red lines marked a good highway, and the green lines marked a country road. The shortcut was a red line so it seemed like a good bet to take the red line and save us some time. The red line turned out to be not so red.

Though our road began nicely, the painted lines in the middle separating the two lanes soon ended and we were in a "watch-for-oncoming-traffic" road. Then the road got curvy ... very curvy. We were on a one-lane Hana Drive in Maui without the pretty ocean views. I must say, however, the countryside was like driving through a beautiful picture you might see on a 1,000 piece puzzle box. We passed little hamlets surrounded by small vegetable gardens with wheat fields just beyond the homes. Each hamlet was marked by a church steeple. Each home had character. Opel had a lot of fun ... and so did her passengers.