Day 14: Andy and Eric find a hotel at the last minute

By By Chris Whitaker / staff writer
June 14, 2002
Before biking their way Thursday to Wertheim, Germany, Andy and Eric Armstrong almost found themselves without a place to stay the night before.
Andy, 58, and his grandson, 15, arrived in Stockstadt, Germany, Wednesday night and found the only hotel and restaurant had no vacancies. Andy pleaded with one of the managers, but got no where.
The manager also worked at the hotel's restaurant. When she wasn't busy with the restaurant, she made telephone calls trying to help Andy and Eric find a place to stay.
Soon after she finished making the phone calls, Andy said, the woman and her father took them to another hotel six miles away. When Andy thanked them, he said, the man bear-hugged him.
Earlier Wednesday, when Andy and Eric were traveling by train from Bingen to Mainz both in Germany they met a girl from Chile who was working on a doctorate degree in mechanical engineering and hoped to teach in the United States.
On a second train, from Mainz to Stockstadt, they met a German girl who was going to New York for an environmental conference.
Then, just before arriving at Stockstadt, Andy and Eric had another dilemma: Eric was in the restroom when they arrived at the Stockstadt station.
Today, Andy and Eric plan to leave Wertheim and head for Rothenburg, Germany. Andy and Eric also plan to appear at 10:30 a.m. today on a radio talk show out of New Orleans.