The Dolomites

After leaving lake Como we entered the Dolomite Mountains of Northern Italy our first night was spent by a hospital above an apple orchard. In the morning it was very foggy and we spent a rainy day at a small lake, Lake Tovel in Admello Brenta National Park. We could only see ten metres across the lake because of the mist.. We did see some beautiful water covered leaves and a cute mole. Even though it was raining we lit a fire in the camping area and toasted marshmallows. When the rain finally forced us inside we had ‘Breakfast Burritos’. There were lots of signs to warn people of bears but we didn’t see any. We drove down to a valley and a expensive supermarket with scary prices. We parked alone in the centre of Cavalese that night.
Us kids walked to the top of the town and in the park and had chocolate filled croissants.
We had showers next to a small river and with a chairlift and high ropes course. We thought we’d discovered a service point with electricity and water in the corner of the parking lot but it was shut off. We drove further up to Vigo de Fassa just below the snowline. Maddy and Thomas were determined to walk up to touch the snow from the cold night before. The clouds cleared sometimes and we saw glimpses of the rocky jagged mountains. We touched the soggy almost melted snow then walked back down. There was a herd of sheep in the paddock next to us. William and Thomas started reading Harry potter to Maddy and Johanna.
We drove up a pass and hit the snow. The snow poles were just being put up on the sides of the road and it was a nice day. We reached a lake/dam at the top and the snow peaks were almost touchable. We parked next to a pizzeria and played in the snow. We had been planning for weeks collecting plastic bags and gloves and a plastic sheet for a sled. We made a sled track and jump and carved sculptures out of rolled snow balls. We went back down the other side of the pass before it got cold and stayed next to a swimming complex in Tambre. The next day we waited for all our wet snow clothes to dry before driving down to do a big shop at a ‘Lidl‘. We stayed with some other campers in Terviso and played dodge ball at a playground until dark.