7 May ’04, Friday. Cold Rain, Rain, Go Away…. Well, it is not only raining but because of the problem with the van we weren’t able to attach to the addition as well. Now this may not sound like much of a problem but you would have to see it to believe it. Prior to the van not starting we arrived back to the campgrounds and I pulled up close enough to attach to our addition. I didn’t make it. Close but not close enough and with not being in the right position we couldn’t go out the side door or the passenger door. We had to crawl through the drivers side. On top of that it was raining. So let me recap…. Raining, Van wont start, Raining, Slide through drivers side, and yes, Raining. Up and out by 9am and I was ready to hike to the Volkswagen Dealership here in our small town. It was just over 40 minutes to walk and it was still (Yes you guessed it) Raining. They were all very nice and told me it was going to cost $70 Euros per hour but they would give me a ride back to the campgrounds and have a look. They brought a tow rope just in case. The young man was right on top of what he should be looking for and within 15 minutes he had us running and he was on his way with $30 Euros in his pocket. Louise and I both thought it was a bargain. Now what to do with our day. After going into town we decided to head off to Germany for lunch. We took the back roads and really enjoyed a ride through the countryside to Bocholt. This then turned in to one of our better days. The parking lot that we found was on the top of a store in the downtown area. The first try was on the first floor but we were too tall to get in so we had to back out and try for the roof. We were really glad they had a roof because the drive up was very narrow, steep, and had a curve in it. We wouldn’t have wanted to back all the way down. After parking we went into the first floor and found just what we had wanted to find for the last 3 days and it was even on sale. As it was, we found a number of things (all on sale) and a great bowl of hardy soup in their Café. Then the quest was to find a Internet Café. Luck was on our side again. Found one and put it to good use by up-loading to our site and taking care of our emails as well. Now unfortunately, we encountered another problem with the van. They say bad things come in three’s. Well, here is number 2. Here we were about 20 Kilometers away from home, Raining, and our WINSHIELD WIPERS QUIT!!! A little scary riding home and really wishing the wipers would all the sudden start working but, we made it back, got hooked to the addition and settled in for a movie, bottle of wine, and popcorn for dinner. Some really good news, our laundry that was washed 2 days ago is almost dry…socks should be dry by morning.
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6 May ’04, Thursday. We found out real quick that if the ground has a little moisture in it, or the dew point is just right, we will get condensation build up in our new enclosure. Well something else to put into the “learning file”. After breakfast of bacon (Netherlands style bacon) and eggs done on the barbecue we headed off to Obelink once again. You never know if you saw everything the first time so off you go again…. After a couple of “necessary” purchases, we went into town to get some groceries and a drill. Now if I had any idea that I would have been purchasing a drill while on this trip, I wouldn’t have sold mine in a garage sale back in December. A quick stop to have a board cut at Gamma’s and we headed back to camp. Oh yes, I for got to tell you about lunch….we found an excuse to celebrate so we ordered a great cup of espresso and an apple strudel with ice cream, whipped cream, and vanilla custard….Oh My God !!! Well, “That Was Lunch”. Upon arriving back at our camp site we were arranging the van into position so that it would fit right up to the new addition and the van wouldn’t start. It wouldn’t even turn over. There was no indication that we were having a problem but, here we are with a vehicle that wont start, it’s now raining, and night is moving in fast. “Crap”. Oh yes, I fixed a problem, (I thought it was a problem) and in doing so, I now hit my head just about every time I get in to the van or lean into the seat/bed area. Another irritation, Louise hand washed a load of clothes this morning and more than half of them are still not dry. We hung them in the “New Addition” thinking that they would dry quicker….No!!! Not one of my (our) better days!!!! 5 May ’04, Wednesday. Obelink…. The candy store for those with camping in mind !!! This could be were the term “One Stop Shopping” comes from. We had some idea of what we might be looking for prior to going into Obelink but my goodness, what we found was amazing. First off, we got there about 11am and the parking “lots” were either filling up or were already full. As you walked into the building you found it was loaded with more product than you could ever imagine and every aisle was packed with people who were already buying. They couldn’t get their wallets out fast enough. We did find that all the items that we were familiar with, was priced well below the previous pricing we saw. As it was, we did spend some of our hard earned money. We had been discussing the possibility of buying a room addition to our camper van and that’s just what we did. What we found was a tent with 2 large and 2 smaller windows and a zip up front door. It is 200cm X 350cm and more than doubles our usable living space. It actually attaches to the camper van along the sliding door side so that you can use both the van and the addition as one. If time comes when you want to drive off in the van to buy groceries or whatever, you can disconnect from the addition and drive off. The problem comes when you have to leave one campsite and move onto another. Space has and will always be tight and now, it is going to be really tight after we take everything down and store it in the van. This new addition wont be put up each time we go into a new campground. More than likely it will come out when we spend more than 3 nights in one place. Flags were flying throughout the Netherlands today because it was their “Liberation Day”. May 5th, 1945 the day that they were “Liberated” from the Nazi’s. There is also a beautiful memorial here in Winterswijk with 2 towers about 12 feet high that burn continuously and the listing of all the Jews that were taken to the camps and killed. It lists their names, birthdates, and the camp that they were last know to be. Really very moving to see…. Today the sun was out most of the day but the wind kept it a little to the chilly side. We barbecued pork chops tonight for dinner and I used a rub that we bought in Seattle prior to leaving…. It is great !! Thank you Chef Tom Douglas… 4 May ’04, Tuesday. Up and out of Olst and looking for either castles or ruins on our way to Deventer and beyond. The books that we have (and we have quite a number) continue to give us good information if we are looking at one of the largest or more popular tourist town and areas. The problem comes when we are away from all that and we see on a map that somewhere along “this” road there is either a castle or a ruin. The same symbol is used for both. The first one we saw ( we had already passed 2 that we couldn’t find) was a large old “Plantation” type home with lot’s of character and style, sweeping grass fields, and beautiful secondary buildings. We’ve been driving secondary roads for the last day and will continue today as well. These roads are quite narrow from our standards in the states, listed speed limit of 50-80 Kilometers P/H, lined up close to the road with tall deciduous trees, and parallel with a bike/walking trail for miles (kilometers) on end. Once we arrived in Deventer we found a parking place right in the middle of a Street Market. After a walk through we decided to partake in lunch at one of the fish vendors. We had an order of Cod. Really good…. Then off into town for a look see and also see if we could find an internet café. Luck was with us in one respect as we did find a internet café but we could only use their computers. This left us with having access to reading and sending email. We will have to find another location for up-loading to our web page later. It was good to hear form the family at home !!! Our final destination was decided so back in the van and off we go on our secondary roads again heading to Winterswilk. We were really lucky this afternoon. When we pulled in to our parking spot during the street market we didn’t notice the parking meter. Well after being gone for about 2-3 hours and getting back to the van…there it was…the parking meter…NO TICKET !!! I just remembered, we also went into a church and lit a candle while on our walk. Was it luck or ??? Winterswilk has been one of our destinations from day one when we heard about it. It seems like there is a store that specializes in camping gear and anything that makes camping easier in your camper van or caravan (trailer). We checked into our campsite about 6pm this evening so we will go out to see what all the “big deal” is all about. Now to back up a little…. We did come across a castle, complete with moat. It was really very exciting and beautiful. Pictures to come. Also late this afternoon we came into our first real growth of Fir trees. The trip is taking on a newer look. The land is still very flat, the soil is the most rich brown, plants and trees thrive, dikes are getting a little scarce, and the flowers are getting more mature and the bicycles are just as plentiful as before. 3 May ’04, Monday. It will never be said that we missed Flevoland… We drove it from one end to the other, filled the van with gas, and we even went grocery shopping there in Lelystad. We would have done a lot more but nothing was opening until 1:pm and we just couldn’t wait. Our destination was Kampen, Zwolle and Deventer. Well we didn’t make it to Deventer but found a campsite in a small village of Olst. We chose not to go any further today because of a small number of Castles and ruins close by Olst. In 1440 Kampen became a member of the Hanseaic League. This was 120 years after Kampen was in it’s prime and the town center expanded considerably with large buildings. Brick houses were built into the town wall and there were over 20 gates that were surrounded by a moat. Today there are only 3 town gates remaining. When we pulled into town we saw what look liked a large street market going on so we looked for a parking space and walked into town. Well, the market was there but, they were closing down… They had been there all of Friday, Sat, and Sun and Monday everything was closing. A little disappointed but with our bellies telling us something we went looking for something to eat. We found a nice outdoor café right across from the City Hall building. Attached to the City Hall building was the Oude Raadhuis which was the seat of the administration in 1545. The Oude Raadhuis is very ornate and has quite a tale to tell. It seems that a farmer long ago thought he saw some grass growing on the roof of the building. Well, he decided to tie one of his cow’s to a rope and lift it to the roof to eat the grass off. The only problem was, after the cow had been hoisted about ¾ of the way up, it died. They have a re-creation of this each year and there has been a bronze made that sits outside of the Oude Raadhouis right now. One of the hopefuls of coming into Kampen was to find an Internet Café. Well we were given a lot of directions but after searching the entire town we finally gave up. Our hopes are to find one tomorrow…. Just a note about our camping sites; Our first site was in Utrecht and we would rate it about a 2, our next site was in Amsterdam…9, Zandvoort….5, Groningen….6, and tonight’s stay Olst….5. We have found some that we’ve had to pay for a hot shower and others not. We have had mowed grass to park on and we have had sandy grass spots. We have had co-ed shower/toilets but most separate. We have had one that smelled all the time and the others were great. There have been restaurants at almost all, but we haven’t partaken in any. There has also been some type of grocery store available on site. All the parks have been quite secure. Some have been really convenient to town by bus, train, tram or walking. Over all it has been a good experience and we look forward to those to come. 2 May ’04, Sunday. Checking out of our campsite in Groningen we headed over to Gamma’s (small Home Depot) to pick up some laminated lumber and other small construction type supplies. Then onto the highway heading South. Our first stop was in Westerbork. In 1933 when Hitler came into power in Germany, he started to systematically expel the Jewish population. In 1940 almost ¾ of the Jews had already escaped the Nazi’s. 20-30,000 of these went to the Netherlands but only a few entered with permission – the majority were illegal refugees. Those that were illegal went into various refugee camps. In early 1939 the Dutch government decided to build one central refugee camp….Westerbork. In the first year over 800 refugees could be found in Westerbork. They had to build their own community, cultivate the heath and shape their life inside the camp. After the invasion into the Netherlands by the Nazi’s, the Jews tried to escape to England but that failed. They went further north into the Netherlands only to have the Nazi’s turn them back to Westerbork. In 1941 & 42 they tried to maintain “life as normal with the kids going to school, adults had to work on the land or in one of the services of the camp. During leisure time inmates could go to specially organized cultural events or attend classes. In July of ’42 the SS corp. of the Nazi’s took over. Barbed wire and watchtowers appeared around the camp. In the same month the first deportation train with Dutch Jews left for the Death Camps of Auschwitz. This is the first camp that Anne Frank and her family were sent to after being betrayed. They too rode the deportation train to other camps. During the war more than 100,000 Jews, Gypsies and resistance fighters were carried off from Westerbork. Most people remained there only a few days or weeks before being deported to the death camps. The journey in cattle wagons used to last 3 days. A mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister, a grandfather, a grandmother, an aunt, an uncle, a cousin, a niece, a nephew, a friend was murdered by the Nazi’s 102,000 times. On April 12th, 1945 the Canadians liberated 876 Jewish prisoners in Camp Westerbork. It was very sobering but also an honor for the 2 of us to visit Camp Westerbork and have a chance to learn what went on there and to remember those that had to live and die because of Hitler and his Nazi’s. It was a quiet drive for quite awhile. We headed further South. Finally found our next stop at Flevoland and in a campground just on the other side of the dike form Harderwijk. Tomorrow a little South and then East…. (we think) 1 May ’04, Saturday. Quite a different day than yesterday. We decided that we should find a grocery store and if possible find a street market as well. As it was, we were able to do both. The office here at the campgrounds suggested that we go down the road about 30 km to Assen and we would find both of them there. We have been so lucky, the weather today is sunny and warm and that about calls out what we have been having since our arrival back in the Netherlands just about a month ago. I don’t want to say we haven’t had rain, wind, and clouds because we have, but during the day time almost everyday has been right back to the warm and mostly sunny days. We were able to find Assen with out problem and also found all that we needed to fill the refrigerator once again. Assen is a nice city of about 60,000 and in the main street of town there are no cars allowed. Lots of sidewalk eateries and pubs, shopping in nice stores was not a problem, and the people were really great. As far as the people in the Netherlands, they all have made us very comfortable, made our lives easier in helping us through the language difference (almost everyone speaks English), and being there when we need directions. Just a note about the grocery stores; They all have the little hand baskets that you can pick up throughout the stores and they all have the grocery carts. But the difference is with the grocery carts….you have to put $.50 into a coin box on the handle that releases a lock from the cart in front of it. You use the cart as usual and after you have checked out and loaded your groceries you take the cart back to the cart location and after you connect it to the cart in front with that chain mechanism again your coin comes right back out of the same slot for you. That way it seems no one will take the carts down the street and dump them into the ditch somewhere. One more difference, the grocery stores do not bag your groceries for you and they do not supply bags for what you have purchased. They do have bags available for you but, they cost an average of .15 cents each and you want to keep bringing them back with you for the next time. Among the things we brought back to the van today was a nice Salmon fillet and that’s what we barbecued for dinner tonight. Louise had given me a salmon rub (by Tom Douglas) that she picked up in the Washington Store last December and this was the first time we had had a chance to use it. It was dynamite !!! It not only tasted good it looked it as well….
30 April ’04, Friday. Happy Birthday Queen Beatrix !!!! Well, we were there and so was the whole country of the Netherlands. We caught a shuttle bus up the street that took us right into town and smack-dab in the middle of the whole nation in celebration. The City was all decked out in ORANJE !!!!! Oranje, oranje, and still more. As you know, the Queen descends from the “House Of Oranje”. It was beyond our imagination (otherwise we would have STAYED HOME !!!). I would imagine this was what you would find in New York City for their New Year’s celebration. Solid shoulder to shoulder, butt to butt, chest to chest and everyone suffocating and looking for air….. Quite a kick for a while (actually a short while). We wanted out and there were those that still wanted in. We tried to tell them what they were getting into but they didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak Dutch so it was a push and squeeze 20-30 minutes until we broke back out for good. Now we will take some credit for being dumb but this was our first time to see the Queen…. We did make it out and we did find a place to sit down for a while and we did have a lot of fun listening to all kinds of bands on just about every corner and we did some shopping and we did find the bus for our return so in retrospect a great time was had !!!! Just after we left the bus we found another happening just outside of the campgrounds. They were having Harness Racing. Well neither Louise or I had had this opportunity before so we got in on “Senior Passes” ($4 EU ea.), bought a couple of beers and sat on the grass, leaning on the fence (race track side) and watched the races….. GREAT FUN was had !!!! This was like having the race track right in your own back yard. For a fact you wouldn’t be allowed to get on that side of the fence in the States. Birthday Celebration still going on (we can hear the pop bands all this way), races over and hamburgers from the barbecue done…. Tomorrow….? 29 April ’04, Thursday. Heading North this morning started with a “Detour”. Finding this camp site last night was somewhat of a challenge but when we did we found it to be a very nice location right on a canal and bay front. Out of the way, Yes but worth it. Now getting back to leaving, just as we passed around a corner there was a barricade that we just couldn’t get around and we had to back up, turn around, and go off on a unmarked path following a dike for a looooonnnnggg time. Pleasant drive, wonderful day and we were still heading North. Not much of a change in plan. Our trip today was to take us to Denoever, across the Afsluitdijk and finish up at Groningen. Now the Netherlands is small and just about everywhere is flat, flat, flat. This is going to be the longest one day trip so far. We’ll travel about 100 miles today. The real find for the day was the Afsluitdijk. For literally 3 centuries the Dutch thought of draining the South Sea and create a huge tract of valuable farmland. So in 1927 construction started and in 1932 their job was done. They had divided the North Sea from the South Sea and Ijsselmeer was born. This is a large body of fresh water and another large body of land right out of the sea bottom. The river Ijessel flowed into the void as the salt water was no longer coming in. Fishing really took a hit but the farming industries prospered and still do today. The dike (dam) is 30km long and 90 meters wide with a series of locks at one end to allow ships and boats in and out. We had a chance to stop in the middle of the dam to see and read all about this project and we were really impressed. Our trip them took us to the “Lakes Area” of Sneek (Snake) and on to Groningen. We did pull of into a small village and made a sandwich about 2 and then headed on. On arriving in Groningen and finally finding our campsite we went to the Reception and the first thing they ask was “Do You Have A RESERVATION?”…. Why heck NO!!! Why would we need a reservation, it’s early Spring, North Netherlands, and only Thursday? Their reply was “It’s the Queen’s Birthday and SHE’S COMING TO TOWN IN THE MORNING !!!!” But, we do have a couple of openings so “that will be alright”…. We lucked out. We did know it was the Queen’s Birthday and we THOUGHT we had taken care of not being anywhere close to were she might be but, we were wrong. After setting up our pitch we donned our backpack and computer and headed off to find our internet café and check out the town before all heck was to break out in the morning. Well, we mis-calculated how far Centro was and we had a heck of a walk setout for us. We were finally fortunate in finding a internet café so we spent over 1 ½ hours up-loading over 2 weeks of journal. Then off to explore Groningen prior to the Queen’s arrival. The city was hopping!!! Banners, balloons, music stages, large TV screens, outdoor pubs, street vendors, TV cameras and all the equipment, and a lot of gawkers (us included). Tomorrow, The Queen Arrives and we’ll be there…. 28 April ’04, Wednesday. Last night we decided to hole up one more day to see if we could get ourselves feeling better prior to Keukenhof. Well, that was last night… we did sleep in till 9:30 but after our hot shower and breakfast we were all checked out and heading off to see the gardens of Keukenhof and all the flower fields on the way. Very impressive sight with all the tulip, daffodil, and hyacinth. It truly was a rainbow of bulb variety all set among the huge trees, ponds, falls, and lakes. This was all put together by a sculpture of fine art. The sun was hidden until we arrived and when it came out we were shown a unique and magnificent display. I even hate to say it but the only disappointment was the food. Expensive and I wish I could say tasteless but, I can’t. We spent about 4 hours at Keukenhof and Louise got the map out and back on the road we went. We headed N, NE and ended up at Edam on the shores of “Markermeer”. First I would like to tell you about the Markermeer. This was a “Sound” of the North Sea until the Dutch decided to seal off the mouth of the inlet with a very long dike. Now this large body of water is all fresh water and is about 10 feet below sea level (North Sea). They also developed a large land mass and this became “Flevoland” (New Land). More on both of these later…. Edam used to be a renowned whaling port. Now it is not only known for it’s beach location, unique canals, hand operated draw bridges, but during the summer it is famous for its cheese market. Would you believe 250,000 pounds of cheese is marketed each year? The cheese industry and the whaling go back to the 15th Century. As we were just getting into putting the meat on the barbecue the cloud cover started to build real fast and all of a sudden lightning and thunder started to let go on us. This was soon followed by rain of course. We were able to save everything just before the rain came in and as we sat down to eat we were treated to our second large thunder and lightning show in 2 nights. Tomorrow we will leisurely head North. |
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