THE NETHERLANDS

THE NETHERLANDS August 19, 2014  The end of our journey. 

We are back in the flat lands where you can see forever. Another splendid ride today. A dramatic big wide sky full of rain clouds. Sun rays penetrate in spots, mottling chickens pecking in the orchard and cows and sheep in the fields. More hard rain, rainbows come and go. Natural growth of trees, grasses and purple heather grace the roadside swaths. Oh yes, we must be in Holland because a sailboat motors along a canal that is an overpass above us! These Dutch! We pass the towns of Sneek and Redugem. We are nearly to David's cousins in Friesland. We have not seen Cees (Case) and Cisca Verwolf for a year. Since that time, they and Cees' sister Arina, have made their way to Montana, USA, for a Verwolf Renunion! First meeting of the Dutch Verwolfs and American Verwolfs at the Reunion. The event drew a good crowd. 

We are greeted to their home like the family we are! Such lovely people, just our sort!

August 20, 21 & 22

Cisca keeps us fed and 'coffeed' through our morning talk of reunions and journeys and philosophies of the current world situations. We learn to say 'Bon Apetite' in Dutch...'Wel bekome”, a wish for strength to be gained from the meal...or, that the meal 'falls' well. Our sheets get washed and hung out in the back yard to dry causing a game of will against the heavy periodic rains! Pull off the laundry...into the house...back outside...pin everything back on the line...repeat...repeat. Cees copies documents that we must fill out for shipping our camper from Rotterdam to Miami. We sort and pack. What do we take with us in the suitcases that our hosts have provided for us (one of them being Cees's wonderful old seafaring suitcase, the other picked up secondhand)? What do we leave with Daisy? It is so easy to be here, they continue life as usual... so we do also.

Cees and Cisca are always aware of our preferences. On the second day we climb into their car and head out to the Belvedere art museum, about an hour's ride. It sits in a rural spot striding the Grand Canal, in a newly landscaped park. The building is a handsome shoebox shape...with attention paid to showing off the exhibits in a good light. Architect; Eerde Schippers. I enjoy excellent fresh paintings and styles by well known Dutch artists. And then, on to our favorite food stop...a Chinese restaurant that cannot be beat. A fresh buffet and choice of having your choice of foods grilled or cooked in the wok. 

This morning Cisca has been out in the garden picking beans...beans for the freezer which she parboils...and beans for our dinner which are sliced diagonally on a special cutter to make 'shy-bone-shees'. This was a job that David had as a kid. We have the beans with meat and potatoes for dinner. The absolute best of a country meal which we cannot make well in our little camper van. 

After dinner we play Skip-bo and Rummy-cube...laughing, teasing and argueing as one does in a game for fun.  And then it is time to try out Cisca's electric bike. So many trails, signs to this way and that and even a directional book in your pack if you should need it. David is on Cees' bike and Cees is on his father's old black Dutch style bike. It fits this scene and seems to handle very well. The electric bike is fun. Who would think to need one on these lovely flat Friesland trails, but, oh my it is nice. You can use the electricity at different levels. I set it at the lowest rate so I do get some exercise but it is a dream even so. 

August 23

It is very hard to say goodbye this morning. Will we have more times together? Living so far away. 

We drive south to Ameida. Arina has invited us to stay with her and she has arranged for us to see family. We stop by Harry and M          , Arina's son and daughter-in-law. They have a sweet and tiny home which we tour. These two are travelers...even in the USA driving route 66 in a Ford Mustang. In the afternoon we visit Tant Lena, 86, and her daughter Annaleise, then dinner with Jori and Elspeth Verwolf, whom have been, for years, the Dutch contact to the American Verwolf family. David's father first made the contact with Aurie, Jori's father. We meet at a Dutch Pancake Restaurant...not like ours in that you can get anything in or with pancakes...sweet and savory. Lots of Verwolf talk, not all connections are solved. Many stories and much laughter around this table. We sleep well in Arina's home...she insists!

August 24

Mmmmmm. Baking, just out of the oven, wafts a delicious aroma up the stairs! Arina has been up early preparing breakfast. Croissants and warm buns. Good coffee. Our last few minutes together. We leave at 10:00 a.m. for Rotterdam, my heart nearly stuck in my throat, but there is nothing to do but accept that these are the days of preparation and action for returning home to North America.

We find the shipping office and park. We reorganize and pack up the suitcases before we find a WOK restaurant for dinner, then watch a few more episodes of Borgen.

August 25 & 26

We hand Daisy over to the shipper. She will be put into a container with another car and reach Miami about September 25^th. She is in charge of our mascots, Shaboom, the red Danish horse and Willie, the spotted ceramic guinea pig, while they travel to America in the rolling darkness. We take a taxi to the Amsterdam airport...yes, it is expensive...$200!!! But it takes the hassel out of shlepping from taxi to bus and trains with two heavy suitcases. We pretend that this is okay for our budget. We sit back and relax and try to gather a calm place within. Our hotel is the economy Ibis hidden behind the fancy one. This evening we nap, walk to a restaurant and watch TV. 

We are up at 6:45 and make it down to breakfast late...all the food has been put away! (We eat potato chips bought from an automated machine.) A shuttle bus picks us up and drops us off at the airport. We make it through check in and find our gate where we have a short time to wait. David has baggies full of left-over money from many countries. He runs to find a money changer. Oh my, this could be trouble. Everybody is boarding. I stand alone and wait. And wait. The gate attendant asks me if I am boarding this plane? “Yes, I am but............” I board without him. He soon follows, huffing and puffing. Finally seated and settled, an official somebody comes to us. “Are you David Verwolf?”... “Yes”... “We found your credit card. You left it in the ticket machine. Don't worry. We will send it to you”. Oh my, I guess we do not have it 'all together' today. A long whoosh to our next stop hours and hours away across the Atlantic ocean on a new KLM Boeing aircraft. Upon landing we have to change planes before heading to our destination which means going through customs and checking in once more. We are almost out of patience and energy and brain power. We settle in to wait for our last flight, to Spokane, Washington, where we will pick up our Toyota Sienna and head out to visit family and friends after an absence of three years. 

Just one more thing... David left our second credit card in the second ticket machine. We cancel the card. Yes, we are a bit rattled...what is ahead of us in this unfamiliar life style of a country we call home?