Tina & Rob’s excellent adventure

In the old fishing village of Enkhuizen, which dates back to the Middle Ages, we visited the Zuiderzee Museum . We went with our friends Rob, Renate and their 6 year old son, Ryan. Unfortunately, we had rainy weather so didn’t take any photographs. The museum consists of old houses, moved from all over Holland that depicts life in the old days. Blacksmith, sailmaker, shipbuilder, & laundry all in working order, and for demonstration.

The photo of the gate house Drommedaris, which was the entry into the city was built in 1540. Old Dutch fishing boats line the seawalls in the harbor. It is one of our favorite places to visit, so picturesque and cozy.

Our good friends Hildo & Joke live in Enkhuizen so we stopped by for a visit with them..always a good time with great food, stimulating conversation, and LOTS of laughs!

This boat belongs to Rob’s brother, Anthony. He was nice enough to let us use it. We took it out on the Vinkeveense Plassen a group of small lakes outside of Amsterdam. It is a man-made nature and watersport area that was created from the digging of peat for Amsterdam during the 17th-19th centuries. Along the lakes are camping spots & summer houses that are used for summer-time enjoyment. We lazed along the lake enjoying the great waarm weather, but the water was a little to chilly for this Florida girl (70 F). Rob took a refreshing dip though!

We are back in Wijk aan Zee in the house of our friend Ed. I (Rob) spent the past weekend with the guys camping (as you know, not my favorite pastime) in Nijmegen. Every year one of the group of 8 has to organize a weekend away, and this was the first time I was able to go along. Saturday we went on an outdoor adventure outing, canoing, raft building etc. At night we went into the city for dinner and a “few” beers. Tuesday (today) is the start of the “Vierdaagse”. Four days of walking 50 Kilometers (approx. 32 Miles) each day. This year 43,000 people signed up including our friends Jan en Rob. There is a whole week of festivities. Every night 200,000 people visit the city. There are about 30 Stages set up and everywhere is Live Music. After a great dinner we made it back to the campsite at 1 AM. Sunday morning, after a “restful” night sleep we visited the National Bicycle museum and spent the afternoon in one of the National Parks. We had dinner in the city again before leaving Rob en Jan behind. We had a blast.

Oh yeah, we have a winner for the car naming contest submitted by Gary & Lynne: BOOGER OR as we like to call her “Lil Booger”

Gary & Lynne, you will be notified of your winnings at a later date…..much later

We drove to Mayrhofen Austria, about a 10 hour drive from Holland. What a gorgeous place! We had incredible, warm sunny weather. It is a skier’s paradise in winter, but there is also plenty to do in summer…hiking, mountain biking, paragliding, and white water rafting. From town you can ride the gondolas to higher elevations, and hike from there. There is something for everyone there….shops, restaurants, and night clubs. From our apartment we had views of the Alps, and as you can see from the photos they are awesome! During our hikes we heard the sounds of running rivers and waterfalls, birds singing, and cow bells! Mountain wildflowers added to the Alpine beauty. We hiked at least 4 hours everyday, so we sure slept well at night, especially with the sound of the river Ziller coming through our opened windows. We really enjoyed this idyllic spot in Austria, and would definitely go back again!

Introducing our latest mode of transportation. It is a bright green Opel Agila. We’ve leased her for the 6 months we are in Europe. We are taking suggestions for a name! All ideas welcome!

Welcome home dinner at Pa & Ma’s Hoogeveen’s for Angela, Melody & Jim. It was a lovely evening. They were visiting from Hudson and spent a few weeks traveling Ireland, Holland & the Czech Republic.

Also in the Berchtesgaden area, lies Lake Konigssee. Surrounded by mountains it is 8 km long, 1 1/4 wide and almost 200 meters deep. It is emerald green, crystal clear, and the cleanest lake in Germany. Since 1909 only electric sightseeing boats travel the lake, and you see kayakers as well, the result is complete silence and serenity as you travel along the lake. At one of the stops we walked to Lake Obersee which lies at the end of the valley, there you see the Rothbach waterfall. There were many other walks along the lake and I wish we would have had more time to see all the amazing sights (like the Ice Chapel, an enormous ice vault in the rock face, that doesn’t melt , even in the summer months) Oh well, we have to move on…next stop, to nearby Austria!