All About the Netherlands.....

Hi Blog,

Forrest Gump once said, life is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you'll get. That's sort of what we discovered RVing around the US. You just never know who you will run into.  Take for example, the other day we were talking to Fred from Michigan about how he was heading back from Maine to attend his granddaughter's dance recital. He gave us lots of great tips on where to go and what to see while in Maine. While we were talking, two bicyclists came in with all kinds of gear bags hanging from their bikes. We figured they must be bike camping.

After dinner, we took our usual stroll around the campground and stopped to chat with the bike campers - Philippe and Susanna. A lovely young couple from the Netherlands. They were biking from Manhattan to Canada, where Philippe's sister is now living. They were planning to stay in the campground an extra day and rest and do some laundry. Unfortunately, the camp's laundry facility was knocked out by the flooding last year and is still in need of repair. We offered to let them use our washer and dryer the next day.

As it turns out, Tuesday brought us the worst weather of our entire stay here. It just rained and rained. We donned our rain coats and treated ourselves to breakfast and a latte at the Dunkin Donuts around the corner. Philippe and Susanna came over around 10:00 a.m. to start their laundry. It was obvious, that we were not going to get any outdoor activity in today, unless we wanted to do it in the rain. We encouraged Susanna and Philippe to walk around the corner to the Dunkin' Donuts (their first experience).  We put on a morrocan lamb crockpot and waited out the worst of the storm. The plan was to dehydrate any leftover crockpot to use for backpacking next week. So, I needed to run to the grocery store and get some more parchment paper.

When the kids came back from their donut experience, we all headed to the grocery store. Both Susanna and Philippe studied law in college. It was fun comparing notes about the differences between American zoning laws and building codes and how things are done in the Netherlands. Upon arriving back at camp, with the rain coming down, it was obvious there was only one thing to do - take a nap. We dropped the kids off at their tent and headed back to the RV.  By now, the morrocan lamb was starting to really smell good - and it was!

After dinner, Susanna and Philippe came over to discuss their route up into the Adirondacks. We had just driven that way, twice, once for a Mount Hadley hike and again for our backpack. We went over their route and checked to see if they would encounter any steep grades. Luckily, the route they plan to take only had one grade warning and that was only 7%-8% - no problem.  We also helped them map out a short trip on the Eire Canal Bike Trail. They promise to give us a full report once they get to Canada.

It stayed pretty rainy and damp the whole night. We put the fireplace on and ate the cookies that Susanna and Philippe bought for us (they're such nice kids). We spent hours comparing the political climate here in the US and what they are going through in the Netherlands. We sometimes forget that the rest of the world was also impacted by 9-11 and the Afgan and Iraq wars. We covered a wide range of topics and the next thing we knew it was close to midnight.

The next morning dawned bright and sunny. We took care of a few chores around the RV (finished some of our laundry and emptied the holding tanks). Just as we were ready for lunch, Susanna and Philippe were ready to shove off on the next leg of their adventure. We wished them a bon voyage and snapped this photo by the boat ramp:

They inspired us to get our bikes out. We rode for a couple hours up and back - almost 20 miles - on the Erie Canal Trail. After our ride, we enjoyed happy hour on the dock, while our neighbor, Tommy, was fishing for bass. He lived in the area and knows it well, and gave us some tips about campgrounds in New York as well as on the West Coast of Florida.  We also BS'ed about fishing and driving trucks.  

Just another day in the life of Dave and Kathy.