The Cedar Journal

Floris V Pad – Diemen to Weesp

The Cedar Journal July 12, 2021

My Floris V Pad Hiking Numbers:

Floris V Pad- Amsterdam to Bergen op Zoom total distance 245 km
Diemen to Weesp – 9.6km
Total to date hiked – 103km
Distance to complete – 141.1km

As I pushed my way out the door last week to hike another section of the Floris V Pad I was greeted with beautiful weather. To me it felt almost like a normal pre COVID day until… I got to the bus stop where I had to place a mask on my face for the journey. Just a week had passed by since my hike with my friend through Amsterdam but riding the train with her seemed to fly by without much thinking about the hassle of wearing a mask. Now, my stomach turned with anxiety as I started my journey.

Bus 300→Schiphol Airport → Train to Amsterdam Central → Train to Diemen.

The more than hour ride on the crowded public transport was enough to make me question my sanity of hiking. Taking the public transport to get to my start point, my inner voice constantly asking what if?

“What if that person that just coughed behind me has the Delta variant?”

“What if those tourists that got on the train carried a new form of the virus here to Amsterdam?”

“What if this mask I am wearing isn’t good enough?”

The biggest what if… “What if the vaccine I got doesn’t protect me?”

By the time I got off the train in Diemen I was pretty frazzled. As I came off the train platform, I encountered the first challenge in the hike. A construction worker directing me that I couldn’t walk in the direction I needed to go. I am sure I gave him an eye roll and a dirty look.

As I altered my path to the left, in an entirely different direction from the start of the trail, I grabbed my Garmin 64s gps out of the backpack and paired it with my phone. Realizing with shock, that my phone was at 50% battery and that I didn’t have the charging cable or my back up power pack! Not a great start to the day, to realize that I wasn’t prepared. I better just find my way to the start point.

I decided to walk in a square around the construction site. That sounds easy but in this country of water, canals and large housing areas it is always an adventure. You can start out thinking “I will just go down this street and then cut back across.” Then realize that when you finally get across a canal of water, that you could be very far away from where you wanted or needed to be.

I lucked out this time. I found a small bridge across the water, cut through several parking lots of several high rise apartment buildings, walked back in the direction I wanted to go from the train station, then I was back in familiar territory of the week prior.

Now at my start point, I headed East towards Weesp through a very industrial area. Passing a car repair shop, some business that dealt in designer items (wondered why here?), and the largest thrift store in Diemen. I was tempted to stop and shop but my backpack was already full of gear, it really didn’t seem wise.

The trail now started to look a bit more like the other sections of the Floris V Pad that I have already hiked. Suddenly I was in an area that had a horse stable! Then trees lined the path and the sound of the city rush seemed to disappear as did my earlier anxiety of public transport and frustration of not being prepared.

A tunnel leading out of Diemen and into nature.

The path was in stark contrast to the public transport. Quiet, hardly any people.

I came to a nice bench in a wooded spot and looked at my phone battery. It was decreasing fast with the Garmin app active. I quickly texted the Hubby my situation so that if he tried to reach me by phone he would know why I wasn’t answering.

As I enjoyed my coffee on the bench and watched the walkers, dog walkers, and park cleaners pass by me I looked over and saw this.

I let out a loud laugh! Was I getting a message from the universe? I got up from my bench to get a closer look.

Yup, someone has been to Las Vegas! That sticker must have a story to tell! I laughed again at the thought of who might have placed it here in Diemen.

My gps route in blue. I was able to plot way points on my Garmin…

As I continued my hike towards Weesp I entered into a forested area. This one had a large sign with information about the area and what I might find while hiking. I smirked to myself when I saw a pine marten and a snake nicely displayed. Knowing that it was the middle of the day and very warm, not likely to see any of those creatures today!

I was on the trail totally alone, walking through what seemed to me like isolated territory, less than 12 km from the center of Amsterdam. This foot path was wonderful. I was watching my phone battery slowly die as I hiked the path. Just as I lifted my eyes from a near dead phone battery, I stood still in shock as this snake blocked my passage!

This was only the second snake I have ever seen while living in The Netherlands (15 years). Not caring that my battery was almost dead I took a picture of this very upset snake. If he was any bigger I would have taken his threats of pulling himself off the ground and making the ring around his neck flare outward seriously. At only about a foot and half long and not poisonous I knew he wouldn’t be a threat. I waited for him to backdown and move off the trail.

Slithering away with head held high in defeat.

The day was getting warmer as I walked now out of the forest and back into farm country. I came along a very nice roadside stand that was selling eggs, and ice cream. With a nice sitting area for a person to take a rest. I couldn’t resist the ice cream. I sat and enjoyed the cool treat and was entertained by a passing damsel fly that stopped also for a rest. My universe felt perfect at that moment.

I just love these roadside stands! This one was even better than most as it provided ice cream for those who stopped with change in their pocket.

Sharing my hike resting spot with this damsel fly.

It was time to get moving to my final destination. I turned off the phone to save the last of the charge and put my legs into overdrive now engergized with the ice cream sugar high, to get to Weesp. This section of the hike goes over a large bridge over the Amsterdam Rijnkanaal (Amsterdam Canal). I watched large barges going in both directions as I hiked over the canal and into the outskirts of Weesp.

Weesp is where I started this hiking adventure of the Floris V Pad in late 2018. Now coming into the town from a different direction I experienced the cosy neighborhoods with beautiful front gardens as I wound into the town center where I had started this trail.

I finally reached the point where I had started. I quickly turned on the phone and took a picture of the point.

Weesp – Where I started in 2018 and ended on this section between Amsterdam and Weesp.

I walked through town, placed the mask on my face and entered the train station. My legs felt the strain of the walk but my spirit felt renewed.

Interested in my other Floris V Pad hiking sections? You can link to my start in Weesp here, or search Floris V Pad in the menu bar to read about my other section hikes.

Hiking the Floris V Pad – Amsterdam

The Cedar Journal July 7, 2021

Amsterdam is the start of the Floris V Pad hiking trail. It is not where I started my 245km hike in 2018. I decided to start in Weesp and save Amsterdam for a later time.

Logically, this hike should have been from Schoonhoven to Nieuw-Lekkerland. But, when a friend mentioned she wanted to hike with me and that she grew up in Amsterdam it provided a perfect opportunity to cross this Amsterdam section off my list.

MY FLORIS V PAD HIKING STATS:

Distance on this hike from Amsterdam start point to Diemen – 9.5 KM

Total Hiked to date – 94.3 KM

Total distance to Bergan op Zoom – 245 KM

Distance to complete – 150.7 km

This friend is a world traveler and a good ten years younger than I. I was a bit nervous about sharing my hiking with her. Silly, but true. Could I keep up? What if we got lost (that does happen to me occasionally)? What about snacks? What gear should I take now? I needed to think about two people and not only myself. Would the weather cooperate?

These are always concerns but when hiking on my own but I just kinda go with the flow of the universe. Was this friend like that? I have walked with her on short walks around our neighborhoods but this was different.

As I prepped in the days prior to the hike, I pulled out some older hiking gear. I would actually have to navigate this hike. Out came the Garmin 64s. We have used this devise for years for our canoe trips and I use to integrate the maps into my blogs. That was until I switched to a MacBook Air, then the pairing of the Garmin 64s was near impossible (most likely due to my lack of wanting to learn how to fix what was wrong and make it work). So I stopped using it as my navigation tool for hikes. Recently, I have just been using the old school methods of printed maps, intuition, and pure darn luck, and it works! So after three frustrating hours of downloading several Garmin apps on both my phone, and my MacBook Air, finding the interface cable for the Garmin, pairing the devices (still not sure I did it correctly), and downloading the gpx Floris V Pad file onto my devices. I thought I was finally up to date with the 21st century technology and ready to hit the hiking streets of Amsterdam. Take notice there are no Garmin maps on this blog posting! Meaning that I couldn’t get the track to save or load once we were completed with the hike. 🙄😬🤬

As I woke the morning of the hike, it was pouring down rain. I wondered if I would get the text message that my friend would rather not hike. I made up my mind that I would hike even if she decided this was not her kind of weather. Taking the words of advise from my Dutch Hubby when I first moved here…

“If you wait for a beautiful weather day here in this country, you will sit in the house all day! Doing things in the rain builds character!”

Now, with 14 years of character under my belt, hiking in the rain is normal and even enjoyable for me.

With only a text message asking if she should bring an umbrella we planned on meeting at the local train station.

Route to Amsterdam to start the Floris V Pad using public transport. Bike to train station Nieuw-Vennep→Train to Amsterdam Central Station→walk to Amsterdam Dam square.

My hiking partner for the day was Malika of ma.malika.travels on Instagram. I met Malika this last year at one of my volunteer jobs. Her family immigrated to The Netherlands from Morocco when she was young and lived not far from the large cruise ship dock in Amsterdam.

When we got to the Dam square we took a selfie in front of the royal palace to celebrate the start of the hike. Yes, it was still raining.

Two friends starting out the on the Amsterdam Dam Square hiking the Floris V Pad. (photo credit Malika)

The Floris V Pad stickers along the route were not easy to find along the first part of the trail. Luckily I had my gps map loaded on the Garmin and linked to my phone. The three hours of frustration the day prior paid off! We hiked along, looked in shop windows and talked about how she grew up in this old scenic city. The best part of the day, we didn’t have to fight tons of tourists!

Looking down the canal towards the Oude Kerk

We finally found one of the route stickers.

Our first route sticker of the day. Malika was very happy to find one.

Not far from our first route sticker we saw this statue. The guy must be famous.

Not only famous but we found out he was a philosophical guy.

Now we were almost to the area where the Floris V Pad follows the East bank of the Amstel River. Along the route, people setting up tables with items for sale. Malika shared with me that we were very close to the open air flea market. We stopped and talked with one of the vendors. We found out that it was actually the same flea market although it had been reduced in size due to COVID rules, then relocated due to construction. After this short exchange we continued our hike.

Now the trail hugged the Amstel River. The old buildings and neighborhoods in this area feels different from the hub of Amsterdam. Quieter. The streets are lined with micro gardens, the river banks lined with house boats, the architecture of the buildings old (by my standards, 1600-1900).

A houseboat along the Amstel with a green roof.

Malika and I chatted about the gardens, and all that we encountered.

Malika checking out the sedum roof on the chicken coop.

One item that caught our eye was this huge wisteria vine.

This wisteria vine has been artfully woven into the water drain pipe and along the building front.

At one point we had to take a detour due to construction. This could have caused anxiety leading us in the opposite direction back across the Amstel, to the next bridge, then back across to catch up with the trail again, but no anxiety, we just found a cool container garden.

This garden sits on the West Bank of the Amstel River. With no “ground” they have made a wonderful garden of potted plants. (photo credit Malika)

The rain had finally reduced to a light drizzle. My rain jacket came off and went into the backpack.

We found our actual first Floris V Pad sticker.

We crossed over the s111 road and headed away from the Amstel River. This section of the trail is a long bike path along a canal. As we looked back towards the city, Malika made sure that I took note of the Rembrandt Tower, the tallest structure in Amsterdam.

This dress added some color into our hike.

The street art and graffiti also along this section of the hike was colorful.

We were getting close to our destination, Diemen train station. The station would mark about 9 km. This small suburb of East Amsterdam had its own treasures to reveal to hikers.

An old windmill that has been turned into a single family home.

Just down the street was this cute home.

My phone had had enough exercise too, for the day. The battery was nearly dead from all the apps running my Garmin. We landed safely at the train station after completing 9.5 km.

All those worries and concerns about hiking with a friend were forgotten. We had a wonderful and fun hike.

Special thanks to Malika for joining me on this hike and for her photography, plus the app (Runkeeper) she used to capture the trek.

Hummm… June 2021

The Cedar Journal June 25, 2021

I will start with a random act of kindness. Yes, I believe those people still exist in this crazy world.

Someone in Hillegom placed this ice cream on my bike.

Thank you universe for this wonderful random act of kindness. I asked people who were close to my bike if they had seen who had placed it there. Nope. Hummm… an ice cream angel. We all could use a few of those.

This hummm… happened in my back garden a few days ago. Butterfly love.

Hummm… Butterflies and dragonflies landing on me is nothing new. This one in our back garden landed on me several times while I was working. On my arm, my hat several times, then on a ladder with tools. Upon a closer look I noticed it had a damaged wing. Most likely at the end of its short life cycle. I was happy it found our garden as a resting place.

While on vacation we saw plenty of Hummm… although our cameras were not always available to catch the moment. As always clothes that have been dislocated from the person seemed to be a theme in our Hummm… finds.

A hat in a tree along a canoe route. Not uncommon.

Hummm… a belt in a tree along a canoe trail? That is a new one for us! It does take a great deal of effort to lose a belt in the woods.

Then the birds are adding to the already thick June Hummm… digital file.

This is a multi purpose house as a bird found a way to make a nest here. Hummm… was she successful?

While at the local strawberry farm… I got surprised when I went for a nice ripe strawberry and a bird popped up in my face.

A beautiful nest hidden in the strawberries.

Disclaimer… we find some things to make us think and ask hummm…. The following pictures may not be appropriate for some of my readers. I thought I should warn you first!

Hummm… I wonder what you can get at the last town listed on this sign? Maybe… Sex… Beer… Rum…?

This next photo was taken on a day trip out to IJmuiden to watch ships coming into the Amsterdam canal.

When we started to drive out of the parking area heading on our way home, the Hubby slammed on the brakes! I thought we had forgotten something.

“Did you see that?“ he asked

“What?“ as I scanned the grassy area for some rare bird.

“Look at that building we just passed!”

“OMG! That is a Hummm… for sure!“

A building off the beach in IJmuiden. We found it actually had a name.
*Man in Conflict with Nature*

So we have come to the end of the June 2021 Hummm file. Once July starts we will be fully vaccinated and will on the road a bit more so I am sure we will collect more of the items that make us wonder hummm…

Stay safe everyone!

Wordless Wednesday – Alde Feanen Storks

The Cedar Journal June 16, 2021

cedar strip canoe

What Did You Do on Vacation?

The Cedar Journal June 13, 2021

Ahhh, the good old days before COVID 19, when we planned vacations and then returned home to write exciting blogs about our adventures. Ah, those were the days!

Our readers won’t get excited about this recent vacation. Only an hour an half down the road and only seven days long. We toured two different Dutch National Park locations, in fact it was pretty boring.

Boring isn’t a bad thing. In fact, we felt like the vacation was very relaxing. The vacation felt more normal than we have felt outside our local area (mostly our back garden) in the last year and a half.

First stop, the Weerribben National Park. We have blogged about this favorite of ours several times over the years (you can read about those experiences here, here, here and here). On this vacation, we decided to rent one of the vacation houses with direct water access for five days. We took several day trips to other paddle locations in the immediate area. We paddled a total of 40km. Our paddling muscles got a good workout.

Our first night paddling along the National Park

We relaxed on the deck overlooking the water and campground. We listened to the birds and watched the dragonflies. The constant stress of the year melted away. The digital devices were mostly off and we enjoyed being bored.

Enjoying a solo paddle right off our vacation house deck.

The Hubby is relaxing in front of the dryer.😂 Now that is boring!

Watching insects can be very boring and relaxing.

There were thousands of dragonflies. I finally got one dragonfly boring enough to pose for a picture.

The Hubby let me out to take a Hummm picture (more to follow on a future blog).

The next stop on our vacation was to a National Park in Friesland, Alde Feanen National Park. We have stopped here before for a short paddle (you can read about that here).

We decided to tent camp in a nature area. This was an excellent location to see nesting storks. In fact we didn’t have to go far, as we had a view of four nests right from our campsite.

Stork nests on right and left of this open field provided plenty of boring entertainment.

In our seven days away we enjoyed our quiet time, restored depleted energy and just enjoyed nature.