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.
Our home away from home
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.
Sometimes living close to everything has advantages, like going camping on the whim of the moment.
We have a small nature camping 11 km from our house that is close to the beach and the North Sea. I have been wanting to test out our new tent we purchased for longer canoe trips. Last Monday the weather cooperated although a bit cooler we packed for our trip.
A test of how much of our gear would fit in our bike wagon. 😳
Since it is so close to home, we decided to use the bikes on this trip. Good exercise to kill a few COVID kilos we have gained and good for the environment as we peddled instead of using the Caddy.
Fully loaded and starting our Monday adventure.After weaving through Lisserbroek we stopped along the ringvaart canal before going into Lisse
As we entered Lisse, instantly it felt wrong. In April, in years past I have rode this same route day after day to my seasonal job at the Keukenhof Garden. This same route was crowded with traffic, even in the early hours of the morning. This year, with COVID closing everything it was devoid of traffic, tourist, and the normal bustle of an April tourism season. It just felt weird, other worldly.
As we got to the cycle path next to the Keukenhof Gardens, it was a bit busier with elderly cyclists and walkers but the gardens were like a ghost town. Sad, as this time of the bloom season brings over 35,000 tourists per day through the gates with thousands more coming to the area to look at the patchwork of colorful fields in bloom.
One of the fields in bloom just outside Lisse.Arrival at the camp ground.
We arrived at the camp ground to find it busier than we would think for it being a Monday. The RV area was full, and we were not the only ones braving the cooler temperatures to tent camp. I had already been warned by a friend who has been out several times this year camping that areas are full. We also have seen that when we have gone online to make reservations that many places are nearly booked for the summer.
We pulled out our gear and set up our new tent. A Kelty Night Owl 3.
The Kelty Night Owl 3 all settled for the overnight camping.
This location had plenty of room between tents and is located in a wooded area next to the protected sand dune natural barrier from the sea. We could hear the wooded area was alive with bird activity. We were not able to capture any of it on film as we didn’t have space enough to bring the larger camera.
We cooked a very nice meal of chicken/rice/mushroom soup.
Still loving my Sea to Summit cooking gear and my Jetboil camping stove.Bundled up for the cool night.
We had a reasonably good night of sleep. I could hear all the night noises, traffic, airplanes, but also nature, foxes yipping in the sand dunes, owls hooting from their roost and we woke to a multitude of birds singing.
In the morning we reverse packed all our new gear in under a half hour and were ready for our return trip.
Last minute packing of the bikes for our return trip home.
We said our goodbyes to the campground help and headed for home. This time through De Zilk between the flower fields.
Stopped to take pictures while in De Zilk
Within an hour we were back at home for a coffee and apple pie. Gear was cleaned and repacked for our next adventure. Our spirits were renewed and refreshed.
Until our next posted adventure… stay safe and remember to “Leave no trace” when camping in nature.
When we attended the Dutch Open Canoe Festival a few weeks ago we decided to accept a suggestion of staying at a less busy camping location not far from the Weerribben.
The area map showed all the places to explore
The Hubby and I had visited another area of this forest earlier this Spring and knew it had features we wanted to explore including a lake.
Panorama of the lake
As we pushed the canoe cart towards the lake we were stopped by the Park Ranger who was clearly a wooden canoe enthusiast. He asked us all the normal questions we get about the canoe. Did we build it? How it was made? How does it paddle?
Then he informed us that the beautiful lake was not available to paddle but that he would allow us if we respected the wildlife. We quickly thanked him and continued to the lake and had a very nice paddle on a lake that reminded us both of areas in Northern Minnesota.
A man made natural shoreline of the park lake.The sky reflected on the lake was just beautiful.Some of the wildlife that the Park Ranger is trying to make sure is undisturbed with loud boats on the lake. We were respectful that we shared the lake and maintained our distance.
The campsite was spacious and the campground had done a great job of making it as COVID 19 social distancing proof as possible. This was comforting as we camped through the busy weekend we never once felt we were at risk of catching the virus from any of the other campers.
Direction signs clearly posted to the common shower/toilet facilitiesBricks placed at the 1.5meter distance taking the guesswork out of “how close is that person?”.Handy indicators on what was available inside the facility.Sinks were taped off and the taps removed so that it was very clear what could be used and which ones were not available.
There are a number of hiking trails located within walking distance of the campground. With hidden treasures of nature or man made features waiting to be discovered.
One of the trails close to the campground with a wise wooden caretaker.A closer look at the wise woodsman.This area of pine trees just off the trail could easily be from Minnesota, but it is The Netherlands!This forest is known for the European Oriole. We thought we heard them but in the end we only were able to get a picture of the beautiful tree canopy.Across a pasture we noticed a tipi!
The park has several tipis for rent but this one seemed to be used for nature programs that the Park Rangers provided.
The program tipi This trail was guarded by a gnome. What other surprises did it hold?Possible hummm? A gnome house just off the trail.
Not that a small gnome house would be surprising to see on this trail. It was a children trail and what better way to inspire children in nature than to feature gnomes and a small house.
I would recommend this beautiful forest location for anyone who would like to get out of the house and into nature.
We have accomplished another short escape from the Amsterdam area. This time we headed to Limburg.
A window box of flowers in Eygelshoven. We saw many of these along our bike ride.
Normally we stay at a wonderful B&B (Meens B&B) in Schinnen but this time of the year, most vacation lodging is booked far in advance. This year with Covid running rampant in European vacation locations outside of the Netherlands, many Dutch have decided to stay and vacation here inside the country. This has made getting accommodations (even camping spots) challenging.
We decided on very short notice to go to Limburg. We were very lucky to find a farm camping location in the outskirts of Landgraaf.
I worked in Limburg for a couple of years prior to my retirement and knew that Landgraaf has a downhill ski facility and hosts a summer music festival (that didn’t happen this summer). As in most locations where I have worked sometimes I didn’t really explore as much as I would have liked due to time constraints. It is nice now to really enjoy the areas around where I spent my last two years of employment with the US Government.
Sign into the farm camping.
We were nicely surprised at this camping location. Large roomy bathroom facilities. Trees between the camping spots that provide some much needed shade as the temperatures creeped towards 30C. A expansive view of the Limburg landscape reaching into Germany. The German border is only 2 kilometers (approximately 1 mile) from where we camped.
Morning view over the Limburg landscape
The differences in Limburg from Amsterdam area are vast. Hills instead of flat land make it great for bicycle training. The Dutch language also changes here into something that is part German, local Dutch and influenced also by the Belgium speakers of French, making hard even for my Dutch hubby to understand.
It was a nice getaway. Biking in the Limburg area, relaxing at the campsite. Too short in duration, different too from other vacations as we can’t just shop without a mask or are constantly thinking is this or that safe. It was a time to regroup, reconnect, listen to nature and re-energize.
A few thousand free range chickens next to the camping.These cattle were trying to stay cool and keep the flies away. Much like the campers
Loaded down with the last of my American shopping for the year we head home to Amsterdam.
My bike loaded with American products from the military commissary.
It finally happened, a weekend away. It didn’t happen without a risk assessment and long discussion about the risks. This trip almost didn’t happen at the last minute as warnings about increased cases in our local area on Wednesday had us thinking once again about the risks. Then, I started sneezing like crazy (I have crazy allergies…but in this day and age of rampant virus I questioned myself). We held our breath, I popped some Claritin and we packed the Caddy.
First canoe camping weekend with all our gear this year.
On Thursday (with no news of the threatened local lockdown) we hit the road, heading towards one of our favorite places to canoe paddle the Weerribben National Park.
First a cup of coffee before setting up camp!
Once we had arrived and set up our campsite, we headed out for a short evening paddle. Our paddle muscles cried out as we inched along. Months of sitting dormant and this sudden burst of use was a surprise for muscles that normally mid summer are well accustomed to paddling use.
Our evening canoe paddle.
What better way to give the muscles a real boost than to prepare chocolate pastries on the grill.
First time we have used our pizza stone for our grill to make pastries. A real muscle moral booster.
As with any camping trip we had the threat of rainy weather. We kept a close eye on the weather radar app on our phones the entire weekend. Scheduling our outings between rain storms. We accomplished that with success this weekend as we managed a 12km canoe paddle on Friday and a 20km bike ride on Saturday. Just as we finished up our bike ride the sky opened up and poured rain on us the entire night into Sunday morning. We stayed nice and dry inside the Caddy although we did have to battle a few mosquitos.
Friday canoe paddle with water lilies blooming.Enjoying a lunch along the way.
Oh no! We forgot our tools to eat!!! No knife! What can we do?
Nature always provides.Perfect solution.A butterfly that thought the blue dry sack was a nice place to hang out.Cedar at our lunch stop point. The canals were very busy with vacation people either paddling or with the slow electric motor boats constantly going past.Saturday bike ride near Kalenberg.Wildflowers along our path.Then the rain…
