We have spent so much time in this beautiful location canoeing that it might seem that it is our favorite place to canoe within The Netherlands. This last trip was the first long one in our new canoe and the last one (at the time we didn’t know it) in our VW Caddy/camper. Now, looking back it seems bitter sweet.
As most of our regular readers know we haven’t been out canoeing much in the last two, wait, three?, years. Life events change things and we changed with them and canoed when we could, realized this year the beautiful “Cedar” needed a new home and with diesel prices soaring and our high road taxes on the larger vehicle, I guess 2022 was a year of lifestyle changes for us.
Since I have written so much about the Weerribben in the past I will just highlight our trip in pictures and video. Enjoy your weekend wherever you are in the World!🛶
The fall colors were just starting to showcase.Early morning paddle into the Weerribben National Park. The only other paddlers were these ducks.The wind was still and the paddle quite, seemed that all was perfect in the universe.Having a bit of fun, sporting my Trailspace.com top 25 reviewer 2021 hat. Thank you to anyone who helped my reviews gain points for this honor. It has been a real morale booster for me being selected in the top 25 reviewers these last two years.The reflection What a beautiful morning!Any paddler that takes photographs understands, it isn’t easy, but a still, no wind day, is picture perfect and almost effortless.Fall is one of my favorite times to paddle but the weather can change quickly. The wind blows the trees lose leaves and the paddles are then resting.Then the wind starts to settle and we are back on the water.Another early morning still wind paddle.The wind picks up and we just ride without paddling.The Hubby always has a firm handle on directing the canoe. To think back now that he first started by watching YouTube videos and us doing circles in a nearby lake still makes me chuckle, but he has become very skilled and I am proud to have him as my paddle partner.End to a week long canoe vacation. Bittersweet.Our last (we didn’t know then) trip with the VW Caddy. We will miss all the room it had for our gear.
That concludes this recap from our Weerribben canoe vacation. Change is good and we have more adventures coming.
*** If you paddle (canoe or kayak) we would love to hear about your favorite fall paddle location. Please share your location in the comments section.
Thank goodness that we experienced a natural mushroom vacation and not one that has been threatened for weeks by the terrorist state of Russia!
I didn’t need to go on vacation to study the types of mushrooms that can pop out of decomposing materials, my straw garden has produced many types in the last 10 weeks of gardening.
*** Disclaimer- I am not a mushroom expert and do not collect mushrooms to eat! Never eat mushrooms from the wild unless you have been trained in what is eatable.***
A sort of fungi that grows out of my straw bale garden.For whatever reason this straw bale has a variety of different mushrooms.
But this canoe vacation took us took us to two different Dutch National Parks (De Weerribben and Dwingelderveld) it was interesting to find so many different mushroom varieties.
The temperatures have been unbelievable warm for late October. Ranging from 15-20 C! Making it very nice for our canoe paddles and for our hiking in the forests.
A nice collection of yellow mushrooms. Closer inspection A fungus on a dead birch tree.These look like a perfect a Halloween prop.These are like small umbrellas This type we found around a standing stump.These looked like alien life forms coming out of the groundThe morning mist helped give these mushrooms a glossy look.These are huge! I used my hand for perspective.This one was peeking out of the leaf forest mulch.Mushroom lifecycle.This sort was hard to spot in the leaf litter and had the most delicate stem.
We really enjoyed our mushroom sightings. I was so taken by all the different kinds that I purchased a identification book at the park visitor center.
Taking time to slow down and really see what is in the forest was a nice vacation activity.
Today is my last day in the Dutch wilderness (a empty campground cabin) without the Hubby. He will join me for these next few days.
A huge storm blew in overnight dumping tons of rain and brought howling winds. At some point I did wonder what would happen if we got enough water that I would float off into the lake while I was sleeping.
Then it cleared. The sky had a million stars. The Weerribben is maybe one of the few places here in the Netherlands where there is minimal light pollution, making it an excellent place (when it is clear) to see the night sky.
I started the day by biking to Oldemarkt, a small village about 3 kilometers from the campground.
The winds gusting to near 25mph I wasn’t sure I wanted to bike but I did need a few items. So I bravely packed my gear and set out.
The thing about biking in The Netherlands is that wind is almost constantly a factor. Knowing that can be more a mental state of self motivation.
“I will have a headwind going, so I will get there faster. Maybe, while I am shopping the wind will magically change direction or disappear.”
We all tell ourselves these sort of lies in order to make it easier keep going.
So, I am sure this is why I saw several stickers today along my route.
This was the first one. No translation needed.Here is another picture one inside Oldemarkt. NOS is a Dutch media outlet.
As I entered town I saw that the bakery was closed, won’t reopen until 5 January. I saw all the other businesses along the one Main Street were also closed per the national lockdown. So… maybe not everyone in this village believes these stickers.
Wonderful day to window shop. Body amour for sale? Awesome!
As I entered into the small village grocery there were a few customers it not anything like I experience in the busy area where we live close to Amsterdam. People were like anywhere these days, some half way made an effort to wear a mask, others not at all. Some people kept their distance, some not at all.
I made my purchases and made my way towards the cabin.
No, the wind did not change magically while I was shopping. So I window shopped some more before tackling the flat expanse. I walked slowly with my bike along side. Noticing things I haven’t seen before on other visits to this village.
One of the three churches in Oldemarkt. I like the added smile on the the other building.
There are three churches. An antique store. Two knitting/craft shops (mental note must visit next time I am here). A garden with a miniature train track. What a cool find!
A garden along my route in Oldemarkt with train tracks. I would love to have seen the train.
Did they exist all this time? Of course. I just needed to slow down an really pay attention. These items and places are real. Appreciate.
A bit of real window shopping.
Just because we don’t see things doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
Fake or real we all must determine it for ourselves. Oldemarkt is real, the virus that no one sees is real. Media is real. Sometimes what we see or experience can be fake.
Another church in Oldemarkt.
I know the wind was real for my ride across the flat Dutch fields!
I had laugh as I made my first edit, still writing 2021. Maybe by mid January writing 2022 will be natural.
I started my New Year, after getting the first good New Year’s Eve sleep in years, with a nature hike.
Trail markers close to the camp ground.
I have enjoyed these trails on other summer visits to the Weerribben National Park so I was excited to see what I would experience in the winter. There is a fair number of wild animals that call the National Park home but mostly they remain hidden in the thick brush and reeds.
I was prepared for this hike with my new Muck boots. Thanks to my friend Janet in Canada who held onto these beautiful boots for a year and half. Finally, we realized this COVID thing wasn’t going to end anytime soon, she sent them to Minnesota. Yes, it would have been cheaper just to purchase them at a farm store in Minnesota but we didn’t know that a virus was going to delay her plans for coming to Europe. Anyway, thanks Janet, I love these boots for walking muddy Dutch trails.
My Muck boots.
This hiking trail goes through some marsh like woods. I was heading to a location I hadn’t explored before close to number 19 canoe site.
A small bridge goes over the canal and into the woods. I had never explored it much from the canoe site.
Canoe site 19 from the bridge over the canalA panoramic of the woods and trail.
I started seeing signs of wildlife. Trails going across the landscape, feathers hanging on the grasses next to the trail.
Deer tracks in the mud.A feather seemed magically suspended on the grass.
Then my hike was halted by a gate. This trail was not a trail but a path to a private property. Disappointing!
STOP! Do not enter! Private property! Very clear…need to hike somewhere else.
Turning around and heading back to the main trail I continued for a few more kilometers. Hiking along the muddy trail in the isolated quiet of the National Park. The only other people I met were a couple who were trail running. They caught me hugging a tree. I had to laugh as I really thought I was alone in the woods.
That is the thing about the wilderness in The Netherlands you are almost never very far from people.
The interesting art of nature.
Hope that each of our readers gets out to your nearestwildernessin 2022.
The Cedar Journal 