Day Eight: Leeuwarden to Echtenerbrug: (Year 8: 1975)

September 28, 2017

In 1975 we were driving down a street in the Fort Rouge district of Winnipeg, which is adjacent to the Red River. Just like in Miracle on 34th Street Dodie said "Wait, that's our house!". So that's how we came to buy the house on Scott Street. When we were moving in, someone high in a house across the street greeted us from a window. That turned out to be Marsha, who has now been our friend for over 40 years.

The girls attended a daycare called Mini School. We liked their motto "If you don't believe everything your kids tell you about us, we won't believe all they tell us about you". Because this was frozen Winnipeg, I used to drag the girls to school on a sled. I think this is something they still remember, hopefully fondly.

Joni and Laurie, like all kids, love bikes. But in 1975 touring was not yet really on anyone's radar.

Here is music that Dodie listened to a lot while wallpapering the new place:

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Friesland redeemed itself today, as we ran into all kinds of nice people. There was the lady running the breakfast room at the hotel who was simply very personable and seemed interested in our bike ride. Then as we left Leeuwarden a man asked if we needed directions. It turned out that this year he had cycled to Santiago de Compostella, from here! We all had fun naming towns along the route and agreeing that we had all been there. There is a natural bond among touring cyclists that meet on the road, but there seems to be an even stronger sub-culture of those that had been to Santiago.

Probably the best, given that our issue had been with kids, was a 13 year old that slammed on the brakes when he sw us, and was very eager to talk. He had been on a trip to Canada this year, since his father had been working in Saskatchewan. He expressed an interest in Vancouver Island, which he had heard is very beautiful, and naturally we extended an invitation. We told him to tell his teacher that Canadians he had met said his English was very good, and he fairly glowed.

Along the path lots of other people greeted us nicely as well. We have been trying to figure out their greeting word, but it seems to vary. We have heard "hoi", but also "morhen", and "hallo" and others. We are sticking with "hi".

Here is a roadside sign showing the Jakonsweg as it starts from this area. We soon met a man who had just cycled it.

Leeuwarden, like Alkmaar, like Zwolle, and probably others, has an old town surrounded by a canal.

Church towers, like this, usually draw our interest. But somehow without the glitz that the Roman Catholics add to churches we are not so interested in checking them out.

We think it useful to be informed that the situation is "gewhizajigged". This seems a normal state for our situation.

This municipal worker recommended we avoid some construction. I complimented him on his suit, but he shrugged that off.

This is a typical morning bike traffic jam.

Dodie can confidently predict that I will point out every house in Netherlands, and want to buy them all. How about this one?!

One of the most fun bits came when Dodie pulled in to a bike shop, just for the fun of it. It was an inviting turn because the shop had a yard or parking lot in front, with bikes parked, and a large open door. Inside the door was Lieke, a bright and friendly young woman who owns and runs the shop along with her husband. We enjoyed talking various bike topics with her, and buying a bell for me. One of the topics was bike things the Dutch won't buy, like helmets. Lieke had picked up a pile of them cheap, but found difficulty in selling them, even at 5 euros each. Another thing she mentioned was RainLegs. RainLegs! we had been looking for those ever since reading about them in the Classens latest blog. RainLegs start out as kind of a belt, but roll down to cover the fronts of your legs when it rains. Again Lieke had picked up a pile on wholesale clearance, and was selling them for 15 euros. When we had checked them out from home, the US price seemed to be $60. Dodie snapped up a pair. I declined, because they seemed a little complicated and I often have trouble even putting on a sweater. Also, I have a pair of rubber shorts already on board.

We enjoyed talking to Lieke not only because the topics were generally cycling oriented but because she seemed to exemplify a practical, level headed approach to life that we associate with Dutch people.

We will be able to assess RainLegs once it starts to rain on us. (No rush).

We continued our ride, generally south, tracing a line down the middle of Friesland, and not necessarily or likely on any tourist route. We continued to use the red bicycle signs that give the direction to towns, but seemed like the knooppunt system of numbered intersections was also very convenient for finding our route. The route, in any event, was something I know we will look back on fondly. We passed through some of the greenest fields imaginable, often filled with large numbers of Holsteins. Spaced out among the fields were impressive farmsteads, normally with one huge building which is 3/4 barn and 1/4 farmhouse, and then with large., long barns for the cows. Then as we passed through little towns, we found them comprised of ultra cute small dwellings that make you think of dolls' houses. And of course, terrific bike paths and signage throughout.

.The main street in Akkrum. It's a typical small Dutch town.

Our trail temporarily ended at this bike ferry. The fare was 1 euro, but you could get a discount at the coffee shop on the other side.

Here is how the ride looked to us, here in the middle of Friesland:

Toward the end of the day's ride we passed by one smaller and one very large lake, which supported a recreation area, maybe a National Park, and that had rural streets lined with lovely houses, all with wonderful lawns and landscaping. Passing by all these, we also enjoyed looking at their front picture windows. The majority of houses in Netherlands feature a symmetric display of pottery in such windows. Typical would be two large white or bronzed tall pots, with an identical floral display in each one. But, every window is different. So it is interesting to rate them. First off, not symmetrical equals a fail. Pots too tall or too short, not the best. Symmetrical but too many/small, not good. We have never seen any duplication from house to house, opening the question of where the people get the pottery for their display. If it all came from Ikea, then we would start to recognize certain standard ones.

The place we found for tonight is outside the town of Echtenerbrug. It is a little (very little) cabin on a farm, stuck in behind some horse paddocks. In short - perfect. The farm house is one of those combination affairs with a residence part and a barn part. No matter, when we arrived we could not find any part that was the obvious entrance. And despite the fact that we had phoned ahead a couple of hours earlier, there was no one to be found. A giant dog did appear, but he did not seem to have the answer for us although he was willing to keep us company as we puzzled it out. I phoned again - but no answer. I circumnavigated the entire place, which was not in the greatest repair, and found no one and no way in. However just as we and the dog were thinking of settling in for a wait, a lady appeared out of nowhere. She guided us to the cabin. Actually there were two - a teeny tiny one and a teeny one. Dodie liked the tiny one, but I went for the more expansive model. It is really swell, with a separate bedroom and a kitchen sitting room with a table, stove, and fridge. It's the table I really like best because it gives the ideal place to do all this typing.

The lady said she would bring breakfast out to us tomorrow - out here in our horse paddock. That will be great. Right now as I sit at my table, I see the horses out one side of the cabin, and on the other side is one of those hugely large and totally green fields. Just barely visible, about a km away over the field, is the next giant farm house. How cool that is!

Looking out our window from the little cabin on the farm

Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 310 km (193 miles)

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