Day Seventeen: Stir Crazy in Apeldoorn: (Year 17: 1984)

October 7, 2017

Flash Back to 1984:

This year featured a trip away from the West Coast and back to our roots in Montreal. Those roots included Steve's parents and his brother and family. It was a chance for Steve's parents to transfer some experiences and bonding to our children. One very important lesson was the experience of the boreal forest and Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal. The forest has been important to Canadians from the beginning, and our families - even as immigrants from the early 20th century - have always had a bond with it.

We felt at home on the West Coast, but returned to periodically to Montreal on visits. Here the children are with their grandfather Joe in the mountains north of the city, at Lac Chaud.

Grandparents are very important to kids, we think. This is Steve's Mom, bonding with Josh.

In Montreal, Schwartz's deli was a training ground for the kids about real ethnic food. The seating you see is just about the total for the restaurant. Perhaps the most famous Montreal institution, it has steadfastly refused to expand. The photo is a little puzzling because it shows a lady taking orders. We can not recall ever seeing a lady doing this job in a Jewish deli, but this seems to be graphic proof.

We joined Steve's brother Harold and family for a rare outing near Montreal. Montreal is 5000 km from our home - quite a barrier.

John Denver's 1971 "Country Roads" describes a return to roots in the East, although those roots are not exactly the same as ours.

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Fast Forward to 2017, the Netherlands:

Dodie's recovery has been fast, though frankly she still looks terrible (bruised, but still beautiful). To be sure, though, we have not planned to leave until Monday. Overall it could be a good idea, because some select bruises and swellings are still coming up.

But today we took Dodie, who a little while ago could not mount or really pedal the stationary bike in the gym here, out to the parking lot to try out her new bike. The good news is that the frame geometry and size is good, and that Dodie pedalled off smartly - all the way to the other side of the parking lot! In fact, after that she went around again, ultimately racking up a stellar 1.5 km of parking lot riding. We have proudly put that in as today's total distance (even though I was just standing during it).

Watching Dodie go I felt a little like a parent watching a kid on a new bike in the parking lot. Very proud, and glad that they are enjoying it.

Like a kid, Dodie was very reluctant to have me give it a try. Maybe tomorrow, she reluctantly offered. But in the end I did get one turn around. That could be the last time I am allowed on.

Dodie rides again. The accident could have been much worse, or recovery much slower, so this is a great sight to see.

The parking lot was pretty much our only outdoor adventure today. But that does not mean there was no entertainment. Outside our window, also in the parking lot, there is a big yellow dumpster. The thing is filled with really great looking furniture and stuff, that seemingly the hotel is throwing away. But in the night and through the day it has attracted a steady stream of scavengers. They pull out leather chairs, wicker chairs, vacuum cleaners, and off they go. And here we are watching to see what they find, how they do. The ones who are "up" now are just putting back the things they pulled but are not taking. That seems very neat and Dutch. They are even replacing a tarp that was partially covering part of the contents.

Dumpster divers entertain us from our hotel room.

With the dumpster diving competition temporarily on hold, we had to look for another activity. There are actually two tourist attractions in town. One is the former royal hunting lodge, now a museum, and the other is a small zoo that features only primates. Admission to each of these is fairly costly, at around 20 euros per person at each one.

Instead of the tourist attractions we settled on a 2 minute walk down to the other end of this floor. I suggested a brave exploration of another floor, but Dodie argued no doubt correctly that it would be generally the same as this one.

Actually this, being the ground floor, also has the exciting front desk. Each time we pass, the staff asks how it is going. This time we told them that we were bored, and that the tourist attractions were too costly.

They agreed about the costs, but countered by firing up a web site that much like eBay features auctions of stuff, including as it happens, tickets to the zoo. The auctions run for about 20 minutes, and the site offers a gripping real time display of the bid history, so you can identify your favourite bidder and see how they react, or be surprised when someone, like in eBay, comes out of the weeds to win in the last second.

From what we saw, the 43 euro value twin tickets to the zoo were going for about 25 euros. Worth it?

At one point as we were watching the auction the desk lady needed to interrupt to bring up the hotel management application. Now that looked like fun too - manage the hotel, set prices, buy supplies, maximize profits! Ok, we really are going crazy here!

Patrick Beumer seems to have high bid, but in the last seconds Paula Kaspers will claim the tickets. We understand that like with eBay you have to take your final shot in the last 3 seconds. Too soon or too late will lead to disappointment.

Oh, we tried out the wine that we were given yesterday. A Chilean Merlot it was deep red with violet/purple tones. The nose was intense and spicy, with marked notes of dark cherry. There was a soft lush juicy smooth entry with ripe red cherry flavour supported by firm yet friendly tannins.

Of course, people who know us know that this analysis of the wine would not really be our own. But our analysis of the sentiments behind the wine gift would be just as florid.

Today's ride: 2 km (1 miles)
Total: 410 km (255 miles)

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