September 11, 2022
Day 33: To Zuidelijke Plas
Kevin woke up before seven as usual but seemed like he was still tired so as Dea nursed him back to sleep I got up and went for an early morning walk. The campsite was quiet and it was a misty, atmospheric morning. I wandered off into the forest and sat for a while on a bench. It was nice to have some time to myself with nothing to do but relax and think. With Kevin around there is almost always something to do so I appreciated these brief moments of solitude very much.
I went back to find my family who were just waking up. We then had two hours at the campsite until it was time for Kevin’s next nap, which was busy as ever with making and eating breakfast, taking down the tent, and getting everything packed and ready for the day.
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We had a couple of options for camping and we called in advance this time to make sure they had space for us. The first one told us there would be a party with loud music at the campground today which didn’t sound great. The second had a friendly owner who sounded very happy to have us. We both agreed that number two was the clear winner, even though it wasn’t perfectly positioned. It would just mean a short day today and a longer one tomorrow.
We left the campsite and cycled into and through Renkum which was very quiet on this Sunday morning. From Renkum we boarded an electric ferry for a short crossing of the Nederrijn, an offshoot of the Rhine. It is a seasonal ferry just for pedestrians and cyclists and we were lucky because 1) it was the last day of the season, 2) it was still running despite low water stopping a lot of other ferries on these rivers, and 3) it was about to leave as we rolled up. We got on board with a couple of other cyclists and took Kevin out to see what was happening as he had just woken up. It only took a few minutes but it was nice, the guys running the boat were very friendly and it was cool that it was electric and so quiet. I think Kevin enjoyed it.
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The only problem was we also needed to get to a supermarket today and the town of Zetten was still five kilometres away. It was a problem because Kevin was now awake. We decided to put him back in the trailer and cycle and see how far we got anyway. He was amazingly patient and made no fuss at all, even when we reached Zetten and had terrible trouble finding a place to take a break. At first we thought we had found a place in a meadow but after we had started to take our things out and lay them on the grass we realized that there was dog poo everywhere. It was really disgusting.
It was a place where dogs were allowed to run off leash. Never mind, we cycled on through the town and found a little park instead. But as we pushed our bikes onto the grass we soon realized that there was dog poo everywhere here too. “What is wrong with this town?!” we asked each other. Kevin was still being patient but we had to stop here so we put the tarp and everything out on a bit of gravel next to the grass and took our break tutting about how disgusting it was. This park should have been a place for kids to play, but it was just a dog toilet. We called it Poo Park and the town was Poo Town.
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We were very happy to leave Poo Town behind and cycled on small roads for another six kilometres to our campsite. It was fine cycling under blue skies today.
As the phone call earlier had suggested, the campsite owner was an extremely friendly and hospitable woman who welcomed us with coffee, juice and cake. It was a tiny campsite on a farm with just four pitches located in a space dotted with several pear trees. There were three campervans and the place was very quiet and laid back.
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There was even a beach volleyball net. Dea and I used to love playing beach volleyball when we cycled but thought it would be impossible with Kevin. But we tried here by putting him in his trailer at the side so he could watch. And he watched very carefully as his parents had fun playing for about three points before he felt left out and started crying.
That hadn’t worked but maybe we would have more luck at the nearby lake. I strapped Kevin into a harness this time. There is a foldy flap on this harness that Kevin sometimes flicks up over his own face. He did it immediately:
The lake was amazing. We took turns to swim and it was brilliant water to swim in - very clear clean water and quite a nice temperature. It was so refreshing, I loved it.
Back at the campsite we went through the usual evening routine. There is always a lot to do making camp with a baby. It’s not just looking after ourselves any more, there is this little human who needs so much from us. He needs feeding and changing and his teeth brushed, and lots of attention too. This trip has been so amazing and so good for us but I think we are both happy that the finish line in Belgium is on the horizon. It’s a contradiction because I know that I am happier out here than I am at home, that there is magic in those moments walking in the forest or swimming in the lake, in cycling together, in moving, in sharing this way of life with my son. And yet I start to miss our little house, our community, my work. I know that it is good for all three of us to travel and yet Dea and I talked a bit about it and agreed that neither of us would want to do this full time with a baby. It is just so challenging. It’s also so rewarding and I believe so good for Kevin, but I think we have got the distance of this trip about right. We will be glad to make it to Belgium by bike and glad to visit England by train, but I think now we are starting to get just a little bit tired of life on the road, and so will also be glad to see our little house again before too long.
Today's ride: 16 km (10 miles)
Total: 1,006 km (625 miles)
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