Visit to the Netherlands

Anneke decided that after 3 years it was time to go visit her home country. Her sister lives in Rhenen along the Rhine river with a great view from the balcony.

Rhenen is surrounded by several quaint towns.  These towns are what most tourists think of as traditional Dutch villages.

The town of Buren is home to the Royal Military Police Museum and during her visit there was an art fair around the museum.

Luckily the  windmill was open for visitors and operating. They had their various kinds of flours on sale.

A young girl was very happy to pose in front of the pet store.

Home alone

I spent a good part of May alone, if you do not count Halley.  Anneke traveled to The Netherlands to visit with family and friends and visit places from her past.

I kept myself busy with the usual chores and spending time with the grandkids.  There were several  outings at the school.  A art event with dads for Victoria and a water break for Nico.

I  walked our town pier on a particularly active day and found lots of folks on the recently repaired beach.  There were turtles active beneath the pier and as I approached the end of the pier, someone hooked a small shark and it took quite some time to haul it on to the pier.  I could not help but think what the beach bathers would think if they knew a shark was caught less than a 1000 feet from where they were swimming.

Hopefully June will be more interesting!

April

A month has gone by since my last post. I was a bit preoccupied with a medical issue that luckily proved to be nothing.  We did, however, enjoy several RV trips.  The first was to attend a large gathering of the Mid Florida Winnies in Cedar Key, Fl.  We stopped along the way at Holiday Campground on Ochlocknee Bay, FL.  We had a great view from our bay front spot and will certainly stop here again in the future.

Cedar Key is a very interesting small coastal town that we have visited before.  Some friends, who are members of this group invited us to attend this rally. There were 30 coaches in attendance.  We had a great time visiting with friends and making new ones.

 

Many years ago this was an important port for the transshipment of goods and was well known for the manufacture of palm brushes. One of the first things we did was visit the local museum, where we were lucky enough to have a  famous member of the community give us the tour.  He not only was he a well know medical doctor in the area , he was also the son of the founder of the  Donax brush factory. In fact,  part of the museum is the home where he grew up. He was a very special tour guide.  If you visit the area, this is a must see museum.

The original settlements of Cedar Key was actually one of the small Keys in the Gulf of Mexico.  Today, this is part of a National Wildlife Refuge well known for the many migrating birds that visit the outer Keys.  Most of these do not allow visitors, but there are two areas where landings  are allowed.  Our group took a two hour boat tour of the area, where the history of the Keys and their current importance was explained.  It was a fun and educational trip that provided a greater understanding of the past and present of the area. 

Our last outing was a visit to the Dakota Winery in Chiefland , Florida.  They have been in business over thirty years and enjoy a good reputation as a quality wine producer.  The owner does the tours and he is a very interesting person. 

Our other RV trip this month was to travel to northern Georgia for our Grandson, Aleister's ninth birthday.  He chose a boat ride on the Altoona Lake  and I think he had a great time.  He was  a bit surprised when he found himself under the tow float, but overall it was a big success.

On the home front we enjoyed the beach and watching our granddaughter, Victoria, develop her soccer skills.