Post DCD trip with Oskar and José

Every year we have a bicycling trip with Oskar and José.  This year was no different, but we were much later than usual. But first, we had to introduce Oskar to his new 3D printer!

Sunday night George and Oskar stayed up well past midnight to learn the basics of the 3D printer.  They worked for about 4 hours before calling it quits. Some of the highlights were Oskar trying to warm up the bed with a blow dryer, Oskar finally printing out his name, and George realizing that this particular printer didn't work well in Antartica because he forgot to calibrate it!



After a good night's sleep, we packed the car as full as possible, threw the bikes and helmets in the back, and headed for Zeeland.  Over the course of three days, José tells me we cycled 83 kilometers. The first day found us at the beach and crossing over to a small town in Belgium, Knokke.  (As it turns out, this is the same town we caught the train to Brussels in.)  We enjoyed lunch and a very wet ride back in the rain.  I realized that I need to purchase new rain gear as mine really isn't fit for any kind of real rain.  We found no puzzle shops nor puzzles but after my DCD haul, I was fine with that.  The first evening we had a very nice meal brought in, gourmet, and just enjoyed the evening.

The next day we ventured to Brugges and really enjoyed the city.  A brewery tour, a lot of walking, some wild houses, a wild goose chase for a non-existent toy shop and we were done.  This is a quaint little town that reminded me of Amsterdam.  I will be visiting here again in the Spring.

  The last day was another day of cycling in the Netherlands, this time to Sluis.  A very beautiful fairytale town complete with moat and fortified embankments.  Even though I was terrified, we rode our bikes around the entire top of the wall.  Ok, it's supposed to be a walking path only, but as it turns out, we couldn't read the Belgian signs.  We managed to find a toyshop and George and I bought 3 puzzles that we didn't have.  We were all surprised by this.  We also discovered why all the paintings by the old Dutch masters are so dreary and dark.  Even on a sunny day, it was dank and dark.  The wind must be terrible in the winter because it was awful in October.  Or maybe I'm just used to Florida weather.  After a wonderful ride back through some beautiful countryside, I made dinner while Oskar and George played with one of the SmartGames that I bought.

Friday morning and it was once again time to say our goodbyes.  We took the train to Brussels airport and are now sitting patiently awaiting our departure for Spain.

Bring on the Berrocal tour!