Ruth and the sunset at the island of Dhiffushi, Maldives.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Kuwait City, Kuwait on March 31st.

Saturday, July 17, 2021

You have to dig deep to get the whole story

There is a 48 hour time limit at the free motorhome parking area in Huizen, and there are lots of walking paths in the area so we decided to stay a second night. 

The rain has finished, and the forecast kept calling for sunshine, but it was quite a while before the sun finally appeared.

We went for a walk in the morning, but it was almost lunchtime by the time the sun finally made an appearance.

This is a hotel complex by the water.

This place does boat tours on these old wooden boats.

There is a huge marina.

Looking at all of the boats in the marina, I am always amazed at how little they seem to get used. It was a nice day for sailing and there were a few boats out on the water, but not many. I suppose there might be more if it was a Saturday. 

We have ZERO ambition to ever own a boat! I am always reminded about the old boaters saying "a boat is just a hole in the water into which you throw money".

This old barge was turned into a viewing platform.

A few boats out on the water.

There are a couple of nice beaches here.
Ruth is testing the water... she said it was cool.

Scenery along the way.

I bet this beach is packed on a hot sunny weekend.

We ended up doing 8 kms (5 miles). before lunch.

Close to where Max is parked, we saw this sign...

Free Covid tests for travel, with certificate. 
Antigen or PCR.

And it turns out we might need one to get back into Germany. 

The numbers in Netherlands have skyrocketed, but you have to dig deep into the news to get the whole story. Netherlands opened nightclubs and discos a couple of weeks ago, but none of the young people could get in without being tested. And the testing is free, so the young people all lined up by the thousands to get tested. Of course many of them tested positive even though they didn't show any symptoms and so that is what has raised the incidence and positivity rates. More than 60% of the new cases reported over the past week were among people aged 15 to 25,

They have since closed nightclubs and discos, and bars have to close at midnight.

Germany has rated Netherlands as a red zone now, and you require a negative test to enter Germany from Netherlands. How (or if) they'll enforce that requirement on the ground remains to be seen.

We had a relaxing afternoon, and the sun finally came out. In fact, it was enough to almost fully recharge Max's batteries. So nice to see some sunshine and blue sky again!

After dinner we went for another walk.
You can see the taller buildings of Amsterdam in the distance towards the left.

Evening stroll.

Moving on today. We are going to the fortified town of Naarden, and then a National Park.

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And in Canada...

10 comments:

  1. Your comment: "a boat is just a hole in the water into which you throw money" is about the same as "An RV is just a box on wheels that you stuff money into that you never get back." :) Don't get me wrong, we much prefer the RV to hotels/motels. We have been traveling in most every type of RV, from camping in the back of our station wagon in the 1970's, to a Class A RV for the last 50 + years.

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    1. This is true but from the stories we hear a boat is much worse. Other than the last three years that we had Sherman, he had actually cost us very little and even with the last three years average out over the space of 13 years we still think we did well and he was used a lot over those years. We also think he cost us less over those 13 years than what a house would have cost us in repairs, except that a house would normally appreciate over the years. No matter what, if you you can afford a boat or an RV and as long as you are having fun with it, then it is all worth it in the end! :-)

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  2. Well the evidence is that Canada has almost reached herd immunity which will make it easier to get back in, but the story in both the US and Mexico is not so good. In the US, it is politics that are the issue, in Mexico it's supply. At least the evidence is vaccines protect against Delta. We just slapped a vaccine requirement on our RV Caravans for this season. Most are relieved we have, but we had one anti-vaxxer who was not happy.

    BTW, there are 3 money pits, boat, RV's and swimming pools. I have had 2 of them.

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    1. There is no issue with getting back into Canada if you are a Canadian citizen, it just means that you have to do the mandatory hotel stay and the remaining days of the 14 day quarantine at home, unless you are vacinated.

      Sherman only became a money pit in the last three years of us owning him and even with that spread out over the 13 years that we had him, we did really well compared to some RV owners. We have no ambition of owning either a boat or a swimming pool though!

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  3. We owned a 30' sailboat for three years, and you are correct about it being a money pit. However, we have incredible memories of learning to sail and anchoring out in some incredibly peaceful spots. We had great times on that boat, even if we were just in the marina eating a meal and having a glass of wine in the cockpit. And when the sailing was good, it was some of the best fun that can be had. Ultimately we gave it up for other pursuits, but I will never regret having been a sailor for a brief time. RVing is much more suited to people of our ages, but sailing is a lot more fun than driving!

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    1. Like owning anything, if it brings you joy then it is all worth it! Having said that we have no ambition of owning a boat. It might be fun to travel in one for a short holiday but other than that we are quite happy sticking to land. We are glad that you have some great memories of traveling in your boat, being anchored away somewhere quiet without neighbours sounds nice, especially sipping on some wine and watching the sun set. :-)

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  4. You 2 find very interesting areas, I like your posts!
    You make mundane things interesting. Keep it up, I know will, take care, Rawn

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    1. We like to think that we find some interesting places as we travel along, that is why we love to explore. :-)

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  5. I had a bad experience on a yacht when I was 20 years old. Never again. As for rvs, you can take them anywhere, ship them across continents and oceans and enjoy them along the way. Hard to take a sailboat on land and be able to live in it. That said, never a money pit for us. Our 2008 TT we bought new on an rv dealer bankruptcy for $8500. No repairs no breakdowns. The only money put into it was the solar system, thanks Kevin and Croft!

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    1. We are with you, we think that traveling in an RV allows you to experience so much more but then again we aren't boaters. It is a good thing that there are those that love to boat and those that love to RV otherwise there would just be too many of one or the other if we all liked the same thing.

      You guys have been very fortunate with your trailer to not have had any issues with it but it also doesn't come with a motor, which is often where the money starts to come into it.

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