Kinderdijk at Night

The windmolens of Kinderdijk are know all over the world because the sight of so many identical mills in one place is quite picturesque. Once each year they do something special - for a week in September the mills are illuminated each night.

As the crow flies, Kinderdijk is only about 15 km from Zevenhuizen, but this is the Netherlands and that means there are rivers to cross. You can bicycle for 19 km, but you have to take a ferry across the River Maas, so instead we drove. The options make it look a little like "you can't get there from here".

The trip is worth it - here's what we saw:

There were  lots of people and bicycles and parking was a real challenge, but it was great fun. In addition to the lighted mills, Friday was the night for a huge market in the town. Unfortunately, it turns out that I didn't get any photos of the market - I guess I was too busy buying another pair of handknit socks.

Bicycling Day

And now, back to our previously scheduled program...

The Red Rock Classic is always fun, but I want to finish our travel blog posts before I forget too much. So we're headed back to the Netherlands (and using the WayBack Machine to go back to 11Sep15).

Friday was just about the most perfect weather we could have picked. It was definitely a day for renting bicycles so we headed for the local Bike Totaal shop in Zevenhuizen and rented a pair of nice Giant bikes. They were so nice to ride that I was tempted to take them home.

We used the map on the local bike path (fietspad) to figure out a place to head for, then basically followed our noses from point to point around Zevenhuizen.

This is a sample of one of the maps (courtesy of http://www.cycletourer.co.uk/cycletouring/holland.shtml). Junctions have numbers and you can pick any route you like by picking the next number you wish to go to. Then you follow these signs which tell you which direction to the next junction on your route.

A pair of herons was right next to the fietspad.

Linda is on a bicycle "cloverleaf" type of ramp. Instead of a simple T-style intersection, this ramp makes a gentle slope and then goes under the adjacent highway.

It's tough to find a better place to stop for lunch than this (well, some shade trees might have been nice). We packed a lunch of buttered krentenbollen (raisin buns) with sliced belegen Noord Hollandse Gouda cheese and salami together with sliced pears from the roadside stand in Tiel. Yum!

At the end of the ride we walked around Zevenhuizen for a little while. This is the main street through the town.

Back at our apartment, there was time to relax and sample a local beer before supper and an evening at Kinderdijk. (And yes, the beer was every bit as smooth and delicious as it looks!)

Red Rocks Classic

The Red Rocks Classic is a fun, low key, get-together of folks who own a Porsche 914, or wish they did. You don't need to be driving a 914 in order to attend, although for many the point is to get your 914 out on the road and stretch its legs. More than anything, it's a chance to get together face-to-face with folks that you otherwise only know from 914world.com. "Come for the cars, stay for the people" is kinda the slogan for this event. Mike & I make it a point to be there each year.

Here are some photos from our Saturday drive from Escalante, UT to Bryce National Park. Besides driving some great, twisty, roads we also make sure there are stops to enjoy the cars.

 My ride for the day was the green "teener" on the right, driven by my friend Mike Ginter.

 

The drive in the park included stops at a lot of overlooks.

 

 

And then there was more "car time".

And then we went for a hike on the "Navajo Loop", which includes the narrow "Wall Street" section.

What a great weekend! Next year my 914 should be on the road again, maybe Mike's too. I'm not sure where the event will be held, but the Red Rocks Classic is a "not to be missed" event.