Camping in Kentucky

We decided to go on our first camping trip with 2 other couples, the Bradens and the Mohlers.  This is something I have wanted to do for quite some time now I just haven't been able to talk Leah into it.  We had a great time canoeing, setting up the tent, building a fire, and watching a live episode of the Jerry Springer show unfold next to us.  We had a few problems with cooking and a few other minor issues, but we have them all worked out for next time.  

We also got to visit the World Longest Yard Sale.  It was held on Highway 127 and it stretches from Alabama to Ohio.  There were some interesting people there also and some cheap prices, I got about $400 worth of stuff I needed for my greek class for only $20.  Another camping trip will hopefully be coming in the future and I am excited

Castling

Today we visited a German Castle a Bantheim.  It was very pretty large and extravagant.  Charles was nice enough to take the day off and drive us there.

We also got to visit a working windmill that grinds flour and all sorts of other things.  The guy that runs it gave us a VIP tour.  I got to go to the very top of it and look out and I got to see how the entire thing works it was pretty amazing.

Tomorrow we head back for the states our we have to be up at 6:00 to catch our taxi to the airport in Amsterdam and 8 hours later we should be back home.

Shopping!!!

Thursday we went to a museum where they had an exhibition of ancient Chinese artifacts.  It was pretty neat we got to see some teracota soldiers that were life size.  We also got to go to the coolest store for home accessories on the planet, Ikea.  We were there most of the day and we got to see all sorts of neat things we might buy when we get back into the states.  

Wednesday

Wednesday we went to Westerbork.  It is a camp that held the jews and others during WWII.  It wasn't a concentration camp it was a camp that acted as a gateway to the concentration camps.  The Nazi's would bring the the jews to the camp feed them good let them play soccer, give them good medical care, and then eventually send them to death camps or labor camps by train.

Tulips, Ships, and Miniatures

I met a girl since I have been here her name is Mandy.  She is smart, intelligent, helpful and good with a map.  We have been talking a lot and she has been a great help to me while we have been traveling.  In fact I couldn't have done any traveling without her.  Also I think I can say that Mandy has saved my marriage.  Now before you go accusing me of being unfaithful to my wife I must let you know that Mandy is the voice on the GPS system I was using.  If it wasn't for us having the GPS system the only place we would have gotten was lost.   Charles has been so gracious to let us borrow it and it has helped immensely.  The reason I said that Mandy has saved my marriage is because if I didn't have her Leah would be helping me with the maps and we both  concluded that that would have led to a lot of strife and frustration between us.

Yesterday we were able to see the Tulip's at Keukenhof.  We were a few weeks late seeing the fields overflowing with Tulips, but we were able to see the many Tulips they had setup in their garden area(kind of like the Missouri Botanical Gardens, but larger) they also had numerous other flowers of which I can't remember the names of.  

We also got to visit a Spice running ship from the 1600's called the Batavia.  It was pretty neat, but we showed up to late so we couldn't get onto the ship.  

We also got to see Maduradam which is a miniaturized version of the country of Holland.  I believe the scale is 1/25 the size of the actual.  So we basically got to see all the greatest sites in the country of Holland in one trip.  

Tomorrow we will be taking it easy because today was such a draining day.  I spent most of the day driving.  We will visit an old Nazi camp that held jews tomorrow so that should be interesting. 

I am having trouble posting photos so if you desperately need to see some send me your email and I can send an invite to you.

Holland Here We Are

                 Leah and Hans in front of the grave markers

Welcome to the Newly created Feeler Family Blog, I have created not only to log our trip to Holland, but hopefully after we get back I will continue to update it with what is going on in our lives.

Well the plane flight here could only be described as CRAMPED.  We rode a 757 which is a quite a bit smaller from the 777 I have been used too.  It had two rows of 3 compared to the 777's three Rows of 3 seats.  But, we survived.  Leah got a few hours sleep, I got about 45 minutes of sleep and Hans just stayed up playing the Trivia Game on the touch screen in front of him.  

We had a two hour van ride to Klindijk (pronounced Klondike, Like the frozen treat!!!) and from the times I was conscious it was a beautiful drive.  We arrived where Charles and Heindrika were happy to see us and have been more than hospitable towards us.  

As I write this it is Monday here and yesterday was Pentacost and in Holland they get Pentacost and the day after off as a holiday.   So things are quiet here.  We went and checked out some old tombs that weren't to far away I'll put a few pictures of them on the bottom of the page.  We drove around some more and at first I had a little trouble getting used to driving the little VW Polo we have rented...I killed it like 4 or 5 times, which brought many laughs from the neighbors ( Europeans always get a kick out of seeing us Americans look stupid) .  I felt like I was just learning to drive a stick.  Anyways I will try to keep updating this daily with what we do.  Leah, Hans, and I plan on going to The Haag and the Tulip fields tomorrow on our own so it should be interesting.