Day 9 - Hardenberg to Ommen, Friday, September 18

This morning we left Hardenberg in lovely weather and were soon in quiet, rural areas again. The Pieterpad tries to avoid busy roads as much as possible. It follows narrow paved roads, country lanes, bike paths and sand trails. 

We walked through the tiny town of Rheeze at around 10 this morning and were very excited when we passed a tidy looking blackboard advertising Italian coffee, homemade apple tart, ice cream with fruit. But we could not figure out where this was being served and reluctantly moved on. There were no other places whatsoever to have coffee or soup so we made do with the lovely picnic tables and benches here and there. 

Everywhere there are enormous oak trees with lots of acorns lying around. Jeff remembers collecting these for pig food as a boy and getting 10 cents for a bucket full. 

I am starting to have some blister problems. I control it with a product called Compeed. The good news is it contains a gel which makes it possible to keep walking with just a little bit of pain. The bad news? The gel comes out a bit and sticks to your socks like a wad of gum.

We are again in a bathroom sharing B & B. Ommen is a big place and we passed several hotels. One with a spa! How sad. This place is also out in the country, at least 2 km outside of Ommen. Crazy! You should hear the cows right now. Non-stop bellowing! Maybe they don't like sharing bathrooms either. However, we will adapt and make the best of it.