Saturday, October 3, 2015

Day 22 - Venlo to Swalmen (almost), Oct. 3

We were ready to go after our break and had no trouble getting out of Venlo. Sometimes it is difficult to keep your eyes peeled for the markers, with all the distractions of a city. But we are getting really good at scanning posts and trees.
The first hour was lovely but after that we hit a dirt road in the woods that straddled the Dutch German border. It went on and on and on. Very little relief. Early on we did walk on a narrow path on the lip of a steep precipice. We also saw a number of red mushrooms again. And at noon there was a cafe that served pea soup. So not too bad. We also encountered a mushroom picker, horseback riders, a large group of women hikers as well as lots of bikers. It is Saturday
But after our lunch we hit these long and rather dull roads again, through forest. You just have to put yourself on automatic. And then we grumbled about where we were spending the night, at a place totally out of the way and in the middle of nowhere. We got there through the back way, which meant an almost invisible trail through fields and woods. However, we were so pleasantly surprised by our room and the setting. Our own bathroom, sitting area outside, clean and bright and a very nice lady showing us the ropes. 
Two concessions have been made for us. We are being picked up at 5:30 by a guy who owns a restaurant in town, for dinner. And tomorrow morning we get driven to Swalmen so that we don't have a super long day of walking. 
Four more days......

4 comments:

  1. A walk as in life has good parts and not so good...long on boring paths with the occasional bright mushroom to make you smile...how,s that for deep

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  2. Diane, just to extend your metaphor, the nice picture of Jeff relaxing with a beer at the end of the walk represents retirement!

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  3. The hut on stilts looks like a Hórreos.

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