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March 23, 2003 : easy like sunday morning
I only had 2 and a half hours of sleep last night, so when 5 am rolled around, Eva (who had actually had nearly 7 hours of sleep) woke up quite refreshed and I woke up nearly nauseous. We packed up little Debbie (I'm not so keen on the name yet, though everyone else seems to be) and we headed to Schiphol airport in the Netherlands. Not a soul was on the road. I had figured it would be sparse, but it was really sparse. Excellent. We didn't leave until nearly 6, but still the traffic was light all the way to the airport. I passed the turnoffs where my parents and I had misjudged exits and looped through road-construction twice and we passed the neatly organized Dutch farms. We dropped them off at the departure area, and Eva and I headed to park. When we finally got inside the airport and found their ticketing station, we noticed that the line for the security was strikingly long. (as in maybe a 45 minute wait?!) We had gotten there with plenty of time to have them check in and for us to have breakfast, but the length of the line caused us to nix the breakfast and simply hug and part ways. I had the most splendid time with them both. It was great to meet Jennifer again and get to know her outside of the untouchable-clique she had been in when I was living in Joplin. Talking about that last night was hilarious, because here she was in our living-room! Whereas 5 years before, Kathleen and I were on the outside (and loving it) wanting to be in the "cool group." It's such an after-school-special sort of story, but obviously one with a happy ending. Besides, Kathleen and I had a wonderful time in college and though we were not specifically part of any group, our own circle of friends was made up of great people with whom we had a blast. (in fact, we should have a reunion someday.) Now regarding the fact that we were not in the middle of Holland at 8:30 on a Sunday morning, Eva and I decided to take advantage of it. We headed in the general direction of Tulips and wound up at the sea. Since I had been crabby at our last sandy effort in Blankenberg, Belgium, this more than made up for it. Before getting out of the car, Eva and I took a cat-nap in our car. (reclining seats!) We listened to the World Service on the BBC on our crank-radio and napped in the sunshine. When we woke up, the 20 or so cars that had been there when we got there had multiplied themselves to fill nearly have the lot. It was a beautiful day in the Netherlands, and the Netherlanders were out in full-force. And now it was only 10 in the morning. Mountain bikes, road-bikes, sit-and-see-the-scenery-bikes, people and their dogs, just people, and the two of us. We walked to the beach and marveled that it was only the latter part of mid-march and that it was so beautiful. Nichole and Jennifer had had some of the most beautiful weather one could EVER hope for when coming to Belgium on a trip. It kind of has me wondering if we are in for a dry-spell (read: drought) this year. Everything was pseudo-green, but not the sort of green I know that this part of the world is supposed to show you during spring-time. It's usually so well-watered that the green is so intense one must look away. And added to the fact that this green is so intense in gray weather, well you can imagine what it's like when a sunny day happens to happen. Wow. Color like you've never seen. We walked along the beech, and took a path leading off from the sand over the dunes. It was the most hysterical climb, as it was stairs made of sand. Eva originally started the hill running, but soon she slowed to a steady climb as it seemed that the sand was sucking our legs in. I had the most horrific time, as I suppose my weight added to the sucking, and I swear it was the most grueling subtle climb I've ever done in my entire life. (not kidding.) After such a climb, we sat down to rest for awhile. The Dutch people are so insanely friendly that all of the passersby greeted us and in fact an older couple sat down to chat. Though they didn't do the proverbial, "your dutch is really good," they seemed to understand most everything I said. They offered us a piece of candy to suck on, and the four of us sat there in the sun thinking of things to say to each other and greeting the passersby. Two of the passersby happened to be two men with their daughter. It was pretty obvious somehow that they were together, it didn't look like they were brothers or just friends. We got that vibe as well, and apparently the Dutch man sitting next to me said, "Well I think that is two men with their daughter. I suppose that happens these days." (something to that affect) Later on, during our quest for the right road to lead us to our waiting car, Eva remarked that she didn't know if that had been a snide remark or simply an observant one. She also neglected to be arm and arm with me for a bit. Maybe it was because it seemed like every group of people was in family-mode. Don't forget, dearest Eva, that we're in family mode as well when we're together. She just felt sort of uncomfortable. I was a little shocked, as being uncomfortable in the Netherlands, of all places, on a beautiful day, in a nature reserve, with hundreds of nature/sport/sun-loving people around...well, I felt pretty damn good. (we held hands in the car.) :) We finally found our car. I think we had walked for nearly 2 hours, and as it was noon, we were rather famished. We figured we would either stop in a little town and have lunch or stop at a highway Burger King. (still an occasional treat 2 a year) If someone would just open a highway Arby's somewhere in a half-day's drive, Eva would be the happiest girl in the world. We ended up with a Burger King, and looped back around to hit the right road to take us to the Sunday-open camping store in Eindhoven. By the time we were only minutes away from the store, I was exhausted. I was ready to pull into a kerk parking-lot and take another nap and listen to the BBC. We thought we'd have problem finding the place, but two turns into the city, we found exactly what we were looking for. We didn't have money for anything, and we don't actually need anything, but we went so we could "kick some tires." We talked about tents like we were interested in buying one and looked at equipment we would buy if we were rich. We looked at hiking boots like we were on the verge of becoming regular outdoorsmen (outdoorswomen) which we're not, but it was fun anyway. Eva bought a cup-holder for the car for 80 cents, and a to-go-insulated cup for me for the car. (2 Euro) Now we each have a cup to take if/when we ever get up so early as today. (which remains to be seen) We wanted desperately to stop and see Heleen in Utrecht, but realized we didn't have her number, a phone, and didn't know a go-between person for the number. We've decided that some weekend in the near future, we're simply going to stop buy and surprise her. So friends who live far and wide. (namely Leuven, Amsterdam, and Utrecht) prepare yourselves. We're now mobile enough to simply "stop by!" We finally made our way back home to Antwerp, and I must admit that I was more exhausted than I've been in a long time. I crawled onto the couch and didn't leave for quite some time, curled up in a ball with Eva taking good care of me. To tired and so well taken care of, I can't really recall what we did after that except go to sleep when the appropriate time on the clock said, "bedikins." 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