Follow The Horizon

Adventures On Our Road Less Traveled

June 23, 2023

Family Day

Total 1844km
Today 36km
Schipluiden to Den Haag
Sunny, high 24c

The North Sea is starting to influence the climate now. This morning we woke to marine clouds drifting past the campsite, and the sun was slow to show it’s face. We weren’t worried, we were taking our time today. There wasn’t far to travel, a late start wasn’t a problem, and today was a special day.

We anticipated the first step of our journey with some trepidation. We had used the little ferry that crossed the canal from the campground to the waking/cycling path last night after the rain had stopped to walk into town. It was hand operated, and wasn’t a particularly seaworthy craft, nor were there any dock lines to hold it secure whilst loading and unloading. Fortune favors the bold they say, but with some lack of boldness we managed to make the crossing without any mishaps.

We had two planned stops on our journey today. Both of Chris’ parents were born on our planned route. They only lived about 10 kilometers apart, but didn’t meet until they were in Canada.

The first stop was the house in De Lier where her mother was born. We set Chris up in front of the house and took the required pictures. The window was opened at the home next door by a couple who wondered what the fuss was about. He was born two doors down, and she was from Chicago and had been living in Holland for 50 years, presumably married to the man next to her. They were amazed by our journey and the reason for us standing in front of their neighbors home.

The street where Chris’ mother was born.

After a nice lunch in the old town of Voorburg we traveled the additional 500 meters to the home where Chris’ father lived. We managed to do our little photo shoot undetected before moving on to the park where Edo would have played as a child. Presumably this was the place where at the end of the second world war his friends, and I use the term loosely, had doused him in flame thrower fluid and set him on fire. He had the presence of mind to drop and roll, but he used up one of his nine lives that day.

We’re not sure if this is the park, but it’s behind the house.

A nice short ride brought us to our campsite for tonight. More of a small city really, I suppose there are a lot of people with the same idea as us. Tomorrow we will be going into Den Haag to see what exciting things we can find. It looks like an interesting place to visit.