Our Netherlands Visit

The day arrived for our departure from home, Saturday morning about 9 am, January 14th, 2012.

Jim Bracewell, our friend from the Nash Club kindly offered to host our car while we were gone and drive us to Ohare Airport. All timing pulled off well, we found ourselves on the plane at 6 pm. Later we were eating a great meal with great service on a United flight to Amsterdam.

All these pictures were taken in the Netherlands, in and around Laren.

By noon Sunday, we were greeting our friends Fred and Gerda Langendorff. We intended to stay a couple of days and travel around the other couple of days. However, they wouldn't let us do it! We had a great time seeing sights from inside Fred's Nashes. Who else but true Wisconsin Nash nuts would be begging our friends to drive us around in an open touring car on a day when the frost never left the grass? Our first day's touring was in Fred's blue 1925 Nash Special Six touring. The next day we travelled in their classy 1931 Nash convertible sedan pictured by the windmill. The windmill is a meer 400 yards from their house. Also pictured is with Fred driving and Jim co-piloting is an inside shot of the 31. I got a ride in Fred's Nash Healey too...

We saw Muiden Castle, though closed that day, the gardner opened the gate for us to walk inside the castle walls to see the courtyard. The castle was originally built in 1285. Not having stones available in the Netherlands, the castle is made of brick.

Fred and Gerda drove us down to southern Netherlands so that we could join Joost and Mary Kingma whom I had not seen since their wedding in 1989. Of course we both had kids to show off, in each of our cases, the oldest of which weren't able to come since they weren't living at home any longer. What a great time catching up on 22 years, reminiscing about the 'old days,' and speculating about what we could do next time we get together.

We had a great and relaxing time with Fred and Gerda, eating, laughing, playing with Nashes, seeing the sights, we were undeservedly spoiled.

We can't thank Fred and Gerda enough for everything. Such wonderful, gracious and fun hosts. So with sad hearts for leaving, we departed at 330 am to get to the airport in time for our flight(s) to Sierra Leone.

Footnote: in editing this one last time, half the pictures vaporized, which I can't reclaim until arriving home. I hope to add to this once I get home.