No, this year we would stay in Europe. Plenty of places to explore. Northern Spain and Portugal, Ireland, Croatia, the North Cape and the Baltic states are all on our to do list.
We started the year energetically. We visited London in February, in March we stayed on the Spanish island of Lanzarote, we enjoyed a long weekend in Disneyland Paris in April and visited the Italian Lake Maggiore in May. We had not filled in the rest of the year, but in August we had some days available and the “big” holiday was on the roll for the autumn when all the children are well-behaved in school and every father and mother have returned back to their usual work rhythm.
Many destinations passed and we had plenty of ideas, but we did not get any further than that. For some inexplicable reason we could not come to a decision that made us both happy. Suddenly it started to itch again. In previous years we thoroughly enjoyed our trips to the other side of Ocean. Canada is a destination for which we have even once considered whether emigration appealed to us. Only our close family ties have changed our minds. We decided to keep our base in Brabant and travel as much as possible. We have visited the USA frequently in the meantime. Unlike Canada, we would not want to live in the USA. The hardness of society is a bit too much for us, but for travel purposes the country is very pleasant.
How nice is it to tour around in a comfortable car, which you can park almost anywhere and fill up with petrol that is extremely affordable by our standards, and to sleep in large comfortable hotel rooms in an economy where you are not much hindered by closing times?
It is a beautiful country to visit as a tourist. The vastness, the beautiful and diverse nature, not to mention the freedoms and comfort that we like as we travel.
Why should not we cross the big lake again? Our America the Beautiful pass would still be valid from our last trip through the south-west of the USA; just like our ESTAs! Well it is a hell of a logic; as if with such a journey you let it depend on a few dollars, but still.
After a lot of shuffling around our day’s we can take of work to be able to leave for a respectable time away and a difficult search for affordable air tickets, the decision is made.
We are once again visiting the USA!
This time part of our trip follows the footsteps of the Dutch TV show “Wie is de <ol?” which aired in 2017; an area that has been presented to us as beautiful. We start our journey in Seattle and end in Las Vegas.
To prepare ourselves, we watched all episodes of ” Wie is de Mol?”. This time not to expose the mole, because for that we had regularly rewound during regular TV broadcasts, but purely to spot the locations that the players visited.
Portland, home of the Foodcarts, is located on the Columbia River and played a major role in “The Mole” as we call the program shortened. Hawthorn Bridge was climbed and we saw beautiful images of the museum, library, the umbrella man, the bookstore, the courthouse and the Baghdad Theater.
The beautiful coastline of Manzanita made our hearts beat faster. Just like images of Crater Lake, waterfalls and the surroundings of Bend, Pendleton and the genial money-evaporating auction in Hermiston, not to mention the covered wagon ride through the beautiful landscape of the Oregon Trail.
Oh, we cannot wait to go and we already suspect that we will be short of time there. Unfortunately, when you read this, we are already back and there will be the memories that we will share with you later.
For the curious among us we already have a few photos.