The world isn’t flat….even in the Netherlands

We know the earth is round, but in the Netherlands it seems very flat!  We love being able to bike here and there without having to pedal up and down.  Sister Lucero and Sister Lechtenberg have joined the Utrecht Missionary district.  We love these sisters!  They have reminded us that we need balance in our life by inviting us to join them on p-day.  We’ve had some great adventures! 

We decided to bike to Henschotemeer, a lake about 13 kilometers (8 miles) from our house.  It is east of us past the little town of Driebergen. (translated means “three mountains.  Really?  There aren’t any mountains in the Netherlands :) We had 3 bikes but needed a fourth so we first rode to Driebergen to the train station. Sister Lechtenberg pedaled Sister Lucero on the back of my bike. Sister Lucero rented an OV bike.  These are yellow and blue bikes found at every train station that can be rented for about 3 Euro/day. 

With an occasional stop to check the map book we made it to the lake in about an hour.  Ineka had warned me that there was a big hill to climb on the way to the lake.  Sure enough, there was.  It wasn’t like the “hills” in Utah, but a long, slow, incline that I just barely made using all my gears!  The sisters of course, pedaled steadily up the hill without even changing gears! 

 

The lake was stunning!  We were totally surprised to find something like this in the middle of the Netherlands.  The water was clear, there was a perfect sandy beach all the way around the lake and picnic tables & bathrooms.  Surrounded by forest, it was wonderful on a warm, sunny day. 

The elders met us there for a picnic and we enjoyed walking in the warm sand. 

When it was time to go home we decided to take a different route and make a loop south and back to the train station.  We knew it was a little longer but secretly I hoped it would avoid the other two “mountains”! 

Well, it didn’t. I found out it’s not called “three mountains” for nothing!  We biked up two long, slow climbs.  Both times I had to get off and push my bike!  It was humiliating : )   We ended up biking a total of 36 kilometers (22 miles!)  So I didn’t feel so bad about my performance after all : ) 

A selfie of the 4 of us….and two of our favorite sisters and bestie companions!

We decided we would definitely head out into the countryside again….but will look for somewhere the earth is flat!