This Saturday is the big Keukenhoftocht in Lisse, Netherlands. Keukenhof is one of the largest and most beautiful botanical gardens in the world. Each year they have a special theme for the gardens and exhibitions, and this year the theme is the United Kingdom.
This weekend will feature a Dutch Folklore Festival. There will be Old Dutch costumes, singing, dancing and traditional Dutch crafts to take you back to the 1800s.
The start for the walk is at the Hotel Restaurant & Casino De Nachtegaal at Heereweg 10, in Lisse. The longer 20- and 30-kilometer trails start at 8 a.m., with the shorter distances, 6, 10 and 15 kilometers, starting at 10 a.m. Although we cannot remember the exact price of the start cards, it is higher than normal, but that includes entrance to the botanical gardens. For more information on the Keukenhof gardens, go to www.keukenhof.nl. We will be going up to Lisse Friday and making a weekend excursion of the trip. Look for us there!
For a walk in the Kaiserslautern area this weekend, look no further than Rodenbach. Walk both days starting at 7 a.m. from the Bürgerhaus in Rodenbach. A B-medal will be available for completing either a 6-, 11- or 21-kilometer route. You must finish the trails before 5 p.m.
Good luck to the Stuttgart German-American Wandering Club as they load up a bus and head to the walk in Mossautal. What was planned to be an overnight trip will now be a day trip due to last-minute hotel problems, but that will not be a problem for these guys. We are sure they will still have an exciting trip and volksmarch.
As the walk fliers roll in, we are spotting some good walks coming up soon. Make sure you clear your calendars for these German events:
May 4 & 5: Ramstein; May 11 & 12: Monreal; June 1 & 2: Reichweiler; June 15 & 16: Bad Kreuz-nach; August 3 & 4: Ebernhahn.Here’s how our 17th Airborne Division Walk went:
We were up and out the door early March 24th to head to Champs, Belgium. It was cold and windy with a dusting of snow on the ground when we started our two-hour drive at 7 a.m. Within 10 minutes of leaving the house, we were in a blizzard. The snow was accumulating quickly on the roadway and the salt trucks and plows were nowhere to be found. A car ahead of us spun out and hit the guardrail and it started to dawn on us that we might not be able to make it to Champs. From past experience, we know that bad weather is always worse in the Ardennes — where we were heading. We have been snowbound on Belgian highways before, and we did not want that to happen again. So, as much as we hated forfeiting our advance registration, we decided to get back home before the blizzard hit there. We got home safe and sound and, of course, there was no more snow for the rest of the day. If any of you made it to Champs for the walk, please let us know how it was.
Email volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO AE 09752.
