Caleb starts the dishwasher, and I drop yogurt on the floor, with a bit getting on Zulu. He excuses himself from the kitchen to clean while I do the same by the cabinet. I notice a wolf spider by the bathroom door, known for hunting prey without spinning a web and wandering into homes for warmth. Caleb gets the bicycles out of their stored spots and gets them ready to ride. I have a drunken loop planned to entertain us.

The bike path between the farms and the canal is beautiful. At one point, Caleb is forced to catch up to the deer that thinks we are chasing it so that it will stay in a field and relax instead of continuing to criss-cross the lane and exhaust itself. We ride to Huis Scherpenzeel, and though it’s lovely to look at, there is staff on the grounds preparing for an event at this venue. We stop at Restaurant de Dennen to get out of the rain, and as we sit on the patio, we watch a photography class disperse, and some guys on race bikes join under the umbrellas for protection.

I would’ve gotten a coffee, but they weren’t open yet. I’m ok riding in sprinkles, but we’ve traveled enough to know that some places this seemingly innocent rain can lead to monsoons or hail, so better to be prepared, which, funny enough, we hadn’t brought our raincoats with us (for the ride). As soon as the falling water lets up, we’re back on our borrowed bikes. We continue on to Castle Renswoude, built in 1654, which offers its architecture and surrounding park for our enjoyment on foot.

There is a pigeon tower where the birds could fly in and out freely. They delivered mail and were bred for ornamental purposes and meat. Keeping pigeons and having buildings appear larger, due to their reflection in the moat, conferred more status on the estate. We see a mute swan, a Muscovy duck (known for hissing instead of quacking), and a Eurasian red squirrel. As for plants: a pink shrubby cinquefoil, purple wisteria, and yellow irises.

We are on our way to Woudenberg, where we can explore more of the Grebbelinie defenses (bunkers and waterline structures), when I stop abruptly, and Caleb falls off his bike, and not gently. It’s lunch time anyway, so I have an apple on the way to Pannenkoe, known for 50 variations of massive, traditional Dutch pancakes. Having ridden in the sun, with tan hands as proof, we sit inside. We ordered a coffee that comes with a chocolate to support Mercy Ships, instead of the traditional mini cookie.

Caleb remembers meeting a woman on Veteran’s Day who worked on those ships for almost a decade, and I’m happy for the memory. Our flower-shaped bread sampler shows up with a steak knife poking out of the center. Our dips: hummus, aioli, and herb butter. I would definitely order this again. Caleb asks for a four-cheese calzone, and gets a four-meat one instead. I want to try the apple-raisin pancake, but I get pineapple because appel and ananas sound so close.

This one is twice the size of the one we got at the beach. I apply a thick dusting of cinnamon on top, not on purpose, but the fruit helps balance the combination. Our kind hosts left us with a 10€ coupon that we definitely appreciate. We drop the food off at the house and set off on foot towards the shops to spend the afternoon. Caleb makes me a coffee when we return, and we read after dinner to let Caleb recover tonight so he’ll be ready for tomorrow.