June 12

This morning at 9:00 AM, as I left the small town of Edam the church bells were ringing. A short while later, riding through the town of Volendam the church bells began to ring. Still later as I pedaled through the small town of Monickandam the bells began to ring.

It seemed to me that the church bells were wishing me farewell on the last day of my tour. It is interesting how the church bells on this Sunday morning stimulated my thoughts and feelings. I sensed that God was with me and also sensed that I would return to more touring by bicycle in Holland.

I also had a line from a Johnny Cash song running through my mind as I rode. “Six days on the road and I’m gonna make it home tonight”. I had been thinking of my family, with special thoughts for my son Matt who was recovering from a bad bicycle accident. I was eager to see him to be reassured of his recovery progress.

At about 20 kilometers I came to a Cafe/Art studio. It looked like a good stop for a cup of coffee and a cake. It was a picturesque setting next to footbridge over a canal that I would be crossing on my way to Amsterdam. I ordered a cup of coffee and a piece of lemon cake which I enjoyed at a street side table. While paying I met the owners. They asked about my travels and shared their plan to travel to the US west coast in October to visit the national parks.

As I departed the coffee shop I sensed that the scenery was about to change from rural to urban as I approached Amsterdam. I was encountering more highways, more auto traffic and more people. The rest of the trip was uneventful. I found my way along the last kilometers to the ferry which I took across the IJ River to central station. From their I navigated my way through the busy streets to Daam square where I returned the bike to the rental shop. I spent several hours walking around Amsterdam before catching a train to the airport where I got a hamburger at Burger King before taking an airport shuttle van to the hotel where I would stay tonight before returning home the next day.