Riding along the countryside

Most of our time on Tuesday was spent driving through four different countries (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France).  Before we began our 6+ hour journey, we stopped at Corrie Ten Boom's clock shop and a tulip farm.  Unfortunately the clock shop was closed and wouldn't open again until the afternoon, which wouldn't work for us.  Instead we made our way to the tulip farm and saw some AMAZING flowers.  The sights were breathtaking!  Probably one of my favorite parts of the trip.  After seeing all the flowers, we made our way into France before traveling into Switzerland.

Closed Museum...Sadness!

Where is Go Go Gadget??

Here it is!

Welcome to Belgium

Welcome to Luxembourg

Welcome to France

Quaint Little Towns

With our second day in Amsterdam, Sara and I decided to go on a tour.  We chose an all day tour that would show us around Amsterdam and then take us to several small towns near the city.  The first part of the tour was okay, but the part after lunch, to the small towns, was great!  Enjoy some of our pictures below!

As soon as I saw this water buffalo all I could think of was Veggie Tales!

Our friendly and handsome bus driver/semi-tour guide

Cheese making shop demonstration

My swollen finger from kneeling down to take the above picture
and putting my hand on some stinging thistles.  Ouch!

Ice cream time!

Clog making shop demonstration

Passing through Germany into the Netherlands

On our second day of travel, Sara and I left Germany behind and made our way into the Netherlands toward Amsterdam.  The drive was nice and smooth until we were about 20 miles from the city.  For some reason, a "brilliant person" decided to shut down the freeway leading into Amsterdam.  (please note the sarcasm)  Unfortunately our GPS, Ivan Jr., wasn't able to recognize that the freeway was shut down.  We then spent the next hour trying to figure out how to get into Amsterdam.  Thankfully, we were finally able to arrive in the city safe and sound.

When we got to our accommodations, a camp ground, Sara and I settled in and then walked/rode public into the city center.  Our first stop was at Sara's Pancake House for a yummy lunch of pancakes.  After that we went to the Anne Frank Museum and stood in line for 45 minutes before being able to enter.  I had seen the museum about six years ago, but Sara had always wanted to go and see it (hence our reason for visiting Amsterdam).  We then spent the remainder of the evening walking around the city and seeing different sites.

Off to Amsterdam

Who shut down an entire freeway in the middle of the day?

AAHHHHH!  We're lost!

Home Sweet Home

Yummy!

Anne Frank Statue
While we were taking our picture there was also a group of Americans.
One of them said, "Was she really that small?"...SERIOUSLY, common sense people!