We Since tomorrow will be our last day in Holland, I thought now would be a good time to update you all on this amazing country.
I left my last post off in Rotterdam. We managed to break our distance record with a lot of help from the wind and some detours.
As soon as we crossed the border into Holland the cycling got easier. Clear signs to Rotterdam just for cyclists and the infrastructure just for bicycles is astounding! 
In the first city we cycled through called Roosendal, we saw this e-bike plug-in, which are in most city centers in Holland. We don't see this in the States.
Since we had the wind at our backs and the cycling seemed easy, we decided to take a detour to Kinderdijk. This is a well-known area where the famed wind-mills line the canals. We bikes up and down the canals and took photos of these beautiful windmills. 
We finally made it to our hosts house later than we thought, tired and drained from the very long day of cycling. Our hosts, Karen and Giji, were kind enough to let us stay. We made food, told stories of current and past cycling trips and planned for the next day.
Houseboat in Rotterdam.
On July 11th we made our way to Wassenaar, where our friends from Alaska currently live. We were excited to visit Annette, Jeff, and meet their little girl Elsa! We were able to spend a bit of time with them, hear how life is as an expat in Holland, and eat the best ice cream we've had so far! 
Annette and I
Saying our goodbyes and off to Amsterdam we bike!
July 12, after a half a day at Annette's and Jeff's house, we slowly made our way to Amsterdam. Thankfully, it is only about 60km to the city center, so it was a relaxing short day. We bicycled around the airport for what felt like forever. The airplanes landing seemed so close, I felt like I could jump up and touch them. We arrived at the campground at about 5:00pm. Since this is Amsterdam, the campground was not empty, nor was it quiet. We were going to check out the city that night, but Martin wasn't feeling well so we had an early evening, unlike everyone else in the campground.
On July 13, we decided to spend one more night in Amsterdam. We started our day waiting in line for the Van Gogh Museum. This museum was wonderful, besides the crowd of people. It was difficult to ignore all the people when you are fighting to catch a glimpse of paintings or read the descriptions.
We walked up and down the canals through the red light district, past coffee shops, and finally we found a brewery.
If you know us, you know we like our beer!
On July 14th we had a late start. Since my chain broke the night before, and I couldn't fix it myself, we had to walk my bike to a bike shop. Thankfully they are all over and we got it fixed in no time! We left at noon and made our way through small towns following some long distance routes. The canals line this country like roads. They are everywhere.
We stumbled on an open wind mill and went inside to see the grinding at work.
After that we continued on through canals past houseboats and sail boats. We cycled through small farming communities, and as we got closer to the North Sea, some vacation communities.
Holland is Flat!
We found a hidden area within the sand dunes, where we set up our tent.
The next morning we woke up to drizzling rain. We decided to wait the weather out, so we packed up and left at about 2:00pm. Even with the late start, and rainy weather, we still managed to bike 110km, since the wind pushed us north. We cycled past beautiful fields of flowers, which gave color to our grey day.
Late in the day we cycled on Hollands longest bridge, the Afsluitdijk, which is more of a spit of land than a bridge.
On July 16, we cycled 89km, straight into the strong wind. I didn't take any photos this day because I was too busy battling the strong winds. When the wind is on your side in Holland you are cruising, otherwise I feel like I am just struggling to keep my bike from drifting into a canal! We fought long and hard and decided to camp at the very next campground. Thankfully, the campground owner provided us with a hot meal and beer, which at that point was much needed.
Today, July 17, we started the day cycling into the wind. We bicycled through Lauwersmeer National Park. We changed our route halfway to our destination to bicycle with the wind, which made a huge difference. We arrived at our hosts home in Finsterwold in good time. Our host, a former member of Parliament, and current dairy farmer gave us a tour of his farm and the area, which is just 30 km from the German border. He told us about the engineering that goes into the water systems here to prevent floods and salt water contamination.
I am sad to be leaving Holland. The bike paths and lanes are amazing here. So many resources has gone into developing the cycling system here with the special long distance routes, maps every few kilometers, and signs everywhere. I thought Germany cycling signs were good, but Holland is by far the best I've seen.
Map of Holland and all the Long distance routes.
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