Day 40, Ammerstol – Lexmond

Weather: ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
Lunch: 🥪🥪🥪🥪🥪(5 out of 5, tasty carpaccio sandwich in a restaurant in Ameide, together with my parents)
Track: 🇳🇱🇳🇱🇳🇱🇳🇱 (4 out of 5, pretty landscape, good trails, diversity in trail and scenery)
Home stay: 🛌🛌🛌🛌🛌 (5 out of 5, great food and hospitality by the whole family. What more do you need?)
Name of followed trail: Grote rivierenpad (great rivers trail)
Special mention: Paulien, Benno, Jaël, Juda and Joas for including us in their home, meal and prayers. Thanks for the hospitality!

We leave the estuary on a cold and sunny morning. Shorts, hat and gloves it is! We hike along the dyke to the pittoresque village Schoonhoven, where we take the ferry across the Hollandsche IJssel to the fortified village Nieuwpoort. We’re happy there is a ferry, because yesterday it was broken, so there was no service… We walk over the fortified walls around the village and head towards Ameide over a long grassy dyke with a windmill. It is really beautiful! The only downside is that the grass is wet, and so are our feet after a while.

We continue on a dryer grassy lane, fill out a trail diary and dry our tent (and socks). We have to continue after a short while, because it’s almost time for lunch in Ameide with my mum and dad!

When we get there, my dad is already waiting for us with his camera. I would’ve been surprised if he wouldn’t be 😁😅.

We have a good lunch and time to catch up after 6 weeks. Good to see you again mum and dad!

We say goodbye and head for Lexmond where my colleague Paulien lives with her family. When I told her about our hike, she mentioned the trail behind her house and we found out that was actually our trail! She has invited us to stay with her and her family, and we happily took the invitation. And now the time is there to go there. Through a beautiful wetland area, we get to Lexmond. Paulien and her son Juda pick us up when we walk into the village. We walk to their home, where we meet the rest of the family; Paulien husband Benno and her sons Jaël and Joas. We have a shower and enjoy a great meal together. In the evening we stay up way past hikers bedtime 😅!

We had a great day today! We really enjoyed the trail today and are grateful for all the people that include us in their lives for a night.