Dwingelderveld National Park...

The following day, Veronica felt fine. We knew we should all be isolating, but decided that as long as we kept our distance from others, our little family bubble should be able to spend the day at a national park. Surprisingly, on both the drive there and drive back, we ended up behind an oversized vacation chalet being moved.

Lucky for us, the weather was great and the park was quite empty. 

The café was closed, so we could use one of their tables for lunch. 

We all enjoyed the scenery, which was quite diverse with forests, swamps and savannahs.

Kati usually avoids water, but perhaps acted differently because she was so excited to be on vacation.

 

An Unexpected Curve Ball...

Veronica and Brett brought some weights along so they could workout during our stay. 

This was Jimmy’s favorite spot to work as it was comfortable and had a great view. 

It wasn’t a big surprise that Veronica tested positive that day when self-testing for COVID as she’d already heard that the Narrator had been ill while performing on Sunday (clearly a case of the show must go on). We’d all been boosted, but our jabs hadn’t been designed for Omicron, the prevalent variant. We were able to book official tests for the three of us Dutch residents, but only Veronica tested positive. Luckily her symptoms were mild.

Rather than driving to the grocery store, Jimmy, Kati and I walked the three miles (five kilometers) to the nearest Albert Heijn, which we were surprised to discover had its own on-site café. It was nice and sunny while we sat on the terrace and enjoyed a local craft beer.

Someone had fun decorating the place.

We took a different route back, where we came across a chair for giants.

That afternoon we enjoyed the jacuzzi. 
 

Getaway in Drenthe...

On March 14, the day after the final panto performance, we packed up Terri’s car and drove three hours to the village of Erm, in Drenthe in the northeast. We stayed for four nights in a vacation park (a fancy name for a trailer park). I had chosen this particular lakefront two-bedroom chalet since it had a big fenced yard for Kati...

…and a large conservatory, which nearly doubled the living space...

...as the rest consisted of a compact kitchen, small living room with just enough space for the four of us to watch a movie, a bathroom and two bedrooms. 

Another draw was the large jacuzzi...

…with a great view.

This was the view directly in front of our chalet...

…and further down the beach. 

Here’s proof that I rode the zipline after Veronica and Brett.

There was zero wind, so lots of nice reflections.

 

Hashing on the Far Side...

Phil left for Norway on Sunday morning and I headed to the hash on the far side of The Hague. It was a beautiful day, so I walked from Hollandspoor Station rather than catching the tram. Along my walk, I passed some street art.

Presumably these two murals were sponsored by NS, the national train company.

The hare, Biggus Dickus, couldn’t resist posing in the statue garden in front of Sportcampus Zuiderpark, an indoor arena built in 2017 which would host the Invictus Games the following month. 

While there were still no leaves on the trees in mid-March, at least the crocuses were in bloom. 

I was one of the few runners that day. 

This was definitely a first for me: witnessing a harriette drinking out of her ski boot.
 

Sleeping Beauty...

Veronica performed twice on both Saturday and Sunday, so I was in charge of entertaining Brett and Phil. I took them to Leiden to visit the Aztec exhibit at Museum Volkenkunde, the anthropology museum, and then to the Saturday market. Brett took the task of picking out flowers for Veronica very seriously; too bad his debit card wasn’t accepted. 

Of course, I couldn’t let him arrive empty-handed to her show. It was so great that Sally, John and Mark also joined us, so Veronica had a nice cheering section. 

I was even more proud of Veronica this time around when I could just sit back and enjoy the show. She was great!

Phil’s visit with Jimmy was pretty short as mostly limited to a drink after Jimmy arrived home each night, but he was satisfied with quality over quantity.

Brett went back to the theater on Sunday to help with a photoshoot of the cast after the cast party. 
 

If Things Grow Wrong...

That Friday, I tagged along with Veronica and Brett (who had arrived on Wednesday night) to the Lakenhal, the art museum in Leiden, for the special exhibit If Things Grow Wrong, about growth addiction. I especially liked these artworks, entitled Future Fossils, considering our constant need for new things and the deep traces we leave behind on our planet. 

Discover the Chain examined the huge amount of textile waste.

Veronica and Brett didn’t hesitate to became part of Boxed Head.

Kaia looked like an modern lamp, but was actually a sustainable CO2 filter made from algae.  

The Paradox of Science reminded us that with great advances in medical care comes an immense amount of plastic trash.

We did a quick dash through the rest of the museum, where we came across the crazy shadows of a fashion display. While we were at the museum, Phil, who had flown in from Houston that morning, was napping. That evening, while Veronica and Jimmy were back at Warenar Theatre in Wassenaar for the first performance, Phil took me and Brett out for dinner in V-town.