196. Europe Bicycle Trip---Goodbye Kaulens, Goodbye Neuss, Goodbye Germany

Well, it is Day 68, Monday, June 23rd and time to say goodbye to a warm, loving family that I have grown very fond of. Rainer, Maren and their children Nils, Lukas and Silja have treated me most wonderfully and I can't thank them enough, especially Maren for all her work on my behalf. It is time to head back Limburg, Netherlands.  I am heading to the home of Jacques and Betty Noordermeer but I am a little hesitant because they have not answered my latest email yet.

Silja and I hope to continue skyping one another so she can practise her English. Maybe she will come as an exchange student one day like her brother Lukas did in Michigan, USA.

As the head of a young family, Rainer looks to be doing an excellent job. I can see that he loves Maren very much.

I first met Lukas last January when he was an exchange student with my friend, Mary, in Flint, Michigan and it has been interesting to see him with his family. He is maturing and I pray that he will continue to work hard in his studies and be able to decide what he would like to become in the future.

Thank you so much Maren for all you have done for me. You have not only cooked and cleaned my clothes but you have given me a loving family environment to be in while I am away from my own family. I would not have had such a good trip along the Rhine River had it not been for your help in getting train tickets and schedules and map books. You are an "angel".

The first big building I passed was Lukas' school.

My plan for today was to go through Neuss, Gnadental, Reuschenberg, Holzheim, Kapellen, Bedburdyck, Juchen, Hochneukirch, Wanlo, Kuckum, Erkelenz, Wassenberg, Heinsberg, Selfkant and then arrive at my destination of Nieuwstadt

Factory near Juchen

Factory worker?

Hochneukirch

Goodbye sign for the Neuss, Rhine area

Modern windmills--I was having a great ride today after having a couple of rest days. I missed one turn by a busy road but realized my mistake quickly when my path abruptly ended and I knew that I should be on the other side of the busy highway. I backtracked and found the spot where I should have turned. 

Many driveways that are on curves have backup mirrors. There I am cycling by.

I made it nicely past the city of Erkelenz.

The crops are getting ready to harvest soon

House built in 1914---At Saeffelen on the way to Selfkant, I found myself at major highway 56 that I was not allowed to ride on so I cycled to Tuddern and followed a back road from there right to the end of the street that Jacques and Betty live on. It was 3 pm and I had cycled 82.86 km so far today. But alas when I knocked on their house door, there was no answer. Just at that time the neighbor's daughter came home from school and I told her my dilemna and she said she would get her mother who was watching the house. . The mother told me that Jacques and Betty had gone this weekend to help their son move to Paris. She didn't know when they would return. She dialed their cell phone and they said they were on the way back and would arrive by 7 pm.   I had 4 hours to "kill" or fill........