GOOD MORNING from Carolina’s B&B.

We had another quiet night and a very good sleep. This is the 3rd time we have stayed here, as we passed through Putten twice in 2018.

Today we are heading to Epe which will take us through the beautiful Park Veluwe with its fields of sand and heather and it’s shady mixed deciduous forest…oak, beech, birch and even some pine. Alongside the trail we can see the mark of the wild boar which dig up the roots of the plants and trees.

The flower of the day! The monkey flower!

How we find our way…

Holy mother of everything great about this little country! The Fietsroute Knooppunt system rocks! In all fairness, I did download an app for my phone/iPad which also contains the Fietsroute Knooppunt system and overlays it with standard GPS. The system is so simple, so elegant, so intuitive and so efficient that I finally understand the concept of ‘la-la’ biking your way across the Dutch countryside. You really don’t have to care about where you are. It’s nearly impossible to get lost, and you can quickly evaluate alternative routes to your next knooppunt with a short stop at one of the many information signs.

How it works

Knooppunt translates to junction, which of course is the heart of the system. Each junction corresponds to a number and the system takes you from junction to junction. When you see one of the large information signs with a map on it, you can guarantee that you are at a knooppunt. The knooppunt number will be clearly marked at the top left-hand side of the sign. Your current location will also be marked on the map with a small red circle. Now all you have to do is decide some general direction to go a few junctions out. For example, in the photo I’ve included, I am at knooppunt 64 heading to Epe. Looking on the map, I can see that knooppunt 65 is very close to my B&B at Laarstraat 3

. So depending upon what kind of mood I am in, I can choose to meander through the forest or go directly to my destination.

This was today’s route….

The big picture…