Graafschapspad part 3

Third part of the Graafschapspad
Laren- Lochem

What could be better than going for a walk on your birthday?
It is certainly much better than talking to people on the phone who ring only one time of the year: on my birthday. Of course they expect that I am incredibly happy and grateful that they have remembered my birthday and want me to give them a complete summary of the last year. I don’t think so!

Although there was a 85-90% chance of rain, Butch and I took off. We walked the third part of the Graafschapspad today. It is a really beautiful walk along farmland, lovely and colourful farm buildings, through forests and along stately homes. The first signs of spring were everywhere. Daffodiles, snowbells, and blooming willows. The smell of pines and firs was great.
The surface was changing from small b-roads, to sandy paths (called ‘aardappeldijk’ – transl. ‘potatoe dyke) ,then forest paths and finally landscaped paths along a stately home. ‘Landgoed Ampsen’ dates back from 1650 and was finally finished in 1760.
We had lunch at the Exelse Molen, where Butch had a 12 o’clockje. This is a large plate of bread covered with layers of thin ham and topped with a mountain of fried mushrooms, onions and dices of bacon with some salad and a sauce tartar.

We were extremely lucky with the weather: sunny spells, wind and cloudy periods changed along the way. The last 200 yrds it started to rain. As soon as we went into the car it came down in buckets for the next 2 hours.
Hopefully we will be able to continue the Graafschapspad soon.