We drove the other day over to Brussels so Colin could take one of his cameras to the Nikon office to get an issue taken care of. He had to leave it with them and we’ll return in a week or so to collect it.

The drive there started out on very small roads, including a rather long cobbled part, but ended up on the large motorway, skirting the actual city to reach the Nikon place on the northeast edge. Coming back to the campground we tried to take a smaller highway but it became frustrating after awhile – the two GPS’s were giving conflicting instructions so we gave up and went back to the motorway.

The campground is letting us come and go every couple of days, although we won’t be able to stay there on Friday – she’s been fully booked for weeks because the Tour of Flanders on Sunday passes right by. We’ll just have to find a spot on the road and stay there two nights instead of just one.

The farmer in the field next to the campground was busy on his tractor spreading fertilizer – to be more specific, he was spreading cow shit. The smell was so strong it almost made the eyes water and breathing through the mouth wasn’t that much more pleasant than breathing through the nose – you could still smell it, and almost taste it too. Well, at least it wasn’t a bunch of toxic chemicals.

There was some rain during the late afternoon but we were snug inside the campervan – had a lovely steak, mushroom, onion and smashed potatoes dinner. I remarked about how well we were ‘roughing it’ – ha ha ha. I’m so glad I’m not in the tent eating bread and cheese and freezing at night.

There was more rain during the night and the next morning was grey and very chilly, although the sun did try to peep out. The fluffy white cat came for a visit while we were filling the campervan’s water tank. It’s name is Ice and it’s actually not deaf, but is a bit naughty – it lounges on the counter in the office and tries to drink out of the ladies’ tea cups. There’s also a beautiful black cat – not sure what it’s name is, or if it is also naughty.

We left the campground around 2:00 and headed a bit south to pick a spot for the next race. We followed part of the route and settled on a narrow, steep hill that the racers will climb twice. There was a dutch campervan already parked in a nice wide spot so we pulled in behind them.

The fellow came out and chatted a bit as we got settled – he and his wife had been at this same spot last year and they know it’ll be ok and we won’t get asked to leave. The farmers here have also recently fertilized their fields, although the smell has dissipated just a bit.

The resident rooster brazenly led his harem of hens along and across the road, apparently unconcerned with the passing cars.

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