And then it was time to let her go. After 33,000 km across 22 countries, it was time to return the Duck to Utrecht. As hard as it was to part with our little buddy, it was exciting to think of her beginning a new adventure. I wondered if she would ever get back to Ireland, or cross the Strait of Gibraltar again. My guess is that she most definitely will.
We signed the papers and went downstairs to give her a hug.
We closed the front gates behind us and left our home in Europe.
Nomadic again, we headed into the center of Utrecht to find the Crazy Dutchmen.
Cheers to the Lame Duck. Thanks for always getting us in there so close, and for never giving up.
Ain't she a beaute?
Forever connected...
Tags: Goodbye, Holland, Lame Duck, Netherlands, Photographs, VW bus
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She’s been the 3rd member of our family for the entire year (I mean, we even began the “Bus on Location” series to commemorate her part of the ongoing adventure!). She’s been the source of a few headaches as well as a handful of unforgettable moments. She was our home, our shelter and our mode of transportation all over the continent of Europe (and a bit o’ Africa!). She was the reason we got to do all that we did. 
So, our final farewell to such an important part of the unforgettable experience was certainly sad. It was a symbol of the end, in a way. But as nothing in life ever lasts forever, we refuse to focus on the sadness, the goodbye, the end. JD and I will continue to cherish the journey we had with our beloved Lame Duck. We will be thankful that our lives crossed paths. We will send her on her way to the next journey. And we will do the same.
Thanks for the ride, ole’ girl. It was magnificent.
So hard to say goodbye
Our Niederlander sweetheart
Tags: Appreciation, Bus on Location, Goodbye, Lame Duck, Photographs
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Holland set the stage for the beginning and the end of our road trip with the Lame Duck. I can’t say this is her home – because I know she’s most likely lived in countless other places. And I can’t claim that we saw lots of fantabulous things together during either of our short stretches in Holland – but we did have a smashing good time at the car wash!
Spruced up and lookin' fine!
Deja vu at Camping Batenstein
In all her glory...
Tags: Bus on Location, Holland, Lame Duck, Netherlands, Photographs, VW bus
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On my birthday we pulled into Woerden- the small Dutch town where we had spent our first night in the bus. The campground owners recognized us and referred us to a car wash nearby. It was time to give the bus a good bath inside and out before returning her to Utrecht.
We cleaned her up good- talking the whole time about different places we’d been. Where that particular dirt might have come from. She cleaned up real nice- maybe better than the day we picked her up, apart from a few rust spots that had taken up residence during the long European winter. She was a gem.
Kim and I walked into the nearby neighborhood that afternoon and enjoyed the quiet along the canal. We thought about New York and Chicago and converting back to the dollar- about all of the familiar faces we were about to see. We thought about Boo.
We slept soundly in our manicured little campsite next to the canal. The same exact site we had stayed in almost a year earlier. My birthday present this year was the life that I found on the road, a year with Kim, and about 25,000 photographs to go with it.
Cheers to 37,
JD
Peaceful canals by Camping Batenstein
Birthday boy and his buddy, celebrating an unforgettable journey
Bathtime!
One last morning waking up in our sweet bus
Does breakfast taste any different when you turn 37?
Still young and goofy
Tags: Birthday, Bus, Camping, Holland, Milestone, Netherlands, Photographs, Woerden
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Germany is really the only country we kept leaving and revisiting. It has such a central location to many of its surrounding countries that we couldn’t help but use it as a sort of stepping stone for our final ’slalom tour’ up through central Europe.
Well, the Lame Duck was thrilled to have covered so much of Germany during her summertime zig zag adventure. From Bavaria to Berlin to the Rhine River Valley, check out her Deutschland candids!
Hiding out in the Black Forest
Gazing up at Neuschwanstein Castle
Chillin' w/ a VW buddy at Camping Berger near Cologne
Taking a break from driving
Doing the tourist thing in Triberg (Schwartzwald)
Soaking up the ambiance along the Rhine River Valley
Peeking up through the trees at Hohenschwangau Castle
Cruisin' through Hemeln
Gazing down the Rhine
Camped out by old railroad tracks in Schiltach
Enjoying endless, spectacular views
Airing out at our riverside campsite just outside Berlin
Tags: Bavaria, Bus on Location, Deutschland, Germany, Lame Duck, Photographs, Rhine, Scenic, VW bus
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