apart from 1 event we had a great time touring Belgium/Holland with the trucks, with lots of preparation and help from some of the people listed later, the tour started on Monday 20th June I collected my good friend craig from the Lymington / I O W ferry (first one of the day) and moved on towards dover using M27 A3m up to M25 round to clacket lane for a comfort stop and to gauge how many euro cousins were parked. (a lot) ever onward we dropped down into dover about 13.00 hours, straight through no weighing these days, into dfds checkin a quick look at our photos and on to the waiting lanes no time to stroll about being told to stay on the walkways we were on and sailing, our chosen route was dover /Dunkirk a little longer but time to enjoy our lunch, into Dunkirk off the ferry and away no hold ups anywhere, we motored on up to zeebrugge and opted to spend the night in the total garage, (no charge to park as the barrier was broken and not being fixed until the end of the year) I assured the lady we would leave by then, we ordered our meal which was the usual fast food supplemented by lots of salad as we were to be her last customers so help yourselves, a full park as well as an adjacent parking area also full was not too bad apart from the fools that have to blow the horn to show their departure to their (one can only assume love ones though why they cant just hug and a quick kiss beats me), gay pride and all that, still add some fuel and off to a little museum in knokke heist, the for freedom museum, a bit of a tangle getting to it as the road was under repair and the one way route had the obligatory car parked next to the no parking sign at a very tight left turn. any way the little museum was a masterpiece housed in an old school building it showed the lives of the people who were surrounded by the allies but who were unable to liberate them due to the surrounding area of sea and two canals and very strong german defences. each room was a depiction of a moment in time the mannequins faces were stunningly life like, well worth the effort to visit if you get a chance, and with things being given to them even now as the family’s sort out the loss of someone who was there including the Canadian and British troops it can only get better, a family affair with really interesting staff / volunteers who speak English very well, then after something like five hours we moved onto the truckstop8 at Eindhoven for the night, i will add some more tomorrow of the truckstop shuffle and the Daf museum visit,
well a day late and still no photographs, something about a cloud and I don’t seem to be able to retrieve them, still parked at the truckstop 8 in Eindhoven quite early on the Tuesday a good job as the fuel pumps were being revamped, slide in behind a tractor unit so as not to waste space checked with the driver he was not waiting for a trailer or anything else he was fine just finishing a daytime daily rest and would be off about 21.00 hours collecting a trailer on the way, I did notice quite a few had driven into the spaces and as it was a single row would have been able to drive through and out, this idea was fine until things got busy and some trucks drove across the cabs parked up and toddled off, the drive ins were then all day sleepers and wanted to get on there way, then all the shuffling started as they tried to reverse out of the bays, this was fine in most cases as we and others kept an eye on things as you do, until a fridge parked along the fence surrounding the pumps which stopped all progress as he was not moving for anyone until he had had his meal not sure if he was on an urgent 45 or just a plank, any way as I was not needing to get onto rest in any hurry I moved after the unit went on his way and with lots of jack knifing away they went, and so to bed, as with ever increasing regularity in the morning off some went with a good bye blast on the horn, people with only a female parent I think, so once the pumps are done a fine place to stay good food, staff and facilities, the usual idea your food pays for parking,
on to the Daf museum I had tried to ascertain whether parking was available on site but it is far too small for even a ridged 4 wheeler, but having checked on the surrounding roads being out of the low emissions zone we headed into town ( my truck was built to euro3 and then as it worked only in London the previous owner had a particulate filter added upgrading to euro 4 this is still not good enough for Eindhoven as they tagged on the trucks could not be older than 8 years what does the year matter if certified to euro 4 anyway, foiled again by a single parent person I think) any way if you approach with the museum on your right just passed it is a canal, just go over the canal turn left and there is room enough for anything along on the left with no time restrictions,
Into the museum and it is a very bright and welcoming place with all things daf related and guides in many languages, the thing that struck me most was how many things were done with the laughable twin belt variomatic engine, this little unit drove full blown racing cars, pickups, and articulated lorries grossing 9 ton, motor cycles and mopeds that the young have realised if you increase the balance weights you can increase the to governed speed greatly, clever little sods. well we spent about 5 hours in the museum and enjoyed it all even the coffee and cake from the café, but time was getting on and we were aiming to park up at the truckstop in Hank as I had done in my driving days, I will try again to add some photographs to this post but if this fails I will continue asap, night all
back again, still no photos but off to the camera shop tomorrow to get them put on a usb stick, anyway we took a slow drive over to hank and the truck stop wegrestaurant napoleon A27 junc 21, the car park was larger than I remember and as we were about the tenth truck there we positioned ourselves in the middle to be away from the A27 and the road outside the café, a good park with only a few dips in the paving bricks, we had a couple of coffees sat outside in the sun, the menu is large with all the usual items as well as the specials board, the kitchen is in full view of the restaurant very clean all stainless and well staffed, I had a sausage special with veg and pots Craig had the bolognaise, all very nice finished off with cream ice cream and strawberries, and more coffee, then I wanted to go to the cashpoint to get reddies, a quick question to the girls on the bar and off we toddle to the little town about fifteen mins away only to find I had left my card in the cab, (gadzooks) back to the truck and back to town for me craig opted to use the free wifi, more coffee upon my return, and by then the park was full to bursting, parking was free with a meal and a window ticket was issued, off to bed a good day was over, woken by a couple of engines starting but did not hear them go, when I did surface the whole park was empty with only a couple of trucks by the café that had stopped for breakfast, (I thought I might have withdrawal symptoms as no one said their good byes with the horns), only one shower but clean and the 1 euro in the slot was more than long enough, more coffee then the off towards the Ford museum at hillegom, after another slow meander we arrived at hillegom the museum has a huge parking area with easy access for the largest of vehicles, the vehicles are set out from the beginning of the model ts up to about 1948, there are some stunning examples here as well as some as found and just preserved, a couple are for sale for eye watering amounts of euros, a well appointed café, spotless toilets and very informative staff made the five hours we spent here all the better, we were looking to motor over towards schipol airport for our next overnight but opted to just follow the coast as near as we could all the way to our final destination Den Helder even stopping for coffee and some really nice ice cream and fruit salad we still made the town by early evening, found the parking area which acts as a French aire parked up and strolled into the town, found a little restaurant called the sphinx and had the most wonderful pizzas with orange juice and yet more coffee, back to the truck and wander around the old naval dock yard which was to be the showground. even if we were a day early, still enough of my ramblings I will try again once I have secured the pictures on the stick so you can see some of the delights on our travels up to now, night all
Sounds like a nice trip you’re having.
Without pictures it never happened 
