three riding down the Rhine, one left behind :)

hi friends,

It's Nadia here to give you an actual update using words instead of pictures. I have plenty of time to write since I decided to stay in Holland with my family for a few days. Annie, Mo, Julia and new addition Jody from Australia left Holland Thursday morning to bike down the Rhine river into Germany. I plan to catch up with them on Sunday or Monday by train. It should only take a four to five hour train ride to meet them in Kohl, Germany. Although I'd rather be biking with my sistas I'm staying in Nijmegen to recover from my knife wound :) I was able to do shorter rides with them in Holland one handed but wasn't feeling up for a one handed 70 mile ride! I tried to take my stitches out with the help of one of my aunties on Tuesday but was entirely grossed out when I saw that the cut was still open at the top. The next day I took two more out but wasn't able to get the fourth one out. It was stuck and hurt way too much to continue. Luckily I was able to visit the 'house doctor' of my uncle yesterday and she quite calmly pulled the rest out in a matter of minutes. And even though I don't have international health insurance she gave me a consultation and did the job for 20 euro... thank you to the Dutch socialist health care system.
I got a call from Annie a couple hours ago. She said they went 70 miles yesterday and wild camped along the Rhine. They went for an evening dip in the river, which loosened up their muscles and was very refreshing. Today however has been rainy and cool. They called me from a small town coffee shop where they were drying off and warming up. Our convo was cut short by the automated dutch lady saying they were running out of phone minutes. Their adventure is going well and I cannot wait to be riding with them. I'm hoping by Monday I will be able to put pressure on my palm again and move my finger enough to hold on to the handle bars. Until then I get to spend quality time with my mom's side of the family. The best is meeting my cousin's daughter Fae, who is almost two. She is adorable and has already given me the name "Na Na."

Much love from the Netherlands,
Nadia