Back home

We are back from a very relaxing vacation in the middle of nowhere near Lier in Belgium. We had a great time and enjoyed ourselves very much. The weather was mostly sunny and warm. We stayed in a lovely cottage surrounded by nature (private property): water, trees, little fields, birds, etc. We lived outdoors all day, wonderful! Some things were a bit primitive, but that didn't really matter. In the coming days I'll share more stories and pictures!

The day before we went away we bought another car! A bit hectic to do it last-moment, but it was the sensible thing to do. Because of the increasing petrol prices (Dutch prices are ridiculously high!) we had been looking for a comparable car on LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). They are very sought-after, because the price of LPG isn't linked to the oilprice and therefore much lower than petrol. The monthly taxes for a car on LPG are higher, but it really pays off if you drive a lot like we do. Ron had kept an eye on the market. So we drove to Belgium in a new car! This is it:


It's a black BMW 318i Touring Executive (E46). The same model we had, but with some extra's: 2 years younger (2001), original PDC (park distance control), full on board computer, better mileage, removable tow bar and LPGi (liquefied petroleum gas injection). We are very happy with it!

Ghost Ryder

Today Ron and I visited Wonder, who is still staying at his mom's home in Rijen. We were just in time to drive him to the specialist for a check-up on his leg. She was content, the formation of new bone tissue has started. In the next 6 weeks he can gradually put more weight on his leg (in consultation with his physiotherapist and depending on the pain he has) until he can stand on it completely. Good news!

After we left the hospital we drove to a parking place in Breda, where a very special truck stands. Last time we already went there and Ron made some pictures with his phone. He wanted to go back and take better pictures with his camera. It is a showtruck called Ghost Ryder, a Peterbilt 359 fitted with a Caterpillar 550HP and Phantom F4 Rolls Royce Viper 202 turbojet engine (12000HP) with afterburner. The owner was there too and Ron talked with him. He made a lot of pics and I took some of him next to the truck. If you click the picture below, you can visit the webalbum I made (in a new window).

Ghost Ryder

BMW E46 meeting

Yesterday Ron and I have visited a meeting of the E46-forum of which Ron is a member. E46 stands for a certain production series of BMW, the one we are driving: 3-series from 1998 to 2006. The meeting was organised in Sliedrecht at and around the premises of WheelsOnline, specialist in rims /tyres & BMW-parts and the sponsor of the forum. The weather was good. E46's arrived from all over the country (and Belgium and Germany). It was a very impressive line of cars! In the picture at the bottom of this post our car is the last one in line, but the line got longer and longer after we arrived. In total there were around 90 cars present, from very basic to completely equipped with everything possible. There were stands with BMW- and car-related stuff, for example Meguiar's Car Care Products and Dr. Vinyl repairs. We admired the cars and other stuff, talked to other forum members and Ron bought some maintenance tool. All in all we enjoyed ourselves very much!