Trapped in Numansdorp, NL - May 16 to May 26 2010

When we are not using our little Pilote RV in Europe, it is stored in the tiny town of Numansdorp in the South Holland region of the Netherlands. The storage company looks after the annual medical for the vehicle and generally does a good job. 
This year they recommended replacing the main drive belt in the engine since it was beyond its "best by" date and a failure of this item is very, very bad. So the belt was changed in time for our arrival - an expensive task, but, we thought, good insurance.

Well, as you may have heard, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Thus it was that, on a 30 degree Saturday morning on an Autobahn near Erfurt, in Germany, we experienced the aforementioned very, very bad. A single lurch, one expensive graunch from under the hood and we were immobilized on a rain soaked freeway.
To cut a long story short, 30 hours and $2,200 later we had been hauled 400 miles on a wrecker and delivered back to Numansdorp! Hooray for a 10 day static hiatus in rain swept Holland.
Numansdorp has a population of 9910 residents and is a typical Fisher-Price like Dutch toy-town with stunningly neat, but infuriatingly small everything - roads, roundabouts, stores, houses - everything. So the storage yard became our base while insurance adjusters, parts suppliers, a National Holiday, the mechanic and fate all worked their tedious magic. 
Our major concern was getting out in time to reach Venice, Italy, by June 4th when our visitors from America were scheduled to arrive. One way and another, we busied ourselves with bike rides, shopping, reading and general catching up while a new cylinder head  and other vital organs were procured and installed. Check here for fun ways to pass time in Holland.