June 8 We Cross the Line

About 10 am we tossed off the lines and headed out of Utrecht. About an hour later after a couple of locks and bridges, we crossed the entrance to the Hollandsche Ijssel from the Merwede Canal. We were in new territory! South on the canal took us through beautiful countryside dotted with farms and nature preserves. And it was another beautiful day. So far, the weather has been much better than last year; we've had a couple of days that were downright hot.
About noon we entered the lock that empties out into the Lek River, one of the major obstacles to surmount this year. The Lek and the Waal (Rhine) are two big rivers with current and lots of commercial traffic. Odysseus doesn't have the most power and we were a little concerned how she would handle the situation. The Lek turned out to be no problem, a straight-across shot with little traffic to dodge.
At 3:30 we entered today's destination, the Linge River. About an hour and a half later we were tied up across the river from the village of Oosterwijk, in the city park.


Betsy takes pictures of our neighbors in the park.

Surrounded by ducks and geese, we had an enjoyable dinner on the back deck as the village's "yoots" raced their scooters up and down the city quay across the river.