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Saturday, August 5

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Our first stop was a visit with Geert Van Kerckhove and his company. Geert is a friend of Hans.

Geert, Hans and Cerwin

It was evident that Geert is proud of his fleet of ten rigs.

Cerwin in a son’s truck.

I enjoyed seeing the paintings on the front corner of several trucks.

Geert bought the old 1989 Volvo with plans to paint it like the rest of his fleet. This is his truck.

Hans enjoyed getting in this one.

Look at that smile

Geert’s wife, Petra, arrived to do some cleaning in one of the trucks. I told her that she spoils the guys. She agreed.

A short time later their son Bryan came to deliver a Saturday load.

He was pleased to show Cerwin his truck and turn it on so Cerwin could hear the new sound of something he recently installed.

As you can see, he is very particular about keeping it clean.

Bryan backing his truck up to the dock.

We thoroughly enjoyed this visit with the Van Kerckhove family.

Our second stop was at Van Moer Logistics. This is where Hans drove before having to retire due to problems with his prothesis and the pain from driving.

Wim Willocx, the unit manager at this location seemed pleased to tell us about this company.

He pointed out some pictures on the wall as he told us about this 32-year-old company. Van Moer employes 2,300 people and has 500 trucks in Belgium. The founder of the company still drives when needed.

The office was of most interest to me, because this is where I would work if was here. 🙂 There are 100 trucks at this location and 200 employees. Wim called this the “war room.”

The shop where the rigs are maintained.

Cerwin enjoyed climbing inside one.

We had never heard of MAN trucks. They are made in Germany. Wim said this is the best make of truck for this company.

The entire parking lot is made of bricks.

We left with a several items to remind of this visit. Cerwin appreciated the hat during the rest of our visit when it was cool and windy.

Our third visit was the nursing home where Anneke works and where Hans’ mother lives.

Anneke’s desk. When she looked at this picture, she was glad that it wasn’t piled up with a lot of work.

The dining room.

The sign at Madeleine’s room (Hans’ mother). In Belgium the women keep their maiden name.

When I met his mom, I knew immediately who Hans and Anneke’s daughter Hannah looks like. Hans said they hear that a lot.

You could see their love for each other as they talked. Because we were there, they hadn’t seen each other all week.

Back at the house, Anneke had just finished lunch for the next day – after church. Ground meat, vegetables and potatoes.

Saturday evening meal consisted of turkey, potatoes and witloof.

Potatoes

Witloof was a new taste for us. Hans said you either love it, or you don’t. He loves it but not all their girls like it. Witloof is called chicory in the USA.

Anneke showed us this one that had not been cooked.

From the Internet: Witloof Chicory is a Belgian Endive variety that is great for home gardening. After 55-115 days, Witloof Chicory should reach full size. Leaves can be taken at any time but are best when the weather is cool.  The leaves have a mildly acidic but sweet flavor. They are ideal for salads and taste great when cooked as well. 

Anneke trying to convince Hans to take the final piece of turkey.

I enjoyed the taste. Cerwin wasn’t convinced that it was a great taste. 🙂

During the evening we watched the first two episodes of “The Chosen.”