Back home again in the Netherlands. P and I survived our trip without one of us being left naked in the middle of the desert or having his eyebrows shaved and a butterfly tattooed on his lower back. Actually, it was a tattoo of a slutty Tinkerbell fairy on P’s ankle. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right? Overall, it was a great experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has a chance to go. Most people think only of the coastal states and only the big cities when they talk about the US or Americans. Let me tell you, there’s a whole huge country out there. Northern, Central, and Southern Californians are as different from each other as a Oklahoman would be to a Georgia Peach. Folks from Albuquerque got nothing to do with Roswell or Area 51. NOLA chefs are different from New York street vendors, just like Texan brisket, Memphis ribs, and Carolina BBQ got their own flavors. But everybody loves the song, “Sweet Home Alabama,” no matter where they’re from.

We’ve got the whole other half of the States to travel for the next time. Or perhaps we’ll spend a bit more time camping in the Southwest, fishing in the New England states, or RV’ing it in the Midwest. P has seen more of the United States than most Americans ever will. He’s a great guy to have on a roadtrip and I”m thankful he didn’t smother me in my sleep because of my dreadful snoring. Check back here for P’s thoughts on the trip and don’t forget to visit the gallery for more pics.

Only the Dutch would combine the endurance of a marathon with the ridiculous freezing cold of the North Sea. Think of it as the Iditarod of ice skating. The Dutch call it Elfstedentocht, or the 11-city tour, starting and ending in the Friesland capital of Leeuwarden, and following a route through: Sneek, IJlst, Sloten, Stavoren, Hindeloopen, Workum, Bolsward, Harlingen, Franeker and Dokkum. That race length is 200 km (124 miles).

One of the things that makes the Elfstedentocht so special is that it can only be held in years where the temperature is below -10C to ensure the ice has frozen to the minimum requirement of 15cm in thickness. Further, that has to be sustained for a full 7 days in order to determine a winner.

The winter of 2009 had a few days of skating, but the last official race was back in 1997. Maybe there is something to this global-warming thing. Most of us can only hope to experience this amazing event from the sidelines. You have to be a member of the Elfstedentocht Union to actually compete, which was capped to the 15.000 members it has today. It didn’t happen this year, so let’s wait and see if next year has better luck.