Friday 15th of august: 

The fire is still there… Megan and Jillian had a lot of talks with their parents. The fire is coming closer and closer and they are still there. We are checking the apps every hour if not more. In the evening they finally decided to leave and go somewhere more safe. We wanted them to come to us, but they wanted to stay close. The smoke was so thick that you could see it on the satellite images.

Saturday 16th of august: 

Officially Jillian was going to her parents today, but we all decided that it was smarter to wait a bit. They are now close to the fire and could see where it stopped. So we tried to have a nice day, but that was easier said than done.

Sunday 17th of august: 

The fire is under control where the parents of Jillan and Megan are, so they chose to go back to their land. Luckily for them the wind shifted, but now it is going our way. We are still far away, but we are checking the apps for big changes in wind and the fire spreading our way.

Monday 18th of august: 

We woke up and opened the camper door. We knew immediately: We are packing our stuff today. The sky was orange and ash was falling from the sky. We looked at the apps and the fire spread rapidly our way… So the fire is not that far now. Megan went up to wake Jillan and called her parents to pick Jillian and the 3 kittens up. We begin to pack just in case. Every hour we saw the apps showing us that it would be smart to go. Our English friends were also packing their stuff and decided to drive today! We needed to wait for Jillian’s parents first, before we could leave. Around 2 o’clock the English family left. We waited for Jillian and Megan’s parents and when they came we were ready to leave. We said our goodbye’s to Michel, Jillian and the kittens and set off to Spain. We drove for 3- 4 hours to a campside with bad cell reception. There we were planning to stay 2 nights and see how the fire was going. We wanted to go back, but the fire is still going that way. 

In the evening Jan decided he didn’t want to stay in the camper and missed his freedom already so he jumped out and we ran after him.. We caught him in the end.

Tuesday 19th of august: 

We woke up in Spain and when we saw how far the fire had come we had to make a decision. Are we going back to the Netherlands or stay here until the fire is out? The English family are going back to England. We called Michel and told him the news: We are going back home! Back to the Netherlands and make a new plan. The English family is going tomorrow in the early morning. So in the evening we said our goodbye’s and went to bed.

Wednesday 20th of august:

The English family already left when we woke up. We also packed up our stuff and drove off. We drove for a little while before we had to stop to fill Betsy with some fuel. When we wanted to drive further Betsy didn’t want to go. Megan had to sit behind the wheel while Bryan pushed. We stood still for a little while to figure out why our camper decided she didn’t want to go anymore. Luckily the English family knew what to do and we could drive further. We stopped at the border of France to sleep and drive on tomorrow. And then we heard the news… Michel and Mirande’s quinta didn’t escape the fire. Most of the animals and Michel got out in time after fighting against the fire, but the fire won.

Thursday 21st of august: 

We got more news! Michel went back to see what was left and luckily not everything was turned to ash! Most of the animals are fine and their house is still there! But the fire got to a lot of the forest and their camper… We were sad, but happy that a lot survived! So on that note we left our sleepspot in Spain and drove to the border of France. Megan wanted to go back to a place we stayed at on the trip down, but we didn’t know if we could make it. After a long drive we made it and were there at 21:30.

Friday 22nd of august: 

Because of the sudden leaving Megan had to work on the road today. Bryan drove and Megan worked. We didn’t do much else than talk besides that. We do not know where to go in the Netherlands, but we will figure something out. At the end of the day we stopped at the border of Belgium. Tomorrow we will be home!

Saturday 23th of august: 

The last big trip for now! We talked the whole way about the things we had missed this last 6 months. And we decided that it was: ‘Kapsalon’. 1 o’clock we crossed the border. We called our great friend (Thom) in the Netherlands and decided to go to his house and play a game to relax from the long drive. When we were in the Netherlands Megan wanted something to eat and drink, but wanted to go somewhere she had seen on instagram. The strawberry drive through. So we did! And then we could turn off our google maps for the first time in a little while! We knew the road. The evening was amazing and we showed Kim the Netherlands! 

So that is how this trip comes to an end, but don’t be sad, we will go on a new adventure soon enough. But first time to settle down and think about what to do!