Venice – The Papal Blessing
We spent quite a bit of time debating whether to skip Venice in favor of somewhere less touristy. Surprising perhaps given the city’s rich history, sheer beauty and standing in the world of… Read More
Switzerland – Wanderwege und Bahnhöfen
BRITTANY TO BASEL…BARELY There should be a Nobel Prize offered for travel coordination. After all, the underlying mechanics are complicated – factoring in distances, speed, language proficiency, transfers, pick-ups and drop-offs, petrol… Read More
France – Normandy & Brittany
ESCAPE FROM PARIS After picking up our rental car at Gare du Nord and navigating a mid-size station wagon out of a compact size parking spot and up an economy size ramp,… Read More
France – Life in Paris
It’s only two hours and 16 minutes on the high-speed Eurostar train from London’s St. Pancras International to Paris’ Gare du Nord. Although both cities are among the top travel destinations in… Read More
England – London Eye & Mad Eye
The high-speed train from Edinburgh to London’s Kings Cross station was uneventful and put us at our hotel by late afternoon, which meant we’d begin our city exploration the following day. In the… Read More
Scotland – Nessie, Whisky & Naughty Zoot
Our journey was from Portree to Inverness, which has about 60,000 residents and is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe. The route was only about 160 miles but would take… Read More
Scotland – Castles & Lochs
Our travel day from Reykjavik to Glasgow was spent packing, walking, riding, flying, driving and surviving customs and queues, bad GPS and miscellaneous frustrations. It didn’t help anyone’s mood that we woke so… Read More
Iceland – The Wild Finish
Technically it was still summer, August 28th, and the sky harbored a bright and shiny sun. But the air smelled like fall. The hosts at the Hildibrand Hotel had set us up with… Read More
Iceland – Flirting with the Arctic Circle
It was Monday, August 25th, and the weather was blustery and dark with powerful wind gusts that climbed the bluffs and pounded our car. Even the short 50 meter walk to breakfast… Read More
Iceland – The Western Fjords
The rental car shuttle bus that was supposed to pick me up at 9:00a was a no-show, and I stood outside while Angela and the boys left for, enjoyed and then returned from… Read More
Iceland – Welcome to Reykjavik
The European leg of our journey started with an early domestic flight from SFO to Minneapolis before grabbing the international red eye into KEF (Reykjavik). We were impressed with Sun Country Airlines… Read More
California – Ferns, Fires and the Golden Gate
We wanted our final stop to position us for a short drive to Half Moon Bay, our temporary “home” south of San Francisco, and keep us close to the Redwood National & State Parks. Luckily we… Read More
Oregon – PCH in Oregon
We were in the home stretch, with a target date to be back in the Bay Area but flexibility on how to get there. We decided that traveling south down the entire Oregon Coast would… Read More
Portland – Great Times with Friends
We awoke excited to spend the day with some of our favorite friends in one of our favorite towns – Portland. While Angela ran a few errands, I took the boys for an introduction… Read More
Road – Boise to Vancouver
It was a long driving day from Boise, Idaho to Vancouver, Washington (just north of Portland, Oregon). We stopped only briefly in Baker City in eastern Oregon for fuel and lunch, and… Read More
The De Facto Mayor of Boise
In Boise, we hunkered down for a day to catch up on things – laundry, emails and a first day of schoolwork for the boys. The outside temperature was scheduled to be… Read More
Jackson to Boise … Sideways a Little
As much as we enjoyed Wyoming, it was time to keep moving toward the Bay Area so that we could coordinate the next leg of our travels. Near Idaho Falls we stopped at Frontier… Read More
Grandparents Visit in Jackson Wyoming
Joan and Russ (aka Grandma and Grandpa) joined us for our last few days in the Jackson/Teton area. It was a special treat on a road trip that was mostly just the… Read More
The Visit to Yellowstone National Park
We got an early start to drive through Yellowstone National Park. Originally, we had NO intention of visiting the Yellowstone simply because it would be too crowded and too chaotic for us to enjoy.… Read More
Epic Hike Around Jenny Lake
I awoke earlier than the rest of the crew – earlier even than Asher, which is a rarity – and decided to run. Given the risks of running alone on trails in Grand… Read More