Yes, I am alive. And no, I have not joined the witness protection program, although upon thinking about it, that doesn't sound like a bad...

Switzerland was an impulsive add-on to our trip, during the initial planning phase in August of 2023. I had not traveled to Switzerland...

Our final stop in Germany was the beautiful city of Konstanz and the nearby island of Mainau. Once tourism website aptly describes...

We have been home for two months and I have still not finished writing or publishing the blog posts from our summer trip. I have three...

Let me start by saying I am not a Disney person. Like I'm not a Disney person My apologies to all you Disney fans out there who I'm...

When deciding on where our home base was going to be while exploring the western region of the Dolomites (Cortina d' Ampezzo was in the...

Although it seemed we could eat Weiner Schnitzel for the rest of our lives, quite happily, we were excited at the prospect of Italian...

Hold on to your seat, because this story gets a bit strange. When planning our trip, I knew we had a limited amount of time in Austria,...

Salzburg and the The Sound of Music are synonymous. At least for most people. But not for me. I am not bashing The Sound of Music ,...

Berchtesgaden is a true condradiction. On the one hand, it is a serene place with incredible natural beauty everywhere you look. On the...

Tegernsee and Cheimmsee are two of Bavaria's most beautiful and popular lakes. We had the good fortune to be able to visit both when we...

We enjoyed Munich but were ready to embark on the next chapter of our trip, into the Bavarian Alps and southwestern Germany, bordering...

After leaving Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site we headed to the Munich airport to switch out our rental car. Please don't ask why...

From the time I started planning our trip, nearly a year ago, I contemplated the idea of visiting the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial...

Still reeling from the news of Fitzy's death, we were grateful to be in a smaller town, with a slower pace. We had a full agenda for the...

Once I (we) made the difficult decision to carry on with our trip, rather than return home, I also decided it was best if we tried to...

We arrived in Nuremberg Tuesday morning. Despite lacking some of the charm of the smaller towns we had recently visited, Nuremberg had...

Note: This blog post was completed a day before we received the news about our beloved Fitzy. It has been edited slightly and retitled....

Each time I think I've experienced every possible scenario while traveling, I am thrown another curveball. For example, when I lost my...

Before arriving, we read all about the charm of Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber, in northern Bavaria. We also saw plenty of images online...

On Wednesday evening we departed Frankfurt for Wurzburg, about 120 Km southeast. But first, we had to head back to the Frankfurt airport,...

After nearly ten months of what felt like never-ending planning, we were off on our long-awaited six-week European adventure. There were...

On May 22, Miles' baseball team, the Cardinals defeated their opponents, the Diamondbacks, Twenty to Thirteen. The game was...

Garin turned sixteen on April 18th (yes, I am a wee bit behind in getting this posted). and he's driving! Not! But I guess my title...

Last weekend, Miles hit a grand slam to win the game for his team, the Cardinals, who have remained in the number-one spot for the entire...

We arrived back from our Spring Break trip to Washington DC last weekend. In contrast to prior trips, I decided to create one larger...

As sad as it is for me to accept, winter is in the rearview mirror. Unlike most people, who prefer warm weather (or even hot weather,...

You might have noticed a bit of a delay in getting this post published. We arrived home, two weeks ago (on January 5), which now seems...

I'll admit that Florence took a little bit of getting used to when we first arrived. Venice had been so quiet and uncrowded. Not to...

After 30 long hours of traveling, we finally arrived in Venice on Friday, about 18 hours past due. I'll admit that the trip here not...

Our trip is off to a stellar start. A few minutes before we were due to walk out the door for the airport, to catch our flight to...

Blog burnout? Check. Too busy to write? Check. A tad bit disinterested? Perhaps. I will admit that all of these factors have...

Some things never change, such as how quickly the summer flies by. Whether you are a student, or the parent of a student(s), the feeling...

As luck would have it, the twins' birthday was on Sunday, the very day the now-named "hurriquake" hit Southern California. Luckily we...

I am writing this blog from my kitchen table in Hidden Hills. We arrived home last night. It feels strange to be home. First thing this...

Like so many other experiences on this trip, visiting Balmoral Castle exceeded even my greatest expectations. Ever since we planned this...

We have loved every moment of our time in Scotland (except for the expected family squabbles, which are to be expected on any lengthy...

We continued on with our castle circuit on Wednesday. We are on Scotland after all! However, we mixed it up a bit and added a famous...

We departed the Isle of Skye for Inverness on Tuesday. We saw some beautiful scenery as we made our way through the legendary Highlands...

On Monday, we spent the day driving the Trotternish Loop, which is a 50-mile circuit around the northern part of the island. This loop...

As we were packing up to leave our Airbnb, the kids came upon this wee friendly duck in the parking lot. She followed us around for...

Unlike the doomed SS Minow's three-hour tour, on the beloved 1960s show, Gilligan's Island, our eleven-hour, three-isle tour, went off...

On Friday morning, we were back in business (well, after a few hours of sitting at the Budget Rental trying to work out a few problems)....

On Wednesday morning we headed off to Glasgow to spend three days and two nights, more or less. This was our third big city in a row. As...

On our last full day in Edinburgh, we packed in the sights. With not enough time in this glorious city, we tried to see as much as we...

We got to see a lot more of Edinburgh on our first full day there. We really liked what we saw! I like to call it London Light. It has...

We departed Ireland on Sunday morning. We were so sad to go. We absolutely loved our time there! We even chose our very own favorite...

Although we were sad to see the bean can car go, I felt a big weight lifted off me when Garin and I returned the rental car to the...

After a rather underwhelming and therefore not-so hearty breakfast at the River Court Hotel in Kilkenny, we were on the road yet again. ...