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A car. We are longing for a car. Early on, we conceived of the idea that we should rely on public transportation for this trip. My Oma lived in Germany her whole life and never learned to drive. She could go anywhere she wanted to via public transportation. A short walk to the local train [...]  The vines under our balcony are growing leaves, every day we can see less of the parking spaces below. This morning the sun was hot enough we had to change out of our pajamas into shorts to enjoy the morning outside. Clouds have begun to roll in, however, and we may see rain again by [...] Mask Shop in Venice – photos not allowed inside… We stayed for a week in Venice, losing ourselves in narrow winding streets and alleys suitable only for pedestrians. Finding our location on a map and just as quickly reaching another unexpected dead end at a canal or alley that turns only in the direction opposite [...] The image of discarded furniture and belongings sitting on the side of a trail, wood warping in rain and sun fading fabrics always made me sad. I would picture people moving slowly across the country to Oregon, and becoming too weary under their load of belongings, perhaps due to the death of an ox or [...]
Lyon from the esplanade of Fouviere Traveling as a family, it is obvious that we are not French. As we walk into someone’s presence, we are usually talking and laughing, giving ourselves away. For many years, I have thought about language. In the game “If you were granted three wishes, what would you wish [...] Our own trip down the mountain was the reverse, other than the first few kilometers. In Les Trois Vallees, the largest ski area in the world, vacation rentals begin and end on Saturday. The drainage of departing skiers on Saturday gather from the individual resorts into a huge, slow moving current on the freeway which [...] We stayed in an old world mountain village just down the Meribel Valley from the ski area. Our home for the stay was the Chalet Nikita, a renovated old house made comfortable without any loss of charm. It sits in Chandon, a small gathering of ancient buildings on the hillside looking up at Meribel [...]
JB and Russell skiing on a bluebird day in Courchevel, France We sent home our ski gear today. Russell was the first to leave for home of those who came along to Meribel to ski and send us off. A life lesson we’ve learned from skiing is to keep your knees bent. Being flexible makes [...]
Old buildings in the Meribel valley, France We’ve made it to Chandon, Meribel. The view from our windows includes several ancient buildings, barns in disrepair quietly passing through time. Beams of timber, stone, and plaster patiently bearing snow of the winter season, another year blending into other decades. It was raining yesterday, as we settled [...] February 24th or 25th, Somewhere over the Atlantic, waking up. The low passenger count on this flight allowed me the best sleep I’ve ever had in flight, although I have no idea how long. Of course, the two and a half hour night before we left helped me sleep now. The last few days were [...] Breathe. The swarm of thoughts and details that buzz through my head include an important one which I keep pulling back to the surface. Breathe. I look through my countdown list several times a day, and try to keep myself working on something, anything, rather than stare at it in blind panic. As things have [...] We have spent a good part of our vacation time on rivers. The restless water and remote places calm or minds as we follow the current. When we are away from rivers, they still filter into our thoughts and influence our views. These experiences impact the way we plan, including the big leap we are [...] We were interviewed yesterday by a reporter for the Bend Bulletin, the local paper. They plan to run a little article about our upcoming travels. Alandra Johnson, the Family Reporter, came to the house to talk with us and our girls about our plans, thoughts, and hopes. It will be fun to see how it [...] In the years that have passed since I lived with my Oma and went to school on Germany for a year and John spent his gap year after college vagabonding through Europe, things have changed on the visa front. Our tentative plan had us landing in Europe in February, and not leaving for Africa until [...] For some time, the trip was a dim vision; something nebulous we dreamt about for our future. Our planned departure was a year and a half away when we began. Hitting six months in the countdown was the milestone where we knew we could put off planning the details no longer. With the renting of [...] |
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