The Captain had said “early” but I was surprised by the noises beginning around 4:00 this morning; the anchor being lifted, the hatches being closed and finally the group call and response of “and/pull” as the main sail was lifted. All this before I got up on deck at 4:45AM! For the next half an hour or so we traveled…
Category: An Epic Adventure
October 6: Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu
One of the reasons I chose this specific tour to get to Machu Picchu over the many others is that it offered some options each day, so you could tailor the hikes to your level and your body’s ability, and the chance to learn more about the history and region and culture, rather than just come here to hike and…
July 31: Skilak Lake and the Kenai River
Breakfast at 6:15AM meant an early start to the day, and after eggs and reindeer sausage we climbed into the van for a short 90 minute trip to the start of the day’s adventures. We headed west on the Sterling Highway, and followed along the Kenai River for a bit, with gorgeous views of the fast moving aquamarine waters set…
July 30: Anchorage to Moose Pass
An early call for meeting our group and guides meant a wake up call at 6AM. But since I’m still struggling a bit with the time difference and the endless sun I was up just after 5AM, with more than enough time to shower and re-pack all my gear. At breakfast we identified tables with a couple of the others…
September 11: Homeward bound & some musings
When I booked this airplane ticket I was of course aware of the date and it’s significance. And while I tend not to fly on 9/11, I was more interested in getting back to the U.S. than in being superstitious. I flew on 9/11/01 into NYC with a couple of Hasbro colleagues, landing just 15 minutes before the first plane…
September 9 & 10: Biarritz and a train to Paris
As my weather app had predicted, and despite being told by natives that the weather forecasts aren’t always right on the Basque Coast, Saturday was a completely rainy day. So rainy and windy that I wondered if it was some remnant or beginning of one of the hurricanes that hit or are due to strike the U.S. Occassionally it would…
September 8: Final drive; and now Biarritz
Today I had one last long drive, and had to finally say goodbye to Penelope, the Mazda M3 with the British GPS lady, after 2,536 miles through France. Countless roundabouts, many toll booths, narrow lanes and high speed autoroutes, through many of France’s most beautiful regions: Normandy, Brittany, the Loire Atlantique and the Loire valley, Dordogne, Provence, Cotes de Rhone,…
September 7: Carcassone, the Medeival one
The day after the full moon dawned sunny and windy, and I set off across the Aude River to the first, original Carcassone, up on the hill. Originally part of the Roman Empire, as it appears much of this region was, the original site was founded as early as the 1stC. The City suffered long periods of occupation at the…
September 6: On the road, and on my own, again
It was only 150 miles from Nimes to Carcassone, but I was drawn to a little museum 18 miles in the other direction — Le Musee du BonBon — the Haribo Museum near Uzes. For those of you who really know me, you’ll understand completely my urge to visit a palace to those nothing-but-sugar gold bears. Since Kimberly had headed…
September 5: Some more Arles, then Nimes
My most important project of the day was to effectively mail some boxes to the US. The post office was just down the street, and I was so very pleased and relieved when the paperwork that I filled out didn’t raise any French eyebrows and the boxes were out of my hands! We then spent the morning seeing some sections…