Sign, sign, everywhere a sign, blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind. Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?

Did you ever have one of those days when you really think someone is trying to give you a message? You know what I mean - those times you attempt to do something but you get stopped with every effort? Well, that's what happened to me last weekend.

I have had a crazy work schedule and wanted to FINALLY take advantage of the beautiful snow and get out again on my snowshoes with my pups. I planned to go on a familiar route, since I only had about 2 hours to spare. I packed up the snowshoes, the dogs, a bag-o-pup-treats, and dressed in the requisite layers. I was ready.

I drove the 15 minutes to the trail-head. Darn...never plowed. But hey! I have a Subaru! I drove right into that 1.5 to 2 feet of snow and parked. Hmmmmm, that's still pretty close to the road. I better try to pull in a little further. I successfully backed out and gunned it to get in a little further from the road. Nah, I can do better. With the third time I got this really bad feeling...like that "I'm pretty stuck" feeling. Can't call the hubby, he's proctoring an exam. Too proud (and embarrassed) to call my friends. So I got out my car mats, strategically placed them under my tires, and stepped on the gas. Nope. I used my ice scraper and my hands to start digging. Nope. I was wedged between several nice plow chunks of ice and a whole lot of snow. Cars and trucks drove by. I imagined them waving to me and laughing. I kept digging, knowing it could take 2 hours but I wasn't going to ask for any help.

Finally a nice man came and pulled me out with his pickup truck. I pulled out of the trail-head lot, and headed up the road. The only place to turn around was at the next trail-head; I pulled in, and Good Samaritan Guy pulled in behind me..."you left your car mats back there." <<sigh>>

I headed back the way I came, only to realize there was no place to park, and had to go past the trail-head another 5 minutes to turn around yet again. I picked up the mats, and headed back up the road to the 2nd trail head, and at this point I should have cut my losses in this 60 minute mess and just drove home. However, I am not that smart. That, and my dogs just looked at me with those puppy dog eyes.

I strapped on the snowshoes, leashed up the pups and headed out on the trail. It was 20 degrees and the sun was blindingly bright on the shining snow. It was HEAVEN.

It was heaven until it became HELL. Two little biddies and their three giant unleashed dogs came up from behind a hill and the giant bull mastiff took down my little pup, big time. Growls and yelps and palpitations (mine). Biddies screaming. We got the massive dog off my little Doc and thankfully he was quivering away and covered with slime, but no blood. Harry licked Doc's invisible wounds while the Biddies made excuses for their near-Grim. I kept my composure and willed them to disappear, which they did. Any sane person would have taken the sum of these parts to mean GET OUT OF THERE NOW. Since I am barely sane and I really like snow, I ignored all this and followed the trail.

And it was glorious.

You can see Doc escaped unscathed. He ran and ran and ran. He loves snow, too.

Harrison, ever the gentleman, enjoys a good stroll in the woods, whatever the weather.

The sun warmed my spirit and nature filled my soul. I hiked for an hour and recharged my batteries, glowing for a variety of reasons. It was wonderful. We crossed a chain of streams, and the glimpses of running water under our feet gave me the energy to take on the rest of the day.

Many times in life we use signs as an excuse for not accomplishing something we really want to do. I learned (again) from this experience that signs are sometimes put in our paths to test us, to see if we really want something...not necessarily a sign to turn and run away.

Showing Travel Some Love

Friends frequently ask me to "share" my travel tips with them. I am not sure why this is - I rarely go anywhere conventional, and I take a bit of goodnatured ribbing about my family's exploits. I actually wrote a pretty comprehensive post about this - and then took one look at it and promptly deleted it. It was B-O-R-I-N-G.

I guess the easiest thing is to share what has helped me in planning some of the trips we have taken. You might like to plan journeys like me. You might like to hire a trip planner or go to a resort. Whatever you like, maybe you 'll find something useful here.

1. Know what you like. Better yet, know what you (and your family) don't like. Don't take this piece of advice too lightly. If you don't like sand, you will never find a way to like your beach vacation. Figure out if you want an active vacation or a passive one. Once you have this down, hunt down as much information about your likes as possible. Maps.  Yellow pages.  Google.  Pinterest.  Blogs.  Magazines. You name it. Something will jump out at you and you will get totally jacked up!

   

   Early morning, kayak camping, Middle Saranac Lake 2005 in the ADK

2. Know how you will get there. Sounds easy, but it isn't always. Driving takes time and gas (and a vehicle). If you don't have a lot of time, flying might be a better option. Of course those sites across big bodies of water pretty much mandate a plane, unless you have the time for a boat.

   

   Kayaking to Crow Island at low tide, midcoast Maine 2004

3. Pack less than you think you need. This really is true. No one knows you, and you won't have to worry about being an Outfit Repeater. Search the internet for packing lists and other ideas - they really exist, and they are really helpful!

   

   Ferry from Adololphustown to Glenora in Ontario, 2013; showing off John's mad packing skills.

4. Don't forget some cool gadgets to help you. Depending on what you are doing, you could really benefit from these tech toys:
• Voyager Air 2 - mobile wireless storage device; up to 5 devices can stream simultaneously. Fab on airplanes. Corsair Voyager 2 on Amazon
• Extended battery charger - I love my Jackery. Jackery on Amazon
• Solar charger - great for camping off grid
• Bluetooth speaker - tunes make for special times
• Dry bags - perfect for hiking/camping/kayaking/touring in wet weather
• Adapters - a must when out of the USA
• First Aid Kit - duh

Here's my Voyager Air 2 next to my mouse. It's very portable.

I use the same apps and websites as everyone else, but I happen to love these the best:

• HomeAway (app) or VRBO (vacation rental by owner). We have rented dozens of homes around the world and (knock knock) never a problem. Just read every review.
• Trip Advisor. Great for helping you make up your mind. Read every review for every place you want to go.
• Ulmon City Maps to Go. Their app maps for Rome and Paris are the bomb.
• Expedia, Kayak and/or Travelocity. So far the best for me is hands down Expedia. I am scoping out Skyscanner now.
• AAA and Groupon. So old but so now.
• Rick Steves' podcasts - these were indispensable in Europe. Only bought one tour, the rest we used his podcasts and headphones. It was way easier and totally cheaper. Click here for Rick Steves' stuff

I could blab for days about this, but the bottom line is this - be open. Don't be afraid to try new things, and think about making memories for you and your family. For me, vacations are all about my family and showing my kids their world - be it here in the US or anywhere else. There is so much to see, so much to experience, and so much to do...don't limit yourself! 

Journey on, friend!

Sunset from the Maine Coast - 2007

When one door closes...

When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.
~Alexander Graham Bell

The last destination for our vacation 2014 was Assisi, Italy, a small hillside town on the flank of Mount Subasio in the Perugia region. We were excited to go see the birthplace of St. Francis, where he ultimately founded the Franciscan religious order. We were nervous, however, to take the trains there from Rome, given the rumored disorder of Rome's train stations and unpredictability of the service. That, and we didn't speak a lick of Italian.

Well, we happened to get there in plenty of time, got our tickets without a hitch, and found the electronic board. We were pretty amazed at what we saw. Expected arrival to Assisi? 

10:10. That's God's time. 

God's time. Hands at 10 minutes after 10.

We were really excited that we had picked the right day (and time) to see St. Francis' spiritual home. Since we only had a day there, we kind of rushed around to make sure we saw all the churches and important places to see in Assisi. It was hot but rewarding.

St. Francis statue in the Cathedrale of San Rufino. It was the main church in Assisi for many years, and St. Francis was baptized here.

There are many churches in this small town, and we did our best to see as many of them as possible while learning their connections to St. Francis. I'm sorry I didn't write it all down when I was there, but here's a sampling:

This is the Cathedrale of San Rufino.

Temple of Minerva in the main square in Assisi. The temple was built in the 1st century, and a church was later built within, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, in 1539.

This was the view from the town.

We saw a few other churches but we were excited to make our way down to the Basilica of St. Francis. It felt kind of like a pilgrimage, for some reason.

As we got closer, our hearts raced and this is what we saw:

We got there in time for noon mass. We didn't even know what time it was before then. We completely felt as if we were being welcomed to St. Francis' home.

A beautiful picture of the Basilica of St. Francis.

We went into the church, and made our way downstairs into the old, original chapel. We sat for a special service, in Latin, in a really beautiful old space. It felt much more inviting than expected. We wandered around a little, and went into the Basilica's museum to browse and continue to learn about Catholicism, the Franciscan order, and St. Francis. There were friars everywhere, in slightly different colored robes - we did not know robes were different colors depending on the country of origin.

This is looking along the bottom aspect of the basilica...that's John, Kenzie and Griff at the
bottom right of the picture.

We were approaching the end of our magical vacation, and I was a little wistful as we were walking around the village. So much to see in this world, but so little time. At that moment, I started noticing them. Doors. 

Unique, stately, quiet doors were everywhere. Little ones. Big ones. Fancy ones. Simple ones. 

Alexander Graham Bell's quote came to me as doors seemed to pop out from every single building, and I realized that this journey was not coming to an end...it was really just the beginning. Someday soon new doors would open and I just had to keep my mind open to the possibilities ahead.

Oh Rome-e-o

We were not ready to say goodbye to Liz or to Basel, but we were kind of excited to cram back into our tiny car and have Lola guide us to Milan. The kids were excited we had our Voyager Air 2 (more about this in a future post), but I was excited about the prospect of seeing beautiful mountains as we passed through the Swiss and then Italian Alps.

Not exactly.

You can tell we would have been in for some spectacular scenery had the clouds decided to play in, let's say, Croatia, this week. <<sigh>>

We had a fairly uneventful but slightly soggy drive to Milan, where we going to spend the night in our Italian "cousin's" apartment en route to Rome. The drive southward from Basel got faster and faster as we got further into Italy. It was way more stressful than we realized, and we did nothing but walk around the block to eat and then chilled out in Fab's Milan abode once we arrived.

Pretty apartment building across from our restaurant.

Fabrizio's apartment. Total black and white glam. Look at the butt chairs.

We rested up and mentally prepared ourselves for the drive in Milan rush hour traffic on the way to the craziness of Rome. Thankfully Fab had a nice Nespresso machine and we could caffeinate in style.

The drive to Rome was speedy but we found our way (finally) to the car rental place and then by taxi to our apartment for the next few days of our journey. We were met by the manager and led through several ally-ways into our apartment complex. Talk about stressful! People everywhere! Dark places! Would we make it out alive?!

Why yes. Yes, we would...

It was absolutely ADORABLE. HomeAway, you never do me wrong. :)

I had had pretty terrible preconceived notions about Rome. I don't usually do cities well, preferring the outdoors and time away from throngs of people whenever possible. Rome is so far away from that concept I was sure I would hate it. But I didn't. I loved it! The passion for life was everywhere, the excitement, the energy, the history. It was magical from the time we awakened each morning until we rested our weary heads each night.

The Pantheon

Ruins near our apartment. Cats are everywhere (except visible here).

Beautiful ceiling in the Vatican Museum.

The Swiss Guard outside St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Fashion Week, here they come.

St. Peter's Square - obviously no mass today. What an incredible feeling to be here!

The Colosseum

The Colosseum from the inside - you have to read about the history of this place...

The Forum

We truly had a fascinating (but really HOT) time in Rome, and I didn't even mention the churches. I don't think my kids will ever do cathedral sightseeing ever again! However, they loved the people-watching, the crazy drivers, and the gelato.

We sampled several gelatos in Rome (which was molto better than in Paris, sorry) but this was always the busiest and had awesome flavors. Gelato battles are a big deal in this city! Everyone has a passionate opinion about their fave.

The night before we left we ventured across the Tiber River into Trastevere, a hip district of Rome with fewer camera-toting tourists and a cooler vibe. We had a great time eating and walking around. We came home by way of the water front, which was lined with temporary cafes, bars and shops. It was well past 10 pm when we walked by, and it looked as if the scene was just getting started.

We did have a side trip into Assisi, which I'll post about next, but this night was a great end to a greater vacation. The journey was, like life itself, challenging to plan and put together, but in the end, it's the combination of hard work, patience, chaos, being open to stuff you didn't even plan, and a little luck that makes it all worth while.

Wonderful Friends and Wickelfisch

Leaving Annecy was sad, but we were excited to head to Switzerland! The day of departure was a tad rainy and blah, perfect weather to be in a tiny car crammed with four people and all our stuff. Thank God for Lola, our GPS, and her ability to speak English. Note for the el-cheapos among you when you drive in Europe: splurge for the GPS.

It was a pretty trip to Basel, Switzerland from Annecy, France with Lakes Geneva, Neuchatel, Biel and Murten en route. We were a bit stressed out going through customs, since we needed Swiss Francs and did not have them; however, the screaming American with his broken-down car distracted the customs agent and he charged us the equivalent in Euro and sent us on our way.

The signage changed gradually at the border from French to Swiss German, and we had to laugh at the exit signs:

Who doesn't love a little toilet talk after a stressful day in a teeny car?

We arrived in Basel greeted with warm hugs from our wonderful friend and had unbelievable accommodations for the next 4 days. My two kids loved Basel the best of all our stops. The city itself was beautiful - clean, efficient, and generally just cool.

Did I mention old? We did the usual touristy thing and walked around the city to get a feel for the city and just absorb the ambiance. The buildings above are examples of what you can find all over Basel, many proudly displaying their ages as shown in the photo above. 1291 AD! Wow!

We were really jonesin' for hiking and zip-lining in the Swiss Alps, but alas the weather did not cooperate. Instead, we opted (settled) for a trip up a cog-wheel railway out of Alpnachstad up Pilatus Kulm...the world's steepest cog-wheel railway, with a 48% incline. You can read about it here. It was very cool, even if the top looked like a blizzard with all the fog. 

No pictures from the top - it looked like the inside of a cottonball, so I will spare you the photo. However, we enjoyed each other's company while we walked around and relished a delish Swiss latte coffee in the lodge near the peak. The trip down was far scarier than on the way up, and I still marvel at the alpine bovines and their ability to stand straight in such conditions.

The rest of our Basel stay included a trip to their adorable zoo:

Who doesn't love baby hippos?!?!

 

A visit to the Basel Munster (Cathedral) is a must, with the claustrophobic stair climb to the top for the requisite photo op.

But the best part of the trip, other than the company, was DEFINITELY the Rheinschwimmen (Rhine Swim). This is when you use your wickelfisch (dry bag) to protect your belongings while you swim/float down the river to another part of town. It is an actual method of commuting, which for obvious reasons works only one way.

After putzing about Basel for the morning, we set off for Museum Tinguely on the Klein Basel side of the Rhein. It was a long-ish walk on a hot day, but the bizarre and intriguing Tinguely made that worth the work.

When we had our fill of the sculptures and mixed media works of Swiss artist Jean Tinguely, we exited the museum out the back, went to the riverbank, stripped to our suits, stuffed our stuff in our wickelfisch, and hopped in the chilly Rhein for a trip downriver. Check out our GoPro video for yourself (just the end shown):

It took about 20 minutes to float 20 blocks - wayyyy less time than the trip 20 blocks upriver on foot. And a whole lot cooler, in more ways than one!

We loved Basel, and loved our friend Liz for treating us like family. We can't wait to go back again! In fact, we just might have to, to pay that speeding ticket...