The Netherlands (aka Holland)
I’m going to show my ignorance but before this trip I did not realize The Netherlands = Holland. I learned it right before we left when I was looking over my itinerary and tried to figure out when we were going to be in Holland since it wasn’t listed. Continue reading
Switzerland
We drove into Switzerland. All of us were a little disappointed that we would not get a stamp in our passports. But on the plus side, we switched countries relatively easy. It only took about a five minute stop. 
Continue reading
Berlin
We arrived in Berlin at 7:00am. Of course, we could not take any time to rest. We already lost one day. Our hotel rooms weren’t ready when we checked in at the hotel so we dropped our luggage in our tour host’s, KG, room and headed out for the day. I wore the same clothes I wore on all the plane rides so I didn’t feel presentable. In fact, I felt rather gross and stinky. The pictures of me on this first day will never see the light of day if I can help it. Not pretty. Continue reading
The invitation
GK and I had been visiting teaching partners for about 10 years. But then we were split up and assigned to other partners. From time to time, we try to do lunch or dinner together to catch up. It was at one of those catch up dinners in January 2017 when she invited me to go to Europe. Continue reading
August 7: My original plan for the day fell through (due to my poor planning). What to do?
I decided on two objectives:
One, get a picture of the Missouri River.
Two, go shopping – specifically for souvenirs.
One task turned out to be unbelievably easy. The other, seemingly impossible.
As you read these very words, I am almost three hundred miles away from home. It’s the first weekend of August which means it’s time for my annual Birthday Road Trip. This tradition started based on my self-made theory that a birthday can’t find you if you’re not at home. So, I’ve been 29 for ten years. On a side note, by the 6th 29th, however, I didn’t feel very twentyish.
Since I went to New York for a weekend in June, my pocket book demanded a low key road trip this year. Yellowstone National Park it is. FYI, Yellowstone is in Wyoming – not Montana. Montana has successfully marketed their sliver of the park as West Yellowstone. Check out a map though. You’ll be surprised how little of the park is in Montana versus Wyoming. Yes, I might have a small issue with the whole West Yellowstone claim to fame. I’ll let it go for now, though.
This year the trip is just going to be Bubba and me. That’s okay. She is on this whole kick of being an adult now and insists on moving to Utah at the end of the month. Something about being closer to a certain boy. Blah, blah, blah. This trip could be our very last road trip together. Why is everyone moving to Utah? And no, I’m not convinced to move back. I’ll just make new friends and miss my old ones.
But for this weekend, we will enjoy Wyoming. First, we will stop at stinky Thermopolis and swim in the hot springs. Then we will make our way to Cody and probably sleep pretty well after our swim stop. Saturday we will spend the whole day in the park. No hurry. No agenda. Just take our sweet time. We’ll come home on Sunday.
map courtesy mapquest.com
Sounds like a pretty good birthday to me.
A couple weekends ago, I went to New York City for the first time. When I told people my plans, it elicited two typical responses. The pretentious, “I love New York!” or the “I’ve never been but I’ve always wanted to go.” And since I suffer from MCS (Middle Child Syndrome) I milked the perceived jealousy from the second response so much it went sour.
After finding out about my impending trip, the next question was always, “How long are you staying?” I answered the question honestly once. At least, I started to answer it honestly once but as the words were coming out I noticed the expression on the other person’s face. The words trailed off and I realized this needed to be answered vaguely to avoid the “Are you crazy?” question.
