HalloCiaoHola: Europe - Here Come The Monkeys

So what is the travel plan, you ask (or not)? What does one do for 6 weeks in Europe? And further, how does one pack??????

Let me tell you:

9/16 to 9/21: We are starting with a Dolomite hut hike for 3 nights staying at places like this: Refuge Munt de Sennes, Rifugio Fannes, and Rifugio Lagazuoi. I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to think about these simple mountain huts. They are just on the Italian/Austrian border so if I can't get by with my crappy German I can use my crappy Italian. And don't get me started on the food we are going to eat there. All we have to carry is our clothes. The huts provide food, water, and warm beds for a few dollars per person per night. Heaven! 

OMG OMG OMG - salami in my face now, these Italians know how to eat at the huts.

9/22 to 9/26: We are going to Oktoberfest to see the two fantastic people in the photo. We hit up Oktoberfest 7 years ago with them. I thought it was going to be lame with loads of Italians fighting Aussies and general drunk dude annoyance - but it was AWESOME. Like the UN of beer drinking.

We are also going to check out the German lifestyle in their small town just outside of Munich. General fooling around and lots of beer drinking and pretzel eating will occur. I will need to wear my stretchy pants for sure.  

9/27 to 10/4: After a little stop in Florence, we are staying 5 nights in Positano for our 12 year wedding anniversary. We are booked at the hotel we stayed at when we got married (Villa Rosa Positano), awwwww we are like 12 in that photo. There will be trips to Capri, hiking, lots of pizza eating and wine drinking, and whatever else we feel like doing. I am a bit worried about the annoying-American factor in Positano (the town was "discovered" after the movie Under the Tuscan Sun). But we will manage......somehow.

10/5 to 10/8: Girona, Spain. Thanks N.G., we are finally getting there after your recommendation a few years ago. I rented a 3 bedroom house called Can Vidal for like $60 a night (Spain is really cheap). If anyone wants to join us, there is room!

10/9 to 10/11: San Sebastian, Spain - just to eat. Seriously. OK there may be some surfing and sightseeing, but mostly eating.

10/12 to 10/20: We are walking the last part of the Camino de Santiago with some friends to purify our souls and drink Bierzo (yes K.M. I am hooked after a tasting at your house). The trip normally takes at least a month to walk, we are just doing just 5 days from Sarria to Santiago. We booked through Mac's Adventures and are being wussies by staying in hotels without bedbugs and having our luggage transported. But whatever.

10/20 to 10/28: We are whirlwinding through Porto and down through Andalucia (Seville, Ronda, and Granada for tapas, tapas, and more tapas). That is Ronda in the photo there, seriously sickeningly beautiful. How do places like that exist?!?! 

Yes, Porto is a bit out of the way but Dave put his foot down because he reeeeeaaaaaaally wanted to go and taste port. I can't argue with that. 

Then it is back to Tahoe for job searching in November and December. Ugh.

But I don't want to think about that yet. Instead I will focus on my crappy German, Italian, and Spanish. 

More to come.......

So What's Going On

A lot actually......some good things and some not so good - such is life.

We have exactly the same color blue eyes.

This handsome guy (my baby bro) got married in Morris, Illinois in June. We drove there from Rocky Mountain National Park. Yeah, it turns out that there isn't much in between Western Colorado and Illinois. We had planned to stop and enjoy the drive, see the sites along the way - but there isn't much there to enjoy. Sorry Nebraska and Iowa, you are really flat and boring.

Just a note to anyone not yet married - if you don't rock out at your wedding, what the hell is the point.

Rock it out!

After the wedding, we drove through two other fairly pointless states - North Dakota and  EASTERN Montana - on the way to Glacier National Park. Holy crap, Glacier is amazing. We did a 3 night/35 mile backcountry trip and it was spectacular, aside from the rain and snow.

At the top of Ptarmigan Pass

Oh and the giardia....... Turns out those little protozoa are highly resistant to iodine, which was our main form of water purification while in Glacier National Park. HOW DID WE NOT KNOW THAT GIARDIA IS IODINE RESISTANT! Thank god we didn't, uhmmmm how shall I say this, exhibit symptoms until we were out of the park and in a hotel. Lesson learned, and guess who bought a fancy new water purification filter for future use.

So ugly

Make it stop.

Post hike - yay for clean clothes, a shower, and a great view from the hotel.

After Glacier, we drove a few hours north to Canada for a visit to Banff and Lake Louise to see more spectacularness and beauty than your eyes can take. Also, loads and loads of tourists. Next time we will go in the off-season.

Handsome Ashton men

Turns out it can be freaking cold in Canada, even in August.

Moraine Lake, crazy water colors

We took a day trip to see the fast-melting Abathasca Glacier. Despite the cold week we had while we were in Canada, the glaciers there are quickly melting. Go see them now before they are gone. That is some scary crap.

Me getting clobbered by Canada.

Family togetherness, also huddling for warmth

Lately we have been in Tahoe. There is much working on our golf game and generally fooling about. Dave has been perfecting his homemade pasta and ice cream, and I have been working on my German and Italian for our upcoming trip to Europe.

We also managed to fit in a last-minute, absolutely amazing 3-night backpacking trip in the Emigrant Wilderness with our friends J.P.M. and C.M. It was 30 miles of tough terrain, alpine lakes, evening campfires, and beautiful surroundings. All this spectacular wilderness is about 100 miles south and west of Tahoe, and we had never been there. Who knew?

A typical campground, just beautiful

Dragons were slayed and dinner was had, aw look at Dave's wee fish.

Not lost, really

So what is next? We leave for Europe on Tuesday. It should be quite a trip. We will be gone for about 6 weeks. But more about that later.......