The method to my madness. First look at Strava, then photos, include or not. We were training for CO, the heat and humidity were on! September will be long, because… goals
Jul 2024: Indian Head and Rainbow Falls Loop AMR, Adirondacks. This was our 4th of July hike, pretty sweet as always. July included multiple other peaks for training but sticking to just this Indian Head Highlight
Aug 2024: Training included many peaks as we were prepping. I loved taking CK through Avalanche Pass. We went up ADK High Peak, Colden.
Sept 2024- I won’t repeat everything from the dedicated blog posts for these epic hikes. However, all the Lake City 14ers deserve a shining spotlight. I would reclimb all of these.
Redcloud and Sunshine:
Wetterhorn: Phenomenal hike, maybe my favorite class 3 in CO thus far.
Uncompahgre: What an amazing hike, looking forward to repeating as I was quite ill until the summit. Absolutely glorious!
Handies– The next time I visit the American Basin and climb Handies it will be during wildflower season. It was still dreamy, and we saved the easiest for last.
The timing and weather conditions were certainly in my favor as we returned home. The leaves were just beginning their evolution. My favorite hiking season, fall, included hitting up Rocky Peak Ridge via New Russia. Then, of course, there was the beautiful Indian Head.
Oct 2024
Sunrise Mt Jo: I had never climbed Mt. Jo, so I took a touristy day and walked around Heart Lake. It was easygoing but absolutely worth every moment,and the colors were popping! This was such a glorious trip.
Roostercomb/Snow:
So much beauty in this loop. Love it, definitely on a repeat list.
Bald Peak- For the first time, I was able to show Becky the beauty of this peak. On our first attempt together, we were weathered out of views. We went a bit beyond Bald, but not all the way to RPR. Love this trail!
Sleeping Beauty, Southern Adirondacks: The colors on this bluebird day hike may have been my favorite this fall. Even if the pictures don’t do it justice. Simply brilliant.
Nov 2024-Southern Tongue Range for Becky’s 12ster. Wow, the tornado damage was surreal. Amazing work by trail 46ers, but this area will need time and additional effort. A true obstacle hiking course.
Dec 2024
Hurricane Sunrise– I saw the weather forecast and trail conditions. I had the luxury of a 1/2 day on Friday. This enabled an early bedtime. I got up super early to catch this phenomenal winter sunrise delight. One of my favorite hikes of the year. The full moon lit my way as an additional guiding light in the darkness.
Snowy– The small goal I’m working on is the ADK 29er challenge. I have done most of the peaks through 46er and 29er challenges, but I have about 10 left. Laura and I had a fun day with the mountain all to ourselves. The butt slides on the very steep last section made me feel like a kid again.
We had a tremendous warm-up and melt of snow after our Snowy hike. I was left wondering what to do on New Year’s Eve. Unfortunately, the weather is way too windy. There’s no New Year’s Day hike today. I settled on one of my favorite little hikes this year,
Hopkins. This was my sixth time hiking this mountain this year. It’s short but has a nice elevation gain, the views are rewarding, and easy access from my house. The conditions were surreal for this time of year. A snowstorm is coming in, so hopefully we will be back to seasonal weather. Happy 2025 all! Hoping your year is healthy and happy- for me that will mean I’m hiking. Cheers!
While the weather outside is yucky for hiking, to my disappointment, I figured it’s a good time to blog. The next two posts will feature my favorite photos or moments. Part 1 will cover January to June of 2024. Part 2 will focus on July to December of 2024.
Mountains, the place I feel most at home, merging my favorite things together, hiking and photography. As I reflect on 2024, I feel grateful for my hiking adventures. I was able to take on the challenges before me physically and mentally. In order of month, here were some of my favorite experiences:
January 2024: New Year’s Day- Noonmark, Adirondacks, NY- It is such a great hike. I always get the most unique weather surprises on this peak. The cloud beauty is remarkable.
February: 1) Cascade Mountain, High Peak, Adirondacks, NY– Always a great high peak due to distance and dreamy views
2) Avalanche Lake and Colden Lake, Adirondacks, Lake Placid, NY
What a cool adventure! I’m hoping for the chance to do this again, c’mon back cold!
March 2024: Buck Mountain, Fort Ann, NY Southern Adirondacks- Closest mountain to me, and just beautiful views of Lake George.
April 2024: 1) Birthday Eclipse at Schroon Lake – Although we couldn’t hike on my birthday due to several factors, we had an amazing time without any traffic issues taking in totality at this location. Thanks to Cindy for the insider parking and providing a great home base with her camp.
2)Minnewaska State Park Reserve– First Hike back with Becky 🙂
Becky suffered a tibial plateau fracture just before Christmas 2023 and had been working super hard to recover. She has done phenomenally in her recovery!
There were multiple other hikes during these months, but these were my favorites.
May 2024: 1) Blue Ridge Mountains, NC- Rough Ridge Trail, Boone Fork Trail, Beacon Heights, Linville Gorge – Sunrise shots paint the sky the morning of the Aurora that night!
2) The sunrise hikes in the Blue Ridge reminded me of how much I love and enjoy these. I was blessed with the timing of a clear morning on Cascade, (again!) for an epic sunrise.
3) Bald Peak via New Russia- So much love for this trail- to Bald or RPR or traverse to Giant. Such great views.
I was in a deep sleep. My body was likely exhausted from completing yesterday’s adventure on Redcloud and Sunshine.
I was awakened abruptly at 3am. At first, I was a little confused, like waking from a lucid dream and trying to remember where I am? Oh. Right. I’m in Lake City, in the Airbnb, where there is bear activity. Holy smokes, there is a bear in the garage behind the bed I am sleeping in. She is ravaging, looking for food. CK was sleeping in the downstairs bedroom. I quickly ran to him like some child waking a parent. I had never been that close to a bear on the hunt before. I remembered that everything I knew was to be loud and make noise to try to scare her away. I certainly was not counting on the bear not being tempted to barrel through the bedroom wall. So we flipped the lights into the garage and did some yelling. She finally left, and somehow, likely exhaustion, I fell back asleep before the alarm was set. I found out that she then visited outside the downstairs where CK was sleeping. Unfortunately, he was not well rested for our Friday 13th Day 2 14er, Wetterhorn Peak. However, he handled it like a champ. We headed out with happiness and relief that the bear bothered neither the rental car nor the Jeep. The Airbnb had a shed. The door was destroyed. I sent a message to the host. Off we went to Wetterhorn! We saw a few folks en route. We met an awesome couple who live in Superior, CO, Jackie, and Alan. We would complete most of the hike with them, including the technical parts, and walk out.
Wetterhorn was so much fun. The ADKs have their scrambles, but this type of exposure is not the same. We were playing a little leapfrog with Jackie and Alan on the trail. Then once we got to the class 3 section, we were all in together. It was super fun, the only part I wasn’t looking forward to was the downclimb. How was I going to manage some of those sections? I’ve always had a rule in hiking. That is to never go up when you aren’t willing to come down. Certain parts of this had me wondering. 🤔 . Up we went, around the Prow.
What an amazing day! On the downclimb, Alan and Jackie gave awesome beta. I only felt sketchy on one move. CK gave me a hand on that move. It was great hiking both the technical parts and non-technical parts of this hike with them. Small world, as Superior is super close to Louisville!
We went back to revisit our favorite eatery. We also chatted with the Airbnb host. The host was very relaxed about the bear incident. And that was 14er 3 complete. Two more to go to meet the goal. The weather was not looking promising on Sunday. Could we do Uncompahgre Peak and Handies on the same day? It would require a full day of hiking, and driving to different trailheads ( about an hour apart on 4WD roads.) I had started to feel slightly run down and tired, which was not super surprising as my sleep scores/body battery were quite low.
Due to other priorities, we vacationed in Colorado in Sep 2024 this year. The trip was dynamic. Plans were in place. However, life happens. Some friends could no longer join us for our big goal, which was to complete 5 14ers of Lake City, CO. https://lakecity.com/a-guide-to-hiking-lake-citys-five-14ers/. We didn’t get to visit with as many friends and family as we would have desired. But, we are very grateful to everyone who made an effort to connect. Even if the time was limited, it was special. Our greeting outside the airport was that I-36 to Boulder was closed with little warning. We later learned there was a shooting incident. We ended up the first couple of nights in a hotel. We were eating brunch on Sunday morning in Denver. We did so with special friends/family.
Before we traveled to Lake City, we went to check in on our property. We had some ‘adulting’ to do before our adventure could truly begin. We ate at our favorite Mexican place, and hiked Bear Peak as an acclimatization hike. Then we went to Casa Bonita! Finally! We had been in a queue for ‘tickets’ for a year. It worked out where Grace and Sky joined for the adventure. Super sweet and quite organized, we definitely enjoyed ourselves! (some perhaps a bit too much, if that’s a thing).
As we studied the weather, we decided it was time to drive to Lake City. There was a beautiful window of opportunity. The weather was nice the day we traveled, and we were only delayed by some minor road construction. We arrived at our Airbnb and chatted with the owner. They warned us that a mama bear was coming around with two cubs in the neighborhood. We enjoyed the evening, ate some pasta, and got ready for the next day, game time. Day 1- Redcloud and Sunshine. I had studied this route. It is a straightforward Class 2 climb up Redcloud. Then, lose elevation and gain Sunshine. Descend and regain Redcloud. Finally, descend back to the Grizzly Gulch trailhead. There were warnings and signs about the pathway, as some people can make a loop for RC and Sunshine. I was in no mood to potentially end up on cliffs on the first day descending. So we stuck to the trail on 14ers. This was to avoid issues with getting off trail and having to add on extra mileage. This was a marathon, not a sprint. It was a beautiful day. We met a contagiously happy and strong gentleman. I had seen him on social media working on his 14ers. Such energy and positivity! He was lifting weights when we arrived at the trailhead. He greeted Chris and me with hugs and high-fives. He was working his upper body strength. He told us “You guys are so fast.” Yet he was the one lifting weights in the parking lot. He explained it’s a total body package. He had worked his lower body, but not his upper on these two 14ers. Some amazing photos from Redcloud and Sunshine:
We departed and drove the easiest path to any of the trails in our rental car. We then headed into town. We ate at the restaurant of choice, the Packer Saloon and Cannibal Grill. They treated us with kindness and amazing food. Their hospitality truly fueled these 14ers. Afterward, we picked up a Jeep for the following day’s adventure. Up next, Friday the 13th, on Wetterhorn!
It’s been a while since I last wrote many things keeping me busy and still processing the loss of Tela. Of course, grief has its own way, and we learn to keep navigating life without those who were so much a part of our existence. Still miss and love you sweet Tela, so blessed.
We were able to go down to NC to the mountains for Mother’s Day and stay in the cabin where I went to grad school. That was a great deal of fun with beautiful sunrise hikes, unfortunately, rained out s’mores, connecting with old friends, and great family time. The weather was great for sneaking in some fantastic sunrise hikes.
I was glad to get some hikes in pretty steady training, and now things have changed in our original summer plans, doing the right thing by my employees, so Chris and I are targeting a new fitness goal of attempting 5 14ers in Lake City, CO in September. https://lakecity.com/a-guide-to-hiking-lake-citys-five-14ers/ We may end up adding on La Plata Peak or switching something of course dependent on weather, but training has begun, and I always do better when I have a goal to train for.
We went to Belmont non-remarkable, lol, not my thing, and had a team building training at work. I felt my strength finder matched my thoughts.
The first week of summer has been super miserable for any hiking with strong storms in the forecast and even being experienced here. We had to switch up mountains for running, and my body definitely told me this morning, ‘You haven’t used these muscles in this way recently.’. This is a good reminder that training for hiking by hiking to ensure you are getting some mileage and elevation, cross training, especially cardio training such as running is critical to regain cardio fitness before the trip as well. Some recent photos of hiking in the ADK, Jay Mountain, Buck, and Catkskills with Becky, hoping this summer turns out to be much drier than last, some photos include this magnificent solo sunrise and moonset hike up Cascade and Porter! Need to make more sunrise hikes a priority in life. Be well, happy adventuring!
Now, wait just a minute, I thought I was going to spend the rest of my days in Switzerland, Mom. I’m going to have to get on that airplane again in a crate, and we are moving to what state, NY? I don’t know anything about NY. There are two mountain ranges we can play in? Ok, I guess so.
Just before we departed Switzerland, Tela gave us a crazy scare with intestinal tumors, surgery, and thankfully she recovered pretty well, minus a set back of the healing of a growth on her paw. The timing was so close before our move from Switzerland to Saratoga Springs that Tela still wasn’t even able to run with me or hike with me during most of my sabbatical. It was a true bummer. You can’t ever explain to a look of excitement that you slowly see turn to despair and at times crying when she wasn’t coming along for the adventure.
Tela got integrated nicely into life in Saratoga, spending time hiking, walking and exploring. Once we purchased our home, we really settled in. It was the first time Tela has had such a huge fenced in back yard. It was new for a while, like what is this?… then she always enjoyed her perimeter patrols and squirrel chases along with other backyard shenanigans.
Ever the hiker, Tela completed the following ADK High Peak Summits:
Cascade
Porter
Big Slide
Phelps
Tabletop
Gothic (Cables Route)
Armstrong
Upper WJ
Lower WJ
Street
Nye
Marshall
Whiteface
Giant
Algonquin
Iroquois
Esther
She also hiked many of the Lake George 12ster challenge, but the stupid cancer had slowed her capabilities by that time, and it was indeed a long day for the Tongue Range, so the right call was made. She got to hike in the Catskills with Becky and once even with Jason. Becky and Laura were both such wonderful hiking partners with Tela. Special thanks to both of them for a couple of dicey situational help! (Armstrong Ladder/ Almost winter whiteface stairs). She loved being in front of our pack. And if you followed her, you were likely going the most direct route, until she got into her golden age. The best part about hiking with Tela, was she would go ahead at times, then turn around and give you this huge smile, like no matter what, you’ve got this! I have missed this for a few months, but I know I will continue to miss this about her on the trail. Our favorite place to be together. In her last years, she got to be a part of the Saratoga Dog Walkers, later Pink Pup Farm experience, but had to stop due to the cancer/vet orders.
Above is my favorite photo of Tela and Becky, it always brings such a smile as we were doing Algonquin, Iroquois (inclusive of Boundary) and then Wright for me and Becky, while Laura stayed with Tela.
Below is our last big hike with Tela up Whiteface and Esther. I can’t find the pic, but bless Laura for taking Tela down the stairs of Whiteface that day. The postholes were so bad on the trail we didn’t want to descend that way, so chose the stairs. They were their own type II adventure, and Laura took Tela.
The final days of Tela’s cancer battle were ugly, raw, and made me wonder if I had waited too long. Her last night was the worst, and I didn’t get my last planned walk with her. I think I’ll always regret that, but I had no idea things were going to take such a rapid turn. We were so blessed to have you in our lives, Tela.
I am not sure what I miss most, but I will certainly miss your smile and companionship. Your memory and funny personality will always be with me. I will look forward to traveling back to some key places you loved to spread your ashes. Love you always, the dog with so many nicknames, T, sweet T, T munch, T munchkin, well, all in all I can say I never thought I would feel greater hurt than when I lost Marley. Never say never indeed. Blessings.
So, where do we adventure next? Wait, mom, you want me to get on a plane and move to a foreign country where they just let cats roam freely but dogs are to be leashed? Oh, but they do provide cool access for dogs everywhere? And there are these mountains we can hike close by? I can go into restaurants? Oh, but still not the grocery store. Ok, I’m up for it.
So many adventures we had! Tela’s journey abroad began when she was picked up in Steamboat->Driven to Denver International->DEN->Frankfurt, held for about 12 hours, then took a flight from Frankfurt->Zurich where she stayed for 2 hours, then was transported to our home abroad in Luterbach. I can say I don’t know what happened on Tela’s journey to CH, but it definitely impacted how she felt about crates, which she previously loved and felt secure in. So I ditched the crate, and Tela adapted to life in Switzerland. On one of our first weekends, there together, we went on our first boat ride after visiting the beautiful St Beatus Caves. Tela had her first Swiss boat and train transport experience. It was funny as I’ll never forget she wasn’t so sure about this big boat (pictured below). A native Swiss German started chatting with me and her, and told her it was “all good”, then looked at me and said, “All dogs understand Swiss German, lol.”. She was relaxed for the remainder of the trip. I also just realized typing this blog and looking at these photos why Tela was so darn stubborn to drink water on the ADK trails she hiked. She was waiting for the running Swiss dog water drinking stations that are abundant.
Oh wow, this is surreal looking backl. Living abroad brought about many adventures, but not as many as we hoped as we dealt with the lockdowns of the pandemic during our three years there. But we so enjoyed every country, moment space in time, hiking all over Switzerland and beyond… it was magical. The fantasy land of hiking and beauty everywhere! We explored so much in a short time, ran all around Luterbach and Solothurn, hung out with amazing people. So happy my girl was able to live abroad and have that extra special adventure with us!
Special shout out to all my Swiss/US friends reading this that met Tela. It was a special time in our lives.
The last time I wrote in my blog, life was so different, the world was a completely different place. We were celebrating the life of Chris’s grandmother, spending time with family and friends back in Colorado. Although I had heard of the initial outbreaks of Coronavirus 2 (SARS–CoV–2) in January, like much of the world, I had no idea how this tiny virus would alter and dominate the world’s economic, social, physical, and mental well being. In the first weeks when the virus was really impacting our bordering country, Italy; my husband thought I was overly obsessive about this virus. I have always been a bit of an epidemiology dork and watching the data and trying to understand the science behind this virus was quite consuming. In the beginning days , I was fascinated and wanted to absorb all the analytical data and information I could get into my brain. Fascination soon turned to concern, worry, uncertainty and all the fun an unknown pandemic brings to the lives of us all.
I went back to my email, and noted that on 01 March I sent a mass email to many of my close friends expressing my concern about what I felt could be evolving. Here I am in August of 2020, and it’s still difficult to find the right words. Let’s face it, our entire lives have changed. Being someone who has a pre-existing condition, and considering there are so many unknowns still today about exact transmission risks, asymptomatic carriers, and very strange side effects post infection, we are still living a life of hyper-care. For me, until we have an effective safe vaccine, or efficacious therapeutic, this is life.
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo. ‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
J.R.R. Tolkein
Tela and I hiking the Panorama Trail above the Davosersee
I am grateful to have a job that I along with all my colleagues have adjusted to a time of new normal. This year was intended to be full of travel to many places for work. Now, I am adjusting my time zone and they are adjusting theirs to meet virtually via video conferencing, and utilizing technology, intense planning and communication to keep things moving along. Working from home, or home office is not new to me, but always being at home and not traveling at all has been an adjustment. Just like everything in life, a new normal presents itself, and we as human’s find the best way to viably thrive and keep on keeping on. I long to keep in touch with friends and family more, but also find myself mentally exhausted from staring at a computer screen all day on video conferences for work.
What’s happening across the world, and especially in my home country of the USA is very difficult to watch, especially from afar. From the political environment, to the racial injustices, the stories of these days leave my heart heavy. Sadly, it seems there is a lot of misinformation about the pandemic, and the truth is for me there is still much to learn about this virus.
As always in times of challenges with life, I am very grateful to be able to still get outside and hike and take in the beauty of the mountains that surround me. Mountains, music, and food have always been my happy zones, and though some of these have changed, they continue to be my go to’s for strength.
The beautiful world of Switzerland- Glaciers and Mountains give me peace
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
Socrates
Yesterday was Swiss National Day, and we celebrated Switzerland by reaching the summit of the Niesen otherwise known as “The Swiss Pyramid” from the valley floor. At an elevation gain of 5882 feet in six miles, it kept my heart rate going. These moments in life- the ones we really feel we are doing our best, pushing ourselves the hardest, are the one’s I live for.
I hope if you are still reading- you are all safe, healthy, and living the best life you can in this crazy world. Until next time, I keep with my current theme song…
Lyrics: (Anastasio/Marshall) Time to get out, I paid my dues I need to shout there’s no time to lose No more to give, the well is dry The pavement’s warm, my brain is fried It’s time to get out, I paid my dues My shoes have holes, my socks are bare The mirror’s secret is I’m losing my hair I’m in prison without a crime The sentence stretches on undefined It’s time to get out, I paid my dues I paid my dues
But, everything’s right, so just hold tight Everything’s right, so just hold tight
Just hold tight
I’m going downhill with increasing speed Compassion gives way, if you listen to greed Focus on the past and that’s what will last Nothing that is real and nothing you can feel Focus on tomorrow you’ll have to borrow Images and mind and friends you left behind Focus on today, you’ll find a way Happiness is how rooting in the now
Because everything’s right, so just hold tight Everything’s right, so just hold tight Everything’s right, so just hold tight Just hold tight
Look into the eyes of everyone you meet Try not to step on your best friend’s feet The line is in the sand, the flag is planted The rest of your life don’t take it for granted
Cuz everything’s right, so just hold tight Everything’s right, so just hold tight Everything’s right, so just hold tight Just hold tight
Time flies, and life has been moving at its usual lightning fast pace. Since we have relocated to Switzerland, we have not been to the movies. I was a frequent movie goer in my younger years, and have always enjoyed a trip to the movies. We started last Saturday evening on a double date with an American colleague and his wife, driving just south of Bern to a huge theater complex.
The set-up was impressive, yet of course carrying the CHF price you must accept for living here. First off, there was the movie theater…so maybe in big cities in the USA this type of movie theater setup could be commonplace, and living in the small town of Steamboat Springs has left me a bit in the dark. With that being said, I was overwhelmed by the concessions, it was all there for the taking, from the usual wares of candy, real food offerings, beer and wine, complete with real wine glasses, and of course as Swiss culture would require it a place to recycle or return your wine glasses.
The theater had several floors including a bar/bowling alley, a birch tree filled restaurant which had a great valued meal, burgers, vegan burgers, or specialty burgers with your choice of bread, salad, or several different pomme frites. The birch tree eatery, also reminded me of just how small this world is, after all. When we entered this eatery, for a pre-movie snack, our waitress advised she was going to be studying next semester at my graduate school alma mater, Appalachian State University in Boone, NC! I gave a few exchanges about how special the place is, my love for the Blue Ridge Mountains, Boone and the Parkway, and left with a big smile and reservations later for a full dinner.
Because I am always a kid at heart one of my favorite bonuses of this theater was the tunnel slide to descend from the upper floor to the lower floor. Another huge plus to movies in Switzerland- there is a 10 minute intermission. So if you usually are holding your bladder, like me and don’t want to get up to miss a minute of what you have paid for, not a problem. Indeed this set-up made me very happy.
We had heard lots of chatter about the movie “Joker”, but also had been careful to avoid any spoilers. I must say I am thrilled we were able to experience seeing this film in IMAX. You may ask why I was hesitant to see a movie abroad? I worried I would be distracted due to the French and German subtitles. Not only did I find this completely non-distracting, I found myself reading the German and picking out phrases that we have been studying in our lessons. Double win!
So I won’t give any spoilers, about “Joker” but I will give my opinion. If Joaquin Phoenix doesn’t receive an Oscar for that performance, I’m certain that I will lose faith in that organization too. This film although very dark, and disturbing, exhibited some of the best cinematography, character development, and evoked a deep connection and perspective for the origin of the Joker. Anytime a movie is on my mind longer than a day post watching, that says something. I’m not sure I would ever need or want to watch it again, but it was truly a work of art.
Window view from the office
Otherwise, life is as good as you choose to make it, so much has happened, and so many exciting things are in front of me before the close of 2019: work trips to the Netherlands, Norway, and then a long Christmas and New Years holiday in Spain.
We have enjoyed a wonderful fall season and Halloween celebrating with friends and neighbors. I am super grateful that for the past few months I have been running quite religiously early in the mornings with Tela and averaging around 20 miles per week. Keep smiling and shining for the world!
I work in a small industry. It’s big to the outside world, but in reality, it’s quite tight knit. I consider myself to do a somewhat decent job at keeping in touch with those professionally that I admire, that have taught me how to be a better person leading by example, professionally or personally.
What is this life without the opportunity to bond with others that you respect, can learn from, share your feelings, emotions, and passions? In my opinion if all of this were removed, life would not be nearly as enjoyable. In my career, I have been fortunate to form not just professional relationships, but friendships as well.
Social media outlets such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram have opened a networking opportunity for multiple generations to stay connected as everyone traverses life’s walls and cliffs sometimes outside of the domestic US and over to ex-Pat living.
Last fall, I was able to reconnect in person with my former colleague and friend, Pam, and her husband Steve. In the many years it had been since I had last seen them, our lives had both evolved. Not only had we both moved across oceans to experience work and personal life throughout Europe; but our families had expanded.
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Mark Twain
For multiple reasons, that I won’t elaborate on in this blog post, I never was able to have children of my own, (minus the dogs in my life) :). Through a few of my friends, I have experienced a glimpse into their family lives, and spent some real quality time playing Auntie to their children, and enjoying this aspect of life that I will never really own for myself. This past weekend was one of those times I was able to truly have submersion into the joy of the two children of my friends Pam and Steve. We read, goofed off, laughed, skipped, loved on dogs, I watched them be simply amazing in their flexibility with gymnastics, and exchanged many hugs.
Last week was Ascension holidays in Switzerland. Chris and I had been wanting to re-visit Tuscany as we did not feel we were able to spend enough time during our first visit last year. Learning our friends were closing this chapter on their journey in Italy, left in my heart and mind a clear quest. Even though, life was busy for all of us, we would seize the opportunity for one last visit with each other before they were 9 hours time zone difference away.
Sometimes as life goes, I was not able to leave work behind on Wednesday as scheduled, and we ended up leaving Switzerland via Snow White (the Scooby Doo Outback) two hours behind schedule. We were virgins traveling through one of the longest road tunnels in the world, the “Gotthard Road Tunnel” during a holiday.
We both had traveled it during Mother’s Day with no traffic issues. My coworker gave me advice to ensure we had snacks as the back-up could get quite intense through the tunnel and then to cross through border control. Our original plan, was we would drive four hours just south of Milan and get a decent meal and night’s sleep and then head down to Siena the next day… I learned of a cool car/train trick in case we take this trip again, but the path was set for our journey as reservations were required to take your car on a train. So we hit traffic indeed… for safety reasons several years ago where there was a fire in the tunnel, the Swiss government limits the number of cars allowed in the tunnel, so we were delayed a total of approximately 2.5 hours.
We arrived at our hotel south of Milan around midnight with some exhaustion, some delirium and frustration for needing to find the hotel parking in the deep darkness. Thursday began with sunshine and the promise of reduced stress, journey and exploration.
We made it to Siena got our things settled into Pam and Steve’s beautiful Italian home and ducked into a trattoria around 1430 for a much needed meal. Steve needed to pick his girls up from school, so we decided to adventure more around the Siena city and the Duomo di Siena. As 30 May was Ascension Day, it seemed more than fitting to explore the cathedrals and soak in the history. The rain stopped and the Tuscan skies began to clear as we walked around exploring the amazing cathedral. We waited in line for a long time for only what was labeled a panoramic viewpoint. The approach seemed odd as they were limiting the number of people who entered and then they would be escorted back. The rationale became all too apparent as we finally reached our turn. There were several single pass spiral stairwells to climb before we reached the landing which overlooked a breathtaking view of Siena and the surrounding Tuscan countryside.
The last time we were in Siena, we only had a day and a half to spend, so it was quite rushed. This trip afforded me almost all of Thursday, Friday and Saturday to spend with my friends prior to them departing Italy to begin their next chapter of their adventure. Minus the rainy start of our time in Siena, we were truly treated the rest of the time with magnificent sunny weather that was not too hot. I had often heard many people speak about the hues of the city of Siena, and depending on the time of the day, sunrise, sunset, twilight, you could see the magnificent glow of the hue change from ‘raw’ to ‘burnt’. Now that I have experienced this phenomenon with my own eyes, I would best akin it to experiencing the beauty of an alpen glow. It’s no wonder there are several colors named after this city, although spelled slightly differently.
We were delighted for Steve to take us for an adventure on Friday, when we went to explore the Tuscan history of Volterra. There is a lot of history to be shared about Volterra- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volterra. The walled city in the Tuscan hills is absolutely stunning, breathtaking, insert super positive adjective.
Several life memories were made on this day, as Steve took us for a tour off the beaten path, and taking us to local artisans including a shop that we made a purchase of art and functionality. I decided to stop fighting to learn a game that I’ve only attempted a few times and that Chris really loves. So I vowed with Steve as my witness to fully commit to learning how to play chess, and we purchased a handmade alabaster board that inspires me and makes me want to learn and enjoy the game so many others have loved for years. Steve also introduced us to a Tuscan painter, Vanna Spagnolo, who was pure passion and energy, walking through her shop and speaking with her, I was overwhelmed with a special connection and happiness that comes along rarely in life. This artist, so beautifully talented was pure, connected and inspired by nature in the same way I am, but unfortunately for me, I am not artistically talented. Chris and I chose the painting together, and I look forward to hanging the Tuscan landscape in our home to brighten any day or moment.
We enjoyed good food and Tuscan wine as Italy does not ever disappoint me from a food and drink perspective.
As someone who has moved international understands fully, there are a million and one things to accomplish. Steve needed to drive to Pisa to sell one of their cars on Saturday morning. We had never seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and Pam and Steve wanted to show us their favorite sea side town. We went along for the adventure, saw all we ever needed of Pisa, for anyone questioning themselves, it’s not worth other time that you can spend elsewhere in Italy. We were happy to go because there was a need to get something accomplished, and we saw an important historical sinking building but… trust me, skip it. You can look it up online and get the picture. Visiting Catiglione della Pescaia was a lot of fun, especially watching the girls play along the water and in the sand. I do not get my energy from the ocean. I love the ocean and appreciate the power of the ocean, but it tires me out usually, the sand, the sun, the salt… but I do enjoy very much small doses of exposure to the sound of the ocean and walking along in the water.
To end this time together, we made homemade pizzas and relaxed from the long day. My next day I headed back to Switzerland, with a long day of train travel. I was happy that Chris could stay a few extra days to spend time with our friends and explore some Tuscan biking, including the Strade Bianche.
I can not thank Pam and Steve enough for being the wonderful souls they are, allowing us to be a small part of their family, and wishing them all the best in life’s next chapter!
Adventures in this thing we call Life 