Trip Report: A Celebration of 30

A very good year!

Good morning, friends! 

I've been struggling all week trying to decide whether I should write about our most recent trip or not. With the events of this summer swirling around in my brain (racial tensions, elections, and abortion videos), it seems rather inconsequential to share happy pictures of far-away places with you. 

And, to be honest, there's always the "oh, you got to go to ______" comment that makes me more than uncomfortable. (To think that anyone would harbor one ounce of jealousy for my life makes me both uncomfortable and sad. Each of our lives are amazing--we must know that.)

But in the end, here I am. I've decided to post a few pictures for you in hopes that you will celebrate with me, because that's what this trip was about. 

In June, B and I celebrated 30 years of marriage. As we drove to dinner that night (June 1, just in case you're interested), B looked at me and simply said, "Thirty years!" We laughed heartily and agreed that thirty years felt like an accomplishment--that it WAS an accomplishment--and that the years of hard work and commitment deserved to be celebrated. 

We've celebrated big anniversaries before, but this was the biggest (and longest) celebration so far. It wasn't a trip we took lightly; we planned and planned for HOURS before we left. We incorporated meaningful events into the trip. And we traveled with people we love. 

I've written about travel quite a bit in this space, probably, first, because I inherited the "wanderlust" gene from my grandfather. But second, and more importantly, I write about travel because every time I travel I learn something about God. He opens my eyes in new ways that I wouldn't see if I didn't experience it for myself.

And this trip was no exception.

So, for the celebration element and the what-I-learned-about-God element, I've decided to share our trip. Please don't think I take any of this for granted or that I feel somehow entitled to trips like this. It's simply in my DNA to want to wander around this great big globe and see how other people live.

*****

Our trip took almost 2 1/2 weeks and consisted of several parts.

Part 1: St. Andrews, Scotland

Our family is a golfing family, not so much in that we play it much (I haven't picked up a club in YEARS) but in that we love to watch it. And we have a couple of pretty good players in our family as well (shout out to my dad who plays his age and to my niece who is playing in an LPGA qualifying event this weekend). So, because we love golf and because we love St. Andrews and because we've done this a couple of times before, we simply had to start at the British Open.

B and me at the birthplace of golf.

My sister, Jenn, and her husband, Tom, got married the same year we did. We always travel with them for anniversaries.

Sorry about the fuzzy picture, but this helps explain what happened: 

For only the 2nd time in 144 years, the British Open did not end on Sunday. 

We missed the final round. :(

Part 2: Lucca, Italy

We wanted to spend some time in Tuscany, so we made our home base an apartment in Lucca. From there we took day trips to Cinque Terre, Florence, and the Chianti region. 

Lucca. We could not get enough of the quaintness and beauty of this town.

Corniglia, one of the five villages of the Cinque Terre.

Lovely Florence.

One of our best days was when we hired a driver to take us to three wineries in the Chianti region. This was the third and final stop of our day and, believe it or not, the most special. 

Yes, this is a winery. It is small. It is humble. But it produces some of the best Chianti wines around. 

This is Fernando who runs the Montefiorelli winery with his son. After our wonderful tasting in his vineyard, he grabbed two bottles of wine to give to each of us, then signed them in remembrance and celebration of our anniversaries. I'll never forget that day.

Part 3: Rome

We had to spend a few days in Rome, right? Let me just say that the history of the Romans is fascinating. And to walk in the same places that Peter or Paul may have walked was just mind-blowing to me. 

The Pantheon

The Coliseum. I was blown away by its grandeur.

Inside the Coliseum

Kate at the Roman Forum

This is Leonardo who is a church planter in Rome as well as a theologian, a seminary professor, and the head of the evangelical church in Italy. This sweet man took a day (his birthday, no less!) to show us some sights and to explain a bit about the Christian church in Rome. 

Kate flew in to meet us in Rome and to spend the second week with us. After a couple of days of overlap, Jenn and Tom flew home. Sad to say goodbye to them.

Part 4: Positano

First stop, Pompeii (with Mt. Vesuvio in the background). Such an interesting place!

This was the part of the trip when we rested up from the earlier part of the trip. We had been going non-stop for ten days and we were tired. The Amalfi Coast was the perfect place to rest. So beautiful.

Positano

Capri

*****

So you might be wondering what I learned about God on this trip, since I said every trip teaches me something. 

This time I was so struck by the history of Rome and Pompeii, and I was reminded over and over again that even 2,000 years ago at the very start of the Christian church, there were people alive who lived in these places and who met together to discuss their faith. I could just picture the small house churches where the early Christians met together. I could almost taste their fear of persecution. And, despite all of the difficulties, I could sense their joy.

And it made me so grateful that these people did not give up believing, because here I am today, 2,000 years later, a beneficiary of their faith.

It struck me so much that God is in all of it. He was there in early Rome, in Pompeii, giving people His Holy Spirit so that they would believe in what had happened just across the sea a few years earlier. It struck me that God was there in ancient times, leading people to believe in Jesus, just as He is today.

We in America don't have the corner on Christianity--this is what I see whenever I travel. God has His people scattered all over the globe, and we will ultimately celebrate with every believer one day. This makes me excited for Heaven, for the day when all will be well--poverty will be eliminated, babies kept safe, and all of us looking to Jesus as our ultimate reward.

16,375 Miles of Fun

You know how sometimes you’re sitting in church and your mind wanders just a little? 

Mine did that last Sunday. Even though I was listening to a great sermon, I still found myself, after spending the day before in the car driving home from vacation, wondering just how many miles I had traveled since the end of school last May.

As work-intensive as last summer was, this summer has been travel-intensive and I have loved every minute of it.

As a professor it’s hard to get away during the school year. In fact, it’s nearly impossible. When your class meets only three days a week for sixteen weeks (that’s 48 class sessions for those of you who, like me, are math challenged) you pretty much have to be there.

I can’t complain, though. We have generous breaks. I have my summers. Heck, most weeks I even have Tuesdays and Thursdays.

But during the semester I can’t leave.

So when my husband goes on the rare business trip and asks me to come along, I usually have to say no. And this makes me sad because he goes to some pretty cool places. This May, however, one of his trips fell after the semester had ended, after my grades had been turned in, and after our daughter’s graduation. Plus, it wasn’t bad that the trip was to Napa, CA.

He didn’t have to ask twice.

My summer of travel started as soon as school got out and pretty much hasn’t stopped.

*****

So there I was, sitting in church, just thinking about the drive home from WI the day before and all of the other amazing places I had been all summer, realizing that I’ve been trotting the globe like a crazy woman, when a thought came to me: “How many miles have I actually traveled this summer?”

Of course I went home, fired up Google Maps, and figured it out.

Here’s what I came up with:

Chicago to Napa, CA and back: 4300 miles.

Chicago to London: 4000 miles.

London to Oxford: 60 miles.

Oxford to Edinburgh: 370 miles.

Edinburgh to London: 415 miles.

London to Chicago: 4000 miles.

Chicago to Dallas and back: 1830 miles.

(This is my darling niece, Kira, and her beautiful mom, my sister, Jennifer. 

Kira's getting married, so we went to Dallas for a bridal shower for her.)

(And this is the beautiful park in downtown Dallas where Kira will be getting married in September. Isn't it gorgeous?!)

Chicago to Eagle River, WI and back: 700 miles.

(Two weeks of ahhhhhhh.)

And finally, a second trip to Eagle River this week to pick up Julia from camp: 700 miles.

I think that brings me to a grand total of 16,375 miles.

Am I tired? Yeah, a bit. But I am so glad I’ve done it. I’m heading into the new school year with a heart full of memories of time spent with all the people I love most in this world. I’ve seen some amazing places and have had some incredible adventures.

I’d say I’ve had 16,375 miles of fun.

S and J Take Edinburgh: Part 2

Onward we go.

When last I left you, Julia and I were trekking our way down the Royal Mile, no small feat on those centuries-old cobblestones, dodging bagpipers and silver hawkers on the street.

But we made it, finally, to the place I had long wanted to visit: The Palace of Holyroodhouse.

As I mentioned yesterday, this was my fourth visit to Edinburgh, but I had yet to see Holyroodhouse because the Queen, bless her, was usually in residence every time I'd been there. And for some reason, the Queen doesn't want us Commoners tromping around her house when she's home.

Go figure.

But this time, I went early enough (the Queen is usually in Scotland in July) that we could tour the castle. I was so glad we did!

This is the entrance. Impressive, huh?

And this is the main courtyard (the forecourt?) where just this week the Queen was greeted by 100 Guardsmen in kilts. Lucky girl!

We weren't supposed to take pictures inside the Palace, but I'm a rule breaker (just ask my husband) and I snuck this one of the inner courtyard. I can just imagine little Prince George playing on the grass.

Julia and I enjoyed our tour of the Palace. It's smaller and more accessible, I think, than many of the Royal Residences. I could just imagine the Royal family eating breakfast in the dining room or hanging out on the patio. Sadly, they wouldn't let us see the apartments, but I think we got a good sense of what life at Holyrood would be like.

Once outside, we walked through Holyrood Abbey, where they allowed us to take pictures. What a stunning ruin of this small chapel.

Once outside, we could walk around the grounds to see where the Royal family would greet guests--all 8,000 of them--at a tea party to celebrate the opening of Holyrood Week, a week the family spends in Scotland every year. In the picture below, you can see the huge, white tent that they are already setting up for the event.

 You can also see, in the picture above, the hill they call Arthur's Seat, a very popular spot to hike in the middle of the city.

Of course, after walking all the way down the Royal Mile and through two castles, Julia and I were getting a wee bit tired, but we both said that as long as we were there we should at least see what all the fuss was about.

So we climbed. Not all the way to the top, but high enough to get these amazing views.

Let's recap our day, shall we? Just in case you can't keep up. We had already toured Edinburgh Castle, walked down the Royal Mile, ate lunch at a cute tea shop, and toured The Palace of Holyroodhouse. Once we finished our hike (about 45 minutes), we were absolutely gassed, but our B&B host had assured us that our hotel was "just around the corner" from Arthur's Seat, so we started walking again.

We walked.

And we walked.

And we walked.

We even took a moment to sit down and assess where we had been.

Let me tell you, our B&B was nowhere to be found "right around the corner"!

We finally found a set of steps that seemed to lead to a neighborhood, so we took them. Good call, because a couple of blocks later we found the bus that would take us to our B&B.

Where we rested. For about 30 minutes.

Because soon it was time to go find the very thing we had come to Edinburgh to do and we were NOT going to miss it: the Harry Potter walking tour.

Yes, I said "walking."

We took the bus to the area where we would meet up with our group, and despite the fact that we were completely exhausted, we would not be deterred. We were going to find Harry Potter no matter what!

Well, we didn't find Harry, but we did find a whole lot of other interesting sites having to do with Harry.

Like the cemetery where J.K. Rowling got a lot of names for the characters in her books.

And Voldemort's grave. (I'll just leave this for the true HP fans to figure out.)

And this other grave that has nothing to do with Harry Potter, but I just liked it for reasons that will be obvious to people who know me.

We saw The Elephant House, the coffee shop where many believe J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book.

But, actually, our tour guide told us that J.K. herself has since confirmed that, although she DID write some of her books at The Elephant House, the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was conceived at Spoon, the upstairs coffee shop shown here.

Do with that whatever you want.

Our tour took us to Victoria Place, the street that probably spurred the idea for Diagon Alley.

And ended up at the City Council building where all of the famous people from Edinburgh have placed their hands in the walk of fame. All eight of them.

At the end of our tour, we were so glad we did it. It was a lot of walking and not as much talking as we would have liked, but still, it was fun to see some of the places that inspired someone to write some of the most imaginative and incredible books of our time.

That night we fell into bed, but not before we watched the old men play bocce outside our window.

Oh, Edinburgh, I do love you. I'll be back someday.

***

Thanks for reading along on my most recent adventure. If you'd like to keep up with my everyday adventures, just sign up to receive updates via email. And I'd love it if you'd share my adventures with a friend. 

***

Here are all the posts in my most recent series:
S and J Take London: Part 1
S and J Take London: Part 2
S and J Take Oxford
S and J Take Edinburgh: Part 1

S and J Take Edinburgh: Part 1

So after four whirlwind days in London and two glorious days in Oxford, we departed on the last leg of our journey: Edinburgh.

Edinburgh was Julia's pick, being the Harry Potter fan that she is, because she wanted to see where it all began. To walk in the footsteps of J.K. Rowling, if you will. And walk in her footsteps we did, as you will see.

But first (and, sadly, I don't have any pictures to show you of this), we took a six hour train ride from Oxford to Edinburgh. If you've never taken a cross country train ride (or even a car ride) across the U.K., you're really missing out because the landscape changes right before your very eyes, growing more and more lovely the farther north you go.

And then you reach Scotland. Ahhhh. As you climb into Scotland the terrain becomes much more rugged, green patches dotted with grazing sheep, and you can really picture Robert the Bruce leading his pack of warriors across the fields to meet the English army. It's astounding how much has not changed in Scotland through the years (of course, I'm sure the people who live there would tell you differently).

We arrived in Edinburgh around 4 p.m. in a slight drizzle, caught a cab to our B&B, and were immediately struck by the wonderful kindness of the Scottish people. Our cab driver chatted us up through the entire drive, telling us this and that about the University and other sites we were passing, and our B&B host, Ross, was absolutely wonderful. In fact, everyone we met in Scotland was cheerful, kind, and helpful. These people are genuinely lovely, and they make me want to spend more time in their country.

Here's another great thing about Scotland: it hardly ever gets dark there in the summer, so you can pack a lot into your day. In fact, we went to sleep with the sun still shining and we woke up in the morning to sunshine. I love that! (This picture was taken at about 9:00 p.m. Doesn't it look like mid-afternoon?)

Anyway, since it was getting later in the day and we were starving from our trip, Julia and I headed toward the Royal Mile for dinner. We hadn't had an pizza on our trip yet, so we indulged our American tastebuds and ate at Pizza Express. Yum!

*Edited to add: How could I forget?! After our pizza we took a very interesting tour that our B&B host had told us about: The Real Mary King's Close, which was a walk through a long-buried neighborhood of Edinburgh--it actually got buried underneath a building!--with some history of the Black Death and the very difficult life of peasants in the 1600s thrown in for good measure. Eeep! Kinda creepy, lotta touristy, but fun for a laugh.

After The Real Mary King's Close tour, our legs could barely carry us any further, so we headed back to our B&B, 23 Mayfield, for a good night's rest. I forgot to take a picture of the outside of our B&B, but here's a picture of our room--so comfortable and well-appointed. We loved it!

And check out this view from our window!

That's the back garden where guests can sit and enjoy a dip in the hot tub or a glass of wine. Lovely.

The next morning, after a fantastic breakfast at our hotel, we were ready to tackle Edinburgh, and tackle it we did since it was our last day of sightseeing. We had a full agenda. Surprised?!

First up, Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Royal Mile.

No trip to Edinburgh is complete without visiting the castle. Julia and I bought audio guides, which give you lots of great information, but you could also take a free guided tour. Whatever you do, take some kind of tour when you're there because there is so much history.

And the views cannot be beat.

My favorite place in the castle is the apartment of Mary Queen of Scots where Mary gave birth to her only son, James VI, who later became James I of England and translated the Bible into what we now know as the King James Version.

This was my fourth visit to the Castle, which is why I didn't take many pictures, but I saw exhibits that I had never seen before. The prison exhibit was new to me and really interesting.

Next on our list: walk the Royal Mile.

The Royal Mile is a steep, cobblestone street full of history. And shops. And tourist traps. But still, I love it. It's where B and I saw J.K. Rowling herself back in 2005.

Julia and I meandered our way down the Mile, taking our time, ducking into woolen shops, and trying on hats.

(Sorry, Julia, I couldn't resist!)

(And besides, she's at camp and won't see this for several weeks.)

We were nearing the bottom of the Royal Mile around lunch time and happened upon the cutest little tea room, Clarinda's, where we felt like we had stepped back in time. The tiny restaurant still looked like it probably did 30 years ago, with prices to match!

It was such a respite for us--a hearty sandwich and a pot of tea were just the ticket--that it became one of my favorite memories of the trip. And check out these homemade goodies!

One of those scones just might have become ours. With clotted cream and jam, of course.

Next up: Holyrood House, Arthur's Seat, and a Harry Potter tour.

Please come back tomorrow for more of our trip to Edinburgh. And I'd love it if you'd invite a friend or two along! 

S and J Take Oxford

I realize that I haven't finished updating you about our trip. Last week kind of got away from me, but this week I plan to finish my updates, of which there are two more.

If you want to read about the London part of our trip, click here and here.

*****

Here's something I noticed about London on this trip. Back in the '80s, the first time I visited London, I found it charming because the city, in fact, the whole country, seemed about 20 years behind America. I liked that I could still find Mom and Pop stores and that people still slowed down enough to pop into a tea shop for a good cup of tea in the middle of the afternoon.

What I noticed this time is that London has caught up. No longer does the city seem a little slower-paced than the cities here. The people are just as fast-walking as New Yorkers. Look out or they'll mow you down! The stores look just like American stores. In fact, we walked past a Five Guys in London (and, no, we did not eat there).

I'll say they've caught up!

(Side note: Everything in London looked especially spruced up. It was so clean and so easy to get around this time. I wondered if this was a result of the Olympics. Anyone have an opinion on this?)

So, after the fast pace, noise, and congestion of the Big City, Julia and I were glad to make our way to Oxford to start the second half of our trip.

Oxford is one of my favorite cities in England for several reasons. The history. The University. The architecture. The bookstores. The back alleyways. I could go on and on. Oxford is lovely, and if you've never been to Oxford, you really should give it a couple of days on your next trip.

We left London early on a Sunday morning, caught our train to Oxford, and made our way to our B&B--the Cotswold Lodge Hotel.

Let me just say that everything about our stay there was perfect. When we arrived, the woman at the desk was so sweet to us. Our room (an upgrade!) wasn't quite ready since we were early, but she stored our bags while we took off to explore. Once in our room, we were wowed! It was huge--even the bathroom!--and very comfortable.

Plus, it was just down the street from the house I had stayed in when I studied in Oxford in college.

Boy, did that place bring back memories!

Our first order of business was to take a walking tour of Oxford, which was fun, especially getting to see inside some of the colleges.

After the walking tour, we walked some more--over to Christ Church to see the famous dining hall after which the Hogwarts dining hall was modeled.

And we both fell in love with this in Oxford:

I totally want one for tooling around our town.

Our second day in Oxford was so much fun. We started out early at the rental car place, and soon we were off to explore the Cotswolds.

We started in Minster Lovell, a beautiful little village I had seen once before and wanted Julia to see. There is a ruin of an ancient manor home here that I think would make the perfect setting for a magazine spread. This place is magical.

We drove around a bit after exploring Minster Lovell, and made it to Whitney in time for lunch with Sarah of Modern Country Style. Yes, there was a blog meet-up in the Cotswolds! I've already shared a bit about that here, but let's just say that Sarah is such a dear and I already miss her. Visiting her was like visiting a long-time friend. I could have stayed for hours.

But we had more countryside to see, so we sadly said goodbye to Sarah and went on our way.

Much of our afternoon was spent driving, just seeing the beautiful Cotswolds countryside.

We did, however, make a stop in Bampton to see a couple of Downton Abbey shooting locations. This is the church where Mary and Matthew got married and where Edith got left at the altar.

We also found a village that Julia had researched called Bibury. What an absolutely charming place!

Along the way we saw more Cotswolds limestone buildings than we could count, each one prettier than the next.

And now, for those of you who have bothered to read this far, I have a humiliating funny story to tell you.

It was the end of our day, and I had gotten quite used to driving on the left hand side of the road. In fact, I had gotten just a bit cocky, because as I was driving into our very last village (the one I had wanted to see), I said to Julia, "You know, I think I'm getting the hang of this driving on the left thing. I'm getting pretty good at it. You always think you're going to hit something and then you don't!"

Famous last words.

Not 30 seconds after I said that, BANG!

"What was that?!" I screamed.

I glanced over to my left and saw that the passenger side mirror had flipped in toward the car and was completely shattered. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw that I had hit the mirror of a parked car, and a piece of said mirror was lying on the ground.

After a few tense moments, during which a choice word or two that my daughter had never heard me utter before in her life may or may not have flown from my lips, I turned the car around in the middle of the street to see what I had done. Yep, I had hit the mirror of a parked car because I didn't give myself enough room to go around it.

All I could think was, "What am I going to do? How do these things work in foreign countries?" If I were at home, and the driver wasn't around, I could just leave a note on the car with my phone number, and we'd figure it out later. But A) I wasn't from there and B) I didn't have a phone number I could leave and C) I didn't know what the heck to do.

In the end, Julia and I found a place to park, walked back to the car to inspect the damage, found out that the plastic piece that had fallen from the mirror actually snapped back in place, fixed it, and left the village immediately.

We didn't even get to walk around because we were too flustered by what had happened.

I guess I'll have to visit the Cotswolds again sometime.

S and J Take London: Part 2

You may recall from yesterday that Julia and I were last seen running and eating our way through London. Boy, that sure didn't happen when I first visited in 1984! My first "meal" was a cheese sandwich on white bread. And things didn't get much better after that. The London food scene has come a loooong way, baby!

Onward.

Friday included a trip to the Tower of London where our Yeoman Warder was none other than Dickie Dover--the same guide B and I (along with my sister, Jenn, and brother-in-law, Tom) had when we visited in 2005! At the end of our tour I mentioned this to him, and he told me that next year he will be retiring from his post after 40 years. Amazing!

I just love the Tower and all of its stories and history. They've added a marker so you can see the spot where Anne Boleyn lost her head. And Mary Queen of Scots. And Kathryn Howard. And . . .

One of the main things that Julia and I wanted to do on our trip was a bicycle tour, and we had scheduled that for Friday afternoon because the weather looked like it was going to be nice. We were not disappointed--the weather could not have been better and the bike tour amazing. A little scary at times, but after a while we got the hang of it--London drivers aren't the most patient with cyclists--and really enjoyed our tour. If you're ever in London, definitely try the Fat Tire Bike Tour. Totally fun.

Saturday started out rainy, so we decided to go grab some breakfast at one of our favorite little spots: The Muffin Man. I had taken my other girls there, and they insisted that I take Julia. Nothing special, just a very sweet tea room where we had some lovely scrambled eggs on an English muffin.

After breakfast, it was starting to rain a little harder, so, rather than head to Portobello Road as planned, we decided to visit a couple of museums in the morning while we waited for the rain to clear. Good call.

We visited the Victoria and Albert--my favorite--and the British Museum because Julia had read about the cool stuff there including the Rosetta Stone and this guy:

By late morning the rain had cleared, so we made our way to Portobello Road and the wonderful market there. Sure, it's crowded. Sure, it's touristy. Sure, it's overpriced. But it's fun!

And, besides, one of my favorite movies is based there.

By now, of course, our feet were killing us, so we took the bus to Kensington Palace where we had tea at The Orangery. Perfect!

After tea, we walked back to our hotel to pack up and get ready for the next leg of our journey: Oxford and the Cotswolds.

Come on back tomorrow for the next part of our amazing adventure!

*****

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S and J Take London: Part 1

[Warning: I'm a foodie, and there just might be a theme to this post. And some pictures of food. Do not read on an empty stomach.]

Two weeks ago, my daughter, Julia, and I set out on an amazing adventure--a similar-yet-different trip to the one her sisters and I took when each of them turned 16. Sadly, I'm out of teenagers now, so this special mother/daughter trip time of my life is now coming to a close.

*sniff sniff*

So, we left Chicago for London where we made South Kensington our home for a few days. I had never stayed in that neighborhood before, but I liked it. Our hotel was close to the tube, restaurants, and museums.

And one of the coolest French patisseries I've ever seen: Aux Merveilleux. They specialize in two things and two things only: brioche and merangue. And they do those two things very well.

We might have stopped there more than once.

We arrived on a Wednesday morning, got settled into our room, and took off to get money, coffee, and wifi access. We were getting pretty tired from our overnight flight, but we were determined to simply keep going on Wednesday--the best way to fight off jet lag. First stop: Harrods, which was pretty much down the street and which we found once we got on the right bus. We "ooohed" and "aaahhed" our way through the most expensive department store in the world, but only ended up buying a cupcake.

The rest of the day was a lesson in frustration. We had hopped on a red tour bus, hoping to get a good overview of the city while simply staying awake, but traffic was absolutely not cooperating. Apparently, the Queen had left the palace to open Parliament earlier that day, and this played havoc on traffic. At one point we spent about 45 minutes in essentially one spot. And they wouldn't let us get off the bus!

If you know me, you can just imagine the scenario.

We finally got moving, so Julia and I decided to stay on the bus until we got to Covent Garden where we would enjoy our first meal. British comfort food. Ahhhh.

After a delicious meal of steak and ale pie and our first (of this trip!) sticky toffee pudding, we headed back to our room to sleep soundly.

The next day was amazing. Let me just say right off the bat that those of you who enjoy lying on the beach for hours on end would probably hate traveling with me, but my feeling is that if I'm somewhere incredible I want to see as much as I can see and do as much as I can do while I'm there.

I can sleep when I get home.

And soak my feet.

So Thursday was a flurry of activity. We started at St. Paul's Cathedral.

We walked to Shakespeare's Globe Theater to take a little tour.

After the Globe, it was time for lunch at my happy place in London: Borough Market.

Borough Market is a foodie paradise filled with fresh produce . . .

. . . cheese . . .

. . .  and the tastiest grilled cheese sandwich you will ever eat.

We needed to walk off our delicious lunch, so we decided to stroll along the South Bank toward the London Eye. Very fun! This was a new perspective of the city for me, one I really enjoyed.

We thought we would try to take a flight on the London Eye, but when we got there, the line was crazy. Like two or three hours crazy. There was no way we were going to waste that kind of time, so we left the Eye and hopped back on the red tour bus to finish our tour of London. Besides, our feet needed a break.

We got off the bus near Westminster Abbey, one of my favorite places in London. Thankfully Julia thought it was pretty great too, so we spent a bit of time wandering around there. In fact, we closed the place down!

Our feet were getting tired, but that didn't stop us from hiking it up to Leicester Square to the TKTS booth to get tickets for a show. We ended up getting tickets to see "Matilda," which we absolutely enjoyed. Very much.

After the show, however, our feet would not carry us any further. We were beat, so we caught a cab to take us back to our hotel. And here's where our interesting day got even more interesting.

As we were driving, I was pointing out various sights to Julia. We turned down The Mall, heading toward Buckingham Palace, chit chatting with our driver about all the traffic we had encountered the day before due to the Queen's little visit to Parliament. Suddenly, we noticed that there was no traffic coming toward us on the opposite side of the road. And then we noticed two policemen on motorbikes, leading some sort of motorcade (not, by the way, the first motorcade we had seen that day--those Royals were out and about!). I nudged Julia and said, "Look, someone's coming. Wouldn't it be funny if it was the Queen?!"

Um. Yeah. It was the Queen.

We couldn't miss her because she was wearing a bright, chartreuse dress with, of course, matching hat. And sitting beside her, in full military regalia, was her husband, Prince Phillip. Right there! Not twenty feet from us on the other side of the road. (I learned later that they were on their way to a ceremony to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day launchings.)

Even the cab driver was a little gobsmacked.

[Side note: This was not my first Queen sighting. I also happened upon her in 2005 during a parade to celebrate VE Day. She and Prince Phillip were riding in a carriage, and Charles and Camilla were riding in a carriage right behind them. Double sighting!]

OK, I realize this is getting long, so tomorrow I'll give you a slightly briefer overview of the next two days.

*****

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*****

Queen photo credit.

All other photos are mine.

I'm Back!

Hello there! It's been a while, but I'm back and have lots to tell you.

Where have I been? See if you can guess.

A land of pomp and ceremony.

A land of afternoon traditions.

A land of beautiful cathedrals . . .

. . . and historic theaters.

A land where old meets new . . .

. . . but where the old usually wins out.

A land of amazing vistas . . .

. . . and real, live castles.

A land that I love . . . almost as much as my own.

I'll share more of my trip with you throughout this week, perhaps with some travel tips that can help you plan your own trip to the United Kingdom. It's such a great place to visit!

****

P.S. Here's what you're looking at:

1. Guard outside the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London.
2. Scones with clotted cream and jam at The Orangery, Kensington Palace.
3. St. Paul's Cathedral, London.
4. The Globe Theatre, London.
5. The London Eye and Big Ben.
6. Minster Lovell in the Cotswolds.
7. The Cotswolds.
8. The Palace of Holyrood House, Edinburgh.

Kicking the Bucket List in Europe: Part 3

When last I left you, we were just finishing up the cruise portion of our trip. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to my sister, Jodi, when we docked in Basel, our last stop (actually, she left in the middle of the night, so I'm not sure we properly said goodbye to her at all!). Jodi has a baby (have I mentioned that?) who needed to see her mama. Or maybe it was the other way around.

At any rate, Jodi had planned to stay for a week, then head home.

Sorry, Jodi. You'll have to save Switzerland for another time.

***

So, yes, Switzerland.

If it weren't so danged expensive, I would live here. Truly. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.

And I've been to a few places.

As I said, we docked in Basel, sorted out the luggage situation between those who were staying with the group (like us) and those who were heading elsewhere (I honestly don't know how they do that), and boarded a bus to take us into the Old Town.

Here's where I have to stop and say that our guide was lovely, the town was, I think, lovely as well, but I didn't take many pictures because a) I was getting tired and b) it was so. blasted. HOT.

(Are you sensing a theme here?)

Truth be told, we kind of dragged ourselves around Basel, as any good been-on-a-ship-for-a-week-and-we're-getting-a-little-tired-of-arranged-tours kind of tourists would do. Once the tour finished, we sat at an outdoor cafe for as long as we dared and basically just waited until we could get onto our air conditioned bus again.

Lame, I know.

Here's what I got out of Basel.

They have a beautiful medieval church.

In the summer, the church square is used as a huge outdoor movie theatre. I would have actually liked to stay and check that out at night--it looked very cool.

And, as in many places in Europe, nannies drag children around on leashes. On cobblestone streets.

Aren't these some of the most adorable children you've ever seen? That face!

And that's pretty much what I got out of Basel.

Except for Swiss Francs which I got out of the ATM.

After a half a day in Basel, we finally got on to our air conditioned(!) bus to drive about two hours to Lucerne.

Ahhhh, Lucerne.

I had never been there before, but I am fairly certain I will be back. What a beautiful town. Smaller than Zurich, easily walkable, and truly, truly gorgeous.

The famous wooden bridge--lots of history there. Mom, Jenn, and I walked the length of it one night after dinner.

Speaking of dinner . . . this is the restaurant where we ate, Pfistern. Historic and touristy--just how we like 'em! But the food was really good, AND we got to sit right on the water. So fun!

So many of the facades of the old buildings were painted--even the fascia! I was astounded by the Old Town as street after street looked just as they probably looked hundreds of years ago with cobblestone streets and painted buildings.

I really need to go spend more time here.

On Saturdays there is a wonderful outdoor market right along the river, filled with every kind of delicacy you can imagine--from flowers and fruits to fresh vegetables and cheeses. I am convinced that Heaven will have some sort of market like this for us to wander around.

On our second day in Switzerland we took a trip up Mt. Pilatus on the world's oldest and steepest cog wheel train. Just think about that for a minute. Me, who is terrified of heights, stepping on to, not only the steepest climb on a train that you can take, but also in the oldest train cars. Yeah, I was a little scared.

But not as scared as one guy in our group who decided just to hoof it back to Lucerne as fast as he could.

His loss.

Because here is the reward we received when we got to the top.

No, it's not a postcard, even though it looks like one. Truly breathtaking.

Especially at 8,000 feet. (Get it?!)

Three of the most beautiful women to ever grace the top of Mt. Pilatus. :)

Finally, I could not stop taking pictures of this tiny, tiny church sitting up on top of a nearby mountain peak. How I would love to be able to hike there and spend a day worshiping there.

Can you see the cross at the top of the peak?

The next day we boarded a little boat which would take us from one corner of Lake Lucerne to the other. I tried to take some pictures, but they really didn't do it justice.

And, besides, it was just too hot to take pictures. (Good grief! You'd think we were in Death Valley, not Switzerland, by the way I keep talking about how hot it was, but that's how it felt, y'all. It was so surprising and so unusual for Switzerland.)

Once we reached the shore, we boarded busses which would take us on a very memorable drive through the mountains and villages of Switzerland until we reached our final destination, Zurich. On our drive we rode past the Victorinox factory where Swiss Army knives are made--cool!--and the area which inspired Johanna Spyri to write the famous book, Heidi.

You can just imagine how gorgeous that was.

The last stop on our wonderful, amazing trip was Zurich. I had been to Zurich before--for about four hours on a Sunday night before catching a flight out the next morning--and knew how beautiful this city was. It was a special treat to be able to spend a little more time here.

Sadly, and probably because I had been here before, I didn't take many pictures here. It was pouring rain on the day of our tour, so the camera had to stay hidden underneath my jacket. And once the rain stopped, I was just too tired to even bring it out.

Suffice it to say that Zurich is definitely a place you want to put on your bucket list. It is beautiful. What more can I say?

I absolutely fell in love with the way they decorate with herbs and green plants there. Isn't that cool?!

Plus, they have fondue. Which is delicious. And made with my favorite food. I could eat it every day.

Go to Zurich. See it. Experience it. Walk your socks off and eat it up. Zurich is wonderful.

Finally, reluctantly, we got on a plane and headed home.

When I say it was the trip of a lifetime, I really mean it. Never again will I be able to experience just this trip with these special people whom I love and meet the new friends we met and see the exact things we saw. It was absolutely magical, and I'll never forget it.

Thanks, Mom, from the bottom of my heart.

xoxo

Kicking the Bucket List in Europe: Part 1
Kicking the Bucket List in Europe: Part 2

Kicking the Bucket List in Europe: Part 2

After the beauty of the castles and vineyards of the Rhine Gorge, a place I had always wanted to see, I wasn't expecting much on the rest of the trip.

I do that sometimes--I keep my expectations low so I'm not disappointed. I know, it's dumb.

Sometimes, though, I'm surprised. Pleasantly surprised.

On this trip, that's exactly what happened. I loved the beauty of the castles--the views that morning on the top deck of our ship were stunning and special and I'll never forget them. I really didn't think that scenery could be topped.

I was about to be pleasantly surprised.

Day 5: Heidelberg

I had heard of Heidelberg--who hasn't?--but I knew very little about the town aside from knowing that they had a castle and a university. That could be interesting, given my profession, I thought, but, again, I didn't know what to expect.

Expectations exceeded. Heidelberg was lovely.

Rain threatened that day, and it rained a bit on our drive to the town, but it didn't keep us from trudging around the castle grounds.

Heidelberg castle is definitely worth seeing, if anything for the views.

Check out this sweet little guy peeking around the tree. Don't you just love that?

Heidelberg may be known for having the largest wine cask in the world . . .

(this is in the castle grounds and it holds about 60,000 gallons of wine!)

. . . but I know Heidelberg for having the best iced coffee in the world.

(at Cafe Konditorei Knosel)

OK, we had cake too.

Day 6: Strasbourg, France

Now, unlike my usual self, I did not do much research prior to this trip. (Sensing a theme here?) I had had kind of a busy summer and, truth be told, I was tired. I knew we would have guides everywhere we went, so I just decided to go along for the ride.

I did, however, look up Strasbourg before I left because I thought I had heard something big about it before. Honestly, I didn't know what I was in for.

Yes, Strasbourg is the home of the EU (the European Union).

(Apparently the EU won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012. They're kind of proud of that.)

And, yes, it hosts one of the largest and most beautiful cathedrals in all of Europe.

But what I didn't know was how absolutely charming every street of Strasbourg would be.

Even in the pouring rain.

Our day started out a little rough as it was truly pouring rain--a deluge, if you will. Our guide persevered, even stopping in a restaurant to borrow a couple of umbrellas, but even with the umbrellas we were soaked to the skin. 

But we were in Strasbourg, so we weren't about to stop. The longer we walked, the more enamored I became. Ancient timbered roofs, cobblestone streets, narrow passageways. Everywhere I turned, the city seemed to take me in.

Eventually the rain stopped, thank goodness, and I was able to really enjoy the beauty of this city. 

After the "official" tour, the four of us looked around the Cathedral for a bit, including a viewing of the Astronomical clock. Once that concluded at 12:40, we were hungry, so we found a small cafe where we could sit outside and enjoy a tarte flambee, a truly Alsatian delicacy. (We all agreed that it tasted just like the Trader Joe's flatbread pizza, only better.)

We had a little time after lunch to wander before our canal tour, so Jenn and I walked through the little streets where we stumbled upon a real French market complete with a butcher, a fruit vendor, a cheese man, and a foie gras dealer. The best, though, was the huge booth full of French linen clothes. (I bought a dress. Fun!)

I think I could have wandered the streets of Strasbourg for days, if not weeks. Every street, every door, every window was different, holding unique stories behind them. 

(I think this is my favorite photo of the entire trip.)

Even the shops were surprising, as one pottery shop we found had wide plank pine floors and old wooden ceiling beams that looked like they had been unfinished and scuffed by weary feet for hundreds of years. I could only imagine who had lived there, walked there, read there, cooked there. Such a beautiful little place!

Later, we took a canal tour around Strasbourg, which was even more beautiful. I could have stayed in Strasbourg a long, long time.

Strasbourg completely captured my heart, and I was sad to leave.

Day 7: Colmar and Riquewier, France

Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get any better . . .

we landed in Colmar, France.

Honestly, I didn't know much at all about this part of the trip. (Big surprise, huh?) I had never heard of Colmar, and I certainly had never heard of Riquewier. Again, my hopes weren't very high.

This ended up being, quite possibly, my favorite day of the entire trip.

The Alsace region of France is known for its wine, something I did not know before we left. I mean, I had heard of Alsace, but, again, didn't know much about that region. Now it has moved way up on my list of places I'd like to explore further.

But on to our day in Colmar. . . .

All I can really say is cute. This gorgeous city, known as the capital of Alsatian wine, is charming from north to south, east to west.

(Their largest church, complete with stork's nest in the upper right. And there was an actual stork in it!)

Colmar was where I became obsessed with window boxes. I just love how they dress their windows with herbs, succulents, and boxwood.

One cool thing I learned about Colmar: Bartholdi, the guy who sculpted the Statue of Liberty, was born here. As he was trying to figure out just exactly how to make the statue, he created several prototypes which dot the landscape throughout France. Just outside of Colmar, we came upon this:

She's much shorter and, I think, a little more stout than our own Lady Liberty, but it was neat to see that this symbol of freedom shines in Europe too.

We left Colmar and drove a short distance through some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen.

Riqueweir (pronounced Rike-veer)

"I feel like I'm on the set of Beauty and the Beast . . . only in real life!"

I think I said this more than once during our visit to Requieweir. This picturesque little village is set right in the heart of the vineyards. Its one main street heads straight up a hill where a church and steeple sits at the top.

That must be where these folks were heading.

On a Thursday.

Strange.

[edited to add: Guess what! It really WAS strange that people were getting married on a Thursday. Someone from our trip wrote to tell me that these were actually models on a photo shoot. Ha! Thanks, Paul!]

Anyway, as I said, this beautiful little village is set right in the vineyards and boasts several wineries.

We didn't have a lot of time here (sure wish we had had more!), so we looked around a bit, then found a restaurant to sit and relax and enjoy some of their local specialities.

All in all, it was a great day full of pleasant surprises.

Up next . . . Switzerland!

Kicking the Bucket List in Europe: Part 1

Last month I got to cross a few items off my bucket list: I went to Europe. As in, real Europe. Not just England. Not just Paris. No, I got to visit the heart of Europe: The Netherlands (the home of my husband's ancestors), Germany (the home of my ancestors), France, and Switzerland.

To say that the trip was amazing would be an understatement. 

It was a blessing. A huge, huge blessing.

The best part? I got to take this trip with my mom and my sisters. We've traveled together before, but this one was big. Special. The kind of trip you dream about and hope you can experience someday, but somehow never really think will happen.

But happen it did, thanks to my mom, because she is having a big birthday year and this trip was part of the celebration.

(Happy Birthday, Mom!)

So here we go. I want to share as much as I can with you, but there's just so much to say, so I'll try to keep it brief.

The main part of our trip was a River Cruise on the Rhine River. We started in Amsterdam and finished the cruise portion of our trip in Basel, Switzerland one week later.

I know most of you are thinking that we took a Viking River Cruise, what with my affinity for Downton Abbey and all, but you would be wrong. We took Viking's lesser-known (in the States, anyway) competition, Ama Waterways, aboard the AmaCello. Now, since I've never been on a Viking cruise, I really can't compare the two, but what I can tell you is that Ama was spectacular. The ship was small (it only held 148 people), beautiful, and clean.

Here's a picture of the home-away-from-home that I shared with my sister:

The food was . . . oh my! Every meal was a feast, and the service throughout the ship was top-notch. We really enjoyed it.

A lot.

Days 1 & 2: Amsterdam

I was excited yet apprehensive about visiting Amsterdam because, you know, the Red Light District and all. Growing up, whenever I thought about Amsterdam, aside from hearing about Corrie TenBoom and Anne Frank, I thought the city was only filled with unseemly people and that every night was a huge party.

I was wrong. They also have bicycles.

(This is one of my favorite pictures--do you see the little sign that's on the window? Can you say irony?)

Lots and lots of bicycles.

 They also have tippy houses that, I learned, are built right next to one another for a reason: support.

Amsterdam is built on a marshy swamp with miles and miles of man-made canals flowing through it. It's absolutely gorgeous, but it wouldn't surprise me if some morning we turn on the news to find that Amsterdam has been swallowed up by the sea.

All-in-all, I found Amsterdam to be a lovely city with lovely people. Everyone we talked to was warm and gracious (and they all spoke perfect English!), and I'd really like to take my husband back there someday.

As to the Red Light District . . .

My sisters and I did walk through the RLD one night--we just felt like we had to see it. Once. It's one of those things I can say I've seen, but I never need to go back there again.

It just made me sad.

On our second day in Amsterdam we took a beautiful tour of the city, which included a canal tour. So pretty!

The tour ended with a visit to the windmill made famous by Rembrandt, who was from Amsterdam. The date on top of the windmill says 1636. NBD.

 Day 3: Cologne and Koblenz, Germany

So in the afternoon of Day 2, we set sail (like the sailor lingo?) down the Rhine River out of Utrecht, Netherlands. (I want to say Holland, but I learned that "Holland" is actually two states within the Netherlands. There is North Holland and South Holland, which explains where my husband came from, but the country is called The Netherlands.)

That day and night we were on the boat for 18 hours.

The next morning we docked in Cologne, Germany. I had never really heard much about Cologne except for the famous cathedral, which was truly beautiful, but aside from that, I felt like the city was thoroughly unimpressive.

My sisters and I took a bicycle tour through the town--that was fun--but we didn't see much that I'd want to come back to see again.

I'd say that the best part of Cologne was this:

Enough said.

Things do get better, trust me.

Later on that day, we "set sail" again, docking at Koblenz, Germany after dinner that night. Just a week or two before I left I found out that our adopted "son," Matt (very long story for another day), was living in Koblenz, so we made arrangements to meet that night.

When Matt suggested meeting at the Deutches Eck, the German Corner, which is a famous monument in Koblenz, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find it.

I shouldn't have worried. That thing is HUGE!! Probably the biggest monument I've ever seen in my life.

And Koblenz is absolutely lovely. We only had a few hours in that town, but I wish I could have stayed a little longer. Matt was a fantastic tour guide, showing me the older section of town, which, by the way, looked exactly like Epcot.

I'm so glad I got to see Matt!

(We're cracking up in this picture because the little German lady we stopped to ask to take the picture just couldn't figure out my camera. Matt, in his broken German, kept trying to explain, but she kept not understanding. 

I think this is the 7th or 8th try.)

Day 4: Cruising through the Rhine Gorge & Rudesheim, Germany

This was the day we had all been looking forward to, and the day did not disappoint. Our cruise manager, Darinka (who, by the way, was exceptionally lovely), told us we should be up on the top deck around 8:00 a.m. because as soon as we left Koblenz we would start seeing castles. 

Thankfully, the day was sunny and warm. Actually, it got a bit TOO warm as the day and the week went on, but who were we to complain? We were cruising the Rhine! 

Can I just say right now that you need to put this section of the Rhine River on your own personal bucket list? I could never do justice to the amazing beauty that we experienced in those few hours, slowly crawling along the river. Castles, churches, villages, and vineyards everywhere you looked. It was like living in a fairy tale!

Here's the view from the top deck of our ship:

Those are mostly Riesling vineyards down there--those Germans make some of the best wines in the world.

I'd say we all enjoyed every minute.

Rather than bore you with a million pictures of castles, I thought I'd show you one of my favorites. This one is so cool because it looks like it's just emerging from the side of the mountain.

What smart person thought of that way back in the 12th century, I'd like to know?

After several hours of floating down the Rhine, checking out castles, my neck was getting tired from swinging left and right, so it was with mixed emotions that we put the UNESCO heritage site behind us and docked in Rudesheim.

Rudesheim is a picturesque little village known mostly for its vineyards.

We know it mostly for its oppressive heat.

As the day went on, the sun grew hotter and hotter. We were scheduled to take a vineyard tour and wine tasting in Rudesheim, but once we got up to the vineyard the heat was blazing and we were feeling like it might just be too much to traipse through the vines. We thought we'd much rather traipse through some shops, so we left the tour and walked through the town.

Absolutely charming.

Absolutely stifling.

Bye bye, Rudesheim. Maybe next time.

Up next: Heidelberg, Strasbourg, and the Alsace region of France.

Your thoughts? Have you ever seen the Rhine Gorge? What's on your bucket list?

31 Days Closer to Your Kids: Travel Together

Remember when you were a kid and your parents made you take long road trips? Remember the good old days when you could make a bed in the back of your station wagon with a bunch of sleeping bags? Remember when you could stretch out for hours on end and watch the clouds float by as your dad got bleary-eyed just watching the lines on the road?

All’s bliss on the road trip, right?

Um. Remember drawing an imaginary line down the middle of the back seat and just daring, with only the look in your eyes, your sister to cross it? Remember screaming, “Mom! She’s on my side!” a thousand times? Remember pushing your parents to their ever-loving limit by asking, “When will we be there?” in your whiniest voice ever?

Ah yes, there’s nothing like travel to bring a family closer.

You’re probably thinking I’m crazy with this one, but I have to say that some of our happiest family memories are of trips we’ve taken together.

Oh sure, there have been some of those moments. Moments when we parents sitting up front have wanted to just scream bloody murder—or maybe we actually have. Moments when travelling through the Bad Lands when we wanted to open a car door and just heave one or two kids out. Moments so silent that the seething rage permeating the inside of our car could be cut with a knife.

But, honestly, those moments are far outweighed by the fantastic times we’ve had that we now reflect on so happily. The good times definitely overshadow the not-so-good when we travel.

When I was younger, my family didn’t travel much, probably because both money and time were tight. My dad was a farmer, so he was pretty much bound to the farm during the spring, summer, and fall months. In the winter we were in school, so it was hard to get away. My husband’s job is a little more flexible, thought, and over the years we’ve found that we both love to travel. And our kids do too.

Here are just a couple of things we’ve done to foster a close family bond through travel.

We travel with a purpose. We have taken our family on two short-term missions trips—one to Brazil and one to Switzerland. Both trips have shown our girls that there is a big world out there and God is supremely engaged in all of it—not just our little corner of it. I really hope we will have more opportunities like this.

We travel for fun. Seeing Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons was a total blast a few years back. Disney World was great . . . once. And we have created lasting family memories at Kiawah Island, SC (we’ve been there six times). All of these trips, and others, have helped us grow closer together as a family.

We travel with one child at a time. When older two were about 14 years old, B took each one on a business trip with him alone. Kate got to go to Florida where she got the worst farmer’s tan of her life and learned the joys of room service. Caroline got to go to Arizona which they then made into a fun trip to see Grandma and Grandpa (after the business part) and during which B got really sick and spent the entire time at my parent’s house in bed. Go figure. Next year will be Julia’s turn—who knows where they’ll end up?

And then there is the Sixteenth Birthday Bash. When each of our girls turns 16, we do a mother/daughter trip—to England. B and I set this as a goal when our girls were very young, and we’ve followed through twice so far. Let me tell you, it wouldn’t matter if we went to the Holiday Inn down the street (although England is my favorite place in the world); the wonderful memories we have made together have drawn us closer during those teen years than anything I could have ever done with them. Taking a trip with one child alone is truly life-changing . . . for both of you . . . and I highly recommend you make this a priority.

Yes, travel takes money, which might mean sacrificing a little to save for a trip, but it is one of the most important ways we have bonded as a family. It’s something I’m passionate about (and I may have written about it just a few times). If there is any way you can do it, even if you have to wait until next year to take it, plan a trip with your family. You’ll never regret it.

* * * * * * * * * *

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness, and Bathing Suit Season
31 Days Closer to a Cuter You
31 Days Closer to Hearing God's Voice
31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted
31 Days Closer to a New Home

Whatever Happened to the Road Trip?

"Mom," our youngest came to me just before Spring Break. "Everyone at school keeps asking me if we're flying." Friends and teachers alike just couldn't believe that we would actually get in the car for the 15 hour trip to our Spring Break destination.

The same thing happened at Christmas when my husband's co-workers were incredulous that we would actually attempt to drive 900 miles to get to Dallas where our family lives. He said that more than once people asked him, "You're flying, right?"

Wrong.

This family drives most places, and I think we've become somewhat of a rarity. Don't get me wrong--we're not opposed to airplanes. They come in handy sometimes. In fact, I've been on a plane six times already this year for various reasons.

But when you have a family of five, airplane travel becomes very expensive. And we figure, if we can make the trip in a day (or sometimes a day-and-a-half), we might as well drive. It's better than staying home! So from the time our girls were very young, we just got used to packing up our car and hitting the road . . . Jack. *tee hee*

And you know what? We've had a great time doing it. All three of our girls seem to like a good old-fashioned road trip. And B and I love it too.

We've made some really happy memories along the way. Who could forget packing up our car in a driving rainstorm at the end of a vacation? Some great bonding there! Or the time (it may have even been the same trip) one daughter sat quietly in the back seat of the van eating the entire contents of her Easter basket, only to have us pull over just in the nick of time? Good times!

Seriously, though, we have more jokes, more memories, more family lore from road trips than from anything else we've done together as a family. Road trips bond you together like nothing else.

We've seen some amazing parts of the country. If we had flown on this trip, we never would have enjoyed the beauty of the Smoky Mountains in their twisty-turny loveliness. We also would never have enjoyed the beauty of Yellowstone if we had just flown over it. And who could forget the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota which we stopped to see on our way out West one year? You just don't get to see that . . . interesting sight . . . from an airplane!

Our country is huge and wide and diverse and beautiful. You just can't get a sense of its grandeur unless you travel its roads.

Even the hard times bring you closer. I'm not gonna lie . . . not every moment of a road trip is spectacular family bonding time. We fight. We yell. We cry. We forget about it. And then there was the Great Vomiting Incident of 2005 that I've already mentioned--more than once did that happen! Sure, there are tense moments, but in the end, even those moments become part of the fabric of our family. A patchwork quilt that has sewn us together in some rich and wonderful ways.

Even now, we will often sit around the table and reminisce, laughing mostly, about various events that our family has experienced--and usually these events have something to do with a road trip. I have a feeling that even when our girls are older and have families of their own, we'll still be laughing about Ted, the bison, who very nearly got into our car out at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. It just wouldn't have been the same in a rented car.

And best of all, if we didn't take road trips, we'd never get great pictures like this!



So tell me, are you a road trip family or a flying family? Why or why not?

Intentional Travel continued

O.K., I realize that some of you, after reading yesterday’s post, probably rolled your eyes and thought, “Yeah, but travel is expensive!”

I agree. And I disagree.

See, when you make travel a priority, you begin to realize that there are lots and lots of ways to make it happen. No, it’s not as cheap as staying home, but it’s also a whole lot more fun. Staying home can be fun—if you like cleaning out closets (and if you like cleaning out closets, could you please come to my house? I have a whole bunch of closets that need some attention.). But travel is more fun.

And travel is definitely do-able if you remember these three things: Plan, Research, and Go.

Plan
Do you have a dream? Do you envision taking your kids somewhere really great? Maybe it’s to visit some missionaries like we did or maybe it’s to take them to Australia to experience the Great Barrier Reef. Whatever your dream is, don’t give it up. Just plan for it.

When we caught a vision to take our kids to Brazil we knew it was a huge endeavor. And we knew that the plane tickets alone would cost way more than we could afford to spend at that time, so we began to figure out a way to make it happen. We got ourselves a Visa card that was connected to a Frequent Flier program and we used that card for everything, including groceries.

Of course, using a Visa card for everything may not be in the best interest of some people, especially if you have a hard time budgeting. So I’m not saying to necessarily go out and spend up the Visa card—no way! But we had a budget and knew how much we could spend on stuff, and we paid off the Visa at the end of every month.

Believe me, it took years to rack up enough miles to get three free tickets. YEARS! But in those years we continued to save (we finally saved enough to pay for the other two tickets)and to plan for our trip. We didn’t give up.

After purchasing the tickets we knew we’d need to save for food expenses, passport fees, and other miscellaneous expenses while we were there. We didn’t need to pay for lodging because we stayed with our friends.

Before we knew it, our little dream became a reality and we were on our way to Brazil. And truly, that trip was so worth it (even if I did get sick and have to take massive doses of the strongest antibiotic available when I got home). Our girls got so much out of seeing that part of the world and participating in the work our friends did—they still talk about it today. None of us regret taking that trip for a second.

Research
Now, if you’re a luxury traveler, you can just shut your laptop and stop reading right here because you won’t get anything of value out of what I’m about to say. But if you’re still not convinced that you can afford to travel with your kids, read on. With careful research, you can afford to take your kids out of town, even overseas.

I’ve already talked about using those all-important Frequent Flier miles, and I cannot stress enough how important it is to be in at least one, if not two, FF programs. But it’s also important to research your program—find out other ways besides flying that you can earn miles. Sometimes just going out to dinner can earn you extra miles. Or staying in a hotel. Do a little research to find out how you can get the most out of your FF program.

Lodging can also be done cheaply if you’re willing to plan ahead and be flexible.

London is probably one of the most expensive cities in the world for lodging. It’s outrageous! But there are many deals to be found if you use hotel websites such as Priceline or Hotwire. You will have to pay for the room up front (which, to me, is a bonus because you won’t have that expense to deal with once you get home), and they usually have a no-refund policy. Once you’ve paid, you’d better go use the room because you won’t be able to get your money back.

Again, this doesn’t bother me. Other than catastrophic illness or death, I can’t imagine a reason why I wouldn’t want to go to the greatest city in the world.

For my upcoming trip to London, I got my hotels through Priceline and Hotwire. The first place we’re staying cost us only $89 a night through Priceline (I’ve stayed there before so I know the neighborhood and I know that the hotel is just fine). That same room, if booked through the hotel, would cost about $140 a night and that's even with a special they have running right now.

Travel websites often offer forums where seasoned travelers give tips to not-so-seasoned travelers. I have learned about 2-for-1 deals in London on many attractions through these forums. I’ve also learned about which museums and attractions are free. I’ve learned the best time to book train tickets when they are at their least expensive. And I’ve learned about how to find coupons for restaurants. So take some time to read a few travel forums—it will definitely be worth it for you.

Just a little research will cut down the cost of your trip substantially, helping you find some great deals. They’re out there, they really are—you just have to find them.

Go!
Now that you’ve done your planning and research, all that’s left is for you to go. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be worried that your house will burn down while you’re gone. In fact, don’t even think about your house while you’re gone.

Just go and make it a great experience for yourself and for your family.

So tell me, if you could go anywhere, where would you go?

Intentional Parenting - Part 8; Intentional Travel

The first time I traveled internationally—I mean, really traveled, not just stuck my toe over our northern or southern border—was in 1984. I went to England to study for the summer and came back changed completely. My world had opened up, and I saw everything through a new lens.

Travel became an important passion for me.

I began to understand why my grandparents, in their retirement, made travel a priority. Grandpa Earl was always planning another trip, telling “Toots,” my grandma, to get up off the couch because it was time to go on another trip. They traveled well into their 80s, until Grandpa’s kidneys failed and it became too hard to go anywhere.

When I married B, I made it very clear that travel would be an important part of our lives together. (Nothing like setting those expectations early, huh?) Honestly, I didn’t care what kind of house we lived in or what kind of car we drove as long as we had a little extra money to take a trip now and then. Thankfully, he has accommodated my whim, and over the past 25 years we’ve been to lots of great places together, and we’ve made some wonderful memories.

When we had kids we began to think intentionally about travel with them. We knew that we wanted them to see a good portion of America, but we also wanted them to experience other cultures. We had friends who were missionaries in Brazil, so when the girls were young we started saving our Frequent Flier miles, hoping to be able to take them to visit our friends. In 2004, that dream became a reality and we packed up all three girls and headed to Brazil.

To say that that trip and others we’ve taken have changed us and our kids would be an understatement for sure. Each time we go somewhere we are reminded again and again of the importance of travel in our lives.

The Benefits of Travel
One of the greatest benefits of travel, of course, would be making memories as a family. We still laugh about “Ted” the bison who made friends with our car—with us trapped inside it—during a trip to Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. Or, on that same trip, we marveled at the grandeur of the Teton Mountains and remember wading in the Snake River near Jenny Lake one very hot day. We can’t drive through Tennessee without remembering the time Abby ate too much Easter candy in the back seat of the car, and we had to quickly find a rest area for . . . well . . . you know.

Every trip we’ve taken brings back fun and happy memories of times together as a family. We can laugh about times we’ve lost our temper with each other, knowing that those times also bind us.

Another great benefit of travel, I’ve found, is that it puts history into perspective. The first time I went to England I got a real sense that America is just a baby country compared to these great European countries. Sitting in churches that were 800 years old sure makes you realize that our 150 year old church, while pretty old by American standards, is nothing compared to the great cathedrals of Europe.

Walking where Henry VIII walked, seeing where he beheaded his wives, makes everything I’ve read come to life. And standing near the graves of some of my favorite poets and authors makes me sense that these were real people with real lives and real relationships and real emotions.

Finally, one of the main benefits of travel, to me, is that it helps me see God’s hand in the world. I distinctly remember being in England that summer of 1984, watching the faces of the people walking past me, and realizing that so many of them were lost, without hope, without God. Not that people here in America aren’t lost too—many are—but for some reason it really hit me as I was overseas how many people did not know Christ.

At the same time I also came to have a more global sense of God’s grace—He loves all of His children, all over the world. For me, it took seeing these different people to realize in a new way that He sent His son for the entire world.

What does Intentional Travel look like?
For us, like I said, we’ve made sure that we’ve traveled with our kids. We’ve taken missions trips as well as trips to Disney World (not every trip has to be educational!). We’ve traveled extensively within the U.S. and a little bit internationally (there are so many places we still want to go!).

And we found one place that we love so much we keep going back to it—Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Finding that special place wasn’t necessarily intentional, but going back to it five times sure has been. The memories we’ve created there could fill an entire book. Just this week Kate said, “I really hope that we’ll still be going to Kiawah when we’re all married and have kids of our own.”

Finally, intentional travel looks like this week, when Abby and I will pack our bags and head to England together—just the two of us. When our girls were very young we decided that when each of them turned 16 I would take them on a mother/daughter trip. Really, the trip could have been to anywhere—I just happen to have fallen in love with England, and I want my girls to experience this place I love. So two years ago I took Kate (we had an absolute blast!), and this year it’s Abby’s turn. I am so looking forward to spending some good one-on-one time with her. Plus, she had to plan a bit of the trip, so I’m looking forward to seeing the part of the country she chose to see.

I feel so passionately about travel that I think I’ll have more to say about it tomorrow. A Travel Tuesday post again!

Until then, tell me one of your favorite travel memories in the comments section. I’d love to hear about it!