Europe Bound in 7 weeks

Don and I are starting to train for our upcoming trip to Europe on May 2. We will be spending 2 days in Iceland and then will head for Zurich May 5. The plan is to just take 1 backpack each and keep it around 20 pounds.
We will be travelling through Germany, Austria and Switzerland until May 24 and have our Europass ready to go.
Today I walked 4 miles with a 10 pound backpack...Getting ready!

End of this chapter

So we are in Brandon, Vermont, soon to be heading home! It's been a great and eventful trip around the country. One decision has been made. At some point we will be moving to Colorado! We picked 4 communities where we will search for housing, all of them are within an hour plus north of the Denver airport...Berthoud, Windsor and quieter neighborhoods in Longmont and Fort Collins. They are all in a valley but near the mts; have basically sunny, moderate temperatures; are surrounded by open spaces and bike paths; and are close to so many activities. It is an easy non stop flight to San Diego and the communities are a perfect base for all our future camping adventures.

Now we will begin to deal with all the practicalities and timing:) thanks to all who have supported us on this journey.

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Made it to Nebraska!

 

 

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Final visit in Colorado

After two long days of driving through Montana and Wyoming, we are back in the Fort Collins area doing a final look before going home. Yesterday we fell in love with a cute small town nearby called Berthoud, and sat at a local outdoor Mexican restaurant sipping margaritas pondering next steps. ..

Today we were with an agent who showed us all around the Fort Collins area to neighborhoods that were quiet and close to all the bike paths in the area. Lots of thinking to do.

We head home on Tuesday!

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Loving Coeur D'Alene

Now we just love this little town in Idaho, with great housing available....too bad once again it is a little too far away from an inexpensive airport.

 

 

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Big Sky and wide open Spaces

As we drive through central Oregon, I think about living simply and the very basic lifestyle of people living here. We just went through a "living ghost town" called Shaniko which boasts 37 people living there. The few store fronts really looked like those in an old western movie. Before and after the town there is NOTHING but plains and some wheat fields for miles and miles and miles.

Their website says: " Living "far out" in Shaniko’s delivers an unusual, unique, and historic experience. A former shop owner once said, "Shaniko is a place to do nothing." Another good description for a visit here is "Relax, Retreat, and Remember".It used to be the biggest inland wool shipping center in the world in 1903 when there was a railroad here.

Now as I drive by I ponder what happened? What do the people do there now as nothing is nearby, meditate? Are they at peace? ..well the town of Grass Valley is the nearest I have found so far (pop.164) and that is about 30 miles away. They boast the tallest rye grass...there was even a report that the grass was once "over a mans head and he was on a horse"! No stores around , except abandoned ones for miles and miles. I would like to learn how they live their lives....

This is on the edge of these towns:

 

Hmmm, I just think I am truly ready for Coeur D'Alene:)

 

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Bend, OR

Don and I fell in love with Bend, OR: fantastic historic downtown area; scenic river runs through the town filled with kayakers and folks riding inner tubes; bikers were riding on the bike paths along the river while we sat at a cafe enjoying the mountains and beauty of the area.

My old friend from my VISTA days in the Virgin Islands (1968) and from our Boston times as roommates (1969-1971) , toured us all around. It was great to see Patti Nehl again after all those years and share memories.

Don and I loved the craftsman style housing too and would move here in a minute if it weren't for the fact that the Portland airport is 3.5 hours away. BUT I am sure we will be back to visit:)

 

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