Vacation in South-East France
My folks rented a country farmhouse in Southern France, near Perpignan. Extended family gathered. A good time was had by all.
Travel
Vacation in Barcelona, Spain
Babymoon! Sara and I found the time and money for two amazing weeks in Spain and France. The first few days of our trip we chilled out in Barcelona. What a fantastic city! We found an amazing hotel right in the Barri Gotic just next to the Placa de Catalunya, the transportation center of the downtown region.
Motorcycling in the Wienerwald
I had an unexpected free day during a business trip to Vienna, and rather than working (which I do enough on the weekends), I rented a motorcycle and explored the Wienerwald, the "Vienna Woods" at the top end of the Alps.
It's a lovely rural area with all of the beautiful mountain scenery you would expect from Austria. Rolling green hills, soaring rocky peaks, stone castles, tiny towns, and small narrow twisty roads. Perfect! With road elevations below 3000ft and unseasonably warm weather, I didn't have to worry about snow.
New York family vacation
My family has suddenly discovered that vacations are fun. It all started with a two week vacation in Italy for John's 60th in April 2008. I met Bekks and John in Brussels on business in September, then Ben + Allison and Joe flew out to California for Christmas and New Years. Who knew traveling was so cool?
The perfect birthday present: Riding our new Triumph Speed Triple home from Long Beach
Sara outdid herself this year. This ranks up there with "best present ever".
4th of July fireworks over Swimmer's Cove in San Francisco
Sara and I watched the fireworks over Swimmer's Cove in San Francisco. It was very foggy and totally surreal to have the night sky glowing different colours.
Exploring Naples and Pompei, Italy
Ben and Allison, Joe and Sarah, Amy, and Sara and I took off for a day trip to Naples. We spent the morning exploring the ancient city of Pompei, covered in hot volcanic ash thousands of years ago and perfectly preserved until just recently.
St. Peter's Basilica and Vatican Museum
During the first two weeks in Italy I slowly devoured a great book called "Basilica: The Splendor and the Scandal: Building St. Peter's".
Moving to the United States
The Mapquest instructions fit on a page, the first eight steps were to get to Detroit, the next was "Turn right onto I-80W for 4000km". It was a long four-day drive. My Jeep was slow, I think I passed three vehicles.
