A Year for Adventures

2018 has been an exciting year for our family.  First Laurel departed for a semester in Germany.  If you are interested in hearing more about that here is a link to her blog.  My big adventure was at the start of the summer when I went to visit Laurel.  I kept a pretty detailed journal but so as not to bore you all with too many details, and since a picture is worth a 1000 words, I figured I would post a top ten photo summary of my visit with Laurel. 

 This photo was taken along Lago Maggiore while we were waiting to take a ferry to visit three islands- Isola Bella, Isola Superiore and Isola Madre.

 Enjoying some pizza and the sunset along Lake Como in Bellagio- (We enjoyed a lot of yummy pizza and gelato while in Italy.)

 One of many beautiful villages along Lake Como.

 One day we took a funicular up from Como and then took an 8 mile hike along a trail called the Strada Regia through the woods to another town and then we took the water taxi back to Como.  It was a very nice hike but hard to stay on the trail which made it much harder and longer than we planned. 

 Prosecco and eggplant parm was a well deserved reward after our long hike!

 Enjoying the Austrian Alps above Innsbruck.

 While back in Freiburg we took a day trip to Basel, Switzerland.  I have been to this city several times and always enjoy the visit.

 On another day we took a bus ride to Strassburg, France with Rahel and Renate.  We enjoyed walking around the city and treats from a French bakery.

 Another picture in Strassburg- this section of the city was called Petite-France.

 Laurel enjoyed showing me around Freiburg.  She was especially excited to show me all of the pens.  She loves the German pens.

So that about sums up my European adventure.  It was a wonderful two week trip filled with lots of good visits with Laurel and Renate and the rest of her family.  I am so grateful that Laurel has had this opportunity thanks to the generosity of Renate and her family. 

Yesterday Justin began his big adventure- he will be hiking the first 500 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail.  He will start at Hart's Pass, WA- hike up to the Canadian border and then turn back to head all the way to the Oregon border.  He can't just start at the Canadian border because of 9/11 permit regulations.  That is why he has to walk in 30 miles south from the terminus.  I am so excited for him and I cannot wait to hear about his adventures.

Owen has his own big adventure coming up in a couple weeks.  He will be going to visit Longmont's sister city in Chino, Japan.  He applied to be an ambassador last fall and he has been attending many meetings to prepare for this special trip.  When he returns he will have a host sister with us and we will enjoy showing her around Longmont and Colorado for a couple of weeks. 

So even though we are not taking a traditional family vacation this year, I am glad that everyone is pursuing some sort of interest and we are all growing by taking our own trips and living through each other's trips.  And once we all return home we will plan some nice weekend getaways to reconnect this last year as a family of four before Laurel heads off to college.