Castles and churches in Esslingen

Monday was a holiday for us, but the rest of the world was back to work. Anne rode her bike to the office that morning so that we could use her car to go to Esslingen, a town only 20 minutes away by car but an hour away by train. Still unsure of what all the road signs meant, we jumped into the kiwi and went on an adventure.

Löwenstein

We spent our first full day in Germany with friends in the wine region around Stuttgart. Bea, who visited us with Anne in April, is from a town called Löwenstein. Most of her family still lives there and operates a wonderful winery.

Amsterdam Layover

Sometimes, when I'm planning a trip, I mess things up a little. This time around, it was booking our flights to and from Stuttgart out of Amsterdam. I accidentally booked it twice, and the flights I had to keep had a ~8 hour layover in the middle on the way there. It made for a long day of travel... But then again, we got to spend part of a day in Amsterdam!

So Cal Beaches

In the past two months, I have been sent to southern California twice for work. The first was to Costa Mesa for some update training, the second was to Long Beach for a standard training. Of course, while there I unwound a little after long training days at the nearby beaches: Huntington, Newport, and Long.

Back to the desert

Immediately after our road trip, I was off and at it again for work. It was a trip over a sun scorched plateau in in the center of the American west. This time, I was going a little faster than the 70 mph we averaged coming home from Utah... and it was even hotter when I landed at Sky Harbor airport!

There were thunderstorms nightly. You could see them coming for miles.

MWRT part 10: Boise and the way home

On Saturday afternoon we drove out of Utah and headed up I-15 towards Idaho. It was a fairly quick drive, and we made good time in the heat and wind. At one point, we raced a thunderstorm across southern Idaho and watched lightning strike on our left, blue sky on our right. We drilled 8 tumbleweed as we drove through the dust cloud and came back into a sunny sky.

MWRT part 9: Heber Valley

The reunion was held at Soldier Hollow, the site of the XC Ski and Biathlon events in the Salt Lake City Olympic games in 2002. The site was renovated after the games to include two golf courses to give those with summer homes in Midway something to do. We took advantage of the many snow free XC ski paths for regular walks after meals. 

MWRT part 8: Over the Wasatch Front

When I'm navigating, I don't always take the most direct route. Our drive from Idaho to Heber City was a perfect example of this. I saw a little road out of Salt Lake City that wound up over the Wasatch Front, and suggested that it might be the most direct route to our destination. While it likely was, SR 190 was full of switchbacks, steep grades without guard rails, and spectacular views. 

MWRT Part 7: Idaho Falls

Driving down I-15 through Idaho, arrived at M's brother and sister-in-law's place in Eastern Idaho. We spent a while with them walking the dogs and had a great dinner in Idaho Falls. After dinner we went to where M and I were spending the night, left our cars, and walked in the cool evening air through the parks that are built along the river. In the morning, before it got too warm, M and I went on another walk through the same park. It was lovely! 

MWRT part 6: Flathead Lake Breakfast

We left Kalispell on Saturday morning, packing the tent and the rest of our worldly possessions into the Rav4 and pointing it South towards Utah. On our way, we stopped at a state park on the shores of Flathead Lake. It was beautiful. The water was warm (except where a stream poured into the lake!) and almost tropical looking.

MWRT part 5: West Glacier

After our hike on Highline Trail, we piled back into the Rav4 and headed down the long switchbacks of Going to the Sun Road. We came level with the mountains to the west, then dropped down below them into the valley. We had thought to hike Avalanche Lake on our way, but parking couldn't find a parking space...

MWRT part 4: Highline Trail

I got to check a trail off my bucket list! The Highline Trail opened a few weeks before we got to Glacier, and after hearing about it for years we finally did it. Okay, so we only did the first 3-ish miles of it, but it was beautiful. We were eye level with glacier-peaked mountains, cool rocks, and a fearless marmot!