"Καλημέρα" (Kalimera means “good morning”) Mani Peninsula!

The scenic drive through medieval towns on the morning of October 22 is magical on roads the width of a typical driveway in the States. The town of Limeni with its blue skies and aqua waters begs for a stroll and we oblige with a walk along the rocks and a visit with sea turtles and Australian sun bathers. It’s postcard perfect. Worth a stop - and even a few days’ stay? YES, indeed – maybe next time.

On the misty early Monday morning of October 20 the crunch of gravel beneath our feet welcomed us to one of the most sacred sites of Greece – Ancient Olympia.  ​

It's Saturday, October 18; our last morning in Athens before our road trip around the Peloponnese. And what's a road trip without snacks? In Athens the go-to bakery is 72 Hours -- named for the time it takes for the sourdough starter to proof. The line at the take-out window  is long but moving fast and we have the pleasure of watching the bakers ply their craft through the windows as we wait. 

On the last day of February, 2023, the blast of cold air as we roll our bags down the jetway reminds us that we are leaving a cold Boston winter behind. The TAP Air Portugal pre-flight announcements in Portuguese are music to our ears.

After almost exactly 3 years, we are headed back to Europe for a bit of adventure. We will be starting and ending this 17-day trip in the country we were "pushed out of" by the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020 -- PORTUGAL. We land in Porto on March 1, rent a car, and follow the Atlantic coastline through northern Spain and western France. Along the way we'll sample Port in the Duoro Valley, visit the Celtic Nation of Galicia (Spain). travel through Basque Country, and sample the wines of Bordeaux and the Loire Valley. After dropping our car off at Orly Airport and spending a night in Paris, we plan to hop a train to Amsterdam for a few days, before flying to Lisbon -- where we escaped from in 2020. Then it's back home on March 17.

If anyone has suggestions or ideas along our route, please comment on this post. See you on the other side!

A long and winding road through the Joshua Tree National Park on Monday, January 18, took us back to US 10, heading west to Palm Springs CA - just about an hour away. Palm Springs' main street, S. Palm Canyon Drive, has lovely shops, lots of sweet-smelling vines and flowers, and a picturesque mountain backdrop. But this MLK Day, the downtown was eerily quiet due to COVID restrictions and all of the restaurants were strictly take-out. We ordered a pizza to-go from Brickworks Bistro and found a park bench to sit at. Not our idea of fine dining. We stayed at probably the nicest Extended Stay America in the chain (we've sadly seen some awful ones and have sworn off them for good). It was one of the few hotels that didn't tack on a California Resort Fee of over $20. We settled down early, with plans to visit Painted Canyon in the morning - thanks to the recommendation of our good friend Laura.

Another early morning departure from Tucson on January 17 for a 6-hour drive to Twentynine Palms California - so-named because there were 29 Washingtonia Palm trees growing in an oasis when the place was first surveyed in 1855. The town is home to the north entrance of the Joshua Tree National Park. We arrived just in time to head into the park for a peek at the rugged desert landscape at sunset before settling in for the night. 

Friday, January 15, was the final day of our three-month stay in Austin TX. It was a day filled with packing the car and unloading what wouldn't fit at Goodwill. On our last evening with the Watsons we celebrated by introducing the boys to "Sundees" - ice-cream sundaes adapted with plant-based ice "cream", chocolate sauce, fresh berries, whipped "cream" made from coconut, and "magic sprinkles". "More whipped cream please?" kept the sundaes going for quite a while. After long tearful hugs, we walked back to our AirBnB and were in bed early enough that we were on the road by 4:00 AM. The downtown Austin lights slipped away and we were well past the Texas hill country as the sun rose behind us, Soon, dry brown scrub brush and cactus dotted the landscape and mesas rose up in the distance. Four hours in, we spotted small oil rigs bobbing in the fields and beyond them acres of mesa-top wind turbines spinning in the breeze. After more than nine hours on the road we finally reached Las Cruces, New Mexico, in the late afternoon.