Life on the Runn...

After about 14 hours of travel, which included two plane rides, an extended layover in Zurich, and a boat ride, we finally arrived in Venice.  Though it was 4pm, it seemed more like 9 am, so we were tired and hungry.  We figured we should get right to it and experience Venice, and that meant becoming hopelessly lost on the island of 122 smaller islands.  We eventually found food and collapsed into the only restaurant that had zero English speakers, I swear.  We managed to order a pizza and found out that in Italy nothing is free.  If you want water at a restaurant, you're going to have to buy it.  We eventually found our way to St. Mark's Square, and we took an elevator to the top of one of the towers for a great view of the island.   The next day, I woke up feeling very well  rested only to find out it was still the middle of the night.  Thus began my battle with sleep deprivation.  We toured St. Mark's Basilica (pictures we...

Other than happy, well cared for cats and a furball-free house (thank you, Becky), a stack of mail was waiting of us when we got home last weekend.  I quickly rummaged through the pile, tossing most of the mail into the recycling bin (Really, how many newspapers can people who don't subscribe to a newspaper get?!).  There was one piece of mail that was unexpected and exciting.  My diploma arrived!  I expected that it would take longer; I seem to remember my last one taking quite some time.  That bad boy went right up on the wall.

Despite my fear that we may never get home, we are back. Our flight from Rome was delayed, so we missed our connecting flight in Montreal and spent Saturday night in Canada instead of in our own bed. We left Canada very early Sunday and weathered the extreme turbulence before landing. I look forward to posting pictures and specifics from our Italian adventure. In the mean time, I will be working on adjusting to the time difference.

I will have lots and lots to share regarding this amazing vacation once we return, but I wanted to offer a quick preview of our trip thus far. It is HOT, so we are eating lots of gelato, and I am loving that! We are adjusting to the 7 hour time difference, and I think I may never eat pizza again after this trip since we are having lots of it for our lunches. I am in love with real Italian minestrone soup, and Brian sure is loving his daily doses of pasta. We are now in our fourth of seven cities (that we will stay in). We visited Venice, Riomaggiore (an ocean town)and Florence and are now in Montelcino, which is much less crowded and cooler. We also made brief stops in Pisa and Siena. Each city was unique and had its draws-gondola rides in Venice, the sea in Riomaggiore, the Leaning Tower in Pisa,all of the scenery and art in Florence and the square in Siena. I look forward to posting pictures soon, and I hope all is well in the States!

As our last big adventure, my dad, Brian and I went whitewater rafting on Clear Creek in Idaho Springs, Colorado. I was a bit anxious during our drive to the rafting outfitters because I really didn't want to fall into the creek.  Once we were there, my concerns subsided and I got really excited to get going.  We had to get our wetsuits and booties, helmets and PFDs all set and then we had to practice paddling.  After our training, we were off.  There wasn't much time to get situated since we hit waves and small rapids nearly immediately.  The creek included Class II, III and IV rapids.  That probably doesn't mean much, but suffice it to say, we were very wet when all was said and done.  Rafting was so much fun.  I can't wait to do it again, and I'm really glad my dad was so excited to raft; he got the trip together and Brian and I got to tag along for the fun of it all! After our rafting adventure, we drove to the top of Mount Evans.  It w...

Tuesday I was sans husband, so I spent the day with my grandma and my parents.  We dropped my brother off at the airport in the morning and then headed to Georgetown, CO.  There, we rode the Georgetown Loop Railroad.  The railroad took us up the mountain and then dropped us off at an old silver mine, where we got to do some exploration.  Then we picked up the train and rode it back down the mountain.  That night we had dinner at Beach House Grill, the restaurant my cousin hosted her rehearsal dinner at.  It was pretty good, but what I really enjoyed was sitting on the roof-top deck to eat.  I hear it had been very rainy at home, so the beautiful weather was especially nice! Georgetown, CO The bridge Railroad car old railroad parts at the mine Safety first - me, Grandma and Mom handpowered equipment used to haul rock The Widow Maker - it kicked up so much dust that the miners died very early deaths  Wednesday, we went ...