Travel Plans, Now and a Year From Now

Ah, August, when our fancy turns to travel and vacations. It's that rare time of year when all of my jobs come to a standstill and both of Paul's martial arts dojos have breaks. And, unlike any of my employers, Case gives Paul some paid vacation. As long as he plans it in advance, he's never had trouble getting a week or two off during August.

We've been talking since the month we met about the dream of taking a European vacation together someday. I've never been and he's only been once, on business. We already have enough money in savings (and then some) to pay for it upfront. It was just a question of picking where.

Eric helped us speed up the process by asking if we had any idea where bacause he wanted to send us some travel resources for Christmas last year. I said Salzburg (Mozart's birthplace) since that's always been my gut answer to that question. He gave us a wonderful travel info kit from Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We've watched all the DVDs and started getting excited. These tours are a little off the beaten path and are designed for people who want a more genuinely European, less touristy experience. You have to be in shape, as in able to carry all of your bags for 15 min over uneven cobblestones and flights of stairs. Lots of standing and walking up to 6-10 miles a day is par for the course. We thought, wow, this sounds perfect. And we're not ready to try to do this on our own, deal with driving and finding transportation, etc.

On the 4th of July, we celebrated that hot, muggy evening by deciding for sure that this is how we want to leave our country. 2 weeks ago we put a deposit down for this tour. The written confirmation just came yesterday! So August 7-22, 2007, now you know where we'll be.

This August 7 (tomorrow), we'll be taking off to Napa Valley for a B & B/wine tour for three days (2 of which Mom & Ron will join us for), then some family visiting time around the Bay Area through the weekend. A family musicale this Thursday is among the planned activities. Paul is going to bring his new horn! Since it has a cut bell, the case is actually small enough to fit carry-on specs, unlike his old one. No one in the family has ever heard him play, so we're all looking forward to it. Well, off to pack--the plane leaves in 12 hours.