Back in 2010, when I was still married, we took a five-week vacation to Paris. In the winter. It turned out to be the worst winter in 75 years, so yeah. There was a lot of snow on the ground. Fun for about five minutes. We used to bicker about who would go to the store for the day because it involved putting on longjohns and many layers of coats and gloves. But I digress.
I’m fortunate to live in Southern California because if I drive in any direction for an hour, there’s something completely different and cool. Take Encinitas. It’s just a 45-minute drive from my house, but it feels like somewhere really far away. In a nutshell, I find Encinitas to be a funky, laid-back, spiritual kinda town. Love it! Recently I was invited by Inn at Moonlight Beach to be a guest, so I grabbed one of my gals and headed up for a short but sweet overnight.
Every September, I get nostalgic for my 2016 trip hiking the Dolomiti in northern Italy. I’ve written so much about it, but I still have so many untold stories. Like this day. Deb and I were walking from Nuvolau to Croda da Lago when we found ourselves in the middle of a flock of sheep, with a few goats thrown in for good measure. This has happened to me a couple of times (including once in Sardinia), but this is the only time I’ve been on foot and could reach out and touch dozens of woolly beasts. It felt magical.…
On our second night in Croatia, we decided to go out as a group for dinner. All 24 of us! We walked to a pizza restaurant, but several of us grew impatient as we waited and waited for service. So we left, in search of something else to eat. Rose (my San Diego buddy), Ty (one of the Wisconsinites), and I headed back along the beach the way we’d come. A smiling woman greeted us outside of an open-air restaurant. “I’ve saved the best table just for you!” she grinned and gestured to a table in the sand, just feet…