The eagle has landed. Our Lufthansa flight from Sofia to Frankfurt is on the ground and we are headed to Frankenberg, about two hours north of Frankfurt, for a little rest and relaxation before an exhausting week coming up.
Read More
After a lovely breakfast at the Do & Co restaurant in Vienna, then a stroll around the streets, it’s time to pack it in the van and head to the airport. Next destination: Sofia, Bulgaria.
Read More
Today is a travel day. We are flying from Christchurch to Vienna, Austria. A van picks us up at 8:30am and we drive uneventfully to Heathrow. The men have a business meeting at the airport so we are early. I pick up some sundries and send a postcard to my mother and my children, then hang out in the business lounge with my coffee and work on the previous day's blog entry.
Read More
I have a few hours in London still before we get in a car and travel three hours to Christchurch, on the southern coast of England. I received a tip last night about a church on the other side of London Bridge that was damaged in the Great London Fire and WW I or II. No steeple, a bit overgrown but one can walk through it. Sounds photogenic and interesting!
Read More
London Day 2 - Today I set out on my own! Can’t wait to stroll the banks of the river and finally find my way to the Tate Modern! I wake and look out the window to see fog. And rain. And absolutely nothing else. Yikes. Oh well, I will figure it out.
Read More
And so it begins. After weeks of planning flights (not me), scheduling meetings (also not me) and booking hotels and restaurants (Now THIS is me!!!!) the Wilkins World Tour 2018 begins! We pull out of the driveway promptly at 1:45pm on Saturday, Feb. 17.
Read More
Today we travel from Cleveland to Bradford Pa., our first stop, if you remember, when we started this whirlwind trip 23 days ago. Only 156 miles today. A stroll in the park!
Read More
Omaha to Cleveland - it's gonna be a long day ahead. At least 13 hours on the road. It is 5 degrees and bone-chilling COLD. I won't even address taking Jack out for his morning walk.
Read More
It is morning in Denver, CO. and it is cold. But Jack the dog is hungry and needs a walk, and it is my turn. Again. I feed the happy puppy, wait 20 minutes to make sure he has a sense of urgency and off we go to the grassy knoll as directed by the hotel staff. We head a few blocks, and he is a little put-off by city traffic and onlookers.
Read More
It is Tuesday morning, January 2. Time to leave Jackson Hole and start the long trip homeward. Though I am ready to leave, I remind myself that this vacation is not yet over, as we have the road trip home to look forward to. And I AM looking forward to it! Not sure about Jack, but there is a lot of country left to see, we are taking a different route home, and spending more time doing it. Bring it on! Jack will just have to deal.
Read More
Jan. 1st. Happy New Year! We are staying this last day in Jackson Hole to ski, thinking that everyone else is leaving and we will have the place to ourselves. Our thinking is correct.
Read More
We wake up on Dec. 31, 2017 to another day of no snow after a forecast of a blizzard. This blizzard has dodged us for three days now. Oh well, I am ok with that. We skied yesterday and it was lovely but crowded due to the holidays. I quit early to meet with a friend and her two boys, both under 4 and loaded with energy!
Read More
We are in Jackson Hole Resort at Teton Village. We beat the storm. Yay us! We will wake up at an epic ski resort, slope-side, with major snow coming down! Room service! Fireplaces! Powder snow (I can't ski powder snow, but I can totally do fireplaces and room service). What a winter wonderland!
Read More
The time has come to leave Montana and head to Jackson Hole/Teton Village, WY. We are traveling a day early due to weather forecasts of impending snow to the tune of 12 - 18" plus high winds. Gotta beat that storm! We leave Montana on Thursday, Dec. 28. My younger brother and my oldest son's birthday. The roads in Kalispell, MT. are already slick and travel is slow. We are in no rush.
Read More
Oh Whitefish, why do I love thee? Let me count the ways. 1. Great restaurants (my bellwether). 2. Great shops. And I kinda hate shopping. 3. The vibe. It always comes down to the vibe. 4. TONS of outdoor sports, including Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort (known to the locals as Big Mountain), summer on Whitefish Lake, and one of the crown jewels of the National Park system, Glacier National Park plus soooo much more.
Read More
One of our favoite destinations in the Flathead Valley is Bigfork, MT. It is situated about 25 minutes south of Kalispell at the northernmost tip of Flathead Lake. Flathead Lake, by the way, is the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. It measures 57 miles from north to south and encompasses 192 square miles in surface area. No joke. It's big.
Read More
When we are in Montana, our home base is Kalispell, MT. Called "the Gateway City to Glacier National Park", Kalispell sits in the Flathead Valley, and is home to a little over 22,000 residents and even more cows and horses. At least it feels that way. Pretty sure it's a fact.
Read More
Saturday morning and it is the final leg of the drive to Kalispell, MT. We leave Rapid City relatively early after walking Jack through the park for a final time. We gas up and hit Route 212 to connect with Interstate 90 once more. Within a short period of time we are in Montana. There is still a good 11 hour drive in front of us, though -- we are in the southeast corner of Montana, and Kalispell is in the northwest corner. Time to move.
Read More