Sweasey Adventure

San Sebastain, Spain - Biarritz, France & Mallorca

2008-05-24T14:20:47Z

After spending 24 hours in Paris and doing the whirlwind tour we flew to Nice, France where we stayed for 3 nights. There is a great professional tennis tournament in Monte Carlo just 30 minutes away and I’ve always dreamed of going to watch and take in Monte Carlo. So in March I bought tickets online and booked the few days in Nice at the Hotel Gounod at the recommendation of a friend who’s been to the tournament. The 4 of us took the train and found the tournament which was an undertaking in itself but we enjoyed some great matches and the kids endured their less than favorite activity.

From Nice we went by train to Marseille, then by bus to Marseille airport and flew to Madrid. In Madrid we met up with Juan Salas who, 5 years earlier, stayed with us as a summer exchange student from Spain. Now 20, Juan is studying in Barcelona and it was great to see him. After a brief lunch we got our rental car and made the 5 hour drive north to San Sebastian. That was a full travel day starting at 6:00 AM and ending at 8:00 pm. We got lucky and found the most incredible pension in San Sebastian (Pension Bella Artes) where a mother and daughter run the place with such loving attention to their guests that you instantly feel like family. We were all overwhelmed with their caring and thoughtfulness. San Sebastian is on the Atlantic and very near the French border. There is a strong Basque influence and most the street signs are in both Spanish and Basque (which looks like Latvian or something). This is THE home of Tapas. There’s a wonderful surf beach and incredible harbor that is the cleanest I’ve ever seen. Even the commercial fishing area was immaculate and there was not even the slightest smell of fish. We wandered the narrow ancient streets as the evening dwellers began to come to enjoy a plethora of drink and food Tapas style and the sound of the waves was ever present in the background. It was a wonderful experience and a wonderful place.

The next day we met Matthieu our contact in Biarritz where we were staying the next 7 days. Matthieu is 28 and just retiring as a professional surfer. He runs a surf school and surf shop, has vacation rental homes and is a former Biarritz Surf Champion. Most importantly, he is a wonderfully energetic guy with a great attitude and the boys took to him immediately. His English is pretty good but with a strong French accent which made for some interesting conversations and a lot of non-verbal communication. Biarritz started as a vacation spots for the likes of Napoleon and his cronies and grew from there. Consequently the town has some of the most beautiful buildings and homes, wonderful French restaurants and boulangeries and a vibrant surf/tourist economy. Our house was actually too small and we rented an extra studio on the property where Matthieu himself lives. An amazing Boulangerie was just around the corner and every morning we’d awaken to the smell of the most incredible baked goods. It was like living next to a Cinabon only with greater selection and way better quality. Just the other direction an incredible rotisserie where the sold the best chickens we’ve ever tasted. The surf was great although the water was closer in temperature to San Luis Obispo – around 60 Farenheit. There was a very big swell when we arrived so we had to do some searching to find waves that we could handle. The area gets a lot of rain and is so naturally beautiful we were really taken by it. Again, we had wonderful hospitality, got lost while driving almost every time we went out and slept like we were in basic training.

Our next stop would be Barcelona to catch a plane to Mallorca for another week. The drive through the Pyrenees Basque country from San Sebastian to Pamplona (running of the bulls) was like driving through the wilderness. This area is blessed with so much diversity we were simply awed by it. This is another place we will definitely want to return to.

After all the traveling, sightseeing, train hopping, bus hopping, taxi travel, rent a cars, walking, navigating, getting lost, getting directions, going to laundramats, eating out it was fortunate that we had set up to stay at a Marriott Villa in Mallorca. We took advantage of the spa and gym, sand volleyball courts, huge grassy areas and pools to get in some shape and relax a bit. Mallorca is a beautiful and historic place. Surrounded by the crystal blue Mediterranean it’s chocked full of natural rock harbors, massive cathedrals and open planes with and windmill on every farm. Germans are quite common visitors to Spain due to the cheap and varied flights and the warm weather. Americans are a bit more rare. This was a great place to relax, regroup and plan for our reentry into our lives back home in SLO.

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Costa Del Sol on Southern Coast of Spain

2008-04-19T17:54:40Z

The Town of Conil

We’ve been planning this journey for over 4 years. We’d made most the arrangements from Mid Nov in Australia all the way till April 5th in Lucca. But from the 5th of April till our return to SLO on May 15 was open. So about a month ago I started snooping around for places to see. Well, we went to Southern Spain in the Andalucia region. We left Rome airport Friday night and flew to Malaga (home of Antonio Banderas). The next day we rented a car and drove to Conil about 2.5 hours West along the coast. I found a surf school online to get the info on the best spots and the guy was great. Mattias, from Germany, is a kite surf instructor and local guide so he set us up in a house about 60 meters from the beach. We got in some great surfing and wonderful sightseeing. In fact, Mattias invited us to join him for dinner with his friends and we had a great time. There is so much to love about this very minimally developed coastline. Rolling hills with farms, towers on the beach to identify pirates from years past, hilltop cities that are the oldest in Europe and dinner at 10-12 pm with the locals. This is also a very windy place which makes it a Mecca for windsurfing and kite surfing. Take a look at our photos at

http://picasaweb.google.com/hsweasey

Costa Del Sol on Southern Coast of Spain remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Lucca, Rome, Florence, Capri etc

2008-04-15T15:49:42Z

We became quite attached to Lucca. This beautiful and charming walled city was a perfect place to immerse ourselves in Italy. Before arriving on the 9th of March we had spent our final week skiing in Claviere. Sitting virtually on the French border (about 50 meters walk from our Hotel), Claviere was one of the sights used for the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics. Unfortunately, we booked our stay through a British company online and let’s simply say they overstated the “amenities”, under delivered on their commitments and grossly overcharged. The snow conditions had deteriorated since it didn’t snow in all of February and the mountain was really not that great for skiing. The boys had no problem snowboarding the same run hour after hour and day after day. Other than that we had a great time. So rather than ski the last week we planned we headed to Lucca a week early. Not really having excercised much, I was able to connect with the local tennis pro and play some tennis on indoor red clay courts. The pro, Michaelangelo, was very nice and not having played for over 3 months I was sore in places I never knew existed after one hour of play. Tennis became a healthy part of my social life and my Italian language education. The house we stayed in was virtually across the street from the train station. So between guests coming to stay, day trips to beautiful places and schlepping bags around it was the perfect location.
Kyle got to practice with Dan Crozier,s club soccer team and that was a dream come true. Four bikes came with our villa and we used the bikes to get everywhere. It’s been great going the last several months with no car. Our friend Alex Crozier went home to SLO after 3 months here and immediately bought 2 new bikes to use. I’m sure we’ll be biking a lot more when we get home as well. We were able to make side trips to the Italian Mediterranean area of Cinque Terre – incredible, as well as San Gimignano, Florence and Sienna. These are all places that are amazingly stunning and historic at the same time. I would recommend anyone going to Italy to visit these places at least for 1-2 days each. Rather than go into detail just take a look at the photos we’ve taken as they come marginally close to reflecting the true beauty and charm of these magical places.

In front of Coliseum with Theresa

Going to Rome was like being a farm boy in New York city for the first time. It was fast, busy and bustling with activity. We were lucky enough to be pitched for a tour outside the coliseum by the many high pressure salesman. I was skeptical that we would even get a tour after handing this guy 90 Euro but he brought us right through the long line into the coliseum and joined us up with our guide. So rather than looking unwittingly at an ancient ruin we were given the context of the rise and fall of the Roman empire and the significance of the building, usage and history of the coliseum. This was followed by an incredible historic description and tour of Palantine Hill where the Romans got their start. Of course the most educational, and these were all VERY educational tours, was of the Vatican. Now imagine two boys ages 12 & 14 preparing to go into an art museum. There was no outward resistance for which we were grateful but in their heads Nate and Kyle were dreading this 3-4 hours of sheer boredom. Once again the guide was incredibly knowledgeable, enthusiastic and funny. Knowing the context of t he artist, the type of person he was and the circumstances under which he would do his work brought everything to life and the boys loved it. I can’t imagine a more interactive way to get the history lesson of a lifetime. Yet, after 3 days of sightseeing we were all ready for a little change so we took the train through Naples to Sorrento on the beautiful Amalfi Coast of the Mediterranean. The beauty and juxtaposition of this place overtook us. Perched on 300’ high sheer cliffs sits a town of about 13,000 that dates back to Roman times. The VERY narrow streets designed for horses and pedestrians give Sorrento the feel of an ancient City. We were lucky enough to find one of the cutest little casa’s to stay in the center of town. We made a day trip to the island of Capri which is home to the Blue Grotto and many Roman ruins. It’s surrounded, like Sorrento, by the crystal blue Mediterranean. We took a small boat to the Grotto and since it was high tide it made the entry that much smaller.

Once inside we could see how this natural wonder had earned it’s name with it’s rich blue water. It’s a must for anyone going to that area. The other highlight were the very cool towns of Capri and Anacapri (where we took a chairlift to the highest part of the island and saw the 180 degree view and the sheer cliffs upon which people were thrown to their deaths in the distant past), and the small harbor front. Yes, this was an area we had not planned on visiting yet we were very glad we did.

Lucca, Rome, Florence, Capri etc remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Lucca & Tuscany

2008-04-15T15:48:33Z

Who needs a station wagon to get the kids around!

February had almost no snow in Italy and after 3 great weeks in Livigno we headed to Claviere, Italy which is about an hour West or Torino (home of 2006 Winter Olympics) and where some of the Olympic downhill events were held. Unfortunately our hotel was grossly overpriced, our "room" was like a dorm room and the conditions on the mountain were horrible. We muddled through a week and headed to South to Lucca a week earlier than planned. We originally going to be in Lucca for 3 weeks but it's going to turn into 4. A beautiful walled city with loads of charm, Lucca is in the heart of Tuscany and about 20 Km from Pisa. We have a very nice home just outside the wall. The incredible wall of Lucca was constructed in various time periods starting in the 1300's to keep out intruders. There's also a mote surrounding so now the wall serves more to keep out cars and keep in cafe dwellers and fashion conscious Italians. We have 4 old fashion single speed bikes and a we use them to get everywhere. We shop at the local butcher, fresh fruit and vegetable markets, baker and the "superstore" grocery as well. We're learning Italian with Maria and Kyle in a class a few hours a week and Nate & I join in with our tutor Stefania for a couple more hours. It's been relaxing and I've had a chance to play some tennis at the indoor clay courts with the likes of Michaelangelo, Leonardo and Marco. There's also a skatepark for the boys which they love. The only challenge is that it's been raining more than normal so we're working around that which makes it interesting when you're only biking.

A wonderful Easter day with friends

We made an incredible side trip with the Crozier family to Sienna, Greve and San Gimignano. The towns had so much charm and history with San Gimignano taking the cake as the coolest. Even the local Italians rave about the beauty of this 12th Century walled city on a hill with 13 towers of the original 60 some still standing. Perfectly maintained it's like honey for a beehive of tourists. The Duomo in Sienna is truly inspirational, massive and ornate. The huge piazza in Sienna is home to an annual horse race where people from different neighborhoods have their representative horse and rider preparing for months in hopes of winning bragging rights in Sienna for the entire year. They even bring the horses into Church to bless them before the race and it's considered good luck if the horse poops in the church. Only in Italy.

The walled City of San Gimignano

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More on Italy - Livigno & St Moritz, Switzerland

2008-03-17T07:53:37Z

Downtown Milan after arriving from sweltering Bali

Well there was quite a transition going from 90 degree temperature and over 90 percent humidity in Bali where my pores were essential locked in the open position. As I mentioned I think I actually got heat stroke while surfing and was wiped out and exhausted the rest of that day. So after leaving Bali on a Friday night and gaining about 10 hours in time zone changes we ended up 7:00 am Saturday in Milan…temperature 29 F…ouch. I know I’m not getting any sympathy here but I hadn’t put on any pants for about 3 months and then it’s cold & raining in Milan. But the ONE pair of pants I did bring sure did come in handy. We checked into our hotel by the airport and I didn’t expect much of the “Italian feel” that close to an international airport 30 miles outside of Milan but we got it. Walking down the street we found a local bakery with incredible focaccia and pizzas. We got the train into Milan and enjoyed the beautiful Duomo which is the 4th largest church in Europe. Milan, the “commerce” hub of Italy compared to Rome’s claim as the cultural center is a wonderful place and there’s definitely some healthy competition between the two cities. Of course the big adjustment - for we Californians who are from a City that was the first in the U.S. to ban smoking from public places- was the prevalence of smoking. It seems everyone does it and It’s taken some adjustment but we’re getting used to the smoke. The boys haven’t had the benefit of being around in a time when you could go into a bar and come home smelling like a chain smoker so it’s even more of an adjustment for them.
After a couple of days enjoying Milan we got on our first train to Lucca to visit the Croziers. Now up to this point we didn’t know if we’d be renting a car or going by train or…….? So for an American who can speak some Spanish and no Italian I was in a bit of a bind trying to buy train tickets, at the automated machine for a departure in 5 minutes on a train you’re “recommended” to board 10 minutes prior to departure. Well I got some guidance and ended up with the right number of tickets to the right place but all this with the looming thought of being ripped off the whole time. You see in Rick Steve’s guide book on Italy (I highly recommend it) he talks of how in the larger cities you keep an eye on your bags, don’t carry a wallet and use a money belt securely fastened. Then, the sweet lady at our hotel as we left Milan for the train station said to watch your bags closely. So I was ready for battle. Of course, nothing happened and it was a wonderfully smooth trip.
Lucca is an incredible place and we’re so impressed with Alex & Judy’s decision to spend 6 months there, enroll their kids in school and totally immerse in the area. We have the benefit of being tourist for a few weeks in the area, enjoying the sights and then moving on. Just imagine taking your children to a new school, where you don’t know a soul and…..ready for this….don’t speak their language. That’s gutsy. But they had been there a month and were adjusting well. I know it’s easy to be the parent in this case, the tough thing is being a student. Imagine you’re a kid in class, everyone’s chatting away and you can’t understand any of it and then you have to do your school work…Wow, my hat goes off to Dan, Bo and Angie. I know they will learn a ton but it’s got to be so challenging!
So the train and bus system here has been very easy to use and comfortable. As the main driver in most of our road trips it’s a real treat to sit back and relax. No navigating, wondering where to go, stressing about killing someone or being killed, breaking a law, missing a turn, trying to figure out where to return the car etc. Just sit back and enjoy the view, a book or some conversation OR…..go to the dining car! Ya, that’s my kinda trip, letting someone else drive while you relax and enjoy a meal in a restaurant. If they only had ESPN sports center or a movie in the dining car then who would ever get off the train?

Nate in the boardpark going off jump with valley in the background.

Kyle likes to launch his body off things

Now just because the train system is good doesn’t mean we know how to use it. Some trains have assigned seats with power for your laptop and fold down tables and some have seats a slight step above a Greyhound bus. And with no assigned seating we ended up in between cars in the loading area with our luggage stacked and us sitting in a couple fold down chairs and on the floor. We didn’t realize there would be other stops and by us monopolizing this area we were right in the flow of passengers boarding and departing. So…….as a seat would open we would be more aggressive and move into position and stake our claim. For someone like me who loves to talk to people, see where they’re from and find out the best places to go it’s tough to sit in total silence. It sucks being a stupid monolinguistic American.

Mottolini is the name of the mountain

But we made it again and Livigno is a real treat. Maria found this incredible alpine valley online and did an AMAZING job. It’s quaint with old chalets, just two streets running almost the length of the valley, tons of restaurants and two great ski mountains on either side of the valley. It’s a difficult place to get so they RARELY have Americans here and you can be on the chairlift and hear Russian, Italian, German, Dutch, Sweedish, Swiss, Hungarian, Slovokian etc….There are a fair number of Brits here as well. In fact, I tend to lose context of language so when I met the gentlemen renting the unit across from ours and he greeted me I was about to say “non parla Italiano”. I then realized he wasn’t speaking Italian at all so I almost blurted out “no Sprechen” and finally I realized he was speaking English as they speak it in Scotland – I owe Mike Myers a lot for all his good Scottish impersonations which kept me from embarrassing myself in front of this Scottish Lad.
So we have a cool little apartment in a large remodeled chalet that probably has 4-5 apartments in it. It’s right on the road and near the bus stop. We have a store, a butcher and a hotel with great cappuccinos, pastries and internet access. We can walk out our door & go 30 meters to a Poma lift that will take us to another Poma and then to the main Gondola. We bought a 20 day lift pass (all the days we’ll be here and it worked out to about 15 Euro/day to ski….that’s soooo much cheaper than in the US!). The food is very reasonable and even at the Mountain lodges meals are only 5-7 Euro and are very good. Yes we eat mostly incredible Bolognese pasta or pizza and bread and we’re loving it!! The snow has been very good and they take excellent care of the mountain with grooming and snowmaking. It doesn’t look like we’ll get any fresh powder here which is disappointing.
After 4 days of skiing the boys got to try snowboarding. Maria and I really wanted to have the boys get proficient at skiing because we figured once they went to snowboarding they’d never go back to skiing. Well they took right to it and within a couple days they were going down the steepest sections of the mountain and didn’t even seem worried. So Maria and I decided to give it a try. After skiing for 35 years it was time for us to really suck at something and wallow in our suckiness. Well, you get wet when you snowboard cuz you have to sit almost every time you get on or off the lift to buckle into your board. So we lasted one day, turned the boards back in for our skiis and Maria tweeked her neck so bad she had to stay in bed the next day….who says you can’t teach old dogs new tricks.
The boys to continue on their school work. Nate already finished his Algebra course online and started into the Geometry text and Kyle is keeping right up with his work in advanced 7th grade math. The boys are NOT being home schooled , in my opinion, but are self-schooling. When we started on the RV trip it was hard to know what to do as parents/teachers and hard for the kids to know what to do and when to do it with no formal schedule. But we’ve worked it out and we’re very pleased with how the boys take the initiative, do their schoolwork on their own every morning with only an occasional question to tap their parents limited brain capacity. They journal regularly and do pushups 3 days a week for PE – Fridays are “100 pushup Fridays” so they’re getting quite strong.

[b]St Moritz, Switzerland....what a place

Before we left Livigno we made the trek to St. Moritz, Switzerland. Probably only 20 miles away as the crow flies it’s about an hour van ride then another hour or so by train. What a great decision that was. We had asked around in Livigno about St. Moritz as to run and snow quality and most Livignians are very proud and would only say it’s more expensive and the mountain wasn’t any better, nor would the snow be since the altitude’s are the same. Well, it was more expensive but the mountain is really a set of mountains and the terrain was quite diverse and boy, was it more upscale. St Moritz is where skiing was born, where James Bond made some great escapes on skiis and where the rich all over the world love to keep their hoards of cash. The train ride alone was well worth the trip.

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Livigno, Italy in the Italian Alps

2008-03-16T18:32:48Z

Nate & Kyle love snowboarding now, this is Nate getting some air

Kyle fullfilling his need for speed

Maria & Judy in Front of Giglio's in Lucca, Italy(Maria's mom's Maiden name).
Okay, Okay, Okay Lucca is very cool. We stayed with our good friends the Croziers and had an amazing time and hopefully they're still friends after we invaded their home. They are spending 6 months in Lucca with kids enrolled in school and the whole bit...really an exciting and challenging thing to immerse yourself completely in a different country and culture like that. We'll be back in Lucca with our own place from15 March till 5 April. But since we just got out of the “taxi” from Tirano I’ve got to share this. So we’re trying to figure out how to get from Lucca which is in the Tuscan region (central W. Coast) of Italy up North through Milan (all trains seem to go thru Milan) and then past Lake Como into Italian Alps to our final destination of Livigno. Of course trains don’t go all the way to Livigno (and as I’ll explain later cars shouldn’t either) so I thought I’d just rent a car at the nearest train stop to Livigno which happened to be the last stop - Tirano. Well, it seems that most of those towns are too small for the major car rental agencies and after hours checking the options online of bus to train to car, train to car to bus, train to donkey, scooter to train to mule… no luck. Then I find an online car rental service that books me an Audi A4 for 6 days – I don’t even know if we’ll need a car in Livigno – and I figure I’m set. Well, the rental company emails me back a couple times asking where we’re going to stay which I don’t know cuz I don’t know where we’ll be yet so I haven’t made accommodations for that one night we need prior to the start of our 3 week booking in Livigno. Of course the car company says at the last minute “Oh, sorry, we don’t have a car available” which I can deal with even though they charged me $25. So I call a taxi in Livigno and ask if they’ll make the 1 hour 50 mile drive from Tirano, the last train stop, to Livigno. No problema says Armando the driver over the phone. Well we are in the middle of the Italian Alps, the roads wind so tightly it’s unbelievable. In fact, I can’t even believe they cut roads into the sides of these mountains. The trip starts out fine, fairly flat, lots of loooonnnggg tunnels under huge peaks. Well Armando must have somewhere to be that evening cuz we are SCREAMING down the road (granted, to this point in Italy we’ve been on trains, buses and cruiser bikes so I’m sure some of the speed shock was due to that fact). I mean this guy is passing people on these tiny Italian roads which in my opinion look like they are only made for one car not two. Then, as we gain altitude the road gets some moisture, some snow and we’re still going so #@$*in fast I can’t believe it. Well Maria and Nate are getting a little car sick cuz we’re going around corners that seem like corkscrews and climbing so fast it's making our heads spin. Then we reach the top of the pass and head down. I was laughing so hard only because when I’m scared @#*$less I tend to laugh but I keep holding on to the thought that this guy is 43 years old and has lived in Livigno his whole life (so far) and I’m sure he wants to live so we should be fine. But then it happened. He’s driving us in a VW van that’s a 5 speed and this thing can really go. But as we are passing another 2 cars and a semi truck down a steep alpine road he grabs his cell phone to call someone. That’s right, one hand shifting, one hand on the cell phone, knee on the steering wheel and looking down at his phone with his 43 year old eyes trying to make sure he’s got the right number as the slush from the tires of the semi truck we’re passing is smothering the front windshield…who is this guy. Well, obviously we made it to the little two street Alpine Valley town of Livigno and as people are pleasantly strolling down the side of the narrow street we come screaming through like a teenage grease monkey in a hopped up ’72 Pontiac Thunderbird. We parked in front of our quaint little hotel as we unloaded with Armando (very nice, expressive guy by the way) talking on the cell in one hand and throwing our bags out of the back with the other.

Nate & Kyle overlooking Livigno Valley from one of the runs.

Skiing has been great and this really is a quaint little town with a wonderfully diverse and well kept ski mountain (actually there are 2). We finally let the boys try snowboarding and they love it and we've probably lost them as skiiers for life.
Ciao

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Bali

2008-02-03T06:59:55Z

[b]TRADITIONAL BALINESE DINNER IN UBUD
According to Nate and Kyle Bali is better than Australia & New Zealand especially when it comes to surfing and sightseeing. We heard the beaches were great and the Aussies come here to surf and the people are kind and everything is CHEAP. After being in Melbourne and seeing a great tennis match between the #1 player in the world playing in the semifinal against the #3 player in the world, enjoying great food and wonderful accommodations it was with some trepidation that we got on the plane to Bali. We booked our hotel suite so many, many months ago that I had forgotten where our hotel was or what it looked like on the internet. We had emailed the hotel for a cab and also spoken to Maria’s brother Joseph who has been to Bali before and who’s friend has a villa here. It turns out we had the driver, Kedak, from the villa and the driver from the hotel at the airport to pick us up at the same time....oooppps. You can have a driver take you wherever you want all day for about $40 per day and it’s very competitive so EVERYONE is jockeying to be your driver. We split up the family and the luggage between the 2 drivers and went with both to the hotel. We’ve never been to Asia/Indonesia and it’s totally different from the Western cultures of Australia and New Zealand. There is so much activity in the cities, incredibly kind and sweet Balinese people, lots of trash, thousands of tiny shops selling everything and streets that are packed with scooters, trucks, small vans and the like. Chickens, cows, dogs and the like all roam the side of the road and have a sixth sense about not venturing into the madness that takes place on the roadways. What a HUGE change coming from NZ where we were in an area with about 20 houses, almost all vacant vacation homes overlooking a secluded bay with only the sound of the birds to break the silence. Cars, motor scooters with 2-4 people and cargo on them and trucks were flying around us with most “lanes” being guidelines more than boundaries and normally a narrow 2 lane road was 3+ vehicles across. Thank goodness we had a driver and didn’t have to navigate those conditions ourselves. Kadek made our trip very pleasant. We were also lucky because some friends of ours from SLO – Rein & Linda Pille - who owned Java gallery, had moved to Bali so we got in touch with them by email a couple days prior to our arrival. They instructed us on all the do’s and don’ts of Bali and showed us their incredible beachfront property where they are building their family compound. That was a real treat.

[b]Rein & Linda's property in Bali
We came to Bali for many reasons but the most important was to surf. Because most of the surfing spots are reef breaks we decided to get a coach who could show us the ropes on our first day. That was probably the best decision we made. They gave us incredibly useful information and coaching, guided us to the most suitable surfspots and made our surfing experience incredible. None of us had really surfed a reef break and fortunately we only had to paddle out about 200-300 yards to reach the break but it was a bit unnerving at first because we were all picturing either stepping on a sea urchin or landing face first into a rock underwater. Of course neither happened and it opened up a new world for all of us in our surfing opportunities.

[b]ONE HAPPY MONKEY IN ULUWATU...DID SOMEONE SAY MEN EVOLVED FROM MONKEYS?
A major highlight as well were the Hindu Temples in Bali. Most of which are homes to monkeys and lots of them. It was incredible to have so many of these monkeys roaming around in their own environment and it seemed like the obvious inspiration for “The Jungle Book.” Uluwatu Temple is percherd on a solid rock cliff 100's of meters over the crystal blue ocean where you can watch the waves roll in over the incredible reef.

[b]VIEW OF THE POOL AT THE VILLA FROM PATIO OF MASTER BEDROOM....NOT BAD!
Our last day there was incredible because we checked out of our hotel a day early and stayed at Joseph's friends villa. Just check out the photos because the place is undescribable. So after 5 days of surfing in water so warm and air so humid that you NEVER cool down, I mean you're hot in the water and you're hot out of the water, we headed to Milan and 34 degree weather.

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Oh to be a Kiwi

2008-01-31T00:44:21Z

IN FRONT OF OUR CONDO IN NOOSA
After leaving Noosa (which turned out to be our favorite spot in Australia along with Manly Beach), we headed South about 3 hours in our rental car to Coolongatta. Coolongatta is on the South end of the Gold Coast (which is similar to Miami Beach with tons of high rises and oodles of people)and it is definitely more commercialized than Noosa but friends recommended a nice hotel that was a real treat. We woke up to beautiful skies, crystal blue water and a clean point break. We got in a morning run and surf and then the boys got into their studies. Turns out this would be the last day of incredible weather we’d have for just over 2 weeks. After 2 days there we made the one hour drive South to our destination for the next 2 weeks – Lennox Head. After stopping in the bustling tourist/artisan/Bohemian town of Byron Bay (3rd place on our list of places to return to in Australia) we headed to our very “Beachy” home in the town of Lennox (population 1400) which is really just a couple blocks of homes adjacent to the beach with a famous point break, some neat shops, restaurants etc.

VIEW OF BEACH AT BYRON BAY
This is where we spent Christmas and New Year’s Eve. It’s hard to get into the traditional Christmas spirit when you’re at the beach, the temperature is in the 80’s and there are very few decorated houses. But the Aussies do love their “Chrissy”, it’s just a bit less commercialized than in the US.

A GREAT DINNER WITH OUR FRIENDS THE IRVINGS ON CHRISTMAS DAY
After leaving Lennox Head and surviving the Monsoon like conditions of 2-3 days of virtually constant rain and 40 to 80 knot winds, we drove to Brisbane to spend the night, drop off the car and get on the plane to Auckland the next day. We were expecting clear skies in Auckland. It turns out Brisbane was much nicer than we expected. After 2 weeks in a cozy but musty, damp beach house we stayed at a Marriott which was very posh and right on the river. Not really a city dweller this was great for me because it’s a business hub and we arrived on the weekend in the middle of their summer holiday so there was very little activity during the day but after a nice meal on the river front that evening we found the pedestrian mall and encountered a very diverse group on night dwellers. We really enjoyed all our interactions with the Aussies…they’re such wonderful people.
After a late Sunday night arrival in Auckland and a stay at an airport hotel we got in the car and headed to North to Ahipara. A small, small town at the North end of the North Island at the start of a ninety mile beach. Problem, no waves, windy and overcast. Then rain began so after a couple of days we packed up and headed South to Whangamatta. We’re so impressed with this area. The natural beauty, the beaches, it’s really incredible. The people have been fabulously friendly. We met a gal on the beach today who was trying to surf next to the boys and it turns out she’s from the US, graduated from Cal Poly and her brother is a realtor in SLO who I know!!! Then we met some other people on the beach who are from Auckland but vacation here…like 90% of the visitors here…and we started talking so they invited us to their home for dinner. People are just so friendly.

We had some great surf conditions and most of the time the surf was actually too big. Check out our photo album at
http://picasaweb.google.com/hsweasey
After being in Australia where there are about 2,600 species of animals that are deadly it was nice to get to New Zealand where there are no deadly animals. In fact, we had a penguin swim right next to Nate, Kyle and me when we were out waiting for waves. That was quite a treat and a surprise.

[b]MARIA'S BOTTOM TURN AT WHANGAMATA BEACH....WHAT A DAY![b]
So after a little over 2 weeks we head to Melbourne for about 36 hours but….we have tickets to the men’s semifinals of the Australian Open. It should be incredible!! Then it’s 6 days in Bali before we head to Milan. New Zealand is incredible!!!!

Oh to be a Kiwi remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Noosa Heads is incredible

2007-12-23T02:22:20Z

Well Noosa Heads in Queensland, Australia could be hard to top. Between the incredible weather (normally in the 80’s with pretty high humidity), the crystal clear water and fabulous surf we’ve had a wonderful 3 weeks here. We actually flew from a small industrial town called Gladstone which was where the ferry from Herron Island lands. We flew into Brisbane on Saturday night the first of December with the Irvings, rented a car and drove – on the left hand side of the road from the right side of the car no doubt – about 2 hours in the dark trying to find our accommodations.

We immediately found the great farmers market the next day and had incredible days surfing all different beaches. We found some nice point breaks that allowed all of us to take some of the longest rides of our lives. Our favorite turned out to be Tea Tree point which was about a ½ mile hike through the National Park on a shoreline trail. Absolutely spectacular! We’d see Koala’s in the trees, 3 foot long monitor lizards roaming the forest floor, Sea Turtles and Manta rays in the water, massive spiders and Kyle and Griffin were actually able to pet some large looking lizard before it high-tailed it to safety. Of course we saw Kangaroos in the wild and the kids were even able to pet them in a little park at the Zoo. Then of course there are tons of deadly snakes and spiders roaming around but we never saw a snake and don’t know if any of the spiders we ran from were poisonous or deadly. The small town feel of Noosa and the surrounding towns of the Sunshine Coast, the incredible beaches and the friendly people make this a place the Sweasey Family could enjoy living in.

One of the more exciting adventures was Blake and I deciding to give Kite surfing a try. With a great instructor who gave us helmets with microphones in them so he could bark instructions we ventured out across the Noosa River mouth which right into the ocean and parked on a massive sandbar for our training. I’ve done some windsurfing and wakeboarding and this is a “little” like a combination of those except the kite can actually lift an 185 American right off the ground and out of the water into the sky if you get it in the wrong spot. So learning to guide the kite is the skill that’s essential. It’s hard to describe but if you get the kite in a particular zone then you’re going to get launched like superman and when you’re learning that’s not a trick it’s “ #$%&up”. We’ll Lois it looks like the river mouth is safe today because it happened so quickly that I have no idea what happened but spectator accounts tell me I flew (without the board unlike the experts up the beach who were getting incredible air intentionally) about 20-30 feet before landing head first like a torpedo back in the water for a sinus enema. The great part is after much preparation on land with the kite, then in the water where simply “drag” with no board but practice going upwind, cross wind etc. that once I was actually handed the board I got right up and my coach was telling me what a great job I was doing and 5 seconds later he’s screaming at me saying I’ve lost total control and I need to calm down. Honestly, it happened so quickly I barely remember standing or flying or panicking but now I’m excited to give it a go again later.
So on 20 Dec we drove south 3 hours to Coolongatta on the Gold Coast which is more developed and crowded than Noosa. We’ll spend a couple days here till we drive to Lennox Head and spend 2 weeks before flying to New Zealand on January 6.

Noosa Heads is incredible remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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It's time to go Down Under

2007-12-11T04:38:46Z

We had a wonderful 7 days back in SLO. We are happy to know after traveling the entire country that we live in the best place in the country with the best people. It was so nice to see so many of our friends. The young ladies staying in our house have been so great and moved out the week we were home as we had originally agreed but they’ve kept our home in such wonderful condition and we’re so appreciative. So we got our feet wet in the US in terms of extended travel and the next phase is Australia. Our scheduled departure was 7:49 PM Sunday. We answered the phone at the house on Sunday the 18th – our date of departure - and it was our airline telling us the flight from SLO to SFO was cancelled…yikes…. 4 years of planning for this trip and they cancel the flight! However, as long as we could come to the airport a couple hours early it was no problem to go through LAX. So we hustled up and got to the airport and made the departure at 10:30 PM Sunday for a 9:00 am Tuesday arrival. Virtually the same timeline as if we’d gone through SFO. Sydney and Manly Beach were incredible.

We enjoyed the Opera House, Marina and Zoo of Sydney but missed out on some of the other attractions we were interested in seeing because Manly was so perfect for us. Our apartment was ok but the view from the 9th floor was incredible. A huge sandy beach with a town established in the late 1800’s that has maintained much of the original architecture with plenty of new buildings as well. We walked the wide pedestrian only streets,ate in small cafes, shopped in the fresh fruit stands and bakeries. Apparently the population swells incredibly in the summer. Our typical day was up around 6:00-6:30, volleyball at the beach around 7:30 to 9:00, a little bodysurfing, go get some breakfast, do a late morning surf till 2 or 3, have lunch, back to the apartment to relax and then dinner and rent a movie. Of course there was reading and homework interspersed but you get the idea. 6 days, no car, take the Ferry or walk…it was incredible. Then we made the 3 hour flight to the small industrial town of Gladstone that’s a jumping off point to Heron Island – a 40 acre nature preserve on the S. end of the Great Barrier reef. It was here we caught up with our good friends the Irvings.

This small resort is world renowned for diving, snorkeling and fishing. The first day we got in the water, snorkeled across the reef to a partially submerged shipwreck and snorkeled around it with white tipped reef sharks. Of course most of us were VERY nervous but by the last day the kids were actually swimming after the sharks that ranged from3 to 6 feet in length. The amount and variety of marine life is overwhelming and more diverse than Belize, Mexico or Hawaii where we’ve snorkeled before. Maria, ever the claustrophobic one, actually signed us up for a scuba diving class where Blake, Carol, Maria and I learned to scuba in what seemed like 5 minutes of training before our instructor took us out on the roof in a boat for the real thing. Well, I’ve been in and around the Ocean most of my life but just putting that breathing thing in my mouth with that massive tank on my back and sitting underwater in a pool was unnerving to say the least. All of us were dealing with our own fears as we sat on the boat, put on our equipment and eventually jumped of the boat in about 30’ deep water. Then came the real moment of truth, grabbing a hold of the anchor rope going at an angle to the bottom which we couldn’t see! Hand over hand we went down, breathing, clearing our sinuses, adjusting our buoyancy and following most of the steps we had been “taught” just an hour or so earlier. Then we were off to explore The Deep. Well….explore is a bit of an embellishment, it was more like this in my mind “How come my ear hurts so bad, oh right, plug nose, blow out. Oh, that’s better. Why is the instructor waving at me…what’s he doing with his hands…oh no, he did that in class but I was joking around. What do those hand signals mean? It looks serious. Of course, I’m rising to the surface and everyone is 10 feet below me. I need to kick, ouch, my ear hurts again. I’ve got to blow through my nose. Darn it, I keep forgetting to breath…GASP, GASP, massive wheezing Gasp. What was that? Oh a fish. That’s coo….. I’m going to the surface again. My mask is full of water, gotta blow it out. Hey, where’s everybody else. Uh oh, swim fast, swim fast, catch the group, breath again you idiot.” Well you can imagine how much of the marine life I noticed. I’m pretty sure there was more than one fish in the vicinity in the 45 minutes we were underwater but I sure didn’t notice. After we got the signal to go up we did have a sense of accomplishment but realize that with time, practice and experience one could actually get an amazing perspective on The Reef which is teeming with life. Later that day we took the kids snorkeling virtually right off the island by the lounge and found hundreds of fish in knee to chest deep water and passed by over 10 sharks, a shovelnose guitar fish which was probably 7 feet long and saw a huge turtle laying it’s eggs on the beach. In all it was an incredible time. The final excitement came when we had to leave the island on a 100’ motorized Catamaran in pounding rain and gale force winds which had been steadily increasing for about 3 hours prior to our departure. After 2 bumpy hours we made it back to the Mainland before flying to Brisbane Australia and getting in the car for the 2 hour drive to Noosa Heads/Sunrise Beach where we are staying for about 3 weeks right next to the Irvings.

It's time to go Down Under remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Hooray for the Southwest

2007-11-23T11:11:12Z

Well Oklahoma and Texas were all we thought they'd be (and less) and New Mexico was a big relief. We stopped one night by chance in Santa Rosa, NM. Small town of around 2,000 people, arid, small strip of shops all down the main drag which is simply the business route of the Major highway and for virtually thousands of miles these little towns cling on to the fact that they are on historic Route 66. Santa Rosa had "The Blue Hole" which is about 60' across, 90' deep and pumps 3,000 gallons per minute of crystal blue water that comes out at 62 degrees. It's surrounded by some large 10'-20' rocks on one side for diving and is actually quite an attraction for scuba divers from Colorado, Utah etc. Kyle took a swim as we watched and then headed immediately to Santa Fe. Our good friend, groomsmen, college roomate and highschool chum Scott Syms lives there and were able to a short visit with him. It's always great to catch up with old friends. The town of Santa Fe - State Capital- has only around 70,000 people but it has the most captivating Southwestern flair with nothing but old adobes and narrow streets from a town formed in the 1600 and 1700's. Not only is the architecture unique and consistent but there was so much shopping of cool Indian and Mexican artifacts, sculptures, jewelry and the like the Maria was overwhelmed. The only thing that kept me from financial ruin is the fact that we don't have a lot of extra room in the RV to pack rugs, bronze statues and delicate pottery. The boys enjoyed the skatepark there and, to get a sense of how we've evolved as RV'ers, we stayed in an RV park South of town (the only place they're allowed I assume) tucked away behind a large metal machine shop and storage lot for Penske trucks. We figured it was simply a place to sleep and during the day we were gone. From there we made the journey to the Grand Canyon. A nearly 7 hour drive with a stop at the Meteor Crater about 20 miles East of Flagstaff. This MASSIVE crater is about 5,000 feet across and several thousand feet deep and was formed 50,000 years ago by a 150' meteor travelling 26,000 miles an hour. It was incredible to see the amount of impact such a relatively smalll object had. Of course we discovered there are hundreds of these all over the planet and many are much larger. One of the most recent landed in the former USSR in the early 1900's causing massive devastation. The reason it didn't draw much attention was the location was remote so few people were affected and there was no CNN around to detail around the clock to the rest of the world that this could be the end of humanity.

I am embarassed to admit that it took me 45 years to see the Grand Canyon but what an awe inspiring sight. It's incredible to consider the amount of time and pressure it took to create all the magnificent rock formations, valleys, spires and so on that make this a worlwide attraction. We'd love to go back and float down a portion of the Colorado River. We actually arrived on Halloween night in Williams, AZ and made the boys knock on the door of the RV and trick or treat for their one massive snickers bar. After 10 weeks of sightseeing a day at the Grand Canyon was all we needed before heading South to Prescott. We are able to spend several days with our great friends the Phelps' and park the Exxon Valdez in their yard to we could play tennis, volleyball, skateboard, bikeride and have an exhausting time. The break from RVing was quite welcome and our hosts new what we needed to charge our batteries!!!

Finally, we made the trip to my parents house in Palm Springs. We were able to park the rig on the street outside their home at the over 55 community. After having a background check through the Department of homeland security, getting fingerprinted and havine a full body search the homeowner's association gave us till Saturday at noon to park the RV on the street. I'm suprised we didn't get neck collars with GPS responders to track our location within the gates. It was relaxing and the boys continued to stay up on their school work before making the final journey home to SLO.

Hooray for the Southwest remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Yankees in a foreign land

2007-10-25T21:15:52Z

Well Asheville was nice and all but we knew as we headed to Tennesee things might get a bit more Andy Griffith, Dukes of Hazard, Deliverance like and....well, they did. First, it started raining. The most rain we'd seen in a long time. All kinds of rain. Misty rain, big 'ol giant rain, rain that came in waves and even sideways rain. So we just kept driving. Through Knoxville toward Nashville (then past Nashville) till we got to Lebanon, TN. Sleeping in an RV with heavy rain is like sleeping in a popcorn popper. Sleep was marginal and early the next morning, with the rain pounding, we moved off the leveling blocks, put them away. Turned off the power, disconnected water, brought in the pullout and then it happened. I really don't want to discuss it. Never work alone when the buddy system is required. It's not something I want to describe but I'll say this.... Sewer hoses, way too much pressure, weak connection. You either have a good time or a painful story which leaves deep emotional scars and recurring twitching and itchiness. I didn't really care for those pants anyway. But enough about the never-ending daily monotony that is hooking, unhooking, taking the car off trailer, leveling and unleveling RV, checking in, backing in, pulling through, fixing tire, fixing other tire, water seeping in, water seeping out, Boy I wish we would have made this a longer drive.

I'm sorry, I needed to get that off my chest. Here's a question. Why is it that in the South there is so much hoopla about the Civil War and all the battles. Look, bottom line is....the South lost. We're now, fortunately, the "United" States of America. That's right. The South wanted to be separate so there'd be what...North America (us) and "South" America with continued slavery? We haven't figure out why there is so much celebration and dedeication to such an unworthy cause. The sports equivalent would be something like erecting monuments and National parks at the sites of a teams worst losses when they were trying to win the Superbowl on Steroids only to lose to a better team that was virtuous, courageous and unifying. Then, you celebrate the bitter loss and reenact it every chance you get for all the tourists to see. We just don't understand. No offense to our Southern friends but WHY?

Then we go through Arkansas. Not much novelty here that we could find. I mean really. How did they even come up with the name "Arkansas?". I think it was like this...."Well Delbert, what should we name this place. Kansas is already taken even though we're from there." Delbert ponders and says "How about "our Kansas" but with a little of that Frenchy flair so we'll call it Our - can- saw or Arkansas. And that town by Texas, will call that "Texarkansas" or Texarkana" It's amazing how things have transpired in US history. For my detailed factual accounts on historical thingies go to my website at www.makeitupasyougoalong.com

So with some 7,000 miles under our RV hat and some long, long straight driving to go down route 66 we'll be charging for home with stops in Oklahoma, Amarillo, TX then to Albuquque & Santa Fe, then Grand Canyon to meet our friends the Phelps before heading to Prescott to stay a few days with them and off to Palm Springs to see Hal's parents then back to SLO!!!

Yankees in a foreign land remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Washington DC and 'rounding the bend home to SLO!

2007-10-23T01:37:00Z

Well after a suprisingly beautiful view of Pennsylvania we made our way to Washington, DC. Actually our RV park was in College Park, MD where we could catch the bus to the Metro and be in Downtown in about 40 minutes. Our first day we rode in to Union Square which is a massive rail, Metro stop with shops, restaurants, food court etc. and prior to airtravel this was where most dignitaries would arrive and be greeted in the Nation's Capital. We're not big on tours but signed up for the double decker open top bus and made our rounds in that to get familar with the lay of the land. We went to the Spy museum which was fascinating and a bit depressing at the same time. It's amazing to find out the extent to which people and Countries go to find out what other people and Countries are doing. In fact, DC has the highest concentration of spies in the world with an estimated 10,000 within a 1 mile radius of the spy museum! We stopped at a small market for a drink and as the stout guy in line in front of us pulled out his wallet I could he see he had a very "official" looking ID. I was really curious and not too subtly snooping to see what it was as I used all my newfound spying skills before I finally just asked the guy if we could see his ID, much to the embarassment of Nate & Kyle. Well, he immediately said "are you guys tourists?" and we are all thinking "uh oh, Dad went tooo far again this time." It turns out he was secret service and dug deeper into his wallet to give us "special" secret service pins..." you won't find these in any of the gift shops" he told us proudly. So a potentially embarassing situation got us some special momentos. Rest assured that you, as US citizens, are now much safer since the Sweaseys have been thoroughly endoctrinated into the Secret Service. This was our first real trip to DC and we gained a lot.

The Lincoln Memorial was probably one of the more moving sights. The boys of course knew this is where Forrest Gump made his famous speech and reconnected with Jenny after his tour of duty in Vietnam - it's so great that our kids have such an appreciation for history. The WWII memorial, the Capital building, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the Holocaust Museum, Washington Monument (named after Herbert Hoover of course) to name a few we're all part of the sightseeing.

After 4 great days in DC we moved down the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. The highlight was Lexington, VA. A small town of 7,000-8,000 and home to Washington/Lee University and VMI (Virginia Military Institute). A hilly downtown with narrow 1700's streets and laden with historic buildings that are now little cafe's and shops. We moved onto Asheville, NC which is another cute town but larger and got connected on some great mountain biking trails that the kids loved and the whole area is surrounded by National Forests and Parks and natural beauty. We're now counting the days back to SLO with over 6,000 miles traveled and about 2,300 miles to go!!!

Washington DC and 'rounding the bend home to SLO! remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We're in Amish Country

2007-10-14T00:17:01Z

Well after traveling through 6 states and driving over 9 hours yesterday we arrived in Brandywine, Pa near Amish country. Today we traveled to see the Amish and what an amazing group of people and a countryside full of contrast. They live as is it's the 1600's and people are oogling, taking pictures it's amazing. They live in the beautiful rolling hills of Pennsylvania on manicured farms that they till with horse and plow. Then you drive 5 miles and find a massive, dilapidated steel mill in an enconomically depressed town. The highlight of the day was the cute Amish town of.....are you ready for this....i'm not kidding.... Intercourse, PA. Of course the boys had a field day with this, in fact, if you notice the photo below we're not the only ones to have a bit of fun with this.

Hope you can read the sign because it's classic. The funnier part is that quite a distance from Intercourse was Blue Ball bank...I kid you not. Even though the Amish are a wonderful people I couldn't help have some fun bantering with the kids about them. Like how successful would an Amish Valet parking service be... Well tomorrow we go to Philadelphia then to Washington, D.C.

check out our photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/hsweasey

We're in Amish Country remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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New York New York

2007-10-10T02:41:33Z

Well after being what we believe to be the only RV crossing on the George Washington bridge and through New York City, past Shea Stadium and out to Long Island we found ourselves at Hal's sister Roberta's house. Roberta and Vince Morra live with Vince's brother Joe right down the street from Brother Matt which means there's only 10 other Morra's living in other areas of New York. We were able to see the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Museum of Natural History and the Broadway play Spamalot - what a treat. Of course taking the Rik Shaw (sp? you know guy pedaling bike pulling you in wagon behind) for 15 blocks with 4 of us in a 2 seater and the young driver from Turkey making sure it was memorable ride weaving through traffic, relentless taxis and then finally, the crescendo...going against traffic toward Times Square and dropping us of in front of the theater. The next night we got to visit with Maria's family - Lillian & Victor Colleti, Joey Carbone, Nicky Cabela, Geppie DiLorenzo to name a FEW who are all descendents of the Giglio and Delorenzo families. There were cousins galore all from NY/Long Island and they were kind enough to show up for one evening with us....the weird Californians...it's a time we will never forget and Nate and Kyle were so excited to meet the whole Sicilian side of their family.We had a great time and it was amazing to connect with everyone. We've got over 5,000 miles on the RV and 1,500 on the CRV and we're about as far away from San Luis Obispo as you can get in Plymouth, Ma (Oct. 9, 2007).

New York New York remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Chicago

2007-10-04T14:04:28Z

Well we dropped off the RV for a little service outside of Chicago (this wasn’t by accident since we didn’t want to be driving that thing in the City) and drove the car and bikes into a great hotel recommended by Paul Gabriel who comes here for AVP tour events. We were about 3 blocks from lake Michigan & surrounded by beautiful Brownstones. It’s Friday afternoon so all the “who’s who” of Chicago were eating and drinking in the 70 degree weather on the patios of all the great restaurants on Rush Street. Then we just happened by the Drake Hotel. A classic historic hotel. This place was insanely grand with a massive entry, ornate carvings and architecture and was dripping with “old money.” We felt like the Beverly Hillbilly’s walking around here with all the men wearing suits, women in long dresses and children in formal attire having tea….I could almost hear the comments from one mother to her little daughter as the daughter stared at us in wonder…. ”Now little Eleanor…. Don’t stare and please don’t breath too deeply around the commoners.” As we went outside and walked the shore of Lake Michigan we were overtaken by the size of the lake and the size of the buildings. The boys favorite building (they all hard doormen and guarded entries) was one that had a covered pull-in for cars (much like the “pull-through” we have in RV parks) with nowhere to go and on the ground was a huge turnstile so that your car would just rotate around 180degrees after the passenger got out and the driver could then take it away…probably to an RV park with a pull through I told the boys. As we walked along some of the most expensive real estate in the Country overlooking lake Michigan on Lake Shore Drive it was evident we weren’t in South Dakota anymore. Little girls in long dresses with long white stockings and black shoes right out of St Episcopals Goddard Havard Prep Midtown School for 5th generation bijilllionaires pushing their hunched over “Grahndpupah” in wheelchair wearing tweed coat and tie, leaning his chin on his cane with just the slightest bit of drool coming out of the right side of his mouth as the 11 year old granddaughter was begging for him to tell her “the” story again…. “Grahndpupah, grandpupah tell me again how much money I’ll get when you die.”
Of course all this stuff is just what goes on in my head when I walk around…a scary place.

And so it goes as that night we took our kids to see the famous Second City performers (the place where Mike Myers, John Belushi, Chris Farley and yes, Hal’s cousin Ron West all got their start). Sure the age minimum was 10 but they recommend 15, and naturally, as far as we could tell, ours were the only children there but it was funny and other than some language they’d heard before and some references made to things we assume they know nothing about but really do... it was quite an experience. We were able to ride our bikes along the lake front to the Field Museum and the Shedd aquarium which were both gargantuan and a must see. Maria got in some much needed shopping and a trip to the salon.
When we were leaving Chicago on Sunday it became clear Nate’s tooth (which he broke and had capped in Spring while skateboarding – the number one cause of dental trauma and early retirement for dentists) needed a root canal so as we headed East we had to try and find and Endodontist which we did just South of Cleveland and found another one of “those” 11th hour RV parks that had mostly permanent residents, a fishing pond which simply appeared to be a retention basin for the effluent from the dump station then we saw the dried up “pool” which looked more like a pond with some concrete poured around the edges and a mildewed lifeguard chair teetering on the side. Not to mention the swarming yellow jackets and a convention of Daddy Long legs there that swarmed us as we prepped the RV. Well we did our quick set-up routine, locked the RV, ran out in the pouring rain to the car to drive to town to get medication for Nate, groceries and do laundry. I actually just wore my special gloves that I change the sewer hose with into town just to be safe. The next day the root canal went well. It was very painful but Nate felt so much better and is happy to have it over with. So we’ve got our vicodin and now we're making the journey to New York from Central Pennsylvania to see family and spend a few days driving the RV through Manhattan.

Chicago remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Reporting from Southern Wisconson 9/15-9/27

2007-10-04T14:09:56Z

Sweasey Blog 9/25/07
After leaving the beautiful Fairmont Hot Springs we traveled South to Whitefish Montana just a few miles outside Glacier National Park. After 29 days of perfect weather we finally had some rain. That, coupled with the fact that we didn’t do too much research on where to stay or asking around about our next stop we found ourselves at the KOA South of Whitefish…I’ve come to the conclusion that KOA is the equivalent of McDonald’s for campers. The setting was pretty but we were actually overrun by marginally domesticated wild turkey. They were fearless and aggressive. Immediately attacking the dead bugs off the front of the RV as I maneuvered for position in the campsite for our “hookups”…..I wonder…when young people today say “hookup” do they have any idea where the term originated. I imagine it would be a mood spoiler for someone on the verge of “hooking up” to see me, or themselves for that matter, attaching the requisite hoses to the appropriate portals in order to be “hooked up”….. How these long drives allow the mind to delve into matters normally reserved for the great philosophers.

Glacier was beautiful but mostly closed and the visibility was limited. This took us to Helena to see Maria’s sister Theresa and her husband Randal. After our first major league meltdown with the kids (details to be given out face to face only) everyone felt better and all relations smoothed out. We found a great skate park for the buys and saw the Capital building, toured the Governor’s office and enjoyed a great bike ride…but best of all was sleeping in a house!!! On Thursday September 20th we drove to Yellowstone. The drive was beautiful through Bozeman and Livingston and spent the night just outside the North entrance in Gardiner, MT. Other than gale force winds and driving rain it was a special night along the Yellowstone River. Yellowstone had the greatest display of wildlife we’d ever seen including Buffalo, Elk, Fox, Bears, Dear, Antelope, Coyote but no elk. We’ve set up another website with our photo galleries at

http://picasaweb.google.com/hsweasey

We went from Yellowstone to Cody, Wyoming which is a classic old western town with lots of Buffalo Bill lore. Then through the Bighorn range to Buffalo where we spent the night then to Custer South Dakota to see Mt Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial which, when completed, will be 3 times larger than Rushmore. It’s amazing what happened to so many of the Indian tribes and how they were mistreated. We’ve put over 3,500 miles on the “Exxon Valdez” and are now in Southern Wisconsin just 2 hours from Chicago where we’ll catch a play, have a wonderful hotel and enjoy some great food. We’ve lasted over a month and look forward to exploring the East Coast….Geez this Country is HUGE!!!

Reporting from Southern Wisconson 9/15-9/27 remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Just West of Canadian Rockies 9/15/07

2007-10-04T01:25:30Z

Well we may have never seen a more beautiful stretch of country than from Sicamous to Invermere just 2 hours West of Banff Canada. Through Glacier National Park in Canada where massive turqouise blue rivers cut through Granite and the Mountains tower above with shear rock faces above the treeline. We're making most of our decisions on where to stop next based on the suggestions of our bretheran at the Rv parks. We found the Fairmont Resort ($37/night for RV's) with famed hot springs....These are huge pools, with high and low dive, of varying temperature loaded with minerals and their completely drained everynight!!! Fresh, HOT, theraputic and fun...then we go for a bike ride through the woods only to encounter a 40'-50' waterfall into a beautiful blue pool about 5' deep and 40' long and draining into smaller "sitting" pools and filled with HOT water....it was....well...scrumtrulescent....yes that's it, scrumtrulescent. Standing under the pounding hot water as all the years of chemical abuse is leached out of your body and downstream nothing but float fish and wretching water fowl....but it was good for us....
Pictures will follow it's just that we have so many and they're all so good!!!

Just West of Canadian Rockies 9/15/07 remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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San Juans to Canada

2007-10-23T01:47:03Z

The weather has been incredible the whole trip for us. Our friends the Irvings served as command central for Seattle as we had to find a place for the boys to stay as we connected with old friends to catch a pregame boat with 300 other Boise STate fans for the Boise State vs. Univ Washington football game. 77,000 people wearing purple or Blue and Orange. The boys, though reticent to stay with complete strangers for the day but good friends of the Irvings, had a great time. We did the Space Needle thing and a great bike ride along the waterfront. The next day we wandered North of Seattle on I-5 landing in a State Park between Mt. Vernon and Anacortes. Anacortes is a quaint little town with the Ferry system to the San Juans.... We had high hopes of getting an early start and seeing several islands but we got in late, had to do the car unhook, disconnect the trailer, level the RV and have some food and then an intense scrabble game - the boys have really enjoyed it.

The San Juan islands are incredibly beautiful. The Ferry ride alone was stunning and the boys - though not really sure before we embarked - could riden the Ferry all day. Did you know that if spit off the top level of a 3 story ferry in calm conditions moving at around 25 knots that your loogie will end up hitting the water around 75 feet away....that's enough of that strenuous physics experiment to cover our science requirements in home school for a couple weeks. Though we didn't see any Orcas we saw otters up close, ENORMOUS seals, crabs and something spouting in the distance but we never saw the actual animal.

Jumping to Canada we headed NE on the trans canadian highway and the Country is stunningly beautiful. Endless timber and huge mountain peaks and then expansive valleys...and we haven't even reached the Canadian Rockies. Although we found that 6-7 hours of driving seems like a little much it's really quite comfortable. I've yet to get Maria to drive the "Exxon Valdez" is we so aptly call this 50' of gas guzzling fury. We've ended up in a town called Sicamous on Mara Lake - the houseboating capital of Canada. Although we've yet to see more than one or two regular boats and no house boats on the water (we're here in low season) there hundreds if not thousands of boats of all types either dry docked or parked in the various Marinas of this huge Mountain lake. We rented a ski boat and did a brief wake boarding stint with everyone of the males of the group who decided to enter the water getting up on a wake board....Some drama occured but all frustration was whisped away as bodies came out of the water and up on the board.

**********Travel Notes for Canada: Do you know how many Loonies it takes to do laundry??? 2 (Loonies are Canadian dollars and come in coin form).

Did you know that when parking your rig in an RV park or even making a reservations that....and this is according to the Chamber of Commerce host in Sicamous..."Size does matter eh"... love those Canadians. ************

San Juans to Canada remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Portland, OR

2007-10-20T11:30:24Z

Well Portland was great. Spent time with Maria's brother Chris and girlfriend Christine. We left Roseburg under pouring rain conditions on Tuesday. We caught up with old friends Rob & Steve Marshall and their lovely families and Papa John and Donna Marshall for a quick dinner at their home overlooking the Columbia River. Hal played tennis with former teammate from Poly Nat'l Championship team (like 82 years ago) Dave Reynoldson at Portland (and possibly America's) oldest tennis club established in 1898!!! Dave's beautiful twins starting as freshman in highschool keep Dave & Janet on their toes - we had a very special dinner together! Now it's off to Seattle......

Portland, OR remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Macleod

2007-09-05T03:00:21Z

Macleod remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Macleod River

2007-09-05T02:47:48Z

Beautiful Macleod River 15 miles East of Shasta....Ice cold water, huge fish and warm weather. All Sweasey's made the jump and then swim downstream 150 feet to climb out.

Macleod River remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Week one complete for the road warriors

2007-09-04T00:37:09Z

Well, we've survived with no major injuries or problems. We went the 15 to 25 miles East of Mt. Shasta to the classic old logging town of Macleod. The Macleod river is spectacularly cut out of valcanoe flows and has huge swimming/jumping hole at the base of some falls. In town they've got a classic Candy shop with great oldies like Frosties root beer and enough chocolate to cover all our bodies, the RV and our car. We drove to Roseburg on Saturday and got lucky and found a nice little grassy RV park next to a large community park at the confluence of the North and South Umpqua Rivers. We excercised and played 2 on 2 football and put the raft in the River for a brief float.....A little different population hanging out here but our theory is that confluences of rivers increase the propensity for inbreeding. The area is spectacular and we went East again 20 miles up the Umpqua to some picturesque falls and huge diving rocks into deep water holes. Other than a flat and a trip to WALMART (sorry i'm just not a big fan and think they should call it "imported crap mart") to get the tire fixed it's been great. Off to Portland tommorrow for some City dwelling with Maria's brother Chris and his wife Christine

Week one complete for the road warriors remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The first week

2007-08-30T15:01:17Z

We'll it's Thursday the 30th & we successfully made it to the town of Mt. Shasta to Lake Siskyou. We spent a wonderful couple days in Mill Valley - beautiful hikes, spending time with Mary & Greg Thomson and fam who made us spectacular home made meals in anticipation of the RV diet of pork rhinds and cheeze wiz that loomed in our future. The drive to SF was our maiden voyage and everything worked out beautifully. Kyle is managing our budget, Nate ran the GPS and was chief Navigator and the even got some homework done. We had a wonderul lunch in the park on the bay a stone's throw from Ghirardelli Square where we later gorged ourselves on fresh chocolates only to enter a phase III sugar coma. We made the trek from SF to Redding (50 miles from Lake Siskyou) without a stop. Fortunately our GPS located the nearest In & Out Burger. Unfortunately, when towing a car on a tow dolley you can't back up! We....I mean I....drove in the wrong driveway that didn't go through so Maria and had to detach the car, pull it off, remove the tow dolley (sounds like an RV musical doesn't it) and drag it into position to reconnect with our newly positiioned 31 foot RV so we could reconnect it, drive the car back on it and secure the tow dolley and the car ALL in 105 degree heat as our boys threw down a double double with chocalate shake and fries...it was all worth it though since Maria and split an almond once we got back on the road.

Lake Siskyou is beautiful with a wide beach and a panoramic view of Mt. Shasta in the distance. We've been here twice before and this was our first night staying in the RV. Other than not quite leveling it properly we becoming quite the RVers ( in our own mind).

The first week remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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11 days until kick off

2007-08-17T02:42:59Z

Well we've been planning this 9 month adventure for nearly 4 years now and it's amazing to think that we're 11 days away from departure. The RV has been set up, the tow dolley for the car rented, bike racks loaded, houses reserved in Italy, Australia and New Zealand.

11 days until kick off remains copyright of the author hsweasey, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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