10 April 2012

The traffic is buzzing 16 floors below me on the downtown Santiago, Chile street. I have just awakened from a 4 hour nap and it’s nearly 7PM. I can just barely make out the outline of the Andes Mountains through the pollution haze. Howard was hoping for a clear day so that he could frame… Continue reading 10 April 2012

Emerald Lake Hike

9/29/11 Bummer!  It was our last full day but we had planned a great day of hiking.  We set out about 7:30 on a hike that would take us to three lakes in a row.  Our first stop was Nymph Lake.  The blanket of lily pads made it a fairy tale scene.  A half mile… Continue reading Emerald Lake Hike

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Bierstadt Lake Hike

9/28/11 Day two in RMNP started a little later since our hike to Bierstadt Lake was going to be shorter–to give us a little break after the previous day’s hike.  We first took a short hike around Bear Lake.  It was a half mile level hike but it showcased some of the surrounding peaks.  Our… Continue reading Bierstadt Lake Hike

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Mills Lake Hike

9/27/11 With the help of the rangers at the visitor center we planned our “attack.” The first morning we were on the road by 7am.  Our destination was Mills Lake.  What a beautiful hike through a picturesque forest!  The hike included several crossings of a lovely stream and two waterfalls. The best hikes are the… Continue reading Mills Lake Hike

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Devil’s Thumb Ranch

9/24/11 The plan to visit Colorado started with a wedding invitation.  We had just returned from a week in Zion National Park and were opening up the week’s accumulated mail when we came upon the invitation.  Our friend from the office, Karen Heffron, had planned a “destination” wedding at Devil’s Thumb Ranch, a 5,000 acre… Continue reading Devil’s Thumb Ranch

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Last Days

October 24, 2010 Catherine is spending the day representing her cancer-support group at a senior fair today. We host a French Sunday lunch (a tradition for all France) at our place for Stephan. We start with olives, and bread rounds with tapenade and eggplant “caviar.” H cooks herb omelets and we also have garlic pan-fried… Continue reading Last Days

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Pézenas and Richard II

October 23, 2010 It’s joyous to sleep in—we have no plans for the morning. But we have invited Catherine and Stephen for a grand lunch in thanks for putting up with us for 3 weeks at their beautiful apartment. Our first thought was to enjoy lunch at a 1-star Michelin restaurant in a very small… Continue reading Pézenas and Richard II

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Languedoc I

October 18, 2010 The high-velocity winds have hit our area of France. So things have cooled off considerably and we must hand onto our hats when we leave the apartment. I am glad that a purchased a beautiful scarf in Barcelona. I wear it like a French woman and it keeps me very warm. We… Continue reading Languedoc I

Barcelona to Girona

October 16, 2010 I am very happy with my silicon earplugs! They truly block out about 80% of the noise. I sleep very well in spite of the revelry that lasts until 2am. But everyone else suffers. H says that the earplugs hurt so he doesn’t use them. And the Hartleys don’t find them as… Continue reading Barcelona to Girona

Off to Barcelona

October 12, 2010 We are off to Barcelona today! The Hartleys are bleary-eyed because they just got the news that Stephan’s son has a particularly aggressive form of melanoma last night. His surgery will be in a month so they won’t know until then how extensively it has spread. We tell them to go the… Continue reading Off to Barcelona

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