The Tapping of the Keg

Written by Karen.

There was a feeling of jovial festivity that permeated the early morning air.  Even without our cup of coffee, we could sense the upcoming occasion, the anticipation, the expectation of good times ahead.  Today was the day - the opening day - of the annual celebration held in Munich, Germany: Oktoberfest.  

Crash Course on the German Autobahn: Pass or Fail

Written by Karen.

"Okay, here we go," I said, mostly to myself.  We had just picked up our little rental car from Tegel Airport in Berlin, and suddenly, without much time to figure out who should drive the first leg of our road trip, there was the blue sign for the Autobahn.  

Start Your Engines!

Start your engines everybody!  We're driving south starting in Berlin, Germany.  We will cross through Austria and head towards the western coast of Italy.  After meandering north up the Italian coastline, we will drive through the Provence region of France. Our first European road trip will end back in Berlin.  

Black Gold

Written by Karen.

The Smith Mine. Montana.  We quickly put the two pieces of the puzzle together as we saw the small memorial sign up ahead and pulled over.  There wasn’t much room alongside the two-laned highway, but we found a little patch of gravely-dirt and stopped.  

Heart Mountain

Written by Karen.
"But, I'm an American citizen....how could this happen?"  We had just walked into the interpretive center of Heart Mountain, just outside of Cody, Wyoming.  The recorded voices and life-sized pictures of men, women and children of Japanese ancestry greeted us at the front door, and the sharp gut kicks that resulted as we wandered throughout the interactive exhibits came hard and often.  

Picking Up The Pen Again

Parker, Colorado

Written by Karen.
Dear Readers:

It wasn’t supposed to be this long.  This period of time when I laid down my pen...errrr... shut off my computer for awhile.  But, somehow the days turned into weeks and finally into a month, and now here we are - in the beginning of September.  Phoof!  There just went August!