Time off

I know it may not look like it based on the reports and photographic proof, but since I left Portland (March 25th), I have been working nearly nonstop. It just so happens that my work involves a lot of wonderful experiences.

Regardless, just like the rest of the world, Backroads leaders get tired and need some time off to recharge the old batteries.

I finished my trip on Friday and came back to the leader house, enjoyed a fantastic meal with my coleaders and started daydreaming about my "tomorrow" and all the amazing things I could do with my day off (which, for the record: I still had to work a few hours on Saturday too). Just before bed, I called Dylan and my bubble burst with a only a few words, "I'm sorry baby, but your Grandma died today."

At first I felt ok because it was expected and I know she was ready, but the sadness found a way to creep in and the more I thought about my mom and how much I just wanted to give her a hug the more teary I got. I think back and I am just so grateful. I had such wonderful grandparents. That won't change the fact that I still wish I could have had a wedding that they attended and kids they met, but I am trying to remember how much they supported me and my crazy traveling dreams too. That is what is pushing me forward this week.

Another friend from Italy, Emily, came over on the infamous Bari-Dubrovnik ferry and she has been the perfect distraction for me. We joked about these plans the last time I was in Puglia, but her following through and the timing of it all was clutch.

Sunday we drove around in circles looking for new bike rides, had a great lunch with the family downstairs and then biked up to the overlook just before sunset. The highlight of the night: I learned a new card game.

Yesterday, we took a brief hike down to the "beach house" and then scraped up some motivation to push through the drizzly rain and bike to Montenegro. It is only about 30km south of where we live and well worth the effort.

Most of what I discovered about Montenegro can be summed up with one sentence: It is a lot like Croatia. I'm sure there are a lot of differences and I'm also sure that going 10km past the border control won't really show us what they are, but it was nice. I felt comfortable being there. Same, same, but different.

The road we biked was gorgeous with huge coastal views on one side and mountains on the other. It dead-ended into a construction site where we got a little nervous then decided to persevere as if we were mountain biking. After the construction came border control. New stamp! Check! We found a room at a post-communist, "modern"/falling apart hotel and then set out to explore Herceg Novi by foot.

One of the funniest moments was taking pictures inside a Fort at the top of the hill. We asked the man on guard if we could stand on the castle walls to which he replied, "Why not? I don't fall. You fall." Typical of Europe. They don't believe that a place should be liable for injury. They think that is personal responsibility...what a novel idea.

After taking several jumping pictures however and laughing hysterically, he came back smiling: "Please, ladies. I know that you are quite fit. But this is 12th century Turkish village. Many people die here. I do not want you to be one of them." Ok...fair enough.

I am not really sure that my grandma would approve of me jumping of 12th century fortress walls, but I can picture the little gasp and head shake I would get if I told her. I can see her face, with just a little bit of an open mouth, like she's tisking me, but with a smile on her face....as if to say, "You're crazy. But I still love you."

She would often recall a story to me from when we moved to West Virginia (I was 5). She said she was over to the house and we were sitting in my room. I told her it was the worst day of my life, and when she asked why I said I didn't want to leave and I didn't want to leave her and Grandpa. She laughed everytime when she got to this part and then she told me she'd always be with me. That we'd never be far apart. The last time she told me this was in January while I was home and I can honestly say I have felt her presence a lot this week. It is a really great feeling. I am happy for her and grateful for our time together. And I DO know she would approve of the card game!

"I love you...a bushel and a peck...a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck!"

First trip of the year!

The first trip of the season here in Croatia was designed by moi (with a ton of help from Lynny of course!) This is exciting because it is part of that "promotion" I accepted back in April. I am part of the decision making process now, which is great because I have a hard time keeping my big mouth shut about my opinions of the trips I run anyway. It might as well count for something.

Overall it was a smooth run! We had a VERY rainy first day and third day, but it let up just in time for all the crucial boat crossings and all the guests were great sports about it. I took a few pictures along the way for a slideshow presentation at the end. This is a little of what the guests see.

The best part of the week was my coleader: The Magic Lynny Bean. We have quite literally spent every waking hour together for the last month and I never once wished it any other way. I am so impressed that she can wake up without the snooze button and a smile on her face every day. We shared so many laughs that my face still hurts and she sincerely made every day better for me. She reminds me to loosen up and have a good time. It doesn't have to be perfect. Sure it's our job, but it's also FUN. How lucky are we that we can have fun when we go to work?

She's game for anything (ie last minute ferries to Bari for birthday parties) but she is also organized and efficient and gets things done. I am not really sure I could have done it without her. Actually, I know for a fact I could not have done it without her.

Let the separation anxiety begin...

Puglia Take 2

Paolo celebrated his birthday on the 19th and Scotty will have his official birthday today (the 24th). As a compromise they decided on a join birthday extravaganza Friday night.

We had joked last week that we'd come back for the festivities and every day this week we would start by researching options to get there (flights range from $570 to $5864...very reasonable). After we decided that was out of the question, we would continue on with our day and then by about 6pm it would come up again, "well....maybe we could make it work".

And this is how we ended up boarding the ferry Friday at 1, spending 7 hours working on our computers while we commuted back across the Adriatic to surprise them at dinner. We stayed until about 8:30pm the next day and then re-boarded and took the same overnight ghost ferry as one week earlier back to Dubrovnik. This time, however, it was less ghostly with screaming drunk college spring breakers and no van to retreat to.

The ferry ended up being a reasonable ratea nd we were able to push through some extra long days (with a few more to look forward to upon our return). We can take a mini-detour/adventure and still get our work in on time. That's the definition of a win-win situation. Despite the travel tiem to time with friends ratio, there is no question that it was worth every penny. If only I had a video of Scotty's face!

It is clearly outlined in the Team Awesome Adriatic manual that all members must rendezvous as many times as possible throughout the 2011 season. It is noptional.

I truly love these people like family.

Presearch Continued

Upon our return from Bari, presearch continued and we even (somehow) received a compliment from our regional manager about how much work we fit in to our 10 days. "You have had a VERY productive presearch!" The ultimate deception = success.

Here are a few more photos from our continued adventure and some from Tanya as well from the first half of the extravaganza. The set is called Tanya's retirement because this was her last year with Backroads. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but she is a wicked smart doctor who just finished school and is about to start her residency. A great new adventure!

ps. This is a hottentot fig. Or as I call it: the hot-to-trot fig. They close up at night time or when it's raining. They are my favorite.

"Presearch"

Every year we have to approach the season looking ahead 2 years. If we are lookinginto trip changes that are several years out we call that research, but for THIS year's trip preparartion we call it Presearch. We visit all the hotels, restaurants, and subcontractors to confirm dates and times. We drive all of the bike routes and hike all of the hikes and then modify all the notes to the leaders so they can find any answer to any question they could possibly have in document form.

We have been scheduled a 10 day presearch in Croatia because in order to accomplish the above goals we have a lot of ferries to catch. We also had a special guest appearance from our Swedish, friend Inga. (Her name is actually Tanya and she's from Switzerland. Whatever...minor details.)

It can, at times, be difficult to break through the shell with Croatian locals BUT once you know them on a more personal level, they are the most sincere, hospitable, and loving people. Because "we" have been leading in Croatia for quite a few years now, we have many wonderful friends that we look forward to seeing during this time of year.

I can't tell you how many times I took a step back this week, looked around and though, "Wow. This is my life. How did I get here?" I know this may sound like a reoccuring theme, but it has never been more true. Stopping in to say hi doesn't happen here. It generally starts a long (and welcomed) chain of events including food, drinks, stories, and finally discussing the upcoming year's plans.

For example: we hire a private boat to do the transfers from island to island. The first night of presearch we drove to Omis to meet the owner and captain of our boat. He insisted we stay on the boat that night, greeted us with rakija and raffiolis, took us to dinner at the local pizza joint, invited us to the birthday party of a friend where they sang traditional klappa songs for hours, shuttled us back to the boat and then fed us breakfast in the morning. We finally talked about work mid-day...the next day. This is just proper etiquette.

Another prime example is after a long day of hiking, eating a delicious lunch at Mate's restaurant and then continuing our hike into Hvar, we were met by Mara who hosts the "Q&A night" for our guests. She announces that she has the "perfect evening" planned for us. One hour later we had changed clothes, downed some cappuccinos, and were on a speed boat bouncing across the water toward a private island for artichokes. The memory of us slowing to an idle and turning the corner to see the lights glisten on the far side of this hidden cove is permanently burned in my mind. The artichokes were prepared the "right" way...the Croatian way. The heavy handed owner of the island/restaurant not only fed us, but brought over a heater midway through dinner, found a turtle for a centerpiece, and gave us long sleeve t-shirts with his logo on them as a souvenir. On the way home we stopped to troll for 10 minutes under a full moon.

I will say this: Croatia makes me miss Florida a bit. It reminds me of my brother daily and all the good times we had in St Augustine. I miss that. I miss him. But I'm also glad that I left when I did so that I can now look back with such fondness and love. I was on a fast track to stagnant resentment and I know if I had stayed any longer that frustration would have overshadowed all the great times that I had there. As it is, I can just look back and smile.

How can you choose between the mountains and the coast when both are so exhilarating for so many different reasons? A little time with both each year is good. I'll get my water time in now.

PHOTOS

Another unit drive

Far from a burden. If I ONLY got paid for driving vans all over Europe with a co-leader buddy like Lynny I would be a happy woman. The idea that this is only the start of my season is baffling. We joke about "Backroads time" often. Last year I led one trip with Lynny and then saw her on staff ride, but meeting back up to drive our van and equipment from France to Croatia feels like I have been reunited with an old friend. As if we have known each other for years.

This job is so unique and all the people that work for this company are so interesting that it often accelerates the standard friendship timeline. It's a process that is hard to describe. Within days of meeting someone you are often sharing responsibilities, a room in a hotel adn hours and hours and hours of conversation.

This year we drove about 8 hours to Toscana and met up with Lynn and Levi (lots of Ls in my life) then the following day we were onward to Puglia. I have been "through" Italy a number of times, but this is the first time I've been able to really explore beyond driving the autostrada northern route from one border to the other. We went clear down to the boot to hang out with Scotty, Paolo and Jill and it was worth every second of drive time.

I discovered that I love aperitivos, good coffee, pesce crudo, and dancing with friends till the wee hours of the morning. Dancing till I blister my feet type of dancing. This new route to Croatia (capped off by sleeping in the van for an 8 hour overnight ghost ferry to Dubrovnik) has reminded me that I love the job beyond description and it is all attributed to my co-leaders. I could not wipe this smile off my face if I tried.

Hence the beginning of Team Awesome Adriatic and the 2011 Snuggle and Snore Tour.

Instead of photos we took a lot of moderately poor quality but highly entertaining videos. Well, at least we think they are kind of funny. More memories coming soon...

Out with a bang

My last days in Pernes were spent with great friends, incredible rides, breathtaking sunsets, beautiful markets and delicious food.


I rode Gorge de la Nesque with Bronwen and Lynny. Two strong, independent women with an inspriring zest for life. Both have such bright and contagious energy...to say we shared a few laughs is the understatement of a lifetime.


As discussed before, I have a rule about playgrounds. If you have the time and see a good playground, I strongly believe that you should always stop. There isn't a bad day that swings can't cure. And if you can get off the merry-go-round without giggling and stumbling around...well...I'd say you are a bettre woman than I, but that's not really true now is it? Not that I'm better than you either, but I do think I am better off for enjoying the silly things. Enjoy ALL the little things. They literally can make the world a better place and every day a little brighter.

Ps. Irises are ditch weeds in France. Who knew?