Switzerland

After arriving in Interlacken, Switzerland....Randi is already looking like "Heidi" with her braids!

Seriously....Randi can sleep anywhere-this time it's on the train.

Great views all over the place of the Alps--so amazing

Oh yes, and I had the Baribie helmet when we went canyoning. Randi's said "Heidi" How fitting...

The hostel we Gimmewald we stayed in up in the Alps! It was a 50 min hike to the next town for a grocery store...

A few pictures from Germany...

This is in the Rothenburg town square. Who would have thought a picture of someone jumping could be so funny..... Love the sign that means "No holding your kid's hand!"

Sitting on the wall in an old castle...in St. Goar...the largest castle ruins that exists..
Found a great local pub and got some authentic German food...

Getting ready to hop the boat on the Rhine!

Athens, the Best last place on earth

If you ever were wondering of a stop in Europe that could make you actually want to leave and head back to the states, I recommend finishing your trip in Athens, Greece. I am sure there are plenty of nice things about Athens. Perhaps Kesley will share some of what she saw, she really loved it. She was very fond of the massive amounts of people packed into the little spaces, she loved the street our hotel was on and the drug pushers on the corner, loved the taxi cab drivers that consistently refused to give us a ride anywhere, and loved even more our hotel room in which she literally slept in her shoes all night due to her fear of the carpet or maybe that we would be attacked and she wanted to be able to run....... Regardless, shoes were on all night.

It is hot, dirty, and full of people. My favorite things about it are as follows: The Subway which was easy and only 3 Euros, the Acropolis and surrounding Plaka Area, and they Olympic Village.....

But what I truly loved about it was walking off the boat into an outdoor steam room with wall to wall people sweating ,pushing, and touching on the sidewalks and the subway. I also loved when Kez asked a taxi to take us 3 blocks from the Metro to our hotel and he responded, while shaking his pointer finger, "Ah, No thank you." and I loved the guy who tried to get Kesley and I to use his services......of which I still am not sure what he was selling......he kept referring to me as "redlight" and kez as "yellow" I kept saying, "No thank you" to whatever it was he was saying and he asked, "I sorry....are you two lesbians?....I sorry, just curious." To which I responded, "No" and he replied, "Oh, you like mens? Me too." Kez's eyes may have popped out of her eyes upon the hotel entrance, but in this conversation I had to pick them up off the ground. She is still recovering.

I also loved to be in the airport for 13 hours before leaving on our flight. Kez woke me up at 5:30 am asking if I was ready to go to the airport......our flight was to leave at 12:30pm, the airport was a half hour away. She was fully dressed with her sneakers on. Confused, I dressed and we arrived at the airport at 7:30am, checked in at 10:30am, flew out at 9:10pm to get to.

So, to say the least, I was ready to leave. Athens was a great place to get me ready to come home. Thank you Athens, without you, I may still be in Europe.

RP

More good times

Naxos Island....Love it! A real laid back island, tons of beaches, mountains, good food, friendly people, nice shops. We've been here 3 days, and spent at least 14 hrs a day outside in the sun! Rented a 4 wheeler for the day yesterday and explored going 50-60 km/hr on one heck of an ATV. Had tons of power so we didn't need to worry about getting stuck going up hills and having to get off to help push it up. Instead, I drove and Randi took pictures from the back! (she may have gotten a bit frustrated with me for not slowing down so she could get a decent picture, but I just wanted to get to the next beach!)

We have had a few moments of brilliance in the last couple days, such as when Randi said, "Ohhh, I know why they all have white houses here, so it doesn't get so hot." Or when she said this weekend might be really busy since it's a holiday weekend.....I asked what holiday? 4th of July. haha, that's only in America! But I have no room to talk because I'm a bit paranoid about walking places at night, or people stealing my stuff so I'm maybe too cautious. Also seems that no matter what country we are in, whatever restaraunt we are at, I try to order pizza. Living large, trying new things....

Invested in a snorkeling mask and breathing tube for about 12 euros today. Trust me, the equipment is top-notch. Spent a few hours swimming around with the fish while Randi used her goggles. New nick names are "Scuba Steve" and "Goggly eyed Gina" Nice. Cant say we've made too many friends here, a bit tough when no one speaks english, but we do laugh a lot with random people.

Crazy...in 2 days we will be back on paradise island (Iowa)
Signing off...

Naxos and Sand Volleyball

We arrived in Naxos maybe yesterday or the day before. They all blur together now! I think my brain is partially melting due to the extreme heat. Regardless, we are here. It is very beautiful as well. White sandy beaches, mountains, cliffs, it has all of it. Not to mention about 4 kids per person, they meant it when they said "family friendly". I am not sure if the weird looks are because we are the only ginourmous white girls on this island, or that we have no kids and are not pregnant. No one sleeps, not even the kids. In fact, we just ate dinner, it is 10:30pm, and that is the normal dinner time. There are kids running all over in the streets and will be till well past midnight when those of us that are old go to bed! There were plenty of parents in the taverns with strollers well past 1am last night.

We have also ATV'd this island. We got a 300 horsepower ATV, much better than the 30 horsepower one we must have had in Santorini in which Kez and I could not make it up the hill. Kez got this sucker going 60 kmh. It was great. We ended up swimming in little remote beaches along our tour and then stopped for lunch at a small village where Kez asked some fellas if we could play volleyball with them.

It was all fun and games for a bit, and then they started to smoke the ball at us, talking in Greek, laughing, and drilling it at us. I don't claim to be good at volleyball by any means, but I am tall, big (as many people have let me know here), kinda strong, and returned the favor at least once........ then we left.

Today we walked about 1 hour and 30 minutes to another beach. I kept telling Kez was just over the hill......she was pissed and sweating as cabs and buses and ATVs flew by us. She even stuck her thumb out to hitch for awhile. We did finally make it........to a beach looking exactly like the one we walked away from.....oops.

Kez also approached a group playing sand volleyball here. They asked if we were good....."your big...you good?" Smiling we both laughed and stepped on opposite teams. Kez was on a team with the grumpiest old Greek man ever, he was known as the group "president" whatever that means. He yelled at everyone, when he missed, he yelled, when he had a good shot, he yelled, while smoking and talking on his cell phone. They literally yelled the entire time at each other. In Greek, but still yelling. One guy even crossed under the net, grabbed the ball while screaming, and took it to the other side. If Kez was better at volleyball we would still be playing....... =) I just stood up at the net, being the tallest woman most had seen and was told to, "Stay up there, big, block, K?" Yes.....I got it. Thanks.

On to Athens tomorrow, we will visit our first museum of the trip and head out to Iowa the following day.

RP

Sun attack

I now know why businesses close and everyone goes inside to nap from 2-5 every day here! It's too flipping hot! Wow, the sun never goes away. In the afternoons, the villages with white houses and buildings look like ghost towns. Everyone inside trying to stay cool. When we get up early at like 6 am to run, walk outside and it's sweltering! Jump in the water to cool off and 5 minutes later sweating just the same. My eyes no longer drift towards shops but instead for the smallest bit of shade. Thankfully we haven't gotten sunburnt yet---but that's because I wear a liquid sweater of sunscreen or sit under umbrellas when possible.

When the sun goes down is when the town comes alive! Even though they close everything down in the afternoon, every store/shop is open till at least 10:30 pm, but most restaraunts and bars are open till 5 or 6 am. Needless to say, we haven't seen closing time yet.

Last night we experienced "one of the best sunsets in the world" in Ios, where everyone sits on the white rooftops every night waiting to see the sun sink below the water. Before the sun set, we found an awesome pool with bar and restaraunt on the very edge of the clif looking down over the ocean! Randi set it was my job to get us in there somehow, so I worked some magic and we were in! The sunset was pretty cool, even though it was filled with honeymooners because this place is supposedly very romantic also. Just makes us laugh all the time!

Signing off to go eat a gyro!

Sweet Sweet Constantine....

So, Kez and I board the boat yesterday. We are heading on an adventure to check out some volcano, hot springs, and another town, Oia. We are sitting on the boat, it is about 115 degrees, the sun is melting us to the seats, there is not a speck of shade, and then comes Constantine. Wearing some Jay-lo Aviators, tennis shoes, and curly hair that needs a good wash. Disshoveled, lays down in front of us as if to take a nap. Sits straight up and says...."where are you guys from?"

And for the next 8 hours, he did not shut up. I am telling you I gave every good bye in the book besides the giving the bird and telling him to F-off. He followed us through the volcano with outlandish stories of mountain lions eye to eye with him in a tent, a grizzly sighting, smoking hash, getting hammered, streaking, skinny dipping, getting people kicked out of hostels.....you name it, we heard it.

Kez was much more gracious than I. She gets the good person blessings for the day. Go Kez.

Other than an obnoxious and constant voice and the sweltering heat, the volcano was awesome, the hot springs were luke warm and kinda gross, and Oia was really cool. We watched the sunset joined by about 1500 other people on a point. I took several pictures of newlyweds in dreamy embraces and kisses while Kez and I akwardly asked for a photo too......we fit right in.

We came back, showered, and went to eat. We passed a bar and the bar tender came out of the bar and offered us free shots along with happy hour cocktails all night if we came in. Kez said, "no, we need food."......smart. He replied, "we have that too." Remind me not to take Kez with me when I am trying to get out of something!

Well, onto Naxos.
Hope everyone has a Happy 4th of July. Here they like to call it Independent Day. Happy that too I guess.

RP

Santorini of the Greek Islands

We arrived in Santorini yesterday maybe.....not sure because it was after sleeping in the Athens airport. Or kind of sleeping. The airport is so nice. In fact, our biggest room yet. And I am anxious to go back their. Couches all over. They even have a McCafe.....the starbucks of McDonalds. With soft couches and great ambiance. And Kez and I toured our first, and so far only museum there. Kez isn't into museums as much as shopping. So Athens Airport was great. It had both.

Anyway, I am fairly certain that Santorini sits about 800 m from the sun. It is so hot here that my skin melts off. Perhaps that is why no one where tops here and men wear speedos. Actually, Kez has melted off a portion of her shoe on the black sands here. Don't worry, she bought new ones.

We rented an ATV 4-wheeler. We have taken it all over this island. With the two of us on it, we are lucky to get up the hills without one of us getting off......at one point on the highway we were going 6KM per hour.....yeah. Chug-a-lug. Kez did have to get off at one point and walk up the hill. I told her it was good for her. Too much gelato.

Anyway, this place is amazingly beautiful as well. I can't believe what I have seen so far.

And if Kez will stop being scared of the men that stand outside their store or restaurant doors saying, "Hello there. Can I ask you something?" and actually go inside we may eat on this trip too. HA.

Good times on the 4 wheeler...

We arrived yesterday on the island of Santorini....at 6:30 am. Needless to say, spent most of the day laying/sleeping on the beach in the scorching sun (getting up only to jump in the water to cool off) after being up 42 hrs straight.



Gotta admit this place is not quite what i expected....extremely beautiful...but a bit sketchy/shadey/scary at times. When we arrived i thought we were in the ghetto or something, but Randi shows no empathy and just laughs. Such as walking home at midnight last night from the bus stop....I was definitely on the verge of speed walking/running......because I was scared of who might be around the corner! Randi said she likes it...but then again she also likes some of the craziest food we've been trying.



Well the days of carrying chocolate from Germany and Switzerland vanished quickly when the chocolate bar in my bag melted so much it turned to liquid form. But dont worry, we have found a new love for gelato to replace our chocolate.



Today was a bit more adventurous because we rented a 4-wheeler. Went all over the island (with some awesome but not so stylish helmets on!) Pretty sure we found 5 different beaches, 3 of which were not even on our only map that was Greek so didnt help much anyway. We were passed by almost everyone driving 4 wheelers and mopeds if we encountered any hills, none of them wearing helmets, but as always, safety first.



The sun is hotter here than I've ever felt it before. The fact that the sand is black just heats things up even more. At one point today, Randi fell asleep in her beach chair and I was pretty sure she died of sun exposure. However, she has recovered and is looking "halfrican" because her skin is so dark. Me on the other hand...Randi just keeps reminding me to protect this fair skin and reapply the sunscreen about every half hour.



Tomorrow we turn in our beloved 4 wheeler and switch gears to ride on a giant sail boat to do a tour of small surrounding islands. Checking out the volcano, hot springs, islands, etc, and more sun... But for now, needing sleep!

Oh Italy....

Loving the slow life of the 5 villages along the Mediteranean of the Cinque Terre!! Everyone here has time to chat, drink some wine, have some food, and then repeat the sequence. However, I am feeling very unstlyish because even the men are so well manicured, clean shaven (on legs, arms, and face) eye brows waxed, wild clothes, and carrying purses that look much better than my tourist pack! Hiked the trail of all 5 towns today, starting on the souther ened and working our way up to the top where the beach awaited!

Yesterday, right after we arrived to town via train, we headed to the beach. What a surprise! I guess Italians dont see it necessary to wear their bikini tops, think speedos are flattering, and the children dont even wear swimsuits until they start developing! (except some little boys do wear speedos)

Could get very used to the delicious food, pesto, seafood, pizza, etc here! Not much longer, then on to Santorini.....more to come...off for dinner.

Cinque de Terre

There may be no more amazing place in the world than where I am right now. So I will make it short because I cannot wait to get back to the beauty of the Cinque de Terre. We are in Italy. I believe I bought a bottle of wine for $3.70.....a delicious bottle, not a cheap bottle. We are staying in Vernazza. So awesome. Boats, the Mediterreanean, great hikes, wonderful Pesto, wonderful cheese, homeade breads, cute Italian grandmas sitting outside reading the paper in moo-moos. We hiked for about 5 hours today. Over under and around cliffs, ocean views, and in and out of 5 of the most unique towns I have seen.

We met a fella named Marco, he is a cop in the area. He is so serious about his job that he spends 2 hours in his town, 20 minutes in ours, and does a 1 minute sweep of the last town in his quest to keep us safe. He told us this while carrying a man bag which is apparently very cool here, most of them are nicer man bags than their lady friends, not kidding. It is also apparentantly popular for guys to shave their legs and arms, tan, and spend more time in the bathroom than I do in a week.

Love the food though =)

In fact, I am going to eat more now.

Then on to Santorini.

Life is very good. And I have not stopped realizing how blessed my life really is.

Signing off....
Randi

Rescue me!

I am now fully convinced Randi wants me dead and tried to kill me today. Ive been on plenty long hikes in my lifetime, maybe 6-8 hrs...but nothing like the 3 hour hike turn disaster today.

Truly, I didnt mind the fact that after the first hour or so of hiking straight up on loose rocks we were in a cloud and couldnt see anything, I didnt mind the fact that it started to pour rain on us (must have been a rain cloud), didnt mind the fact that the temperatures dropped down to 30 degrees and we were wearing shorts, and honestly i didnt really mind the fact that my shoes were soaking wet due to the streams we had to cross and the snow mounds we had to climb through. What I did mind was when we finally found another human being who was up on the mountain and he was hiking in all this great gear, even using an ice pick through the snow, and my flipping pancho hood would not stay up! While we were cold, wet, tired and feeling a bit lost and close to death but did not complain. There was no speaking....period...

So the saving grace after we found the peak we were climbing to was to ride the gondolla down to the town that had a hot tub, swimming pool, warm showers, and we even got a free pass into the steam room and sauna thanks to a guy about 70 yrs old named Alen who gave us his key to get in!! (because it cost 14 Franks to get into the sauna area) Needness to say we were there for like 3 hours.

Well, so tired, never knew I had some of these muscles in my legs until they started hurting today. Good thing we will be getting some more good sleep in our communal sleeping area with about 20 other girls tonight.....oh what i would do for a good nights sleep.....next chance I get Im booking a Marriot Hotel when Randis not watching.

Mountain Hostel Heaven

We are on top of a mountian in the alps. In a town of 8 houses. Known as Gimmelwald. It is beautiful. Beautiful views, awesome hikes, no stores....well, one grocery store that takes 45 minutes to hike to. It is awesome. And we are staying at a place called the Mountain Hostel. It is Kesleys first hostel experience. If we are still friends after this we will be friends for life.

We walk in and the lady gives us our bed assignments. Kez gives me a funny look. I smile. We walk upstairs to the room marked "Girls" and look. We are beds 11 and 12..... of 24. There is nothing seperating the beds, no rails, just 6 beds on top, 6 on bottom, both sides of the room. Yeah Kez is dying... If we are frineds after this we are friends for life.

Oh, and there are 3 showers, of which it costs 1 Frank to use. For 5 minutes.

Oh, and there are 3 toilets for the whole place.

Oh, and it is all Co-ed. Yes, if we make it through this we will be friends for life.

Did I mention there are 50 or more people sleeping here?

And I convinced Kez to take a challenging hike as well. It would have been awesome had we been able to see in front or behind us, not been rained on, ran into snow, and maybe been able to at least see one of the mountian peaks........ Needless to say, I am still waiting for Kez to speak to me.
Just kidding. We are still friends. She even shared some chocolate with me tonight!

More on the hike, the spa treatment, Alan, and our Angel John Long later.

Signing off to play Phase 10.

Randi

Finally stopped shaking...

Being taken by van up in the mountain roads, only to be dropped off on the edge with a few ropes while wearing a wetsuit, helmet, and waterbooties are all what started the shaking. Then the tour guides, Luke and Satchi, hook us to the rope, and say, Go ahead, just lean back all the way and put all your weight on the rope and rappel down this cliff...WHAT? Nice way to start the morning, down probablz 500 feet to the canyon we were about to go down. Was seriously awesome though....after getting down to the canyon that is. And Randi...she just laughed the whole time as I was shaking for about 10 minutes after my feet finally hit the ground.

However, I am pretty sure Randi should have gotten paid for all the work she did for our group in saving peoples lives because some of them were...well lets just say...not too advanced in outdoor activities.

Our guides were cool but how can i put this nicely....were typical mountain men. So, being the responsible gals we are, kindly refused their offer to `hang out later tonight`. Safety first....

Owning the Alps Canyons

Well-
We just got off of an amazing tour of the Gimesel Canyon in the Alps. We went canyoning for the day lead by our fearless leaders Luke and Satchi. It really was amazing. We cliff jumped, zip-lined, rappelled, waterslid down rocks, drank beer, ate cheese, and enjoyed some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen.

Really, more than I could have imagined.

My favorite part, besides that Kez's helmet was named Barbie (she made a German Kareoke debut to I'm a Barbie Girl........oh yes.....in Bacharach).......oh Bacharach..... was a girl with the helmet name Hasi..........oh Hasi..........still not sure how she made it down the canyon. She started off with both Kez and I (as she lay down on the ground) pulling one leg of her wetsuit on at a time. We got the wetsuit on.....it took only 20 minutes.... first up, the rappell. Hasi took off down the rock, decided to jump, face planted, tried to get up, couldn't, and proceeded to slide sideways down the rock. You think it is over..... it is not.

As we proceeded down the canyon, mind you these are steep, slippery, tricky rocks, Hasi continues to trip, fall, and get help up and down rocks. But her shining moment came when we just finished a jump and were using a rope to climb up the rock. Her legs must have gotten a little less anxious than her face, because again...... a face plant, and a slight jump off the rock with her face. Oh Hasi, you made my trip.

Another day another town...

Left Rothenburg at the crack of dawn, hopped 4 trains in about 6 hours, and then accidently got off at the wrong train station! Figured it all out though, no worries, got to Interlaken about 40 min after our scheduled time. Staying at a hostel called the "Backpacker's Villa" right in town, thank goodness we have a private room and not bunks! Randi keeps trying to get me out of my comfort zone....all I ask for is a little privacy!

An Austrailian guy asked us on the train today if we were from Denmark, and then later in the afternoon when walking around the city another Austrailian guy asked us if we were Austrailian! This is all coming after we have been told we look German! Hmm..maybe that's why America is known as the Melting Pot!

Realized today that we have had either wine, beer, or both every night....and tonight will be no different. Tomorrow holds a big day of Canyoning through the mountains--cannot wait for a little outdoor adventure. Still trying to convince Randy to go hang gliding! I said, "If you're not going to do it when you're in the Alps when are you going to do it?" All I got for a reply was, "Never." Good thing I don't give up easily...

Mission Accomplished

Ahh...feels so good, just shipped a huge box back to my house to be waiting when we arrive home. Although Randi has been making fun of me the past day for shopping so much, I justify it because 1. its been raining so its nice to go into the stores 2. getting all of the shopping done in one place is just plain efficient 3. i now have birthday, Christmas, shopping done for like 2 yrs and 4. it was helpful to her also when she put some things in the huge box I just shipped.

Besides shopping here in Rothenburg, last night we hit up a great local spot for some home cooking where we had fish and potatoes and sauerkraut and weiners, visited St. Jacobs church, and went on a Night Watchmans tour of the town last night. With an umbrella and our phrase book we can do almost anything in this place!

Pretty excited to hop the early train to head to the Alps tomorrow--Switzerland here we come! With high hopes of lots of hiking and white water rafting.

A trip to the Theme Park

Ever hear of Rothenberg ob de Tauber? Well think of German medevil times..... then add a bunch of tourist that push each other to each shop that sells the exact same size or shape of everything....add some cobble stone roads......a medevil crime and punishment museum.....and take a deep breath of freshly baked scheneeballs to your hearts content.... you will be on the ride of your life. Some people call it heaven, I call it hell...... Kez is still recovering from 12 hours of shopping like she was on crack.

Off to Interlakenn tomorrow where I hope to find some mountains to climb and some more friendly Frau's to build my self esteem.

And somehow Germans survived thousands of years on bread, beer, wine, and jam. I personally could use some corn.

Off to the pub.......someone tell Kez when she gets done shopping.......Thanks.

Randi

Randi the heartbreaker

Well Randi did mention Bacharach a little bit in her post (the super small awesome German village on the Rhine River) but I truly dont think she did the place justice with her one sentence. First off, they were celebrating a wine festival the 2 days we were there so the wine was flowing and costs less than ordering water, live music, lots of food etc in this town of 800 people. Thats where we met Tony and Max who lived there (even though their names do not sound very American) It just so happened they lived 2 doors down from our `zimmer`and they were a lot of fun and took a lot of time to show us around the area, cook some wild pork, and play singing starz which is like kareoke on their tv.

Awesome running-biking trails went right along the river so we visited some other villages and took the boat further up to check out some castles. The best investment we have made on this trip so far has been the phrase book so we are attempting to speak some German because in these smaller towns they have no idea what we`re saying! we may have been the only American tourists in Bacharach, but i do know one thing.....Randi was the biggest heart breaker that town has ever seen! She has sworn me to silence because `What happens in Bacharach stays in Bacharach` (What i do know about the situation is that shy innocent Randi became very familiar with the word `NEIN` which means NO)

Off to check out Rothenburg---signing off--auf weidersehen

From Amsterdam to Bacharach to Rothenburg

Left Amsterdam and headed to Bacharach via Franfurt. We met Patrick and Christopher at our hotel and they were kind enough to let us hitch a ride to Mainz to get on the boat to Bacharach and the Rhine Valley. We got plenty lost. Patrick had a near anxiety attack as his GPS in the Range Rover he rented that Kez and I named 'Helga' took us to the Volkswagon store instead of the boat!

The Rhine Vallez was awesome. Beautiful castles, views, and Baracharh, where we stayed was tiny and fun. We hit up a wine festival that was over the hill in the next town. They drink wine here like we drink beer.......by the pint.

After 2 days there, and more fun and ridiculousness going on then I will ever say, including a midnight dip in the Rhine, some fellas named Max and Tony, Wild Boar, lots of Wine, and a really hilarious Frau named Emily......we headed to Rothenburg today. We will see what is in store here.

Frau Emily hugged me on the way out.....stating, 'Ahhhhhh, you are big like my son. How high up are you?' Then hugged Kez immediately after stating, 'And you, you are small like my daughter.'

I am Flattered Emily.

Signing off.....
Randi

THE SLEEP POLICE

I didn't realize that in Europe there are such people known as the sleep police.  They exists.  Currently in the form of Kesely Egli.  Thought I was going to sleep, I was wrong.  The police said no.  Now that I am awake......we will see if Amsterdam is ready for Ace and Maverick.  

Reporting live from a fuzzy blue couch bed.

Randi

Arrival

We made it to Amsterdam after a few last minute flight switches and 8 hrs in the air!  We landed around 6 AM and found ourselves wondering the empty streets of this crazy city for hours before anything opened or we saw much sign of life.  (this may have been the point I felt on the verge of tears wondering WHAT DO WE DO NOW???)  Needless to say, the situation improved and before long we were eating in cafes and on a biking tour through the city and out to the countryside.  

After a day of seeing national monuments, coffee houses, the Red Light District, biking, seeing a cheese farm, and then meeting up with Nicky who is a local we are staying with, what more could we possibly want?!?!   SLEEP!  Going on 32 hrs without sleep I began to feel like a walking zombie and Randi confirmed it by saying my "response time" was slower than normal.  Nothing that a little sleep and a good dinner can't fix!  The slogan here....IAMSTERDAM

Love the shirt and my sis

The Part-aaaayyyy

The Take off.....

June 16th, 10:42 pm

I'd like to officially welcome myself to blogging.  This is a first.  I just finished my going away party hosted by my sister in her sweet new feathery headband, her boyfriend, and a girl I just met named Laura.  Pizza, Phase 10, and Framboise........oh and some perfectly baked papa murphy's cookies for dessert.  I have repacked 3 times, and feel confident that if it isn't in my backpack, I don't care.

Gonna miss watching the Twins beat the Brewers next week.....or anyone else crappy they play =).

RP signing off

Europe....Here we come!

Welcome to this blog! (This is Kez writing now...but Randi will too and we will probably post together in Europe) Hopefully we can update this pretty often with photos and stories!

First things first though...Packing....but how do you even prepare for this?!
We are hoping to see Amsterdam, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece in about 21 days. 1 backpack to hold everything I need for the next 3 weeks...seems crazy to me! I can think of a whole lot of stuff that I just might need in that time but it's definitely not fitting in this bag!