Aufwiedersehen!

And so it is, the end of the summer and the end of the easing in to our trip. We have had a fabulous two months of what I would call pretty easy travels with some fabulous meeting, reuniting, and seeing so much family and a few friends.   Bruce and Mona were more than generous with their box full of maps and camping guides as we found our way through France, Spain and Portugal.  Everyone else, as mentioned in Bernie's post, sooooooo (as Emilia would say) generous with their homes and the dolling out of ice cream to the kids! I think we will all go into some withdrawl as we head out on our own tomorrow.  We will learn to carry our own packs, find our way through various public transportation hubs, and likely slow our pace and eating habits. Hopefully we will not become so desperate that we have to "pick a pocket or two" .... Or as Oliver would sing - "food, glorious food"....could I please just have a little more..... (Thanks Grandpa B and Granny Bird for the great evening out on Drury Lane, London and the Theatre Royal, the kids are constantly singing these songs.)


We will head south through the Balkans as Indian summer has arrived back in Europe and start by trying to squeak out a few more warm days in the Slovenian Alps before Autumn truly arrives.  The tent will be folded away for emergencies and then probably not for use again until Africa. Hostelling, pensions and whatever else we can find will be our new homes en route.


We are looking forward to a new start to the next part of our trip - and as always, hope to hear from many of you via your great comments or email!