More Travel

For Easter Break 2014, the family went on a short trip to Monterey, Jamestown and Yosemite. It was Julia's first trip away from home and we purposely tried to keep the drive time down to 3 hours or less in one shot.

In Late September 2013, Jennifer, Fianna and I made a trip to Southern California to visit Disneyland, SeaWorld, the Grandparents, and others. With Julia officially due on December 25th, we would obviously not be making the annual holiday trip or the annual (sort of) international trip, but wanted to do something before being tied down to Fair Oaks for most of the next six months.

In September 2012, I flew into Nebraska to drive around with Rick and Laurie Bressler. They had already been driving cross country for a couple weeks and during their trip planning I had noted that there was a Cornhuskers home game the week they would be in Nebraska. In addition to the game, we visited some old 'bressler sites' and relatives throughout Eastern Nebraska and South Dakota.

Our Summer vacation for 2012 was a Disney Dream Caribbean Cruise along with a few days spent at various sites in Florida. For most of the trip we were in the company of the Baers (Robb, Melinda, Jack, Amanda) and, sometimes, Robb's folks Pam & Steve. It's the fifth vacation I've taken with Robb & Melinda (Italy twice, China, Yosemite/Safari West, and this trip). It's the third vacation Fianna has taken with Jack & Amanda who she calls "My Guys". Do kids take vacations?

After leaving the Val d’Orcia, we made a short 1.5 hour drive to Siena. Siena is an impressive city. At one time, Siena was in a class along with Florence, Venice, and Genoa, competing for political superiority. Siena’s grand hopes were wiped out, along with a third of the population, during the bubonic plague of the mid-1300’s. Florence’s military conquered them in the 1550’s. After an eventful day in Sienna, we were off for another day in Volterra, and finally, five days in Florence (our second visit)

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