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)

In April, my Dad (Rick Maybe-Bressler) and Uncle (Allen Maybe) did something that nobody one else has done. They navigated personal water craft (perhaps better known as "Jet Skis") from the Pacific Ocean to the source of the Sacramento River. They started by passing under the Golden Gate bridge, then navigating the San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, Suisun Bay, and the Sacramento Delta region to the source of the Sacramento River (somewhere past Lake Shasta). In all, a trip running four days and a little over 400 miles, some of it across pretty rough and debris-prone waters (at least for a Jet Ski).