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After some relatively rough seas and a whale sighting, we sadly departed our floating home and transferred our huge amount of gear (read the list of dressing requirements for Team Awesome from our previous blog, our first one for the Australia trip) to a rental car so that we could drive out to the Atherton Tablelands. On our way into the countryside, we stopped at Granite Gorge Nature Park, where we hand fed wild rock wallabies (small kangaroo-type animals) including ones with joeys in their pouches. It must be a genetic thing – I just wanted to pinch their little kangaroo cheeks. The wallabies weren’t wary of us at all. They come up on their hind legs and put their little paw in your palm to balance while they eat the food. I had more attempts ... read more

Driving to Florida, 2009 to 2010 For Christmas break, we drove from NJ to FL. We started the trip from Rumson on December 27, and stopped in DC to see Sahtiya. Our healthy brunch at a café was followed by a stop at the famous Ben’s Chili Bowl, where the hot smokes (a large, spicy hot dog) topped with chili justified the long line out the door. When we got back to Sahtiya’s place, we met her brother, nephew and some other family members while we munched on our yummy present of peppermint bark and candied pecans. Mmmm, Sahtiya, we love everything you make. Out of DC, we hit a ton of traffic and didn’t get into Naz’s in Greensboro, NC until about 11pm. The gracious hostess that she is, Naz made us feel right at ... read more

The Month of Muir Trail - Part 4 This section is from Vermillion Valley Resort to Bishop Pass. Day 9 - Marie Lake to Muir Trail Ranch The next day, Erin, Andrew and Cindy met up with English Nick to climb the short way up Selden Pass from the lake. The view down on the lake was as great as the scenery from the lakeshore. It seemed that each lake was more beautiful than the last; in reality, they were all breathtaking and we were enjoying them in near solitude. We had a group lunch with about six or eight other JMTers near one of the lakes, and laughed when we heard Nick squeal as he jumped in for his swim from behind some trees at the other end of the lake. We then tramped through ... read more

Andrew's mini-Family Reunion This blog picks up after we hiked our first section of the Muir Trail, which was in the middle of the trail. The next day, Andrew and Cindy made their resupply boxes for the Muir Trail. This was more complicated than anticipated because we had to identify and fit every single thing we needed for a week into the boxes (food, contact lens solution, med kit supplies, toilet paper, etc.). While sitting in a coffee shop inventorying our goods with bellies full of yummy Country Breakfast, we were listening to the SAR (Search and Rescue) report on the radio. It went on forever with a list of tragic backcountry stories - this person was evacuated with a broken arm, a deceased hiker was helicoptered out after a fall, and finally a guy’s foot ... read more

Casazza Family Trip After Viv, Andrew and Cindy decided that sharing a room would be a small price to pay in exchange for a family cruise on the Mediterranean, we were set to fly to Italy and take a trip on the Costa Romantica. Costa is an Italian cruise line with an international but mostly Italian clientele. While most of the entertainment is American music, the announcements are made in five languages. Unfortunately, Cristin stayed behind to work and we missed her the whole time. On our itinerary were Catania in Sicily, Izmir in Turkey, two Greek Islands and the port outside Athens. We packed a very different suitcase than usual (we don't normally need formal wear on our backpacking trips) and headed to Rumson to meet up with our parents to start the trip. Flight ... read more