Today we drove 444 miles from Cedar Point to Rock Island. We drove through Ohio, Indiana and to the western border of Illinois. Noreen drove 120 miles. We have some nice photos out of the windows. [View Full Entry]

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IT is pretty early Thursday July 3rd. Sorry about some of the dates being mixed up. When you are on vacation it is hard to keep a calendar straight in your head. Our goal today is to make if from Rock City, Illinois to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This is about 470 miles of driving. Noreen and I will tag team it a bit. Lots of country music out here (yipee). The driving is not so bad. Traffic is nothing like NY. We have driven over 1000 miles already! Hopefully we can post tonight. [View Full Entry]

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I am home! In fact I've been home for two weeks, but it's only now that I am fully understanding what an adventure I have been on. My head is spinning with enough beautiful memories and amazing experiences to last me a lifetime. Or at least until my next European adventure. Returning to the States has definitely been an adjustment. I keep trying to speak Italian to waiters and am constantly shocked when I understand conversations in English all around me. It's been fun to rediscover my life in America, though I've been surprised at how much about my daily activities [View Full Entry]

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"Into The West" From The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King soundtrack In loving memory of Aunt Carol Ti amo sempre. Lay down, your sweet and weary head. Night is falling, you have come to journey’s end. Sleep now, and dream of the ones who came before. They are calling, from across a distant shore. Why do you weep? What are these tears upon your face? Soon you will see, all of your fears will pass away. Safe in my arms, you’re only sleeping. What can you see, on the horizon? Why do the white gulls call? Across [View Full Entry]

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After nearly two years of thinking about it, dreaming about it, reading about it and planning for it, I'll be leaving for Florence in a little less than two weeks. Basically I'm in denial that something so wonderful could be happening to me, so I haven't started packing yet. I've been planning for so long that I just want to GO already! But anyway, I'll be blogging here as much as I can to keep everyone updated on my crazy adventures. I can't wait to get started! But first, a trip to Des Moines to say goodbye to some of my [View Full Entry]

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Well, preparations have been underway for a while now. One of the tasks was to get a travel blog going so this is it. We have our passports on the way (not a necessity since we are driving, but still a good idea. We have the solar panel on our RV for battery charging in the boonies. We have our RV outfitted (mostly) an will be fine tuning it for the next couple months. We have lists and lists of lists. We are fairly seasoned travelers, but this is a big trip. We hope it will be a happy memory [View Full Entry]

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