What a beautiful time we are having together! A fabulous hike from our little town of Chiessi into the next little town of Pomonte where we discovered yet ANOTHER great gelateria. There are soooo many not-so-good gelaterias, but somehow we keep stumbling on the organic, pure and divinely fresh gelato wherever we go! First in Florence at "Grom", then in Marina Di Campo (where I am writing from right now as it is one of the only towns equipped with internet) at "Zero Gradi" (officially our favorite) and then "Gelateria Artiginale" in Pomonte. My favorite flavors in this order (so far) are Nociola (Hazelnut), Pera (pear), Pistaccio, Bacia (chocolate with hazelnuts), and Banana. Katrina almost always goes for Fior di Panna and Pistaccio and Hazelnut. We swam in the meditteranean again today, despite being the only ... read more

I will arrive into Florence around 2pm and head towards "Campeggio Michaelangelo" where my sister will be waiting for me. Wish me luck on the travel portion, Dave, my beloved sweetie, is driving me to San Francisco and I'll be flying Air France and eating "vegetarian hindu' meals on the flights! It is sunny and beautiful here at my home in Monterey, California and there are birds chirping outside, and rainbows streaming into my bedroom filled with sunlight. I will miss Dave dearly but am just THRILLED to be going out of country and seeing my sweet sister! It doesn't hurt that she happens to be in ITALY one of my favorite countries. It was the first place I ever independently traveled to and I'm eager to go back and see what has changed, or how ... read more

Monkey! Well...it got your attention didn't it? Yes, I was fortunate enough to connect with a wee monkey. The details of it's reality are not so fortunate though. I will tell more later. I am back in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, after taking a bus across the border from Pakse, Laos. I am burning up a few hours with 3 other travelers who are all headed back tonight on a sleep train. We almost didn't get on this train as it was full, we stood around trying to figure out what to do when the ticket attendant waved us over and let us know there were 4 cancellations and that we could have these 4 second class sleeper spots. What a relief! It would not have been the end of the world, but probably a somewhat expensive ... read more

Hello all, Well, it's just me now. Dave is home and slowing adjusting to the time change and MASSIVE lack of heat in Monterey, going back to work on Monday. If my writing is not as poetic, or sound a little funny it is because I am not quite right in the head, I mean, you all knew that already, but this is actually a little different, I am sick. I had allergies big time for a couple days when arriving back at Riki's house on Wednesday evening. Then it turned into full blown cold, headache, congested sinuses, and now moving into the throat and chest. It is a blessing to be at Riki's and just be able to lay low, take multiple hour long naps and just chill, I would feel a great urge and ... read more

(Dave) Yaaaaaaaaayyyyyy!!! Most of you may not know this about me, but I LOVE to dive! Heather and I went 2 hours by boat across the strait to the coast of a neighbor island (Koh Tao) for a wonderful day. We dove Lien-Thien and Shark Island (no sharks). Not a bad dive, amongst the animals we saw were: Blue Sponge, Wire Coral, Barrel Sponge, Magnificent Anemone, Haddon's Anemone, Crater Coral. Maze Coral, Brain Coral, Cup Coral, Star Coral, Staghorn Coral, Table Coral, Pore Coral, Leather Coral, Christmas Tree Worms (one of Dave's favorites), Joruna Nudibranch, Giant Clam, Zigzag Oyster, Coral Clam, Tiger Cowrie, Murex, Sea Cucumbers, Crown Of Thorns, Cushion Star, Undulated Moray Eel, Blue Spotted Fan Tail Ray, Crimson Soldierfish, Red Squirrelfish, Raggy Scorpionfish, Honeycomb Grouper, Coral Grouper, Smooth Tailed Trevally, Yellow Tail Scad, Big ... read more