Sweet Gift of Vacation

We just returned from vacation, a good gift from the Lord in a beautiful spot with dear friends.

This year we were able to travel down to the coast of Italy where we caught a ferry over to the island of Corsica, a French island. We camped there for a week, enjoying warm sun, good books, happy conversations, yummy food we prepared, and great times of fellowship. It's one of the highlights of our year to get this time together to relax and be refreshed.

After coming back over on the ferry on my birthday (46!), we stopped in Pisa and saw the Leaning Tower, had dinner and Italian Gelato (ice cream) to top it off - what a great day!

We then drove through the night and ended up in gorgeous Berchtesgaden, Germany the next morning. Set up of our campground took an hour and by 8 AM we looked like we'd been living there for weeks! We love this part of vacation - making our campsites homey and livable! (How's that a view from the "kitchen"?!)

That afternoon we drove into Salzburg, which is memorable for Dave and I as it was the first place we had an "unofficial" first date back in 1984 when we were doing Malachi Singers! Little did we know then where all life would take us, and that we'd be there 23 years later with our three kids and good friends on vacation!

The next day was up to Eagle's Nest for a look around there, and then a fun hike out back into some of the most gorgeous country of all - what a feast for the eyes! Ominous clouds were threatening by the time we got back down the mountain and sure enough, we had a thunderstorm to beat all thunderstorms, raining ourselves out of dinner on the grill at our campsite. So what do you when you get rained out and can't afford German restaurant prices? Go to McDonalds! It never tasted better!!

We spent the night in rain (rather comfy and cozy actually!) but decided to pack up a day early the next morning, but not before one last memory together...enjoying breakfast huddled together in the "Breakfast Tent"! Very fun! We also spent a few hours at the local pool that day before finally getting packed up and on the road at 7 PM. It was a late night drive home, but with happy memories the whole way.

Thanks Lord for good friends, happy vacations, and special memories!