lite & lucid

Hello 2017 and long lost blog!  Being laid up for a week at the beginning of 2017 has been a proverbial bottle of drano that unclogged my writer’s block lasting since the summer of 2015.  Blogging is hard work!  So here’s to a fresh start.  Allow me to do a synopsis of what I’ve missed!

Last time I narcissistically blogged it was about Paris.  That was the summer of 2015!  And I haven’t even finished that Europe trip.  I planned on doing a blog about the amazing countries of Switzerland and Norway, at least one each.  Instead you get the bullet version of the last year and a half.  I met friends sailing in the Caribbean who invited us to stay with them in Bern, Switzerland.  So, after we had a wonderful time in Paris, Erika and I took a train to Bern and met our friends.  They took us on all kinds of adventures in the mountains and the city and we found plenty of our own.  Suffice it to say I want to go back, all the time.  The highlight was a hike up to a plateau with a panoramic view on a crystal clear day in the Swiss Alps.  I’ll never forget it, and I honored my late cousin, Michael, by leaving an offering atop the plateau knowing that he would be proud of me for making these memories.  It is without a doubt the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.  We had cheese, coffee, chocolate, bread, drinks, lots of views, laughs and museums before taking a train to Milan and flying to Oslo, Norway.

Norway is simply incredible.  Let me remind you who barely remember the last blog, both of you, that it was the summertime and going to Norway at that time is fantastic.  It’s quite a vertical country as far as latitudes go, and we stayed pretty moderate.

We spent one night in a charming town outside of Oslo, then headed to Flam by train.  The main train brought us to a connector that took us down a valley into the fjord city of Flam.  The connecter was something I was excited about because it is known as one of the most beautiful train rides in the world, and I see no reason to challenge that title.  It’s also one of the steepest in the world and brings you to Flam via waterfalls and rainbows to a branch of the Sognefjord which is breathtaking and listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Flam happens to be a cruise ship stop, but that didn’t deter us from staying for nearly a week and exploring.  We took a fjord safari boat tour, hiked, biked, kayaked, shopped and ate our way around.

We even make a day trip to the historic city of Bergen on the western coast of Norway which is an old Viking port city.  If I could go back and do it again, I would have included more hiking!

Then…Europe ’15 was complete.  Back to the United States via Oslo and back to reality.  From there life seems to have crashed so hard into my face that I must have forgotten to blog.  Maybe a writer’s block.  Who cares.  Here’s the rest of what transpired.  We went on an epic three week National Parks trailer trip complete with dogs and kayaks.

I got hired by Delta Airlines in October, the same day Erika deployed for six months.  My dear Grandmother passed that month as well and so a great grieving process began.  I split time between Missouri and Oklahoma working and waiting to begin work at Delta.  I worked out, helped clean up my Grandmother’s house, and spent time with family and friends.  No great travels during that time other than a fantastic trip to Colorado including a 9-year-old’s awesome skiing birthday party and a lot of hot-tubbing for me.  It was a time of hunkering down, introspection and reconnection.

Fast forward to Erika’s return.  Of course we needed a vacation.  We needed a Cozumel, all-inclusive-resort type of vacation!  We dove, kayaked, jeep’ed, biked, ate, slept and enjoyed.  Then I started airline training.  Coming from working only part time for a year and a half to doing two jobs was quite an adjustment.

The summer flying season was busy, and I was new, so I did the best I could and was gone most of the time.  Although luckily in July I was also able to volunteer for a girls flight camp, Preflight www.preflightcamp.com, that a dear friend of mine (the catalyst for my South America travels) founded.  It was a fantastic beginning to that journey and I hope we are making a difference inspiring a new generation of girls to look towards the sky.  Then, back to flying a big metal tube full of people around the continental U.S. safely and on time!

Through the fall Erika and I went to our first Grand Slam, the US Open in New York City.  Now able to travel for free, the world has opened up even wider.

A weekend in Vail for restaurant week with friends, then home for a fun family reunion in October to meet my newest little cousin and addition to the Turner family.  Throughout, I was squeezing in plenty of Air Force work.  Oh and I forgot to mention that I fulfilled the goal of becoming an a weightlifter (Olympic-style weightlifting) in 2016 by competing in my first meet in April then other meets in November and December.  It’s safe to say I’m addicted to the sport. Whew…then November came along and I am lucky to report I had a bit of a break.  Although I did still have to work the holidays this year I was able to balance and lighten the rest of my schedule for some breathing room.

This included a trip to Europe in early December to see some friends and a couple of Christmas markets;  Amsterdam and Maastricht, Netherlands (put the pins in the map!) and then Cologne, Germany!

It was a fantastic week-long journey and I can say I always look forward to the next European adventure.  Although I prefer them when they’re warmer. Then, werk, werk, werk, werk, werk.  And…here we are!  All caught up while I sit in misery on the couch to begin 2017.  I am grateful to clear the clog!  Check in next time and let me know what you want to hear about.