Last year was an awesome year of travel; 22 weeks away from home and on the road! The sights and tastes of the journey were incredible, awesome, priceless. From Barnoldswick, England to Pisa, Italy,to Orland, Sweden the adventure far exceeded all expectations. And the people; oh the kindness of Raymond, Alessandro, Gunner and Dieter, Miranda, Giovani, Father Piernino, and many many others.
We returned home with some inklings that all was not normal, so doctor appointments started lining up. Sonagram, pap,biopsy, specialists, waiting, and then the day you have a date with an oncologist. How do you be cheerful as you walk in that door, the one at the very end of that long hallway?
But just like the adventures in Europe, the doctors, nurse-practitioner, staff and volunteers at Scripps-Mercy Hospital, Scripps-Green and RB joined with all my friends and family to hold me up in prayer. Betty and Mary and Andy babysat me after surgery, Donna cooked and Steve e-mailed updates. I was so loved and cared for that fear NEVER had a chance to take hold. Radiation zapped some strength, but not the knowledge that God loved me and had placed me amongst the most wonderful people in the entire world.
I need to get a map with some bright pins to mark all those special destinations I hold in my heart. Just not sure where to put the trip to cancer pin, cause I don’t want to forget it…it too became a good memory.
So if I always look at something in the future as a challenge, I don’t have to look backward. Any way , any big event is 3 parts: planning, happening, and memories.
We bid a sad farewell to Mary and Ron at the Pisa Airport (”Galileo Galilei”) and with a change of undies in a backpack, headed up to the 
Manarola. It took us awhile to find a room. We ended up with a shared bathroom across the hall, which was ok by us as the town was filling up. At least we had found a place. 
We took the train down to the first town, 
Beautiful, breathtaking, and…”Coast, we are nearly out of gas!” Due to all of the switchbacks, we almost ran out of gas. We arrived and had a great hotel and an awesome italian meal and a long walk around Parma before we headed to our reservation at 
sights in town with fewer tourists as it was near closing. With the start of Easter week and school breaks, this place is bedlam.
All is NOT glamorous in the world of travel, and we find that we either love or hate