updates from the journey

For our final trip during my renewal leave in August, Dolli & I intentionally unplugged. I know what you’re thinking, after 2 months on break, hadn’t I unplugged enough? Well… yes & no. While I haven’t had any work responsibilities, it seemed I had not fully disconnected to clear my mind. On our trip to…

My Harley was a gift from my late father-in-law. He bought it new 25 years ago in 1998. When I got it 20 years later, he had only put about 4000 miles on it. As I loaded it up on the trailer to drive home, he said, “Enjoy the bike, but you guys be safe.”…

Thank you to everyone that has prayed for safe travels for me & for a calm spirit for Dolli. She’s a bit of a worrier. On Sunday, July 9th I rode off for my 3000 mile solo motorcycle journey out West. As I was loading my bike, Dolli asked, “Aren’t you going to take the…

After a day at sea, we visited the Israeli Port of Haifa. The night before our arrival, we received notice in our cabin that one of the excursions had been cancelled because of security concerns. Now, we’ve been to Israel twice before, so additional security requirements were not surprising to us, but to cancel an…

We docked in Kasudasi, Turkey, got of the boat & met our guide, Nazim, & our driver, Ali, & took the short 20 minute ride from the port to the ancient city of Ephesus. This was, perhaps, one of the most interesting ancient sites we have ever visited. Corinth was cool but Ephesus was amazing.…

Our day was spent with our private driver & guide, Sakis, transporting us around Athens & Corinth in a luxury sedan offering expert commentary & insight. Sakis works 7 days a week for the 7-month tourist season in Athens offering privately-guided tours. We began the day at 8 am, earlier than we wanted after a…

Since we did the city thing in Valletta, Malta on the previous visit, we opted to take a 45-minute ferry ride to the Island of Comino to enjoy a few hours lounging by the sea at a place known as the Blue Lagoon. Comino is a mostly uninhabited island with no cars & only 1…

We hit our first three ports of Paul – Malta, Siracusa & Civitavecchia (Rome)… although we wondered if Paul visited Genoa also. Paul was shipwrecked on the Island of Malta & several churches bare his name. St. Paul’s Shipwreck Church is the local Catholic Church in Valletta and St. Paul’s Pro-Cathedral is the Anglican one.…

As expected, we arrived in Genoa, Italy about 1:30 pm but not without just a little drama. We put AirTags in our luggage so we can track it on our phones. Dolli’s worst nightmare is the airline losing her luggage on the way to a cruise & having to wear the same boring clothes over…

Well, the day has arrived for our Renewal Leave Journey to begin. It seems like we’ve been planning this trip for forever. We were all packed & ready the night before… well after I played “Tetris-Master” managing to squeeze twice as many clothes, shoes & personal care products into Dolli’s carry-on suitcase as is humanly…