Westward Expansion, Day 2

Posted on June 28, 2015 by Kristen

Nashville to Oklahoma. Sorry folks, nothing of interest here. We enjoyed a decent breakfast at the hotel–your standard cold cereal, boiled eggs, yogurt and coffee. There was a college baseball team eating with us; they looked really young and tired. … Continue reading →

Westward Expansion, day 1

Posted on June 27, 2015 by Kristen

It wasn’t hard really to leave Pinehurst. Sure, we were saying goodbye to Tim and to dear friends–the emotional part was difficult, but actually pulling out of the driveway of 11 Cypress Lane–the physical part– was quite uneventful. Tim carefully … Continue reading →

Westward Expansion

Posted on June 23, 2015 by Kristen

The directions couldn’t be more simple or straight-forward. No creativity in the naming of these super-highways…just go from high-to-low, East Coast to West Coast. Take I-40 W to I-30 W to I-20 W to I-10 W and finish up with … Continue reading →

A new “fashion” accessory

Posted on June 14, 2015 by Kristen

Two things I remember about fashion when I was growing up: I was crazy about my Aunt Judy’s high-heeled shoes and I loved to try on my mom’s glasses. Both of these women gave me a glimpse of what a confident … Continue reading →

No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher’s dirty looks

Posted on June 14, 2015 by Kristen

It’s got to be a Rietkerk record…5 schools in 7 years. Despite the picture above, we best remember Lilly as a sassy pre-schooler riding her scooter up and down Brisa del Mar in pink cowboy boots, trying her best to … Continue reading →

Banned Books at my fingertips

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Kristen

We’ve been in the process of getting ready for our move and I spent most of the weekend going through storage bins. Among the seasonal items and party supplies, I came across two boxes belonging to our oldest daughter, Lindsey. … Continue reading →

Greece Trip Itinerary

Tim’s completion of a year-long chaplaincy residency is the perfect time to celebrate. While Ireland still makes the top of our “Must Visit List”, the draw of sunshine, water and an oracle or two made Greece our destination for 2018. After a visit to the library to check out every Greece and Turkey travel book in San Diego County, we settled on this 2 week itinerary:

Depart LAX for Mykonos (via Athens) ………stay Mykonos for 2 days with an excursion to the island of Delos….

Next stop is Santorini, the island famous for it’s blue-domed houses and deep blue waters. We’ll stay here for 3 days

Then, on to Rhodes, which once boasted the historical Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World. The monument may no longer be standing but the island is chock full cobblestone streets and fortified old towns.

From Rhodes, we’ll head over to Marmaris, Turkey. The primary draw for visiting Turkey is to get up to Ephesus but we found that taking a ferry to the southern end of the country offers a great deal on seaside resorts with rock bottom prices–so we’ll indulge in the island life for a bit. We plan to hire a private guide to tour Ephesus on one of our days in Turkey.

Finally, we’ll fly north to Athens and spend 3 days touring the crumbling landmarks of that ancient city. The Acropolis, Agora and lots of temple ruins should satisfy the inner goddess in me.