Sun-downing SoCal

Never enough time seems to be a common theme. June put the exclamation mark on that statement as we readied for yet another move (number six since 2006!). We did our best to spend our days doing the things that make Carlsbad stand out as one of our favorite spots on the map. Sophia closed…

Coast to Coast: Part 5 (the end)

Okay, final push. We wake up on Day 21and fall into our well worn routines. Breakfast, pack, boots, and step off with only 12 miles ahead of us until we dip our toes in the North Sea. For the past 20 days, the focus always seemed ahead of us. Today however, we were often struck…

Coast to Coast: Part 4

After a rest day in Richmond, we readied to set off on day 15 with fresh legs and only about 75 miles in front of us before we could dip our toes in the North Sea! The next stage of the walk is one that gets the most grumbles from A.W. labeling it as a…

Coast to Coast: Part 3

Saturday (14 May or day 8), it was breakfast at The Hermitage and then we stepped off for Orton. From this point forward, the size of the group was down to four as Laura and Gabe headed back to reality. The first leg was a relative breeze at just around 9 miles through the flat,…

Coast to Coast: Part 2

Before I get into Day 4 (10 May), it’s probably worth pointing out that the manner in which the trip is chopped into “parts” and posted at theWiktors, leaves a little to be desired (at least for me). Where one post per month is often the [missed] goal, one post for the month of May…

Coast to Coast: Part 1

May was a busy month and one that we’ll remember for a lifetime. 26 days, 207 miles (on foot), 1,003 pictures (not including all the deletes), and one fantastic 70th birthday trip! After a day of turnover with Grandma in SoCal, Meredith and I left the kids in Carlsbad (with Grandma) and hopped on a…

Guests from the Midwest

What fortunate folks we are to have family willing to come visit us from across the country! Aunt Mary and Aunt Anne made the trek out to California this month to spend some quality time with the Clays and Wiktors and quality time it was! Despite the sun being a little shy for the first…

Ski Season (again)

What’s better than one ski trip? Two. Duh. We threw a couple of date blocks on the calendar earlier in the year and this one didn’t end up working out for a family trip… but it still worked out for a quick Dad trip back to the slopes. This time it was to Kirkwood which…

Ski Season

Ski season is officially upon us. With an impending move sometime this summer, it is max time on the slopes while they’re still close. Dear friends of ours invited us up to Mammoth Lakes for the MLK weekend and the kids (and dad) got to strap the planks on for a few days. Absolutely perfect…

Gobble, Gobble

It seems strangely misleading to say we had a calm and relaxing Thanksgiving this year but we really did. Sure we flew 2000+ miles to DCA and then spent the next ten days driving another 700+ miles as we visited family and friends but really, it was just awesome and relaxing! After arriving in DC,…