Hello from sunny Slovenia!

We’re camping near Lake Bled and are completely charmed by this wonderful place! Slovenia is very green and ecologically friendly.  We’re right at the foothills of the Julian Alps and the scenery is spectacular: small family farms dot the landscape with snowcapped Mount Triglev in the background. Slovenia’s just as beautiful as anywhere we’ve camped in France or Italy but it’s not pretentious.

The campgrounds are not inexpensive but food in restaurants and supermarkets is fresh and cheap. This is our third time here—each trip we stay a little longer and I think that this is going to become our favorite vacation destination. In the mornings I get up early and take a hike with the dog before it gets too hot. This morning after a hard hike up a steep slope in the woods I suddenly came out into a clearing and came across a man cutting grass in his field with a scythe! Then I came upon row after row of neat vegetable patches and a couple of women resting in the shade and chatting amiably.

We were really "ripe for vacation" as ze Germans love to say. The week before we left was crazy with houseguests, the last days of school, a trip to the emergency clinic to have B’s knee Xrayed after a nasty fall, and of course an emergency trip to the vet the morning before we left because Wonderdog suddenly developed an oozing hotspot. M’s grandmother fell suddenly ill and had to be hospitalized. It was critical enough that the doctors asked that all her children be called to her bedside. She’s still not out of the woods but is doing better, thankfully. Add packing and organizing to the mix and I was absolutely fried. It’s so nice to be here and to be enjoying simple pleasures like the warmth of the sun, the sound of the river and some much needed R&R with my three favorite boyz…