Friday, April 9, 2010

Chateaux and Castles!

The French country side is so beautiful!!! We drove southwest from Paris and stayed our first night at Chinon. Along the way we stopped to see Chambord, a magnificent castle built by Francis I, King of France. The Loire Valley is full of castles! We passed dozens of them!

The next day we continued to drive south toward Sarlat where they are famous for Fois Gras (goose liver). The countryside was even more spectacular then the day before! The French are very proper in everything! Aesthetically, their homes are very pretty, neat and tidy! Every where we went trees and hedges were trimmed and pruned just perfect! They even plant the trees in their woods and forests in nice neat rows! It was a feast for the eyes everywhere we went! I can only imagine what things will look like in a month or so when the trees have their leaves and the wisteria will be in full bloom!

We spent our second night in Bordeaux. I never imagined it would be such a big metropolitan city! We arrived pretty late to our hotel, so I think we drove through the wine country at night with all the vineyards. Wine is very affordable here! We picked up a fantastic bottle of Bordeaux for 2 euros!

Our third night we spent was in Biarritz which is right on the southwest coast of France. The day was bright and blue and I thought I was in La Jolla! Biarritz has beautiful cliffs and beaches and we even saw French surfers!! I felt right at home!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

The European Tour

The French Invasion! ~ It's been over a week since arriving here in France! We stayed 1 week with Vasili's cousin Sterios and his wife Catherine and twin 5 year old girls, Irini and Alexandra.
We had a great time with them and walked all over Paris. Nicolas was 3 yrs. old last time we were here, so he doesn't remember really anything.

We saw all the wonderful places we had come to love in Paris; the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame, etc. Plus we went to some new places for us this time, Bercy Village and Park and Les Villettes.
The weather hasn't been too bad. A little bit of rain every now and then and it hasn't been super cold either.

Spring is beginning to come upon France and some trees are in bloom and people have put some pretty primroses and pansys in the ground, with daffidils and tulips popping up!

Monday, December 28, 2009

Stats ~ Recognitions - Guest appearance

We would like to say a BIG Thank You to my Mom & Dad who without them, this trip wouldn't have been possible! Thanks for letting us use your RV and tow car! Also, thanks for so graciously watching our sweet Max for us for the duration of the trip!! He was so happy to stay with you and be spoiled!

Also, thanks to our son Alex who took care of our bills and who overnighted packages to us along the way! Thanks for holding the fort down for us! We so appreciated all your diligence and for making sure there was food in the house to feed your brother!

Well, we traveled a total of 10,000+ miles! We drove through 38 states and were gone a total of 68 days. We only had 3 incidents with the RV, not bad! Once one of the chairs broke at the base and had to be welded ~ there just so happened to be a fine welding place down the road from our KOA in New York! And once we had to be towed in Baltimore, MD, but praise the Lord, it was an easy fix, 15 minutes before closing on a Friday afternoon! ($150 for an accelerator pin to be replaced or we would've had to wait until Monday) And then there was the time in Texas the awning fell off and we were dragging it for a short time before we could pull over. Praise the Lord no one was to the right of us when it happened!! We had to cut it off and leave it behind. ~ These could have played out differently, but we knew each time, that the Lord was watching over us!

Thanks for all of you who were praying for us! We really appreciated you keeping track with us as we traveled about and for keeping us in your prayers! I know the Lord delighted in answering them and we were kept in His safe hands! Athan and Alex were too, while they stayed at home! They have their stories to tell also! ~ Like getting locked out and having to climb through an upstairs bedroom window to get in. Or the time of the GREAT ANT INVASION! And I'm sure there are many more that I don't really want to know about! :)

What trip, what an experience we will never forget!

The Raptis Family reunited

Thanks Mom and Dad for making this trip possible!

Alex and his mother

Mom and Dad and Bodie

Taking the RV back to the desert

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Final Thoughts

It's hard to believe we are finally back! It's hard to imagine we were ever gone!
We want to thank those of you who followed us along our journey and adventure! Thank you for all your prayers for our family while we were apart from each other! The Lord is good! He heard your prayers!

Please stay tuned as we would like to put up some final thoughts about our trip, some fun facts, etc. ~ It is a busy week with Thanksgiving upon us ~ so stay tuned!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Sweet Home ~ San Diego!

Vasili thought the perfect way to end our trip, would be to spend the day parked in front of the beach! Boy, was it a gorgeous day!! Indeed, it was a great way to wrap up our weeks & months of traveling the USA! Our last official day on the road ~ visiting our own "backyard"! We love the beach! We love living in San Diego!

Beautiful Torrey Pines Beach!

Vasili got up at 6:00am and snagged the last RV spot at the beach!


A room with a view!!
Relaxing and enjoying another beautiful San Diego day!
We were even able to watch the Charger game on the flat screen TV!
It doesn't get any better than this!

The Lord blessed us with a gorgeous day!
Can you believe it's November?!

The beautiful coastline of Del Mar

Nicolas enjoying the day with his Dad

Nicolas wanted someone to go in the water with him ~
they messed around with the football instead!

It's good to be home!

Athan and Evan joined us.
We made tacos for dinner and hung out to watch the sunset.

The surf was up!
It was a nice musical backdrop to our sunny day!

Athan joins in the fun!

All that was missing was Alex ~ he had to work! (sadness!)

Relaxing and enjoying the day.

Did I mention it was good to be home?!

Watching the sun sink into the west.
It was a spectacular sunset!
The perfect ending to a wonderful trip!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

700 Miles in a Day!

When we got up Saturday morning from Las Cruces, New Mexico to drive to our destination of Case Grande, Arizona, little did we know we would actually end up sleeping in our beds at home in San Diego that night!! What was to be a 5+ hour - 340 mile drive, ended up being a 12 hour - 700 mile drive! ~ Vasili just decided to push through all the way home! He was a man on a mission!

Athan & Alex weren't expecting us home until the next day, so they had to scramble to get things pulled together before we arrived at 8:30 that evening! But, they were so happy to see us, as we were to see them! (By the way, they pulled it off! ~ the house, yard, and cars all were sparkling and looked great!) ~ whew! ~ thank goodness for text messaging!

Home Sweet Home!!

We left New Mexico and crossed through Arizona
These beautiful cactus were our friends for miles.

Vasili on a mission ~ Let's go home!

We took a lunch break to stretch our legs and backs.

Nicolas doing his school work.

In the jump seat.

Here we go, the last leg of our journey!
We were very excited to see this sign!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Las Cruces, New Mexico

Sometimes in life, the Lord hands you a gift. Beautiful, unexpected. Life changing. Today we were given such a gift!! ~ On our way to Las Cruces, New Mexico we were told of a beautiful place to stop along our way. White Sands National Monument was the place. It is a 275-square mile preserve of magnificent pure white gypsum sand dunes. ~ Incredible beauty! Thank you Lord!!


Pristine, like white velvet snow!
The sand felt so good! ~ soft and cool to our bare feet!
The dunes have their own beautiful plants that manage to thrive.
Nicolas had fun rolling and tumbling down the dunes
So pure and white and graceful
This place was utterly quiet and peaceful,
not a single sound, except our voices.
The sand had the most exquisite feel, so soft!
As far as the eye could see, dune upon dune
The boys messing around
Nick blazing a trail
Cowabunga!