Cont: 3 cats, dog, rabbit

11 PM. Dark now. I'm driving with the windows down so I can enjoy the fresh air from the fields. Off to the right of the highway, there are fireflys flitting above a fence adjacent to a field. 30 minutes down the road, I notice a flashing green light on the center of the dashboard. Remember, this is a rented van. I don't recall any warning lights being in that area of the dashboard. What could it be. I put my hand up to touch the light. It flys away.

2 AM. I am getting tired. I don't want to take the time to check in to a motel. Nor do I want to deal with moving the animals into a room. There's a rest area up ahead. I'll pull into that. I get out of the van. Take Libby, the dog, for a walk. Back in the car, I rest my head against the window. Try to sleep. The trucks in the rest area all have their engines running. I don't know if I can sleep here. I close my eyes. When I open them, it's 4 AM. The very first rays of sunlight are appearing on the horizon. I feel very rested. I take Libby for another walk. Check the cats, and rabbit. All is okay. I check the map. I'm in the middle of Nebraska. I start the engine, and pull onto the highway. I accelerate up to the speed limit, 75 MPH, set the speed control for a little past that mark. Turn on the Sirius radio. Find National Public Radio. I'm on the road again.

Continiued - 3 cats, dog, rabbit - 2100 miles 2 days

It's 8 PM Monday evening. I have the animals in the van. The cages, plus the dog, take up the whole back of the van. My son asks me how I plan to get all of the animals into the motel room each night. I tell him that I'll work it out. Then he tells me that one of the cats has a kidney problem. "Monitor him," he says. "What do you mean," I say.

My son tells me to see if the cat is peeing regularly, or if he gets listless.

"Then what?"

"Call me. You may have to take him to a vet."

"Sure," I reply.

And, I'm off. The sun is low. It will be below the horizon in an hour or so. Right now, it's shining in my face. I pull the visor down. Keep my sun glasses on.

I'm in Iowa in 20 minutes. Heading SW. The sun is right on the horizon. Kinda balanced there. The road is on a ridge, with a shallow valley on either side. There's a light fog in the valleys. The sun behind the hills makes them look black, while the fog captures some light making a striking contrast to the black hills.

3 cats, 1 dog, 1 rabbit - Illinois to California

Saturday night I got a call from my oldest son who lives in Galena, Il. He said,"Dad, can you come back here and drive our animals out to California."

My wife and I live in Grass Valley, Ca in the foothills of the High Sierra, and about 90 minutes NE of Sacramento. We publish a magazine, On the Beach on the Internet. It's about hotels really on the beach, and it's a full time job keeping it up to date. But, our son needed helped. So, I stopped work, pulled up Southwest Airliines, and booked a flight out for 6 AM Sunday morning.

Bryce, and his wife, Jen, are moving back to California. They couldn't manage the move with the animals. I was needed to transport the pets for them.

Upon arriving in Chicago, I'd rent a van, drive to Galena, 3 hours west of Chicago, get the animals, and head west.

More later.

Gotland - Sweden

Very few Americans visit this island. I “discovered” Gotland while I was looking for information on beaches in Sweden, and came across an article on Gotland beaches on this web site for information on beaches.

During the Viking era, Gotland was a base for Viking exploration of Europe and Russia. More Vikinng artifacts have been found on Gotland than in any other part of Sweden. To this day, hordes of silver are still being discovered on Gotland. There is, on average, one find a year.

In the Middle Ages, Gotland became a trading center for the powerful Hanseatic League. The center of operations for this trading organization on Gotland was the town of Visby. The merchants of the League, primarily Germans, during the 12th century, built a defensive wall, with a moat, around the city. The wall is over 2 miles in length, Most of the wall is stil in tact. The wall, and the town it encircles is one of the b est representations of a Medieval walled city in Northern Europe. Unesco has declared the old town of Visby, and the walll, as a World Heritage site.

You can read the rest of this article by clicking on the link at the top of this post.

Italy and Croatia

This September we're going to Italy and Croatia. We want to do a farm stay in the Tuscan region, and stay in a villa near Dubrovnik in Croatia. We're like to hear from anyone who has done something similar.