We had originally planned on taking the bullet train down from Tokyo to Kyoto for a day or two. While being epically fast, it was a bit spendy for the four of us.  After talking to Brooke's coworker we settled on a two day trip to Nikko and its World Heritage Sites to break up our week in Tokyo. This turned out to be an amazing decision. The town is teaming with beauty from ancient shrines to epic waterfalls and some of the best meals we had on our trip. Kyoto didn't seem all the appealing to me when I started researching which location to go to. I too am glad we chose to head north to Nikko.  When we booked our Tobu Nikko Spacia X tickets I upgraded to the premium seats thinking that we'd be sitting facing one another. Instead we ended up with 4 seats, two in the first two rows and two in the last two rows. It turned out just fine with the kids sitting in front of us in two groups. Meadow and I were seated at the front of the car. Once in awhile we'd pass a town whe...

After a 12 hour flight and years of planning we finally made it to Japan. I'd been looking for a decent deal to Japan for ages. Tracking on Google Flights. Searching different points websites. Then finally a flight showed up on Points Yeah the same week Meadow and Theo were off for 3 days. After a nervous half hour of transferring points from our credit card to KLM Air France, we got 4 direct tickets to Tokyo Haneda! Day 1 But first we had to fly and fly and fly. Ready for our longest flight ever. At least we were lucky and got a direct flight.  Theo looked nervous. I couldn't really see the kids too well since I was stuck in the center rows with strangers. Meadow, Brooke and Theo got the better end of the deal. He had been worrying about this trip ever since he learned we were going to have to sleep on the plane.  Meadow was excited to see that the flight had anime. First time in a long time that I've had a meal on the plane. My chicken curry was pretty good.  We got an...

As soon as we made it up Bayfield's relatively steep hill we put the gear in the car and I put the bikes back on the rack.  I don't think our car is meant to have a bike rack like this. The hatchback window is bolted into steel, but you're actually tethering the bike rack to the glass. Every time I heard a creaking noise along the highway I was nerve-wracked.

We made it safely to Bayfield without getting attacked by any bears . I think that's because of my wily driving skills.

When the waitress asked for Blake's ID and he told her he was underage we were kicked out of the Thirsty Pagan. To not miss out on our favorite pizza and beer (and we had a coupon to use up) we ordered food to go. While waiting for our food we walked around the great, but sad city of Superior, Wisc. Heading directly out the door and towards the industrial waterfront this Charlie Brown block was plopped amongst the former industry.

Brooke and I went on a mini-moon shortly after our wedding last October. We always planned on going on a real honeymoon and we finally had the time to do exactly that. Montreal had been thrown around, but Brooke didn't have a passport with her new last name. Then Brooke threw out the idea of the UP of Michigan and the family cottage.  That continued to be the plan until around early August when Brooke decided the South would be a better option. We had some friends we could visit in Tennessee and South Carolina sounded perfect in late August.  We changed our minds and headed for the north country. When we first talked about getting married back when our relationship became serious, years before we were even engaged, we had thought Tokyo would be a cool place for our Honeymoon. With our mortgage and student loans a trip like that is out of the question.