What a horrifying tale, Steve. I’ve stuck splinters under the nail before too, but never anything this serious. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. I’m so glad to hear that you and your daughter both had a positive outcome.

Well, that was harrowing. We've had some splinter escapades ourselves this summer but those fingernail ones are the worst.

It's possible the finches are beginning to move a bit south. Maybe this guy already filled up on free food and is now out on an expedition.

I guess the message about free food hadn't passed down the wire yet?

Sorry, couldn't resist!

For the first time ever this time we used Komoot virtually exclusive and were very pleased with the routes it gave us

It's very warm in Paris, Tricia. I even cancelled a walking tour booked for this afternoon.

Have a fantastic time. I agree entirely with your e-bike comments but now add my own never have the battery in the back carrier. We are now waiting on Reims Station waiting for a train to Paris unencumbered by bikes

Whatever bikes you're on, keep on truckin' as long as you can keep on truckin'!

Hello from Ed and me in South Florida. I have been lax at reading about your journeys and am hoping to catch up in the near future.

Be safe and will catch up later.

Marilyn in Dania Beach, Fl.

Hope you have a smooth travel day. Looking forward to following along.

Loved the skit too - very prescient!

Checking airfares is my new favorite hobby. The unpredictability is great entertainment. We haven't narrowed down next summer at all, other than to say we want to see different countries. At this moment, Jacinto is looking at one way tickets - the better to cross more countries. He has found a one way from Denver to Barcelona for $535.

Here's the amusing part - a one way ticket from Grand Junction to Denver is $204. We know we need to get back home, so let's make that a round trip. A RT ticket is $1,257.! That makes no sense at all.

We were most pleased with American Airlines luggage policy this summer - everything flew for free. I have since read that if you have an economy ticket, you have to pay for luggage. Indeed, they do squeeze every dime out of you.

A friend recently traveling with a CPAP machine said that medical devices are required to go for free, and go with you in the cabin.

I look forward to traveling with you!

We are now leaving August 27, arriving in Europe on the 28th.

Love the Carol Burnett skit. When is your departure date?

On re-reading what I wrote I can certainly see how the wrong impression was conveyed, on two fronts! First, while indeed we are down on the Fridays for "tough" tours, we are still enamored of their portability. So we plan to use them in Mexico, and we are thinking of Mexico as the place to go while waiting out the Shengen 3 month gap. To this end we already folded and stuffed the Fridays into their hard cases. This was a process that included a lot of "How do Andersons do this all the time with little or no whining?" (given the amount of disassembly and Tetris-ing involved). A new "glitch" is that while airlines generally permit 50 pounds for a suitcase, the e-assist gear jumps our weight to 60 pounds. That means that instead of denying that there is a bike in there, for some carriers (like Westjet, but not United) it is cheaper to have a bike than an overweight bag!

Thge second poorly written part is the bit that gave the impression that one might sleep in a storage locker (though we have definitely considered sleeping in the back of a closed U-Haul truck). No the idea was to rent a small apartment, and to to use it as a storage location, where one could also sleep.