On the Ferry, Over the Road, Through the Air...Our Big, Fat, Greek Ukulele Adventure 2015!

Oh my...first the concept: Go to a Greek island, in September, for a ukulele experience!?  Ha!  Crazy.  That's not going to happen...too far...too expensive (probably)...Greece?  Then there is the next day...hum..maybe I'll just read about that ukulele adventure again.  Just read about it.  Oh, and then, read about it to Steve...as he is driving the RV and we are on the road returning form winter on our favorite Baja beach.  

That was just the first time it was considered.  You Googke "Ukulele Events 2015" and who would think (in their wildest imagination) that an option on the Greek island of Poros would pop up?  And who would think, you would actually, 6 months later, be packing your bag?  (And your ukulele)

Steve's Blackbird Uke...maybe the perfect travel uke!

 Still a little room in the little case...for something...last minute..and...well, little.

The rolling little suitcases are actually packed now.  The ukes are having a few practice sleeps in their travel cases.  The emails and song sheets are stored on the iPad, the passports sit in the new neck wallets, the endless list is slowly coming to its last check off item, Euros arrived safely by UPS (who knew) and in two days our plane lifts off for Iceland! 

Arrival of the Euros....ok..it's real!

You know, Iceland, which is right on the way to Athens (via London), which is right on the way to Santorini Island (how can you visit Greece without a few days visit on another magical island?), which is right on the way back to Athens to join up with the ukulele adventure group and head to Poros Island for 7 fabulous days of ukulele merriment.  

Leaving home at the beginning of September means...picking apples, figuring out what to do with the garden and harvesting the 12 hazelnut trees.  Hazelnut harvest translates into, pick, shell, crack and slow roast.  

Can you spot the nut here?  Hazelnuts are very sneaky....and look a lot like all the rest of the leaves.

Here's a close up...

This is the first batch of hazelnuts...oh, and the Zorba the Greek music our fearless adventure leader sent us in one of the many emails with notes about travel and our time together.  Maybe learn Zorba, while the nuts are roasting?

Then there is the discovery that Sparky the Wonder Dog has been regularly visiting our neighbor's property, using his secret exit where the other neighbor's horses took out part of the fence.  Off to the lumber yard for repair supplies.

Always the athlete...Sparky runs (and leaps) the fence line.

Mr. smarty Sparky Pants.

...why bother you say?  Oh, there is this absolutely beautiful herding dog (Jenny) that resides on the property above us....just through the fence....

And then there's this boy, Skipper.  No longer an adventurer...more of a sleeper at age 13...um, and, err, a barker.

This summer has produced so much...produce!  The apples!  The pears!  The garden...inside and outside of the hoop house.  And all of it calls to us today...pick me, pick me, pick ME!

Did I forget the grapes???

No, we can't figure out how to pick and share the bounty.  Better luck next Fall?  Or maybe....when we return??

So it's goodbye to Froglanding for 18 days...goodbye fire circle, ukulele group, orca whales, apple baking projects, pesto making...coffee roasting, hazelnut production...and the hardest of all...goodbye to those pups as we drive out the road tomorrow.

HELLO!!...Big, Fat, Greek Ukulele Adventure!  First stop...Iceland...very very early in the morning on Friday!