Germany and Austria Christmas Markets and Krampus

This Christmas season we took the kids to see if they were truly good or bad - to the Krampuslauf in Salzburg, Austria. There, St. Nicholas and the Krampus would sort it out for us.

Open-water Swimming Now Closed

Today was probably my last day of open water swimming at South Shore Beach this year.  Sunny and calm water and the picture looks like a nice beach day, but air and water temperatures in the '50s and a 10 knot breeze made for some chilly swimming even with the wetsuit. Gloves, booties and a hood would have been a nice addition.

All bundled up now, with a hot coffee from Coastal Roasters, and the car heat on full blast, but I'm still shivering! 

Run for My Life

Thank goodness I'm a runner and I've been running daily for over 9 years. I"m planning to go through at least next summer and now ... at least until September 9, 2026. Because that's when Iron Maiden make their Boston stop on the Run for Your Lives tour!

I've already got my tickets ...

Join the Story ...

... over on Mastadon.

9+ Years of Daily Running

As another summer draws to a close, I complete another year of running every day .. 9 years now. That's over 100 months, over 3,300 days, and conservatively estimating .. over 10,000 miles.

During that time, I've:

Niagara Falls

I took the kids to Niagara Falls to see the wonder and majesty of water falling off a cliff. I downplay, but it was pretty cool to see how excited that can make a person [video], especially when you're up close and personal like in the midst of Horseshoe Falls on Niagara City Cruises or literally behind the falls in the eponymous Journey Behind the Falls.

We stayed on the Canadian side, a few blocks up from the falls, but within a mile walking distance to the falls and local excursions. We took a 15-minute ride north for a Whirlpool Jet Boat tour up the Niagara River and saw the falls light up a night .. under fireworks as well!

On the way home, we walked on the American side park before the long car ride home.

Oui Si Paris, Barcelona

When Jen told me we could take the family on a week-long trip to Paris, France and Barcelona, Spain with three full days in each city, during February vacation .. for less than the cost of a trip to Disney, I was incredulous. When we did it, I was amazed. When we got back, exhausted. And now wondering how we pull off something like this again!

Of course getting flights and hotels this cheap meant not direct and single family room for four, but we could work with that.