Daphne's Drivel

Three days after returning from Greece, I was back in my old job, working Monday to Friday, almost as if I'd never left! How did that happen, you ask? Well, when I retired in the summer, there was an agreement that I would be able to come back and work on a casual basis, if I wanted to. I was expecting to be offered a week here or there, to cover during vacation or sick time. There hasn't really been a history of providing relief staff in my office over the last few years, even during extra busy times, so I didn't expect to get that many hours. So when I was offered full-time hours for the next few months at least, it came as a bit of a surprise. It seems it has been extremely busy lately. This is a good thing for me! I'm actually quite enjoying being back. It's been great getting to see all my work friends again, and the extra money is a bonus. I see a new mountain bike in my future very soon - replacing my stolen one will hurt much less now! Working when you ...

Back in August, I seriously wondered if all the preparations for this cycling trip would be worth it. As we packed all the camping and cooking gear, not really knowing how much we would be able to camp, we questioned if it was worth carrying all that extra weight. Would the campgrounds even still be open in September and October, and if they were, what would they be like? We also hadn't done any tent camping for a long time, so were we about to find out that we are now too spoiled and wimpy from comfy van camping to enjoy it again? Neither of us knew how we would take to cycle-touring, and I worried about how I would cope with the physical demands of riding hills with the bikes loaded. One of many "to do" lists before the trip Well, now we have the answers. Yes, yes and yes! It was so worth it - we loved the cycling part. For the 26 days of the actual Crete cycle tour, we camped for 19 of those days and loved it! We camped for 25 out of our total 60 days, so no qu...