There are things about camping that always seem to end up the same way. For example, it has become a tradition to arrive late at night, to build the tent in the dark, to freeze until morning and to discover the surroundings only on the following day. It is also not unusual that we leave the path during our hikes and finally end up taking the hardest way to our destination. What was different this time, was the warm welcome we received from the 'locals', also known as mosquitoes, who undoubtedly appreciated their festive lunch. But the beauty of the scenery was well worth the sacrifice.

With our busy schedule it has been quite hard to bring PP and KK together for a weekend. But we finally managed to do that on the 4th of July weekend and spent our first evening in Santa Cruz in a delightful restaurant called 'Chocolat'. We then headed down to Monterey and drove along 17 Mile Drive all the way to Pebble Beach and Carmel. No doubt, it is an amazing place and I can't believe I had never been there after 5 years! Makes us wish we were not that busy ...

The legion of scarecrows gathered in Denens did not succeed in scaring us away from our holidays and neither did the vertiginous cliffs of the Mont Blanc. Obviously, nothing could distract us from the happy get-togethers with friends and family. And during the short time Karen was in Switzerland, she even improved her French by one sentence: 'Nooon, j'veux pas rentrer!'

The atmosphere by the water was filled with the spirits of John Rackham and Jack Sparrow. The black flag floating in the wind was there to remind everyone of the mercilessness of the boat’s crew. And for those who discarded the warning, they probably still remember the names of four wicked sailors/captains: Seven Fingers Ben, Shivering Lucy, Pigtail Lulu and Bigoudi Jack. As for the treasure, you may ask? We sure gathered all sorts of floating objects, but there was no cash by the creek.

Another year and another great party on the streets of San Francisco. Oh? Was it supposed to be a race? Well, we broke our record time of last year by more than an hour: 3 hours and 30 minutes instead of the lousy 2 hours and 20 minutes of last year. I'm sure we'll beat that time again next year.

If you're one of those who think camping is fun, it is probably because you never planted your tent in the mountains above 2000m during a moonless night at the end of the winter, surrounded by merciless bears ready to make a feast out of you. But there are two crazy people, Pascal and Patrick, who still enjoyed it and are ready to do it again ... with many more blankets!