Trip to Italy & Eastern Europe

After the big move out west, things finally settled down enough to allow us to travel to Italy to visit Christine's parents. We took a great 10-day vacation to Aviano, Italy (just north of Venice) and traveled with Christine's parents to parts of Eastern Europe. Our travels included Zagreb, Croatia; Budapest, Hungary; Lake Bled, Slovenia; and a small town named Prebold in Slovenia, which is where Scott's great-great grandfather helped to build a church. Photos: Marketplace in Budapest, Hungary. Christine & Scott in San Marco Square, Venice, Italy. Scott in front of the church his great-great grandfather helped to build in Prebold, Slovenia. More photos.

The desert is filled with such natural beauty, which has been inspiring for Christine who has taken up photography as a hobby (or at least she's trying to learn all the gadgets on her digital camera). Tonight we took a short drive into Coronado State Park to capture the sunset over the Tucson Mountains. A little bit of trivia: 1) The saguaro cacti pictured to the right are native to this region and contrary to popular belief, do not grow in all desert climates. 2) It takes approximately 70 years for a saguaro to grow it's first arm. 3) Tucson sits in a bowl, surrounded by mountains on all four sides - the Catalinas to the north, the Tucson mountains to the west, the Santa Ritas to the south, and the Rincons to the east. In the spring, an evening rain in Tucson usually means waking up to snow on the mountain peaks.