Sunday, May 10, 2026

Greece 2026

May 8-9, 2026

David and I got a chance to take a trip to Mykonos, Greece!  One of our vendors from work gave us this trip, and we planned Calvin's graduation events around it.  May 2 was his party, and May 22 is his graduation day.  Our trip is May 8-18!  Violet's wedding is in one short month.

We think it's super fun to go back to a tiny island in Greece - since we went to a tiny island (Skopelos!) in Greece for our honeymoon in 2003.  23 years later, we get the blessing of being back on the hilly, white-housed landscape.  Not the same place, but a similar vibe.

We are staying at the Myconian Royal.  This island is 10 miles x 6 miles.  The roads are hair-pin turns, curves, and one-lane.  Let's go through the travel getting here first.  In short, we took a 2pm flight on May 8 from Waterloo to Chicago, then a 4:45pm flight from Chicago to Athens.  That one was 10.5 hrs - and we did our best to sleep, but maybe for 3-4 hrs each.  We landed in Athens about 11am Greece time, then caught the last flight to the island from Athens to Mykonos, and landed there around 2:30pm Sat May 9.  We snagged an Uber to the hotel, which was a 20 minute adventure.  We quickly learned the landscape, roads, and how to navigate traffic by that experience.  One memorable event was on the long flight from Chicago to Athens there was a medical emergency on the airplane.  The flight attendants called for a doctor to help - and multiple people came forward.  We could not tell what was going really, but Dave was in the aisle and picked up the fact that some guy was having fainting episodes, and maybe from low blood pressure.  Somebody ended up lying in the flight attendant's center aisle space where they prepare coffee, etc....and recovered. Whoever was struggling was ok, but it was a couple hours of drama.  

There was concern on our first flight from Waterloo to Chicago because there was a wind delay, and we got in much later than we thought.  We had 30 minutes to get from our landing point to the flight to Athens, but we got to the gate right when our group was boarding.  Our hope was the suitcase we checked in Waterloo made it to Mykonos, and it did, so that was a relief.  

Upon arriving at our room in Mykonos, we checked in, kinda knocked out for a nap.  Our room is cozy and has a gorgeous view, with a patio and a table we can hang out and enjoy the ocean view.  Greek islands are really hilly and this hotel is nestled in the hillside, spread up the hill and has multiple levels.  The lobby is gorgeous, so many decorations, and our room is simple with a king bed and bathroom, but the view is incredible.  I can hear the ocean.  Time for photos!!  This encompasses travel and our first day.

Our first view of Mycokos

Myconos airport

on the Uber ride seeing the view for the first time - the ocean is always exciting!

our first look outside our hotel room view!

everything is just so pretty - even the white walls and vegetation


first sunset - so gorgeous


pool view at the resort



the path to our room

lobby decor - not quite sure I'm looking at

dinner - we had greek salad and chicken and pork gyros

the pool is sparkly!

Sunday, May 10, 2026

Today we slept until we needed to wake up.  Dave set an alarm to get up at 9am but I didn't hear it.  We rolled out of bed reluctantly at 9:30am.  Our goal was to get to breakfast before it closed.  The buffet had amazing options - our favorite part of breakfast was the soft-boiled eggs on toast.  Runny eggs...yum.  Fruit, potatoes, eggs, fruit, juice, and espresso - so so satisfyingl  

We rented a car and took some recommendations from the local concierge.

the breakfast view

The adventure begins - we rented a car!  Time to explore the island!  We stopped in Ano Mera for espresso at Villago, then we were recommended to go to Kikis - a rustic well rated restaurant with gorgeous views.  We saw an iconic lighthouse (Armenistis Lighthouse), then spent the rest of the day in Myconos "downtown"  shopping, cigar shopping, and and viewing the sunset.  Here are some pics.

every building is white


gorgeous views

Paralia Agios Sostis beach

Kikis lunch location

view from Kikis

some delicious salads we enjoyed - lentils, broccoli, beet, and something else, forgot what it was.  it had mint.

view is gorgeous

marinated chicken thighs with potato

Armenistis Lighthouse




"Sea Lavender" - these little weeds are pretty - and covered the landscape by the ligthouse


Dave tried connecting with the local goats but he was unsuccessful 


what is this little stubby van

Myconos is a cruise port island

first view of the main city

the iconic windmills from the 16th century

this little strip is called "Little Venice"


Dave did some shirt shopping

sunset was a bit cloudy - but still pretty

after sunset the lights and candles came out - made this little place look so cute.  It was a restaurant called Coccos.

Monday, May 11th, 2026

Beautiful views at breakfast again - we did a little shopping and I got a new pair of sunglasses while we waited for our room to be cleaned.



We are not really sure what today holds - tomorrow is the first hosted dinner so we have a lot of relaxation time.





Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Doozy of a day at Budget Blinds

The story is long, but here are the bullets/highlights:

- Hail that caused lots of damage - Dave's tesla was totaled, Sam's and Syd's rear windows punctured out, every work and personal vehicles have major dents, every work van needs new windshields because of cracks.

- Violet was traveling and popped a tire on her own vehicle. Jimmy (Drew's dad) helped her put on the spare on.

- Noah's work van (Dubuque install) mid-day didn't start, had to have it towed to Falls Auto, they put in a new starter.  

- Later in the day, Noah was traveling back to Dubuque (almost home) and got struck by LIGHTNING.  He is OK (praise the Lord) but he said it was the strangest feeling/loudest boom he's ever heard.  The van is completely toasted, had to get towed back to his house in Dubuque.  

- One of Voyen's installs late in the day was going very badly, with a lot of manufacturer issues - David went to help him and they stayed at the customer house until 9:30pm working on the issues.