2026 – DAK Living- Dave and Karen exploring the world!

Switzerland, Spectacular & Sumptuous

Wow! What a fantastic 2 weeks spent in Switzerland. We explored and enjoyed a good portion of the country with family and friends (11 total). While a few in our group had some deviations in their itinerary, DaK spent time in Geneva, Zermatt, Montreux (Lausanne & Bern), and Zurich (Lucern). My cousin, Greg, did a fantastic job planning our itinerary.

We paid for a 15-day Swiss Rail Pass, which worked extremely well, and included pretty much all forms of ground transportation (boat, bus, tram, and rail) within Switzerland and free entry into many museums and tourist attractions. We also discovered COOP convenience stores for reasonably priced food, drinks (including beer) and other items. They were extremely prevalent everywhere we stayed and saved us quite a bit of money. B.T.W., Switzerland has the highest cost of living in Europe and the exchange rate did not help.

We have done annual trips with this group before (Yellowstone and Innsbruck) and it’s always a wonderful mix of group activities with enough time built in for individual interests (e.g. biking). But the standout take away with this group is laughter. I never laugh this hard or consistently as when we are all together. So much fun!

GENEVA

We were very impressed with Geneva. The bike paths were extensive and very well maintained, the city was clean with efficient transportation (train, tram, bus, boat), and there was such a variety of things to do. Beautiful Lake Geneva is right at your doorstep with its swimming and boating, Old Town is absolutely charming, and the social scene is fantastic (concerts, waterfront dining, shopping, etc.).

Navarre – Florida’s Most Relaxing Place

This year Michigan’s winter was so cold and snowy that we almost didn’t escape it’s icy grip. In fact, at the last minute, we had to cancel our plans to drive to South Carolina because the weather and roads were so bad. Instead we flew on a non-stop flight from Flint, MI to Destin, FL to escape the winter in Navarre, FL for 27 days. Like the signs say, Navarre is very relaxing. But maybe a little too relaxing after a few weeks.

We stayed at a brand new (opened for less than 2 months) Residence Inn in Navarre, FL. It was right on the bay and the bridge that takes you across the bridge to the island of Navarre Beach. The room was nice consisting of a 4 room suite (bedroom, bathroom, living room, and fully equipped kitchen) with a balcony overlooking the bay. Karen insists on being able to cook our own meals when we have a long-term stay.

This trip we were able to secure two e-bikes (usually bring our own bikes when we drive) and a nice keyboard (to keep up on our newly acquired piano skills) for the entire stay. So we made ourselves quite at home.

While Navarre had many friendly people and the weather was pretty great, my only significant issue with the area was its lack of a pedestrian/bicycle friendly infrastructure. Other than a couple of bike paths (that were difficult to get to) there was almost nowhere to ride or walk, unless you were on the side of a highway with 50 m.p.h. speed limits.

Once we got across the super narrow bridge to Navarre Beach, we were able to ride on a path or the side of the road with very little traffic. During one of our rides on the island, we unexpectedly ran into a pretty major Mardi Gras parade. We were surprised at how big the parade an crowd was for such a small, out of the way island.

Of course we located two decent breweries in Navarre. St. Micheals was closest to our hotel with decent beer but only food trucks for food. Ye Old Brothers Brewery was about a seven mile bike ride away and had some very good beer (doppelboch, dunkel, marzen, and pumpkin) until they ran out. Then we were forced to self supply from Total Wine in Pensecola.

As I mentioned, Navarre was a little too relaxing after a while. So we decided to take an overnight trip to New Orleans (about a three and a half hour drive west of Navarre). Karen had never been so we stayed at a J.W. Marriott just a short walk from the French Quarter. The first day there we listened to local music on Bourbon Street and around the French Market. It was a fun day! The second day we took a “free” walking tour of the French Quarter with one of the best guides we ever had – anywhere. We learned much about all of the different cultures that influenced New Orleans over its history. As a bonus, our guide was an accomplished musician and songwriter, so he gave us a nice perspective on the musical history of New Orleans too. Definitely the highlight of our trip!