An Introduction....

One thing I've learned....it's difficult to find someone you can travel with and really enjoy yourself. When you do, even the toughest moments ("Oh crap, we were supposed to turn there, and the next spot to turn around is 23 miles down the road!") can become the most cherished memories (and retold with much exaggeration). And so it was with myself, my husband Justin, and my sister Sara. I mean, really, how could you not enjoy strolling along the Tiber River in Rome at dusk, when suddenly Justin jumps onto a ledge, and in the process rips open his only pair of pants, shines his pasty white thigh to the beautifully tanned Italian population, pulls a butt muscle, and has to do the walk of shame 3 miles back to our apartment along crowded Roman streets while trying to pretend he isn't missing almost his entire left pant leg? And yes, I did have to massage his aching derriere the next morning....


Sadly, on December 25, 2009, tragedy struck, and Plumey's travels were cut short. And so here I am planning our 6-year anniversary without him.

After deciding on a roadtrip to Alaska (something he always wanted to do), Sara and I were at a loss. Where was the other 33 and 1/3 % of our travel group? (Actually, he was more like 45%....) And that's when it happened. I remember it like it was yesterday....and in fact, it was. We were discussing the trip over a delicious bowl of Pho, when it hit us. We are bringing him with us...and we are leaving him at every place we stop (something I admit I wanted to do more than once in our previous travels). We figured Justin would love it because it's like he's marking his territory on every tree and fire hydrant along the way.

Ok, so, you are probably wondering what in the world Pieces of Plumey means? As for Plumey, it's a shout-out to Justin's work buddies, half of whom gave him the nickname for his incessant gawking at the mill's steam plumes; the other half called him this because of the plumes of aroma that flowed as a result of his constant "vapor-ing" (his words, not mine).

Pieces--those are the little bright spots that Justin gave our lives. The gifts we refuse to forget. And these little pieces are what we are going to "bottle" and gift along all of our future travels, beginning with Alaska.

Here's the plan: We are putting a picture and a memory of Justin in a little glass bottle at each stop along our journey.


We will include this website address in the hopes that each person stumbling upon these memories will log on to the blog and share their story of how they "met" Plumey. We will also be documenting everywhere we leave a bottle, via this blog, with posts and photographs.

Come with us by helping us to think of interesting and unique places to leave these little gifts!

The first leg of our trek begins Friday, May 21, our 6-year anniversary. Follow us for the next two and a half weeks on our first adventure with Pieces of Plumey!