Janice Ehrens:  

I love to travel. I guess it comes by naturally since my mother was from the south and we would visit my grandmother in Florida most summers. My ultimate goal is to retire in the winters to Cocoa Florida and live on the Indian River. Love it there!! Starting in 1986, I began traveling overseas when my cousin married his sweetheart in England. It definitely changed the direction of my travels. After graduating with my associates degree in 1993, I spent three weeks in Europe, visiting Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg. It was wonderful; spending evenings in the Black Forest to going to the North Sea. It was a dream come true as I spent time with family and our exchange student. My German was rough but I did understand what most people were saying. In 2002, Kathy Hazen (another '68 graduate) and I traveled to the United Kingdom. We spent two weeks in England, Scotland and Wales. It was wonderful. We met so many wonderful people that I still write. I was so excited when I found the poem I had read in 9th grade about Scotland in a poetry book. This poem had me dreaming for years about Scotland. I knew someday I would be there! In 2004, we spent two weeks in Ireland. Ireland was magnificant... it was beautiful. I found it quite amuzing. After going to dinner and theatre, I proceeded to the hotel bar to spend time with our Canadian friends. While there, I had a gentleman come over to talk to me. He was from the United States and asked where I was from. I told him Underwood, Iowa and he knew exactly where it was!! I couldn't believe it! Most people in Iowa don't know where Underwood is located. In our continued conversation, I found out he had lived in Des Moines and worked for Blue Cross/Blue Shield and was in Ireland with some friends to play golf! When I decided to take leave for the evening, he did not want me to go. When I got to Kathy and my room, I was laughing... who would have ever thought you could go to Ireland to be 'hit on' by a Des Moines insurance man?! In 2006, Kathy and I spent two weeks in Italy. Had a magnificant time! We always go three days prior to joining our tour group so spent three days in Rome on our own. How magnificant! Our group was made up of people from Australia, England, Wales and Scotland. We had parties in our room every night. Even our tour guide would join us. My travels came to a halt for a couple years. After returning home from Italy, my husband and I were told...Expand for more