Getting Our Kicks on Route 66

The Norwegian and I took a quick camping trip this past week. We drove over to Springfield, MO--about 100 miles away--so we could visit the awesome new aquarium there. Here's a photo montage my dear hubby put together of our trip.



During this time of the virus, we're so thankful to have our camper. It feels like a very safe way to have a little adventure. We were able to keep to ourselves and the aquarium did a great job of screening us (temperature check and masks required) and limiting the number of visitors in the facility at one time. As a result, we had no crowds to fight and were able to explore at our leisure.

Not every exhibit was open. There was no opportunity to swim with the sharks (oh, darn!) and we saw no penguins, but it is a lovely aquarium. It's also an ode to fishing since it's attached to the Bass Pro Shop and houses a Fisherman Hall of Fame of sorts. There were even a number of photos and exhibits about past presidents who were avid fishermen. (And that is as political as I'm going to get!)

We're still chafing a bit over having our travel plans cut out from under us this year. A small adventure like this one really helps.

Have you been able to do something that inspires you, that educates you in a fun way, or makes you grateful to live in this wonderful world this summer?

Finding our Tribe

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." ~ African Proverb

When I was a kid, our family moved around a lot. I attended three different grade schools, three different middle school and high schools. After graduation, I attended a college before finishing my degree at a university. Once I married my DH--whom I think I will start calling "the Norwegian" for the purposes of this blog because one of my sister-in-laws thought DH meant "Damn Husband!"--he and I strapped on our traveling shoes. Over the last 44 years, we've lived in nine different states, all four continental US time zones. You'd think I was an old hand at jumping into new situations and making friends right away.

You'd be wrong. 

The Norwegian and I are both introverts by nature. Don't get me wrong. We like people. A lot. But it takes us a minute to get our bearings in social situations and to "find our tribe." You know what I mean. Others who share a love of some of the same things you do, who seek answers to some of the same big questions about "life, the universe and everything" that also bedevil you. 

When you board a ship with the intention of sailing around the world, you are essentially moving into a new little village. Your stateroom is your address. Your neighbors are in the cabins next door, and over head, and under foot. There may be a ritzier neighborhood on other decks, but the whole ship is your backyard. Once the deck is swaying under everyone's feet, there's a lovely sort of equality that settles in. (At least it does on Viking ships. There are no areas restricted to only certain cabin classes or require additional fees for admittance.) A big part of an extended cruise experience is the engaging conversations, the mutual discoveries of meeting and getting to know new people, the making of new friends.

Still, like calls to like. People tend to gravitate to others who are interested in the things they like as well. Bridge players find each other. Social dancers hit every ballroom lesson offered. When we were on the Pacific Princess, we had a built-in "tribe" in Table 60, our assigned evening dining and made fast friends with that jolly group around a table for eight. We got to know the other singers on board in the passenger choir. We joined a trivia team for a daily ration of humble pie. We started seeing some of the same people on our excursions. And even before we boarded, I'd made some online friends through the CruiseCritic.com roll call for our cruise. 

Kristy & Dave in Croatia

It was on that message board that I first began to realize I really liked Kristy and her husband Dave. She's a retired kindergarten teacher and Dave's an astronomer who volunteered to lead some stargazing while we sailed. I sincerely hoped we'd find each other among the other 600 and some-odd passengers. 

We actually ran into each other on the hotel shuttle as we were heading to the pier for embarkation that first morning! 

The Norwegian, me and Kristy singing in our bathrobes at the Sydney sail-in

This was a friendship that was meant to be. As I suspected we would, Kristy and I clicked like magnets. When one evening we started finishing each other's sentences, Dave gave us a fish-eyed look and said, "You guys are starting to scare me."

But evidently we didn't scare him too badly. He and Kristy have also booked a cabin on the Viking Star for the 2022 Viking World Horizons! The Norwegian and I have a grand start on discovering our new world cruise "tribe." We already have someone to hang with while we scope out the floating village of the Star. When we were on the Pacific Princess, we ended up on so many of the same excursions as Kristy and Dave without an ounce of pre-planning because our interests seemed to line up. We spent lovely, lazy days talking and laughing together.

I can't wait to do it all again on a different ship with an even more exciting itinerary! (And I know for a fact that not having formal nights on the Viking Star is real selling point for Dave!) 

And now, one more traveling quote especially for a kindergarten teacher: 

"As soon as I saw you, I knew that a grand adventure was about to happen."--Winnie The Pooh

A Brave New World in 2022!

It is with trembling pleasure that I announce we have decided on our next grand adventure. (Drumroll, please!) The DH and I have just booked a cabin on 2022 Viking World Horizons!

It's 119 days from Los Angeles to London, but we'll actually be on board for 121 days and won't disembark until the Viking Star reaches Bergen, Norway on May 11, 2022. (The ship is being repositioned and the cruise line threw in the extra couple of days gratis.)

I'll be honest. I've had my eye on Viking itineraries for several years now. It seemed like they were going everywhere I wanted to be! The 2022 World Cruise is no exception. Out of the 48 ports we'll be visiting, 32 of them are new to us. On this voyage, we'll start by saying hello to some old friends--2 Hawaiian islands, Bora Bora, Moorea, and Tahiti. We'll visit both islands of New Zealand (in 2018, we only touched the northern island) and spend time cruising its lovely fjords.

After that, we'll sail across the Ditch to return to Tasmania (a place I fell in love with in 2018) but this time, we'll pull in to Hobart on the south side of the island. Then we'll skirt the eastern and northern shores of Australia where we hope to see the Great Barrier Reef. Last time we sailed around the southern and western coasts of Oz, so this will be new territory before visiting Komodo Island to see the dragons--I kid you not!

We'll spend 3 days in Bali! (There are actually 11 overnights on this itinerary--many more than most voyages.) Then we'll sojourn in southeast Asia, touching Java, Vietnam, Singapore, and Thailand.  From there, we slip through the Malacca Strait to sail into Myanmar--a new port of call for Viking. For The King & I enthusiasts, Myanmar used to be called Burma and was the home of the ill-fated Tuptim in the Rogers & Hammerstein musical.

We'll visit Sri Lanka and then three ports in India (Thank heaven, the Indian visas we secured for our 2018 trip are valid for 10 years! If you've followed this blog, you'll remember our trials and tribulations with the online process and the cumbersome paperwork we were required to assemble and send.)

In the Middle East, we'll call at Oman and Aqaba, Jordan. Last time we visited Wadi Rum (filming location for both Lawrence of Arabia and The Martian) This time, we'll make the trip to Petra to visit the Nabatean ruins made famous in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  

The next stop is a HUGE draw for us--Egypt! Can't wait to see the Temple complex at Karnak.

Then we'll have 2 days to visit Israel. I know it will be different than I've imagined it, but just to walk where my Savior walked the earth will be...oh! I can hardly see my keyboard because my eyes have teared up. Suffice it to say, like Emily Dickenson, "my soul stands ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience."

Continuing the biblical theme, we'll go on to Ephesus and Athens, 2 of the apostle Paul's stops. We'll visit the isle of Rhodes and overnight in Istanbul.

I actually set one of my historical novels (Silk Dreams) in Byzantium (Istanbul's ancient name) during the time when the emperor hired Vikings to serve as his personal guard. (I know. Sounds so strange I'd never dare make it up, but that exactly what the Varangian Guard was!) It will be interesting to see how much my research and imagination managed to capture of the real place.

Then we'll spend time in Italy, Monaco, Spain and Portugal before heading for Great Britain. The lithe Viking Star will cruise up the Thames to Tilbury for London.

From there it's off to Norway and then flying home--Business Class, which I need so I can plug in my portable oxygen concentrator while we're in the air.

To say I'm excited is an understatement! The only downer is that there are over 500 days until we head for LA. But the flip side of that is, I have over 500 days to research, to plan, to dream...

As always, I invite you to hop in my pocket and come along for the ride. Viking provides free wifi on this trip, so I'll be blogging all our adventures as we're having them. So if you haven't already, you might want to sign up to receive my posts by email. (See the "Follow by Email" widget in the right hand column of this page)

That way you'll never miss a minute!