One More Sleep

“Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.” – Lawrence Block

Before the alarm went off at 2:45 AM this morning, the power flickered at the hotel long enough to make our c-paps stop. Believe me, suddenly having no air in your lungs will wake you up quicker than any alarm. But it was all good and we hopped up ready to assemble our stuff for the shuttle to the airport.

This is me packing light. Bear in mind, we've already shipped 2-50lb suitcases to the ship!

Sadly, we had a little kerfluffle during transport, and the shuttle driver packed my lime green case in the back of the van in such a way that one of the wheels got caught on something. He clean-and-jerked it right off as he was unloading us at the airport. Not an auspicious start...

Okay, the green was a little garish.

But we were able to find a shiny new replacement carry-on right after we got through TSA. If you are a frequent traveler and haven't signed up for Pre-check, let me encourage you to do so. It meant we could zip to the head of a special line for folks who've applied and allowed themselves to be vetted ahead of time. Then we also get our own much shorter screening line. (However, my portable oxygen concentrator still makes their "threat-o-meter" peg out and poor Herkimer and my smaller device, Percy, have to be swabbed for possible bomb-making residue. Oh, well...)   

Viking booked us first class and the flight was on-time and very comfortable. As we neared California, we flew over what looked to me like the Grand Canyon, but I can't be sure. What do you think?

We must have caught a tailwind because we arrived about half an hour early...time enough to make it to the Crowne Plaza and find a place to view a webinar from Viking about changes to our itinerary. Even though I trust Uncle Torstein is doing his best, I was pretty wary about what we might learn. All the countries west of the International dateline--Polynesia, Asia, and India--are closing down because of a covid surge, so what could Viking do? The answer? 

Pivot.

Here's the updated map of our world voyage:

Check out the details at "No Really. This is Where We're Going." 2022 Viking World Horizons

   I'm thrilled with these changes. We've never sailed along the western shore of Mexico. I've had my eye on South America for some time, so this is a wonderful addition. I love spending time in the Mediterranean and there are so many bucket list new-to-us ports on this updated itinerary. We feel very blessed! 

We talked to our friends, Kristy & Dave, briefly this afternoon--all masked up and maintaining a six foot distance. (This was very hard for Kristy and me! We usually klick like magnets!) They still don't have the results of their covid test, and even though we were negative yesterday, we spent 4 hours in a metal tube with strangers today. We'll all be tested tomorrow on the ship and once we're declared negative, we'll meet for supper at The Chef's Table. 

I still have a sense of unreality. I've been hopeful, but disbelieving, all this time. I guess I won't really believe this cruise is going to happen until we're on the Star looking at the LA skyline retreating in the distance!