Month: January 2026

So guess what happens when your flight is delayed and you miss your connection and they book you onto another flight the next day and that flight is with another airline because they don’t fly to where you’re going and your baggage is already checked through to that city and its not getting there by the original airline and they keep it overnight and you’ve got to get to the airport early the next day and find a line that is gargantuan in length filled with countryfolk and every belonging that they can possibly jam on, and into, giant cardboard boxes that are wrapped and taped to survive a drop from 37,000 feet up and you realize that there is no way to stay there and get anything accomplished and then you wheedle your way onto the line with only two people on it and plead your case with the nice desk lady with your baggage stubs from the original flight waving frantically so they can run down stairs and get Quasimodo to find your two bags and scurry them over to the new airline so that they can be on your new flight to Hanoi?

                        Did you guess that the bags made it onto that flight, or did you guess that the bags are still in Tokyo? *

                        Tune in tomorrow to find out if our Intrepid Travelers are re-united with their underwear or…… not!

* Fun Fact…… did you know that Tokyo is as far away from Hanoi as New York is from San Francisco?

 Who’d a thunk that!!!???

So….. yes, it’s a six-hour flight on Vietnam Airlines…… but this time we’re in Coach…. with the crates of chickens and other livestock….. and whatever else could not be jammed into those cardboard boxes…..

Only kidding! Vietnam Air had one of most spotless aircraft that I’ve ever been on and the most pleasant Cabin Crew to boot!

The flight went perfectly, the lunch was delicious, the movie selection incredibly large, and the two bags (who were on their very first trip as they are brandy-spankin’ new NOBL fancy travel cases) that should have been on that flight must have felt just slightly miffed at being squished between smelly old cardboard boxes because as it turns out, they stamped their little roller-feet and refused to be boarded.

They were left wailing and gnashing their teeth in Tokyo.

They will hopefully arrive today.

That means that we did get here yesterday! (or was it last week(?) because we did cross that incredibly confusing International Date Line and it’s tough to keep track!)

We’re at the hotel after fighting the lines at Immigration when we arrived. Apparently, everyone else in the known world decided to come to Vietnam yesterday afternoon. But no worries here as we finally overcame the queue (no cardboard boxes….yet, as we still needed to get to baggage (and cargo) claim. Our driver waited patiently outside for us and we were able to keep in contact using What’s App, an internet-based system similar to Face Time. 45 minutes later we were greeted by “Phil” (his real name is Phúc Nguyễn Hạnh) who could be one of the nicest people on the planet!

We were also greeted by Sherry from the Harold and Sherry duo and quickly whisked up to the rooftop bar for a few Baileys before dinner.

            Dinner was at a really neat little place about a block away with the rest of our group. Lively banter ensued as we all got acquainted with each other and Phil explained what were about to be served.

 I do not know what everything was.

I did eat everything.

Nothing looked suspicious, there were no extraneous crawly-type legs or bug eyes at all!

After dinner we all went back to the hotel and zonked.

More tomorrow.

To say that this trip started off on the right foot would be an understatement. Presently we find ourselves in the United Airlines Polaris Lounge which is reserved for passengers traveling exclusively in that Class. This is the one with those Personal Pods and Lay-Flat Snoozer Seats.

                        The ONLY aspects of this trip that are of any concern are the flying parts. NOT because I am afraid of flying, quite the opposite…. I’ve done aerobatics in a Stearman Bi-Plane, flew a WWII AT-6 and countless other cool aircraft courtesy of my Chatterbox partner Steve. I’ve even flown a 727! So, as you may surmise, flying is not the issue.

                        Sitting is the issue.

                        And for those of you that have known me for more than an hour or so, know my Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) can be debilitating at times. This is an affliction that I do take medication for, and it is majorly effective….. most of the time. But sitting in an airplane row with limited room to move around, the Fasten Seat Belt sign glaring me in the face, and the guy who I am positive is the Air Marshall eyeing me up while secretly fingering the trigger on the howitzer hidden in his jacket.

            I hope that he uses it on me and puts me out of my misery.

                        You may think that this is an exaggeration…..

                        I can assure you that it is not!

                        It’s not that I won’t sit down, it’s that I can’t sit down.

                        And…. a full-blown Panic/Claustrophobic-type Attack may end up being the result.  Queue the Xanax.

            So, as you can surmise, seating on an aircraft is more important to me than most people. I always opt for the (now more expensive) exit row seats, because there is gobs of leg room there and the only extra thing that I need to do is help open the door, etc. in case of emergency. As an aside, I’m the guy that you really want there because even as a kid on the school bus I sat up front and studied all the controls and switches in case the driver was incapacitated, I would know what to do.

                        Another good spot is one of the bulkhead rows with no seats in front of you. Usually there is extra leg room there also. Occasionally I’ve been fortunate to scoff up a First-Class seat last minute when they just want to get a few more shekels out of someone willing to shell them out. This option comes with some other perks like FREE (all you can eat) snacks! And the good ones too…. endless Stroopwafels for your enjoyment!

                        Back to this flight. We did have a bulkhead seat with the middle one still unsold as of yesterday. Yahoo! But….. when I went on to check us in, there were some ‘offers’ to upgrade to Polaris Class. We had (just for fun) asked about this for the upcoming Baltic/Poland trip….. it was available for an extra $8500.00….uh…. no thanks. So, we never expected this to ever be an option.

                        But I think I’ve got this business figured out…. with absolutely no way to verify this theory:

                        Fact: there is no better industry than the airlines that have the down and dirty numbers on the amounts of passengers on a flight, i.e. how many open seats are available in any given class at any given time. They also know, just by the experiential numbers of past passengers, that ‘X’ percentage are willing to move seats, upgrade, cancel, etc.

            This all leaves them with an algorithm that dictates their moves, and motives, come a day or so before departure. Well, I guess that we hit that jackpot and there must have been enough open Polaris Class seats available that they knew that they needed to make a proposition that, as Don Corleone (Marlon Brando) so persuasively said, “I’m gonna make you an offer you can’t refuse!”

                        So, here we sit in the Polaris Class Lounge in the Houston Airport that is even better than the usual United Lounge (which is very pleasant in its own right!) having a very nice breakfast, just waiting to board and by now you’ve correctly surmised that we are not in our Economy Bulkhead seats but in fact in 10D and 10F which are in the middle row, both on the aisle,  and have a nifty Privacy Screen between them (if you don’t happen to know your neighbor!)

                        +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

                        Getting acclimated to these new surroundings is just a little daunting but we are not complaining! There are so many ‘amenities’ that are included with these seats that it seems a tad cluttered. Two blankets, two different pillows, a bag filled with toiletry-type items, slippers, and even pajamas upon request! Stashing all these things in spaces that we are unaccustomed to made getting boarded early almost a necessity, but it all worked out, things were squished into tight little spaces, or in some cases, folks just dove in, covered up and went to sleep. We had our Four-Course meal that was very good, and I can report to you that the Triple Chocolate Mousse cake is excellent!

                        But…… (here it comes)

                        I spoke too soon.

                        You know that it is not good when the Captain gets on the PA system when everything is running smoothly and there are no apparent problems. He was not talking to us to show us something out the windows. He was letting us know that we would be detouring to San Francisco for a “maintenance” issue. He said that we were in no danger now, but the correct course of action would be to address it before we headed out over the north Pacific Ocean. We have no idea what it is, how it may be fixed, whether we will need to de-plane or not, but in a short period of time I think that we’ll have some answers. I am quite sure that the folks on the ground are working diligently to mitigate any more negative circumstances.

                        In the meantime there is always some extra Xanax!

            Wait! Another announcement!

                        Blah-blah-blah blah…………

                        Well, we learned that we would be landing in San Francisco, the time, temp, and winds there, just as if it was our final destination! I wish that we had just a little more info!

                        ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

                        Remember back at the start of this Post I said that it was an understatement to say that we had started out on the right foot? I wish that I could take that back now, but only slightly, because these seats are AWESOME !!!!!

            But there is an excellent possibility that we are going to miss our connecting flight to Hanoi. Originally, we had about a three-hour layover and that buffer has been consumed by our detour to San Francisco when we had to make a hard left instead of the shorter route of going up over Alaska and then down to Japan, and don’t forget the time spent in San Francisco transferring to another plane. I do have to complement United on this swap of aircraft, we came into G-4, disembarked, walked two gates to G-2 where our identical aircraft was already waiting for us, and waited for the replacement cockpit crew to arrive. The whole shebang went off without a hitch, so that was the positive of the negative. It turns out that there was an issue with the air handling system. When the outside temps are hovering around negative 60 degrees, and close to 300 peeps are aboard all very inconsiderately breathing….. well I guess that the a/c unit is quite important and the judicious decision that was made was the correct one.

                        The confusing part right about now is determining what time it is. While the physical time set by a time Zone is easy to pinpoint, determining the “Feels Like” time is a little more difficult. We caught the 6:30 jitney bus over to the airport and started to board around 9:30.   After flying North Westward for about two hours, we made that hard left to get San Franscico. I re-set my watch there for West Coast time which didn’t really make too much of a difference. BTW, at that time, the Tokyo time was something that I can’t configure as my real time now feels like about 2:30 am and I can barely keep my eyes open. I checked the In-Flight Guidance System on the video screen in front on me and it seems that we are due south of Anchorage, Alaska, headed to cross the Aleutian Islands soon and we still have 6 hours and 39 minutes to go, but who’s counting!   (And that’s just to Tokyo!)

                        Wait! I’ve got it figured out! Right now, it is 8:50 pm in Texas, 11:50 AM (tomorrow) in Tokyo and Hanoi is two hours earlier at 9:50 AM cuz it’s further West of Tokyo and an additional seven-hour plane ride which we won’t know if we’re going to make until we actually arrive in Tokyo.  

                        I think that I’ll end this blathering missive of a Post because I’m getting punchy and I am having quite the time backspacing the random letters that appear because I fall asleep with my finger on a letter and make about five rows of them before I get startled awake. When it gets Posted, only time will tell, as a regular schedule I have yet to establish. 

 Good night for nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

                                                                                                                                                                                               

(Many hours later)      

PS Arrived in Tokyo, staying at a nifty hotel, the Hotel Nikko Narita courtesy of United. I have to say that United was very organized and accommodating when we arrived. They had big tables all set up at the end of the jetway and staffed accordingly. Our Vouchers and our new flight arrangements were all there waiting for us. The hotel is magnificent and we’ll be back at the airport (only 5 minutes away) early tomorrow morning!

TWO WEEKS TO GO!

This year’s upcoming Expeditions to all points of the compass!

Here is a summary for reference, some compact details follow.

                        1/28 – 2/28   Viet Nam & Cambodia

                        2/28 – 4/5      Texas

                        4/9 – 5/4         NJ/ Poland /NJ

                        5/5 – 7/14      NJ

                        7/15 – 8/1       Iceland/Svalbard/Norway (Cruise)

                        8/2 – 8/7         NJ

                        8/7 / 8/15       Alaska Cruise

                        8/16 – (?)        NJ for a few days, then we pack up and head West via the U.P., Minneapolis, Montana, Oregon, then pick our way South and East, stopping in Durango before heading back to Texas.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

In exactly Two weeks we will be winging our way to Viet Nam and Cambodia via Tokyo. This event signals the start of our Travel Season to which all of you are invited to tag along on. Same rules apply, passports up to date, inoculations complete, you must check with the Class Mother for your room assignments and on this particular journey, I cannot vouch for the bathroom facilities cuz they do things different over there. I hope that my thighs can hold up!    

                        This trip will last exactly a month, from January 28^th to February 28^th, after that we will be back in Texas until we start our Northern Migration in early April. This is a little earlier than usual and the reason will be apparent in a few more sentences. This Migration will most likely follow the usual Migratory Route of a Black and Gray Southern Winnebago –  Dormiens vehiculum winnebagious (mature). Going on twelve years old now, our specimen of this species is getting just a little tired and as so, usually finds convenient resting places along the route. These stops are often located next to suitable food sources for a more contiguous and easy respite.

                        We are exiting Texas just a little earlier than usual because we need to be in New Jersey in order to exit quickly in the opposite direction from Viet Nam. We board in Newark on April 13^th (!) and fly to Poland and the Baltic Capitals where we will stay until May 4^th. Both this one and the previously mentioned Viet Nam one are not Cruises! These will be our first experience with traveling with a “Tour” and with Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T.) in particular.

                        On these trips will be Harold and Sherry (Florida) from the World Cruise. One of the greatest aspects of that World Cruise (besides the Cruise and Ports themselves) was that we made good friends along the way and you have all been able to meet them (at least virtually) in this forum as we have kept in contact with them and visited with them from time to time. Darla & Sandra (Florida and the Upper Peninsula) Steve & Sandi (Oregon and Palm Springs) and Brian & Kristine (Oregon – and they happened to do a ‘drive-by’ in Durango on one of their road trips!)

                        Harold and Sherry have been on probably close to 30 tours with OAT and have raved about them from the get-go. One of the nice aspects of this outfit is that the group is limited to about 15 participants, and they emphasize the local cultures to the point where we will be staying overnight in a host home, learning about them and their customs, and even getting to cook a local dish with them. As you know, we love cruising, and cruises have tons of advantages, but one of the negative aspects of cruising is that it is almost impossible to really experience deep-down local traditions.

From all the reports , this will be just the opposite and we can’t wait!

March and the beginning of April will be spent in Texas where the Bluebonnets will be in full bloom and are definitely a sight to behold!  I think that here is an ordinance or something because no one (even the road crews) do not wow during Bluebonnet season. The roadsides are filled for weeks at a time, and the sight never gets tiring!

                        Next stop is back up to NJ, where we will ‘stay’ until mid-August. Actually, only the motor home will stay, as we have three more trips emanating from there. Our first one will be that OAT trip to Poland and the Baltic Capitals. We were in Tallin, Estonia back in 2017 whilst on a Princess Baltic Cruise and just wanted to stay there. Now we’ll have the chance to spend more than a few hours in a place that we always wanted to return to 😊.

                        Our next exit will be another Cruise, this time with Viking. We will fly to Reykjavik board one of their Ocean Ships, the Neptune, two ports in and around Iceland, then over to Svalbard (which is the furthest northern inhabited place on the planet) definitely the Land of the Midnight Sun, then its over to the west coast of Norway, down to Bergen, and then back to NJ. We’re in NJ for just a few days until we fly the other way (West!) up and over to Anchorage where we board the Discovery Princess for  a cruise down to Vancouver. Paula is taking her family on this cruise, a chance to get everyone together at the same time. It should be memorable!

                        That’s the end of the International Itinerary, but the home-grown travel is just starting! The stops may vary, depending on….. but it’s all for fun and you should have a blast, just like us!

See you at the Airport!

Last New Year’s Eve was spent in Montevideo, Uruguay aboard the Majestic Princess.

This  New Years’ Eve was spent in the parking lot of the Cracker Barrel of Bristol, Tennessee aboard the SS Winnebago.

No complaints…..

Just comparing…..

Our hasty exit from the frozen tundra of Northwestern New Jersey proved to be a wise decision albeit fraught with the detritus of that choice, namely we did not get to visit with everyone that we had planned on spending time with.  And that was the reason that we ventured northward to begin with!

We are now in the parking lot of the Cracker Barrel of West Monroe, Louisiana where it is currently 58 degrees and it is 2:20 AM! When we went to sleep it was a balmy 70! These temps, while very comfortable for us, are even more satisfying for Miss Biggie who wallows in delight whenever we do not have to run extra electric heaters in her belly in order for her innards not to freeze!

                        And…. it will be markedly easier to work on that power cable that went POOF a few days ago. It is obviously made from rubber and plastic, neither of which are very obliging when the temperature is down in the Uncooperative Range. I can’t wait to land at our Texas Home Base midday today, pull that cable out of its compartment and let it sit in the sun for 30 seconds after which it will be as pliable as a pack of Twizzlers left on your dashboard on a sunny day!

                        Driving yesterday, New Year’s Day, was about as pleasurable as long-distance driving can get. Minimal everything, cars, trucks, no construction, throw in some bright sunny weather and we had a great day on the road. We packed 735 miles into about twelve hours of driving, and we even gained an hour when we exited Georgia and entered Alabama. This is the stuff you don’t think about….. take a look at the map in your phone. Go ahead, I’ll wait……… now draw a line northward from the top corner where Georgia and Alabama meet and follow it up until you almost hit Chicago! It’s that far west! Who’d a thunk that?

                        You’ve probably noticed that we’ve spent more and more time at Cracker Barrels than Walmart’s. This is deliberate and somewhat a matter of overnight self-preservation. Back in the day, when old man Sam Walton was still alive, he decreed that the traveling public, i.e. RV’s, motorhomes, etc. were welcome to spend the night in ANY of his parking lots. A certain decorum was asked, please keep it clean, don’t “set up camp” and just be overly courteous in your deportment. This worked for quite a while until Sam went to that Super Walmart in the sky and the powers that claimed his throne were not as adamant about the Traveling Public. They left it up to the local managers to make the decisions on this topic and as the Nasties proliferated and trashed a few parking lots….well, you can guess what happened. More than a handful of Walmart’s became Anti-Overnighter’s and posted their decisions on the light poles outside. So, it is a spin of the proverbial roulette wheel as to who allows it and who doesn’t.

                        Now….. on the other hand, we have Cracker Barrels who have actual extended-length parking spaces for RV’s and busses. These extra-large spaces are not only to park and have a meal but are also available to spend the night in the lot! It is a lot less stressful knowing that at closing time there won’t be a knock on the door with the Mall Cop asking you to vacate the premises. We always go inside for a meal (dinner or breakfast) ask for the manager, introduce ourselves as the Overnight Parking Surveillance Team and thank them for their hospitality.

                        Since we went to bed around 6:45 and I’m up now, I have a feeling that we will get another rather early start on the road. We have about another five-plus hours in front of us before we can throw out the anchor again, but when we do, the temperature is forecast to be about 84.

                        But who’s counting.