The Year in Preview

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.

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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!