Tomorrow I am leaving for a grand adventure in Europe. For two weeks, I will get to absorb myself in Europe’s amazing history. On the first week I will be on a cruise- my first “real” vacation cruise. On the second week I will be traipsing around Sweden and Britain. It will be incredible.

I will probably have little or no access to the internet while I am away, so obviously I won’t be able to update this website. But I will write, and I will take photographs, and I will have MANY stories when I return!

So let’s see. I had to get prescription refills. I bought more socks so I wouldn’t be stuck in my flip flops! I had to buy travel size toothpaste and deodorant. I made sure I had the right kinds of luggage. I double checked and made sure I had luggage locks, and I still need to buy another currency converter. Plus of course I have to keep up with all my regular everyday stuff!

Oh, and I got online to double check the services we will be getting on the ship. This is going to be my first “official” cruise. Since I used to live on a ship, I’m looking forward to it! Our cruise ship is at least three times as long and two times as tall as the ship I lived on, and it’s one of the smallest ships in this company’s fleet- how crazy is that?

One of the (many) things I am looking forward to on this trip is that the ship will have satellite television, direct sat tv, something like http://www.directsattv.com. Since I don’t have cable at home, it’s always a treat when we go on vacation and get to watch cable in the hotels. The concierge always provides a handy tv service guide and it’s just fun.

I know that for many people, the flights are the least enjoyable part of a vacation, but for me, it is among the best. Longer flights are definitely better- international flights are the best. Yea, I’m weird.

The funniest part, I think, is that I’ve had all kinds of flying “catastrophes” and reasons why I shouldn’t like flying. I’ve had delays. I’ve been stuck on runways. I’ve missed connecting flights. I’ve had emergency landings. I’ve even become airsick (no thanks to Captain Kangaroo!). But at the end of the day, it was always worth every penny of the international airfares. Traveling rocks.

So imagine my surprise when I came across this op-ed article in the Washington Post. The writer is basically making a case for why we shouldn’t have air conditioning. Basically according to him we should all go out and hire electrical contractors and cable contractors and HVAC professionals, and have them undo all the cabling installations in our A/Cs.

His reasoning is basically that air conditioners are bad for the environment. Which is like… okay, I get his point. But when the weather is as terribly hot as it is today, I think you just have to consider the options. What’s worse, one small air conditioner or dozens of fans that barely make my environment tolerable?

I think he’s hoping we can go back to the “good old days” when people sat around on their porches chatting, while the kids rode bicycles up and down the street or played pick-up ball games in the park. It all sounds nostalgic and nice, but is it even possible? Criminals are ever-present- we have a sex offender who lives just two blocks away. Cars drive faster and drivers pay little attention to pedestrians or bicyclists. Families travel more than ever before. The bell has been rung, and you can’t un-ring it.

Personally I’ve held off on buying a house, in spite of the free reo foreclosures. Even when it’s relatively “cheap”, a house is a big investment and not really one I want to sink my money into at this point. But I still might take the leap and buy a house soon. I guess it just depends on how the next few months go!

The guy who was on the treadmill next to mine, though, really seemed to be suffering! I mean, I give him lots of credit, because he was exercising and that’s a lot more than many people will do. But he was SWEATING like none other! Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone sweat as much as him. Drops of sweat were flying off of him and onto the treadmill. The screen at the front of the treadmill that displays your stats had sweat rolling off of it. It was CRAZY!

While we were there, the baby birds took flight. This was the last baby bird to leave the nest, and the only one we were able to photograph. His mama chirped at him for a long time before he became brave enough to leave the nest!

Eaten is FARM country. See?

The fields around there have lots of irrigation ditches and canals, since they do not get a whole lot of rain. Definitely unique for me, since we get TONS of rain around here.

The house where my dad grew up.

The backyard has definitely changed- the new owners took out a few trees and landscaped a bit differently.

Dad’s old high school-  still standing and educating kids, although it has grown a LOT since he went there!

But, I guess it’s like they say, you can find anything on the internet- from silly travel pillowcases to term life insurance quotes online!