We are off to Buenos Aires, starting point for our South America cruise. Our bags are packed, the pets are safely ensconced at various friends' houses, and Odyssey is buttoned up and secure in the pre-arranged storage location, which, as usual, we are not disclosing here in the blog (so no map link today).
Last night, we emptied the fridge for the first time ever -- what a chore. And dinner consisted of the last steaks in the freezer and whatever veggies we had left. All in all, we didn't have to throw too many things away. As our good friend Charles posted here in the comments, it's probably good to do this every so often anyway. We did find a mustard jar that had gone to the dark side...
In a few minutes we will head off to the airport in the very same car we rented there a week ago. Having learned our lesson the hard way in Atlanta, we did make certain to keep all the pets crated while shuttling them around: they hit us with a pet cleaning charge the last time we did this.
Our cruise does not actually depart until Thursday, but it will take us until about this time tomorrow morning to get to Buenos Aires, and we'll need the other two nights to get over the jet lag. Besides being nearly an eleven hour flight (and that doesn't count the domestic leg from here to Dallas, and the layover), Argentina is five hours ahead of us here in California. I do hope we are "with it" enough in those two days to see some of the sights -- I have an aunt from there who was kind enough to send us a list (thanks, Aunt Graciella!).
Our cruise itinerary will take us from Argentina to Uruguay, the Falklands, around the Horn, back to Tierra Del Fuego and Punta Arenas, then up the coast of Chile. In Valparaiso, we technically change from one cruise to another on the same vessel, and we will change cabins (we took pot luck, so our cabin on the second leg is not even assigned yet). That leg will take us the rest of the way north along the west coast, all the way to San Francisco, by way of Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, and finally, our old friend the Mexican Riviera.
Between now and our return, I expect our access to the internet to be sporadic and possibly low-speed. We will make a best effort to check email every few days, but will not be answering any but the most urgent until we return. Also, I may not have a chance to update the blog at all. Our cell phones will be off and out of service after we leave Dallas tonight, and I don't expect to even be able to check voice mail until we return.
In other news, we had a visit Saturday from long-time blog reader "Spyderman." Unfortunately, we were racing out the door for another appointment, and so it was a very brief encounter. Hopefully, our paths will cross again at a time when we are not so rushed.
See you all mid-April!
Last night, we emptied the fridge for the first time ever -- what a chore. And dinner consisted of the last steaks in the freezer and whatever veggies we had left. All in all, we didn't have to throw too many things away. As our good friend Charles posted here in the comments, it's probably good to do this every so often anyway. We did find a mustard jar that had gone to the dark side...
In a few minutes we will head off to the airport in the very same car we rented there a week ago. Having learned our lesson the hard way in Atlanta, we did make certain to keep all the pets crated while shuttling them around: they hit us with a pet cleaning charge the last time we did this.
Our cruise does not actually depart until Thursday, but it will take us until about this time tomorrow morning to get to Buenos Aires, and we'll need the other two nights to get over the jet lag. Besides being nearly an eleven hour flight (and that doesn't count the domestic leg from here to Dallas, and the layover), Argentina is five hours ahead of us here in California. I do hope we are "with it" enough in those two days to see some of the sights -- I have an aunt from there who was kind enough to send us a list (thanks, Aunt Graciella!).
Our cruise itinerary will take us from Argentina to Uruguay, the Falklands, around the Horn, back to Tierra Del Fuego and Punta Arenas, then up the coast of Chile. In Valparaiso, we technically change from one cruise to another on the same vessel, and we will change cabins (we took pot luck, so our cabin on the second leg is not even assigned yet). That leg will take us the rest of the way north along the west coast, all the way to San Francisco, by way of Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, and finally, our old friend the Mexican Riviera.
Between now and our return, I expect our access to the internet to be sporadic and possibly low-speed. We will make a best effort to check email every few days, but will not be answering any but the most urgent until we return. Also, I may not have a chance to update the blog at all. Our cell phones will be off and out of service after we leave Dallas tonight, and I don't expect to even be able to check voice mail until we return.
In other news, we had a visit Saturday from long-time blog reader "Spyderman." Unfortunately, we were racing out the door for another appointment, and so it was a very brief encounter. Hopefully, our paths will cross again at a time when we are not so rushed.
See you all mid-April!
Even though it's not Odyssey-related, we're looking forward to reading your dissection, er, reportage of the cruise's highs and lows. Sounds like a great trip. Bon Voyage.
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