You Can't Get Lost

 Hello Everybody, I've been trying to write as much as possible, but if there is no internet connection, I can't write.  I was on a phone plan on-board the ship for $23 for about 2 days.  However, I could not hot-spot with that plan, so now I've renewed the plan on my computer and not my phone.  Which is a shame, but we have been so busy that I haven't had a chance to write while I've been on land.   And I don't dare download pictures until the night of the 27th, when I can download the last of the data plan I have.   The tour has been fantastic.  We have crammed so many activities that we get to a hotel at night, eat dinner and then I've been crashing.  For example, today we had breakfast at 6:20, in the staging area at 6:45 and on a tender boat by 7:10 into the town of Kusadasi, Turkey where we transferred to a bus to take us to Ephesus.  The gates opened at 8:00 so we were one of the first groups in.  We walked the ruins for almost 2 hours, then drove to

 If yesterday was a marathon travel day, today was a marathon sightseeing day.  Up at 6:45, breakfast at 7:15 and on the bus by 8:00, more or less.  too early for a vacation, that's for sure.   Our first stop was Philippi.  It is about 100 miles east of Thessaloniki, about 2 hours driving with a stop halfway for a government-required stop for the bus driver.  Which was useful for us also.  Mike Rinehart took a selfie of us overlooking the Aegean Sea. Philippi -   Philippi is a large area.  It was an important city 2000 years ago, and to understand its significance, we need a little biblical history.  Paul, St. Paul, was an apostle of Christianity soon after Jesus died and rose again.  He would have been about Jesus' age, maybe a little younger, and did his significant travels in the years 37-62 or 64 CE.  His second missionary trip took him to Asia Minor, i.e., Turkey, and then, following a dream, to Greece.  He landed in Neopolis, now known as Kavala.  His first important stop

 We are here!  Let's see, I woke up about 8:30am yesterday, The flight was supposed to take off at 9:00pm, but it was an hour late, 13.5 hours.  The flight was 12.5 hours.  Our second flight to Thessaloniki was about 2 hours later, 1.5 hours flying. Passport and customs control was 1 hour.  Two more hours til now, so that's  13.5+12.5+2+1.5+1+2 = 32.5 hours without sleep....I couldn't sleep on either flight. So, I'm tired.  Soon to bed and sleep.   -  The Istanbul airport is huge, monstrous, ginormous,  we know because we walked from Concourse F to Concourse B and it took almost 25 minutes at a constant good pace.  Wall-to-wall duty-free shops, McDonald's, Chick Filet, Popeye's Chicken, Burger King....we felt right at home.   - Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece, after Athens of course.  It has over a million people here.  Our guide's name is Artemis, goddess of the hunt, the moon and wild beasts.  I hope we aren't going to be her wild bea

 When Erik was two, we were driving home from Fort Collins and just got in to Laramie.  The first stop light turned yellow, so I pushed it a little and it probably turned red as we were underneath it.  A voice from the back seat said, "Green means Go, Red means Stop, and Yellow means Get Ready to Go".  I'm flying out tomorrow and I'm starting to get jittery.   After working on the housing project in the driveway, my back has been giving me problems.  However, I went to the doctor on Thursday of the week before and got a prescription for a steroid and a muscle relaxer.  They have helped immensely and I've been able to walk and climb stairs much easier. Also, I haven't ever traveled with a group like this before.  There are 17 of us total, so it's not a large group, but more than 3 or 4.  But, one of the leaders is an old friend, Mike Rinehart and his wife Susan, so I do have built-in friends if I need them.  And its not like I don't make friends easily.

 Hi There! This is going to be short and sweet?  Joe picked me up at 9:15 and everything went very smoothly checking in and going through the TSA's Tunnel of Doom.  Except a buzzer went off  and I was told that there was nothing wrong, just that I'd been selected for a phone and computer swipe test.  (That's Me, I'm a Winner!  I couldn't have been happier than if a telemarketer caught me on the telephone.)  I passed both swabs.   The  plane arrived on time and took off on-time as well.  While it took a somehow little effort, it or moed .effort, became midnight and I'm going back to sleep.  Good night! ???  Well, that was interesting.....  A section must have gotten erased when I hit update.   I was able to get a little lunch before my flight to Houston, which went well.  Pete, Carol and Andy were waiting for me at the arrival entrance and we drove over to our favorite Cajon restaurant.  Got to the house and watched a movie, and I went to bed, as above.  Good fir

 OK, It's time to travel again!  And do it on a grand style! On June 13th, I'm flying down to Texas to spend another week with my brothers.  Hopefully I'll be healthier this time than in April.   On the 19th, I'll meet up with a group of 16 others and fly via Turkish Airlines to Istanbul and then on to Thessaloniki, Greece to start an 11-day tour of Greece, the Aegean islands and Kusadasi, Turkey, basically following the Footsteps of the Apostle Paul's second journey.   Then I'll spend two extra days in Athens before flying to Bergen, Norway.   I will then start a Hurtigruten cruise from Bergen, up over the top of Norway to Kirkenes, adjacent to the Russian border, and back down to Trondheim.  I will stay the 15-18th there and then  Head down to the farm where Sally's grandmother grew up in Vingelen.  I will attend the wedding of Tore Hilmarsen and Marit Helene Kirkbakk Hangaard on July 20th.   Then on the 23rd, I'll fly to Boston to meet up with my son

Talk about a journey.  I got home from my April long, Texas eclipse trip on April 30th.  As I pulled up to the house, there was a surprise in my driveway.  Not totally unexpected, I encouraged the young lady working on it to use my driveway, and my tools, and my nuts and bolts and screws and whatever else she would need to build a "tiny house" on a motorhome chassis.  And there it was. Like this.... I met Ashlynne at church one Sunday in the middle of March.  I normally don't do coffee hour but this day, I poured a half cup and looked at a safe place to sit down.  I saw a young lady sitting by herself so I walked over and asked if I could sit with her.  During our brief introductions, I learned she was a friend of Nicole's, who had just announced her engagement (which was no surprise to anyone) and that she was a second degree student in Wildlife Biology.   And that she had a job this summer and fall season with the Forest Service in Afton, WY, in the far western Star