YCGL - Tuesday and Wednesday, June 18-19, 2024 - Days 6 & 7 - Get Ready to Go! Green!

 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.  

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Today's the day.  The flight is at 9:00 pm.  We are going to leave here at 5:00 and catch a WhataBurger on the way to the airport.  It's Thursday and not Friday so traffic shouldn't be as bad, we'll be heading into town and not out, and I'm being dropped off and don't have to worry about parking.  I've got my boarding pass and seats reserved.  I believe we are being met in Istanbul by the travel agent and should have an easy transition to the flight to Thessaloniki.  I hope.

Well, I just weighed the suitcase again and it is at 43.6 lbs, well below the 50 max.  (When Sally and I did our first cruise, to Alaska for our 40th anniversary, our two bags weighed 49.9 and 49.7 pounds.  It took some creative shifting at the airport when I could get on an actual scale.)  Its more than I wanted, I really wanted to be at 35-40, but it is what it is and I'm not mailing anything home at this point.  Maybe I'll send some of the summer clothes home when I get to Bergen.  We'll see.  That's far enough away that I don't need to think about it now.  

Oh, yeah, Sunday night we ate Mexican with Mike and Claudia and a group of their Bentwater friends (the country club where they live) and I got a picture afterwards... Guess who the brothers are.  Mike is 81, Pete is 79 and I'm the "Baby" at 74.  We're all still kickin', but our backs won't let us kick too high.  

Thank goodness!!!!

So, I think Pete has shot his last alien out of the sky, Carol is reading, and I need to roll the suitcase out to the driveway, Bon Voyage to me.  Wish me luck.  (I'll write you next from Thessaloniki, Greece....wow, how cool is that!)