Holiday Inn Express Redding

(With apologies to Carly Simon!) Well, it's not ALL just waiting. There's obsessively checking the weather in Rome; revising the packing list; dithering about which luggage to use; shopping for must-haves, and then returning them...Very important step today: got my husband set up to use Skype! Only one big hurdle remains: SHOES!

... not fun for Jim.

Redding has a reputation for being sunny most of the year, so we were hopeful that things would be better. Unfortunately, the storm had dumped 2-3 feet of snow at upper elevations, so our plans to visit Lassen Volcanic National Park were delayed temporarily because the road through the park was impassable. So, being the flexible travellers that we are, we toured the area ...

... we stayed at in Bellingham for when we get back home.

When we arrived at our hotel we thought the best way to get rid of the road kinks was to go for a swim, which we did. It felt great! After a shower and clean clothes, we walked a couple of blocks to the the Ramos Mexican Restaurant and split the Mexico City Tacos--perfect!


Title Language: Spanish

Last night was hectic and scary. I laid out my new outfit for today, made my lunch and set the alarm for earlier than I thought I would need (just in case).

I felt like I was back in my youth, getting ready for the first day of school LOL. What was I thinking? 57+ and starting a new direction in my life (again).

Well this morning went smooth, I got there 30 minutes early and met one of the other two new people. Soon Diane ...

... we hiked Bumpus’ Hell where there was snow and geysers. We camped in the backcountry. Aaron lent me his tent and he decided to sleep outside. It started pouring, his tent could not withstand the storm and slowly flooded. I was soaked and at around 11 pm I finally mustered up the courage to ask for help. I called to Camille in the next tent over and she invited me in. We squeezed four of us into the 2 person tent – it was much much better ...

Sorry I never finished writing about Guatemala! I didn't have much internet access and I've since been super busy! I'll hopefully be able to write some retroactive entries soon! Here is a link to the Guatemala photos on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/albu m.php?aid=2572134&id=8627455&re f=mf

So I've been in Whiskeytown for two weeks now and it has been ...

... bears.  Possibility, maybe.  Likelihood, no.  So we drove on south to see Mt. Shasta and finally landed in Redding, CA.

Someone we'd talked with on the Olympic Peninsula had told us it was a "long uphill drive" from anywhere to Crater Lake, and we verified his observation.  The drive up from Roseburg, with the Umpqua River beside us most of the way, was beautiful but until you're very close to the actual mountain in which the crater is located you have no idea you're ...

Just complete a trip to Sandals Royal Bahamian, Have read many reviews by many unhappy travelers and either they are very picky travelers or Sandal's has made a turn-around in customer service. During my 7 day stay the only complaint heard was over lost luggage. I did not even hear anyone present during my stay even raise their voice! The staff of Sandals work very had to satisfy their guests, all employees had a smile and seem so very happy with their ...

The morning we left Eugene, Dick Lakin, Peg Morton, Candy (didn't get her last name), and John Etter joined us at our starting point in a supermarket parking lot, where we had a prayer circle as a send-off, careful all the while not to slip on the icy pavement. John, Peg, and Dick walked parts of that morning with us. Our route took us over a butte, on a winding, woods-lined road that ascended 570 feet in four miles (our biggest climb so far, made easier because John used ...

Brad, Nath & I went to the US for 3 weeks to visit our oldest son Adam & his wife Kristina who had recently moved from Denver to Portland Oregon.

We flew into San Francisco from Australia & picked up our hire car ( Brad immediately driving on the wrong side to oncoming traffic!!!) & headed north ...