Getting It Together

I'm packing again tonight to leave in the morning for Okaloosa Island.  My anticipation is always so great the night before that I can not sleep.  I love the Island. 

Today was the day I had to go back to the Travel Clinic in Bibb County to get my booster for Japanese Encephalitis and I also got my yearly Flu shot.  Boy, I thought it was bad when I had to pay $339 last time, but the second Encephalitis shot today was $222.  Good Grief!  I hate pharmaceutical companies.  They hold every one of us hostage with their exhorbitant prices on medications.  No two shots can be worth more than $400.  Plus, insurance will not pay for these injections since I would not need them if I were not traveling overseas.  

I am very excited about the upcoming trip to Shanghai and Bejing, as well as Bangkok, Koh Sumai and Phuket!  I am now up to snuff on all my injections, but will have to have one more booster on the Hepatitis A shot in six months.  The shots were not REQUIRED, but from what I have read, I wouldn't want Japanese Encephalitis, and after my Whooping Cough experience this Summer, I am feeling a bit vulnerable.  That is why I also chose to go and get my Flu Shot today.  I am taking all the protective measures I can.

I also ordered Pyrethrin today to spray on our clothing which we will wear if we enter the jungle areas.  We don't want to be bitten by mosquitoes, which can carry Malaria.  We will be taking anti-malarial drugs with us as well as some antibiotics and anti-diarrheal drugs.
Sounds like a lot of preparation, but this should be a "bucket list" adventure for all of us!

I just love traveling, no matter where it is.  I love learning about the customs and history of people around the world.  I love seeing all the variety of scenery which has been laid out for our enjoyment.  We are flying over Coach, and coming back First Class...I'm feeling extraordinarily spoiled with all of this.  This trip is one I would never have been able to make without my son Charles providing the opportunity.  It is definitely the adventure of a lifetime.

We are planning on leaving here December 3rd.  The time will pass quickly between now and then because I have a lot to do this Fall.  I will be going to Okaloosa the end of October to volunteer as a nurse at an Iron Man competition.  Then we will be going back to Okaloosa for the Thanksgiving Holiday, and a Mannheim Steamroller Concert in Pensacola!  I love love love Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas concerts, they are absolutely amazing. 

We will return from Okaloosa November 28th and then I am leaving on December 3rd!Whew, I am going to be busy!  In January I am leaving again to join two friends on a Caribbean Cruise to Jamaica, Labadee Haiti and Grand Caymen.   I am going with best friends Trish and Roberta and we will have such a grand time.

Boy, this Fall and Winter are going to fly by.  I will have lots to blog about for sure, and hope to have lots and lots of pictures to share with all of you. 

I have learned that packing may be interesting, since December in China is going to be COLD but in Thailand HOT!  I may need to buy some long johns! 

Well, that's all for tonight, but I will keep in touch.  Lots of exciting things coming up, but for now I am headed to Okaloosa and the peace and joy I relish there. 

GOD BLESS - Peace, Love and Joy!

Sailing, Sailing Part Two

I neglected to include a recommendation for a Charter Group for sailing ... they are great people to work with .... try
D. Y. Charters LLC
Tel. 772-563-3326
5226 Eleuthra Circle
Vero Beach , FL 32967

And happy sailing.

Plotting The Next Great Adventure

"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the WIDTH of as well." Diane Ackerman

It is time to start planning the next great adventure. Will we go at Thanksgiving, Christmas or after the first of the year. Undecided as yet. Where to go...hmmmmm.
To the warm and sunny tropics, to the frozen north? Somewhere in the middle?

I never tire of traveling, of meeting new people from different places all over the country and the world. It really has become a small world. We have talked about going to Ireland at some point, land of my husband's heritage. I have never traveled in Ireland, but did "land" there once for refueling, and flew over the beautiful and exceptionally green countryside with its rock walls and sheep. I think hubby is actually interested in the Pub Crawl however, and I am not really a drinker, or an eater since I began this diet!

I absolutely love anything to do with water, oceans, lakes, rivers...all call to me, but especially the ocean. I really don't care whether it is the warm Caribbean, or the Pacific and on to Alaska. Of course, the Alaska thing is limited by the time of year...usually May to September. I would love to see Hawaii, having never been there, and if Hawaii, I would love to go in Winter when the great whales are there for mating season. I've been to Sea World, but that would be nothing compared to seeing the whales in their natural habitat.

My son Charles has a job which affords him constant travel. He goes to Hong Kong, and Italy and England on business...what fun.

I have been fortunate enough to see England, France, Monaco, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium. Not saying I wouldn't go back again though. I remember so vividly the very first time I stood at the base of the Eiffel Tower. Tears ran down my cheeks, because as a little girl growing up in Marbury, Maryland I never dreamed I would see this place I had visited in books.

It was an incredible experience visiting the Mayan Ruins in Tulum and Labadee Mexico. To hear so much about the Mayan history and culture who were there thousands of years before us. They were such an incredibly advanced civilization.

But, now it is time for yet another adventure. I will start searching out sites and tours and dreaming of the places I have not yet seen. Do you have dreams of places you wish to go? Don't wait...start planning now. Sometimes we get so busy "saving" for the future that we forget to "live" in the present.

As one anonymous author said, "Life is too short to eat vanilla ice cream and dance with boring men!" LOL...life is short...smell the roses and travel when you can.

RECIPE OF THE DAY

Since we are talking about travel today, how about a recipe with a "foreign" twist.
Winter is coming...

ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP

1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 egg
2 TBSP bread crumbs
1 TBSP Parmesan Cheese
1/2 teasp Dried Basil
1/2 teasp Onion Powder

1. Combine meat, egg, bread crumbs, cheese, basil, onion powder, and shape into TINY meatballs.

2. Saute meatballs until lightly browned in large soup pan, add
5 3/4 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup finely chopped or grated carrots

Bring to boil...add

1 Cup Orzo pasta (or other tiny pasta)
and COOK until nearly done...add

2 cups thinly sliced escarole or spinach and cook just until tender.

This is a lovely, light and delicious soup. It is a great way to get the spinach into your children, as they are fascinated with the tiny meatballs and pasta.

Eat UP!