Look Out America, We Are Leaving The Mainland.

This is not a prediction, however, we have an uncanny record of flying away from North America the day before a very large event shocks the country. Yes, you remember, it was Sept. 10, 2001 when we flew to Paris. It was also early Sept. 2008 when we flew to Barcelona...the first headline we read when we landed was about a financial collapse....Goodbye Lehman and AIG. In 2010 we flew to Toronto first and then to Frankfurt, that worked out better but, a month later we flew out of Marseilles on the same morning that French authorities stormed a motel next to the Marseilles airport and arrested 13 terrorists who were planning to raise havoc that very day!

Now I'm reading about extraordinary Solar Flares affecting the upper atmosphere and messing with radio communications...don't pilots still communicate by radio waves? Oh Jesus, it's enough to get me down on my knees. All I want is a balmy, relaxing ten days in Kauai.

We are spending a chunk of our retirement/savings on travel. This is largely due to the prediction, on my part, that we will have to be happy living out our lives tending to a garden and goats while living in a Pacific Yurt at a lower elevation, while our fellow middle class Americans accept the fact that here is no "trickle down" from the 1% that'll keep gas in their tanks and food on the grocery store shelves. These are "tough times"...about to get a lot tougher. Google Clusterfuck Nation or Club Orlov or Crazy Eddie at The Motie, to see where I'm coming from.

Our necks are so far out there...might as well concentrate on enjoying each day...and each adventure. No, you don't have to travel far to find awesome adventure. We explore remote corners of California and the West every week, month and year. We test our bodies to their physical limit often and we stretch our minds daily with conversation and varied research...not wasting the hours that remain...unless you classify watching Baseball and drinking a Torpedo Ale as a waste of time.

Well, here goes, our bags are packed, our son and our dog are in charge of "the ranch"...traveling laptopless, just a good book, some letter writing supplies and a swimsuit.