Chipping Away at the "Bucket List" and Seizing Opportunities While We Still Can

We're in a sweet spot right now.  Our daughters have long flown the coop; Kathy's 89-year old mom is (was) in decent health in an independent living facility; we have more flexibility with our work and volunteer commitments; and we're in very good health, if you don't count aches and pains.  So when opportunities present themselves, we decided that our prime directive should be to take advantage of them. We may not have a second chance to do so.

As we were packing for an REI bicycle trip in Vietnam and a side trip to Cambodia with our daughters and some friends, a friend presented an opportunity to join his small group on three-week  trip to the upper Amazon, Machu Picchu, and the Galapagos. We're not organized tour types--especially not 'curizers'--and we just about choked on the price.  But if not now now, then when? 

So on the 27th we depart the rain and fog of Salem, OR for the low and high elevation tropics. We'll get more excited as we get some major volunteer and work projects out of the way. Stay tuned, and we'll update you as we can.  Meanwhile, we'll post some dispatches from our Vietnam/Cambodia trip before we leave.