It’s gettin’ real.

Yesterday we received our passports back from the visa service that Viking uses.

We now have visas for Viet Nam, Australia, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia. We’ve been assured that visas for other countries will be delivered either on board or at the port.

But that’s yesterday.

This morning we made the final adjustments to the big bags, weighed them to make sure they were under 50# and applied shipping labels.

Sometime between 1 and 5 this afternoon our friendly UPS guy will pick them up. The next time we’ll see them will be in our stateroom.

If We’re lucky.

You see, last week Mona Loa started to erupt.

And, as we all know, eruptions in Hawaii are a spectator sport.

So shortly thereafter I was talking with one of the friendly agents on the Viking World Cruise Desk (yes, they have a special group dedicated to us) and made an off-hand comment about how sad I was that our cabin was on the starboard side of the ship, and how it looked like we would pass with the Big Island on our right side, and she said…

So, we have moved to the port side, #4096 – same deck, same class, better view of the volcano (when we pass at 0-dark:30 on the morning of January 15)(assuming it’s still erupting)(best laid plans and all that) but we had already received our luggage tags. I made some fairly original looking adjustments and hopefully our bags will find us – eventually.

So now we check off one more event in our count-down to C-day.

And we continue to monitor the list of port-specific requirements – that seems to change quite frequently as the world continues to find new and exciting ways to react to things.

Other news – This trip has become a major topic of conversation among various committees, boards, collegues, friends. So (yes, it’s ‘better late than never’ but that’s how I roll) I’ve purchased a QR code for the blog. If you’re reading this, you already have it or you don’t need it. But if you would like for me to send it to you let me know.

That’s a pretty high-level summary, but time moves forward and the list won’t wait. As Cheryl reminds me, a much younger me once commented that I carried a large to-do list in my pocket, and when I checked off the last item, we were married. This is starting to feel much the same.