It's finally here. The first day of a vacation we've planned for over a year. We are going to the South Pacific. For 47 days. Warm, clear water and 80 F temperatures. White sandy beaches stretching for miles and clear ocean water with 150' visibility. Who hasn't read "Robinson Crusoe" or "Mutiny on the Bounty"? Visions of pirates and island natives come to mind, brought to life from my childhood imagination. Now it becomes reality. Of cours...

Today is a day of travel. That's it. I scheduled our limo driver from yesterday to meet as the hotel at 7:30am to take us to Schipol Airport. My original plan was an €8 trip for us on the train but not with this luggage. Up this morning at 6, we're down in the hotel lobby, luggage stacked, bill paid and ready to eat breakfast at 7. According to my paperwork, the breakfast is free here but the attendant says no. I'm not hungry anyway with such a...

Today is a travel day. All day. Right now we're sitting at gate 44 waiting to leave for Minneapolis at 12:35pm, about an hour from now. Last night at thanksgiving we were telling everyone about using our Clipper cards tomorrow for our BART ride to SFO. That's when Milan offered to take us for bridge toll only. Mmmmm? Ok. It sounds easy. At home, Mom was still trying to get more stuff into her 50# bags without adding any weight. Huh? They were supp...