It's been a very long time since we've had to wait for this vacation since we returned from Tennessee but our departure date has finally arrived. We've decided that with our early a.m. flight on Friday to Los Angeles we would drive into the city with Tom & Jamie and stay at the Holiday Inn in Richmond because they will keep our car for a week at no charge (included in our room rate) and that way we can just hop the shuttle bus into YVR in the a.m. Because we...

We arrived safely after a very long day. Up at 1:00 a.m. Pacific time and putting this final segment together at 8:00 p.m. - Love travel but I hate these long flights and delays at the different airports. It's so great to be back in my own bed tonight at least until our next trip south in just three weeks.

Everything is set. The bags are packed, the Dom Perignon (1990) and Margarita mix is at the ready for the 60th Birthday Bash on the Golden Princess out of Seattle tomorrow. The four of us will get on the Amtrak bus tomorrow and head to Seattle for the 4:00 pm departure. The pictures of this birthday blowout will be posted by Monday. Stay tuned...........

We're all set for the big Birthday party. The plan is to board the ship into our suites - Tom convinced me that we had to go large here so we booked suites - bring on the party. From there it'll be lunch and then hopefully a great dinner at one of the specialty restaurants. Likely a stop in the casino and then dance till the wee hours.

When Deb and I set out on this trip it was meant to serve two specific purposes. First and foremost, it was a trip east to see my new granddaughter Hannah and second it was to re- live some of the days, some forty-five years ago, that I traveled CN to be with my cousins in Sioux, Winnipeg and Vancouver. Nearing the end of the trip, some 180 hours in total, it has become much more. The actual trip was the adventure -- seeing this glorious country of ours, steppi...