Farewell

I'm a bit sad at the moment. I just got back from the tour's farewell dinner. I know I only knew the people in our group for 7 days tops but, I'm still very saddened to have to say good-bye to them. They were another great Globus group. The groups are one of the things I like so much about Globus. You meet such great people. It can be a trip. Today, we played Get Acquainted Bingo. You have 25 blocks like a regular bingo board. You have to fill them in with names of people on the tour AND, you have to be able to identify them. The second part is the hard part. I had to go over the names on my card again and again to make sure I could identify them. I made a point of talking to those people so I could better remember their names. Those same people were rooting me on when we played Get Acquainted Bingo. To my delight, I won. Because I'd gotten to know them, I was very sad when it was time to say good-bye. I know I'll be going on a second Globus tour in just 2 days but, I'll still miss the people I met on this one. I knew them if only for a short while. Thankfully, our tour director did get a group photo so I'll be remembering them for a while. May they all have safe journies home and may I one day be blessed enough to get to meet them again. Cheers all!

Harper's Ferry & Gettysburg

Yesterday, I got to see Harper's Ferry and Gettysburg. I confess Harper's Ferry didn't excite me as much as Gettysburg. There isn't a whole lot to see at Harper's Ferry. They do have the original fire station that John Brown managed to get himself and the others in his group trapped in before they were captured. The town also has some nice old buildings. Still, the old town of Harper's Ferry isn't that impressive. Interestingly, the entire old town is a national park. The people of Harper's Ferry moved out of it due to the severe flooding the location is subject to. The had a flood marker on one of the walls of an old building that showed how high the flooding got at times. I was shocked. That had one flood where the water rose over 15 feet from their banks. It was hard to believe considering how shallow the rivers were the day I visited.

From Harper's Ferry, we made our way to Gettysburg. Gettysburg is the site of one of the turning points of the American Civil War. I watched the movie Gods and Generals which tells of the battle. It is an incredible story of epic valor, incredible incompetence, brilliance on the part of a few and sheer luck. Globus used a local guide by the name of Gary Kross. He was extremely knowledgeable about the entire battlefield. He could tell you exactly where certain units fought and how many casualties they suffered. He told us of a Brigadier General Green who is largely forgotten but, who was critical in preventing Lee and his forces from taking Culp Hill. Culp Hill was one of 2 anchors of the Union troops lines. If it had fallen, it would've been disastrous. Green had his men build a long wooden barrier which helped protect them from fire from oncoming Confederate troops. The troops initially complained about building the barrier but, they were very grateful for it when the Confederate forces attacked. It was crucial in enabling them to hold off forces that outnumbered them 4 to 1!

I got to see the places where the forces of Pickett's charge emerged to attack. I could imagine the 12,000 men as they formed up. Their attack wasn't an actual charge. It was a march. If they had actually charged, they wouldn't have had the strength left for when they struck the Union forces. As it was, they had to march 1 mile through shot and shell. 120 Union cannon blasted at them the entire way. Also, they had to climb over 2 fences to get to waiting Union forces. It truly must have been an unbelievable sight. The courage those men showed was epic.

I could spent more time at the battlefield and museum but, we had a set dinner appointment to go to. Perhaps, I'll return to Gettysburg and learn more about it. It is an incredible story. Cheers all!

Adventure Begins

After waiting what seemed like ages, my latest adventures began yesterday. I caught a regional Amtrak train from BWI Amtrak station and arrived at Union Station, Washington D.C. It was hard to believe I was on a real tour in D.C. It's not a place I would imagine taking a Globus tour. I've visited D.C. a number of times on my own. Still, that's where the tour starts. It does have one big plus. It was easy to get to and cheap to. This is the first tour where I didn't have some long and expensive flight.

After arriving at Union Station, I met my friend Harvey. I haven't seen him since the Egypt trip. He looked in good shape and spirits. We proceeded to where you can catch a cab and took one to the tour hotel the Capital Hilton. I found out the hotel has been a center of a lot of political activities. It has had a number of inaugural balls, important meetings between politicians and some presidents have favored it. Richard Nixon supposedly would walk down to it on occasion.

After checking in, I got to meet our tour guide Hilary. She struck me as a very nice lady with a pleasant personality. She was waiting in the hotel lobby and checking off very tour members as they arrived. I found out there will be 39 in our group which is a good number. Due to the shortness of our tour, Hilary had to get people to say which dinner they wanted for our dinners in Colonial Williamsburg, Gettysburg and Philadelphia. Also, she told me how things would work at the first group meeting at 6 p.m. Lastly, she was able to direct Harvey and I to a street where there were a number of sandwich shops. Later, we found a Potbelly's which sell pricey but good sandwiches. Those would hit the spot.

The group meeting was interesting. There are 6 Aussie couples in our tour as well as 3 or 4 families. This is the first tour I've been on that will have kids. There are also a number of single ladies though none of them were lookers as far as I could tell. I got to meet a couple of them and, they were nice ladies. One asked where I worked. I told her and, I got the impression she wasn't impressed with the Postal Service. Oh well.

After the group meeting, I called it a night. I was up early yesterday morning and, it had been a somewhat long day. I still found it hard to believe my latest Globus adventures had begun. Stay tuned for more updates. Cheers all!

Contact Lenses

Yesterday, I started wearing contact lenses again. I've worn them off and on for a number of years. They have their plusses and minuses. They're more convenient than glasses. I think people look better with contacts than glasses. They don't slide down your nose like glasses do. On the other hand, you have to mess with trying to put them in your eyes or when it's time taking them out. You have to carry wetting drops in case they dry out on you. You have to mess with saline solutions if you want to clean them or when you're first putting them in. I found another plus for them with me riding my scooter. My helmet doesn't have anything to hit and twist when I'm putting it on. I managed to bend my glasses frames while trying to put my helmet on Wednesday. That's when I decided it was time to wear contacts again. Since, I started wearing them, I've had a lot easier time with my helmet. Another plus, I can use the sunglass screen in the helmet without any problems. With glasses, I'd have to put them in high on my face to avoid having the screen hit them. So, I'll be wearing contacts whenever I'm riding my scooter.

Relieved

Yesterday, my boss finally signed my leave form. I was very anxious about that. Without a signed and approved leave form, I wasn't going on my back-to-back tours with Globus. If I didn't get to go on those after shelling out over $5,000 for them, I was going to be royally pissed off. More so since, I'd gone above and beyond for my boss on a couple occasions. As my readers know, I came down with a cold but, I didn't call out. Also, I carried mail at another Post Office which I'd never been to so my Post Office could keep their word about supplying a body when they needed it. So, I'm relieved and looking forward to the pending tours. Also, I'm trying to figure out where I want to go after them. I really want to visit Ireland next year but, that won't happen till the summer time. I don't want to wait a whole year before travelling again. Yet, I have other things I have to do money wise. I need to top up my IRA and, I owe just under $3,000 on my new Dell laptop. That's a lot of shekels for just those 2 things. So, I may not have much choice about holding off travel wise. We'll see. Stay tuned for more travel updates. Cheers all!

Worried

I'm a bit worried. My boss hasn't signed my leave form for my 2 Globus tours I'll be taking soon. My boss has assured me twice that I'll get to take my requested leave BUT, I know the jam we are in people wise. That jam got worse today when the regular carrier on one of our routes came down with chickenpox. He'll be out till Tuesday of next week. We don't have any spare subs to carry his route tomorrow so we will have to break it up among the subs. I don't know if we have any subs that will be able to carry it the other days he'll be gone. While that won't interfere with my trips, its things like that circumstance that I think could cause them to say I can't take my requested time off. If they do that, I'll be livid. I've been looking forward to these 2 tours for nearly 6 months. Also, I've been working my ass off at the Post Office. Out of the past 11 weeks, I've earned overtime 9 of them. I'm tired. I don't want to see the damn Post Office for a while. That is the biggest thing I'm looking forward to about the 2 tours. I won't be working at the damn Post Office. I doubt they would fire me if I went on the trips without their permission but, I'm former military. I NEVER EVER would've gone AWOL (absent without leave). To me, it would be same thing if I were to go on the 2 tours without an approved leave form. So, I'm worried and, I'll have to wait and see if my boss keeps his word. I hope fervently that he does. If he doesn't, I won't go on the trips BUT, I'll only be working there 1 day a week then because they can suck eggs as far as I'm concerned then. I really will be very pissed off. We'll see what happens. Stay tuned.

Lazy Man's Letter

Recently, I've been sending some friends postcards. I haven't felt like writing a full letter but, I wanted to drop them a few lines and let them know I was thinking of them. Postcards seem to be the ideal answer. They have enough space on them to write 10 lines or so and, they come with a nice picture of something on them. You might say, why not drop them an email? My reply, because not all of them have Internet access. Plus, an email isn't as nice as getting something actually written in the mail in my opinion. I don't know about other people but, I do know I like getting mail (barring junk mail). To me, it shows more thought if they send you a postcard or letter vice an email.

Yesterday, I stocked up on postcards while I was at The Mall in Columbia. It turned out they had a newstand that sold them. They had some decent ones of things in Baltimore (Maryland) and Washington D.C. When I feel like dropping some friends a few lines, I'll grab one from that pile and drop them a postcard. Cheers all!

Documents

I received my travel documents for my upcoming tours with Globus. It was something to look at them. The tours are really going to happen. I'll get to play the world traveller again. It should be a blast. Plus, it'll be great to get away from the Post Office. I've been working lots of hours and, it's taking its toll. I earned overtime this week and, I'll do it again next week. The money will be nice but, I'm going to enjoy more the travel it pays for.

I'll be curious to see what kind of groups we get on these tours. All the tours I've taken previously were 12 or 13 days. The U.S. tour will be just 7 days. Globus markets it for people who have never done an escorted tour before so, I may get to see a bunch of newbies. That'll be interesting. The U.S. tour should still be good. It has lots of neat things to see and experience. Colonial Williamsburg is great and, Richmond is nice. It'll be something to see the Gettysburg battlefield. I read Michael Shaara's novel The Killer Angels. Plus, I watched the movie Gods and Generals. During the tour, the group will get to see a famous Lincoln re-enactor perform. Presumbly, he'll do the Gettysburg Address. That should be good. Lincoln's speech is outstanding.

The Canada tour should be equally good. I'll finally get to see Niagara Falls and, it'll be something to wander the streets of Old Quebec City. I'll get to see plenty of historic Canada during the trip. At the end of the tour, we have our farewell dinner at the CN Tower which should be pretty cool. The Canada tour will be interesting also in that it's sold out. We should have the largest group I've ever travelled with (something like 50 people). I hope the seats on the bus are decently spaced. I hate having my knees pressed into the seat ahead (I have long legs). We'll see. Stay tuned for more travel updates. Cheers all!

Egypt Travel Stories

Recently, I finished my travel stories on Egypt for the http://www.exchangetravelstories.com/ website. I wanted to let people know what to expect on the Avalon Waterways Grand Tour of Egypt. The Globus tour website gives nice basic information but, it doesn't go into great detail about some of the sights and, it isn't impartial. While I like Globus, I won't hesitate to say if something stinks in my opinion. If I like something, I'll say why I like it and maybe give examples. One thing I did on my Egypt stories was praised the tour guide Sami Hassan. He really was outstanding. Why was he outstanding? I showed a number of examples where he watched out for his group. A vendor tried to gouge us at the Alabaster Mosque and, Sami wouldn't let him get away with it. He told everyone not to buy the booties we had to buy so we wouldn't have to take our shoes off when we went inside the mosque. Another time he told me of something that would help settle my stomach when I caught some unknown bug during the tour. His remedy worked (coffee and lime juice) but, it tasted god awful. I was really sorry to say good-bye to Sami at the end of the tour. He was always cheerful and, he knew so much about Egypt. If I ever visit Egypt again, I hope to have him as my tour guide again.

After posting my stories, I had to wait for the site editors to rate them. I don't know why they do or what their criteria is. It can be a little frustrating at times. I confess I like getting a high standard rating on my stories but, I don't know what THEY think makes and high standard story. For some reason, they didn't like my Luxor story but, they loved my stories on Edfu and lunacy on the Nile. I wondered how they were going to like those as I said point blank I wasn't impressed with the horse drawn carriages in Edfu. They looked very rickety. I believe one bunch in our group had a wheel come off their carriage enroute to the Edfu Temple! In regards to lunacy on the Nile, I told of the crazy salesmen who tried to sell stuff to people on our cruise ship from ROWBOATS. It was ridiculous. The salesmen were real characters. Still, I guess they make money doing it. I doubt any in our group could have driven a better bargain than they could. They've been doing it all their lives. Plus, their living depends on it.

Overall, I was delighted that most of my stories got high standard ratings. Also, I'm glad I got them done before I start my next adventures with Globus. I'm impatiently counting the days down till I get to go on the back-to-back tours I'll get to do with them. I can't wait to go. I'm big time burned out at the Post Office. I'll earn overtime this week and next. I think out of the last 12 weeks I've worked at the Post Office, I've earned overtime 9 of them. The money is great but, it really wears you out. I'll be glad to get away from there and do some exciting travel again. Stay tuned for some interesting travel stories. Cheers all!