Three days and counting…South America, here we come!…

In a few days, we’ll start packing, which won’t take much time. We’ve replaced many of our old clothes with new clothes. We donated our old clothes in good condition to Goodwill. All we have now are the folded items in the few drawers in our room and hanging in the closet. If we had to, we could pack in a couple of hours.

On Tuesday, we’ll start the process and be done by the end of the day. We’ve made no plans for Monday and Tuesday other than dinner and trivia at Pizza Luce with Tammy, Tracy, and Vincent, our final time together. And TJ will stop by here tomorrow afternoon to say goodbye. Today, we’re visiting Greg and the kids to watch the Minnesota Vikings football game.

Madighan and I will most likely work on our crocheting project during the game. After the game ends, Greg and his lovely girlfriend Heather, and grandchildren Madighan, and Miles will join us for dinner, most likely at a nearby Mexican restaurant they all like.

We don’t have a lot of expectations about the Vikings game. They’ve only won one game out of four. But it’s always fun to watch with hopefulness and enthusiasm that perhaps they may win. That’s how sports viewing works, anyway. It’s almost like fishing…the anticipation is nearly as exciting as the potential win.

Yesterday afternoon, we watched the Minnesota Twins playoff game, but sadly, they lost. However, they still have more games to play to see if they can progress in the playoffs for the remote possibility of making it to the World Series. It isn’t very likely, but it is worth dreaming about.

This morning, we bolted out of bed after a good night’s sleep, showered and dressed for the day, and headed downstairs to breakfast. We put together our plates of eggs and sausage and poured our coffee, hauling it back to our room on the fourth floor. We wanted to watch CBS’s Sunday Morning show one last time.

We’ve spent 4½ of the past six months in the US, including the three months we spent in Florida, and now, when we leave for South America, it could be quite a while before we return, especially when we’re heading back to Africa in eight months, for an undetermined amount of time. It’s one of those “play it by ear” situations.

We hope to stay in South Africa for at least six months, leaving after 90 days for a new 90-day visa stamp to perhaps head back to the Maasai Mara, Kenya, which we’d like to do again over ten years later. We have such unforgettable memories of that time in 2013. Maybe it won’t be quite as exciting after all the safaris we’ve done, but we expect that we’ll very much enjoy it.

Besides the above, we don’t have any plans as we prepare to leave on Wednesday. Our flight to Quito begins at 2:02 pm. We’ll most likely arrive at the airport around 11:30 am to drop off the rental car and begin waiting to board the United Airlines flight.

We’ll arrive in Quito at 11:35 pm. Celebrity Cruise Line has arranged for a driver to pick us up at the airport and bring us to the hotel, all a part of our Galapagos cruise package. Hopefully, we won’t have any issues with the altitude and can get settled in our hotel room for a good night’s sleep.

There are some walking tours of Quito arranged during the days at the hotel, but our participation will be determined by how we’re doing with the altitude and if I can walk the distances. Again, we can only “play it by ear.”

That’s it for today, dear readers. We hope all of you are enjoying your weekend.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, October 8, 2013: