A New Addition to the Family

After driving my wonderful 2006 Prius over 145,000 miles, I 'upgraded' to a 2011 Kia Soul. 

The heart warming part of this story is that back in 2011, for our 25th wedding anniversary, Jeff rented me a Kia Soul (for a week) as his present to me.  We had fallen in love with the 'hamster commercials' on TV and it was a total surprise - - and greatly appreciated.

My Prius has just started needing some pricey repairs, so the time was right to get a new (to me) used car.  I love the color (Metallic Caramel, but we call it Copper) and the car drives like a dream

Before purchasing the car, I took the car to a trusted mechanic who gave me a list of things that needed attention.  The used car dealer I purchased it from did everything, plus more (at no additional charge to me) and today I was able to register the car and get it inspected.

I'm hoping to create and share many more happy memories in this vehicle - - while always remembering how much love is enclosed within its' walls.

Life is Good.  Love is even better.

Life Is Too Precious - Can We Stop Hating Each Other For Stupid Reasons?

Counting Down to our Next Big Adventure

In @ 4 months, we leave for our next big adventure...  A 34 day cruise circumnavigating Australia (with stops in Indonesia and New Guinea).  We'll be traveling on Oceania's Regatta - only @ 650 passengers.

I've just spent 3 days researching and booking excursions in the 17 ports we'll be stopping at.  Some ports we'll just be 'schmying' around, on our own, in markets and the like; others we'll be communing with local animals (read that as kangaroos and koalas); and others there'll be some 'cultural enrichment'.

We'll be doing a lot of just good old fashioned relaxing inbetween ports - - and that's 110% okay with me. 

I look forward to the many fellow passengers we'll be meeting as well as the fabulous crew that will be pampering us and fulfilling every spoken (and unspoken) need we may have!.

Life is good. 

Itinerary

Day	Port	Arrive	Depart
Dec 20 Wed	Sydney, Australia	Embark 1 PM	6 PM
Dec 21 Thu	Cruising the Tasman Sea
Dec 22 Fri	Brisbane, Australia	7 AM	4 PM
Dec 23 Sat	Kingfisher Bay (Fraser Island), Australia	12 PM	7 PM
Dec 24 Sun	Cruising the Coral Sea
Dec 25 Mon	Cairns, Australia	2 PM
Dec 26 Tue	Cairns, Australia		9 PM
Dec 27 Wed	Cruising the Coral Sea
Dec 28 Thu	Alotau, Papua New Guinea	8 AM	4 PM
Dec 29 Fri	Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea	10 AM	8 PM
Dec 30 Sat	Cruising the Coral Sea
Dec 31 Sun	Cruising the Arafura Sea
Jan 1 Mon	Darwin, Australia	9 AM	6 PM
Jan 2 Tue	Cruising the Timor Sea
Jan 3 Wed	Komodo, Indonesia	12 PM	7 PM
Jan 4 Thu	Bali (Benoa), Indonesia	1 PM
Jan 5 Fri	Bali (Benoa), Indonesia		6 PM
Jan 6 Sat	Cruising the Timor Sea
Jan 7 Sun	Cruising the Indian Ocean
Jan 8 Mon	Exmouth, Australia	7 AM	6 PM
Jan 9 Tue	Cruising the Indian Ocean
Jan 10 Wed	Geraldton, Australia	8 AM	5 PM
Jan 11 Thu	Perth (Fremantle), Australia	8 AM	8 PM
Jan 12 Fri	Cruising the Indian Ocean
Jan 13 Sat	Esperance, Australia	8 AM	6 PM
Jan 14 Sun	Cruising the Great Australian Bight
Jan 15 Mon	Cruising the Great Australian Bight
Jan 16 Tue	Penneshaw (Kangaroo Island), Australia	8 AM	6 PM
Jan 17 Wed	Adelaide, Australia	7 AM	7 PM
Jan 18 Thu	Cruising Bass Strait
Jan 19 Fri	Melbourne, Australia	8 AM	6 PM
Jan 20 Sat	Burnie (Tasmania), Australia	9 AM	8 PM
Jan 21 Sun	Cruising the Tasman Sea
Jan 22 Mon	Eden, Australia	7 AM	4 PM
Jan 23 Tue	Sydney, Australia	Disembark 8 AM