Well, here we go....

In response to requests from our kids and a couple of friends, Tom and Karen will try really, really hard to post some stuff here during our 3-week trip to Europe.  We are scheduled to fly out of Pasco Friday morning, August 27, and after hopping around a bit, we will land in Amsterdam on the morning of August 28.

For both of us 50-somethings, this is our first foray off the continent of North America.  Are we excited?  Definitely.  Are we nervous?  A bit.  But our kids--both of whom have traveled overseas--have assured us that Europeans are actually the same species as we are, bipedal, use tools, have a written as well as a spoken language (several actually), all the usual stuff.  Oh yeah, and they have some really remarkable food and we should pack loose pants with expandable waists.

And besides, this is a Rick Steves tour, so Tom doesn't have to obsess about planning things and being in control, because it will all be done for him in an excellent manner.  So we have faith.  And we also have less money than we had before we signed up for this thing in April, online, on a Saturday night, after watching the promotional DVD and consuming a glass of wine or two (okay, Karen was actually the consumer of wine, as usual.)  It was sooo easy.  They accepted a credit card for the small initial deposit to reserve our spots.  But then we had to pay "cash on the barrelhead" (to use one of Grandpa Gibson's favorite phrases) for the remainder.  Which is good policy, so folks don't go spending money they don't have.  Had, but don't have now.

So stay tuned!  If we run across any opportunities to connect to this thing called a blog, we'll at least post some pictures.