Getting close.....

I'm sitting here at my computer, all packed, and ready to go. I get picked up tomorrow by an airport limo and head out to fly to Seattle. I really hate long flights.... gives me a bit of a leg problem. It is tough to get fully excited until I am in Seattle and settled at the hotel. I arrive in Seattle at 6:45 pm tomorrow night. I hope the weather in Seattle will be warm enough for a tender flower like myself. I could really go for a little sunshine. It will be a tough commodity to come by in the next two weeks as we head to Japan. That reminds me, I edited the blog post tonight regarding the Grand Asia & Australia Voyage since our first port Petropavlovsk Russia has been dropped. I suspect it is because the Russians have been less that warm and welcoming to cruise ships recently. Check out the following from an article I found "Sun Princess departure blocked by Russian Navy "About 1600 Australian cruise ship passengers were forced to wait in a Russian port for five hours today, as local authorities took hours to make a series of passport inspections.The Sun Princess, which left Sydney on July 14 carrying 2000 passengers - mostly Australians - was held in the port of Petropavlovsk on Russia's east coast as the Russian navy checked and re-checked every passport.Fairfax Media understands the cruise ship was blocked from leaving the port by two naval frigates." "We were meant to leave at 4.30pm, but they didn't let us go until 9.30," one passenger, Ellie Fitz-Gerald from Sydney said."It was very frustrating. They came on to collect the passports at 5.30am - all they had to do was stamp them. But they took forever to process them. Some people couldn't even get off the boat because the authorities wouldn't give their passports back. They were just stuck on the boat. Then they insisted on checking them all again. The captain was furious." Oh well, I just hope I can survive the crossing of the Bering Sea once again without freezing to death.... This time I'll have about 10 days before we reach land instead of the normal week on the way to Petropavlovsk. Time to finish up around here before bed.... Getting close!