Home Sweet Home

There is nothing better than having your bags roll off the carousel timely and in one piece; even better is when you get to the train station at the airport and the train that pulls up, is the direct train to Jenkintown. All good! Let me add to the list: sleeping in my own bed with my own pillow…and having hundreds of pictures to entertain myself if the memories start to fade. Those are the highlights.

The lowlight is the “back to reality” thing. Worse, however, is rejection. I was actually shocked when I learned that my services were NOT needed at Yellowstone National Park this summer. Adding insult to injury, the WXPN Humanitarian Mission to Cuba (of which I was scheduled to attend) had been cancelled. Bummer!

I wasn’t even settled in at home, and I was restless. I had spoken with a friend, Penny before I left for Israel and we talked about travel plans. She was surprised that I was staying less than 6 weeks in Israel (she thought it was 3 months), and I was a bit envious that she was planning a Viet Nam trip for 3 weeks at the end of March.

I called and floated the idea of joining her in Viet Nam and a plan was hatched. I was able to buy a ticket the next day, and with a flurry of emails and the help of her friend who planned the trip, I would obtain a “visa upon arrival” in Ho Chi Minh City, fly to Danang, and meet them in Hoi Ann.



It felt a bit hectic reorganizing, but there was one highlight that I perceived to be my good luck omen. It involves my little friend Mr Bill, who has been traveling with me for almost a year now. Last June, when I was packing the car for my annual pilgrimage to RI, Mr Bill had a photo op riding on my bike that was on the roof rack. When I got to RI, I absolutely could not find him. Of course I figured he had an “oh noooooo..” moment under the tires of an 18-wheeler on the PA or NJ Turnpike. And I mourned his passing. I eventually found a new Mr Bill. Long story short, as I was driving out of my driveway one day when I was home, there was a very dirty Mr Bill sitting on the fence. He’d been in the yard for almost a year. Very dirty, but no worse for wear, he had the opportunity to meet his brother. Mr Bill #1 is looking a bit like Pigpen from the Peanuts strip, but still as photogenic as ever.

I transitioned nicely in East Coast time and within 8 days of returning home I was packed for yet another chapter of the great adventure (with Mr Bill #2 in my bag).