I’ve been putting off writing this post because it is a post I do not particularly want to write because I keep thinking, maybe tomorrow.  Maybe tomorrow we’ll get the long-awaited good news from the Portugal Consulate. But, then I thought, maybe if I write the post it will cause it to happen.  Cause and effect.

We continue to wait.  Six weeks plus three days and counting…  To silence the inner countdown clock, if even for just a few hours, we took ourselves on a bit of an adventure to Great Falls National Park where we took a good long hike and spent the afternoon communing with Mother Nature.  And then we stuffed ourselves with hamburgers, fries and a decadent milk shake topped with whipped cream and a cherry.  It did the trick.  Unfortunately, today the inner countdown clock is ticking louder than ever.

The logistics of leaving.  It’s an interesting situation in which we find ourselves as we continue to wait, wait, and wait a bit more for our Portugal visas to come through.

“The line between disorder and order lies in logistics…” – Sun Tzu

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”  Walt Disney

With 30 minutes to spare, we ordered our standard Starbucks, Americana and Chai Latte, and sat down to catch our breath and sip the hot steamy goodness.  As we sat and sipped, we casually browsed our paperwork and quickly realized we had forgotten probably the most important piece of the puzzle, our passports.  All we could do was slap a face palm and laugh. For two people who are ridiculously organized, to the point of obsession at times, how in the hell did we forget our passports?

Apparently, we are not quite ready to settle in to the country life of retirement; the life of mowing 5 acres of grass and then watching it grow again.  And, what we find ourselves embracing in this chapter of life is that we don’t have to play by the rules.  It’s called redefining retirement for a reason, and that’s what we’re doing – again – we’re redefining our path of retirement.

It was on our calendar.  We’d take a daycation to Washington, DC to see the Cherry Blossooms at their peak.  It would make two years in a row after missing them for more years than I care to remember.  But, mother nature had her own game plan. The early unseasonably warm weather fooled the trees in to an early bloom and then just when the blossoms were peaking, in rolled an arctic blast and 10″ of snow fell in some of the surrounding areas.  We weren’t going anywhere!

Norooz and the Haft Seen

In March of 2015 we were in Iran celebrating Norooz, the Persian New Year, with our BIG extended family. It was my first trip to Iran and it was quite the exciting experience to see the whole country come together in celebration of spring and the new year. It is the #1 celebration in the lives of the Persian people.

As you’re mapping out your travel plans, keep in mind our national treasures; our national parks.  I’ve often said I would love to pack the car, plot a map course and just take off to explore each and every national park.  We have definitely visited our share but we still lag woefully behind.  And, I don’t remember a more relevant time than right now to pay attention to our parks.

I’ve always said that walking in the path of those who came before us is by far the best lesson travel can teach. And, graveyards, in particular, are treasure troves of stories. Walking across a civil war battlefield in Franklin, TN you’ll learn the story of Matilda Lotz, or Glen Worthington whose civil war story unfolded near Frederick, MD.  These are moments frozen in time.