Bac Phuc told us that he would be at our rest home at 6AM to bring us to Ba Noi’s and so we were up early after the busy night of celebrating. We waited. And waited. And waited. Finally around 9AM we decided to break down and use Matthew’s phone to make a call. It took a while to get the phone to dial properly and connect, and when it finally did Thu teased her dad for forgetting. The aunts all gave him a hard time, too! In practically no time there were people there to collect us and take us to grandma’s. This time for breakfast we had noodles with little bits of shrimp and chives and dipped in fish sauce. The table also consumed a lot of pork, which smelled very good. Now, I ... read more

One of the best things about traveling to Vietnam is that we get to fly non-American airlines. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of such an experience, I am sincerely sorry. It is one of the (many) highlights of long plane travel. While I don’t pretend that sitting for hours and hours on end, trapped like so many chickens on a semi-truck headed to the slaughterhouse, is anything that could be classified as enjoyable, being fed several times and given a toothbrush, toothpaste, and “slippers” goes a long way toward creating a plane full of resigned passengers. On this particular trip to Vietnam, we are flying Korean Airlines. Three years ago we used Asiana Airlines, which is a Korean-company (and thus conversations can be confusing: “I like Korean airlines,” which obviously means ... read more

I reached the conclusion that New Mexico is one of the prettiest states in the nation because of its diverse landscape. Of course Oregon has oceans, mountains, high desert and valleys, so it still wins “Most Beautiful State” in the award show of my mind, but New Mexico is definitely a close runner-up. (Just wait, New Mexico: one day all the polar ice caps will melt and you, too, will have an ocean.) Today we drove from Santa Fe to the Rio Grande Gorge, then Taos and down the High Road through Chimayo (a more than a dozen other pueblos) back to Santa Fe. It was a gorgeous drive, and although the weather forecast threatened snow we enjoyed a lovely day and numerous sunbreaks. The Rio Grande Gorge starts south of Taos – at least that’s ... read more

Breakfast at Casa Pacifica is a very cozy affair. The owner, Linda, lives with her two dogs (one looks like a small Portuguese water dog, maybe 45-50 pounds, and the other, about 25 pounds so still rather tiny, had an unknown father and a longhaired Chihuahua mother) in the apartment behind our suite. For breakfast in the winter months she feeds people at her dining room table. This morning she had coffee and fruit waiting for us and made eggs and toast as we chatted together. It was a very nice breakfast. She recommended three places to see while we are here: Bandelier National Monument (which I planned already for Tuesday), Ojo Caliente (a mineral springs place that probably won’t fit in the schedule), and Chimayo, a small pueblo that we’ll try to see on Tuesday ... read more

The weather is amazing here. One minute it can be warm and sunny, the next unprepared travelers can find themselves in the middle of a torrential downpour. We wore layers today and still were occasionally caught off-guard by sudden changes. But all in all we had a lovely day exploring Estoril and Cascais. The day dawned bright and beautiful. “It looks like it's going to be sunny!” Matthew announced while I was getting ready. By the time we switched places, I looked outside and said “Um, honey? It's pouring rain outside.” What to do? We went to have breakfast - and I finally broke down and paid the hotel clerk the euro to use the internet for a half-hour to post photos on the blog - and by the time we were done the rain passed ... read more