We picked up my brother Dave's pick-up truck and contemplated the scooter transport situation. Mike, Kristin and Audra brought delicious tacos and cupcakes. We are excited to get rolling and talked about our route, what to bring and what the girls might want to do in New Orleans. After dinner, we got down to business, trying to figure out how to get 3 scooters on a motorcycle trailer and one in the truck bed. Turns out, the scooters are just a little too wide to fit on the trailer. Arrrrgh! Our first major obstacle. We looked at trailers at Tractor Supply, the they didn't have any that were long enough or wide enough. We drove over to Menard's and saw an 8 x 12 model we thought would work. Actually, the guys got out in the ... read more

We had the cooking class today. Unfortunately, it was raining sheets of solid water. But, we took umbrellas from the hotel and met up with everyone, about a dozen of us, at the starting point in Hoi An. We were paired up with a cute young couple from Australia - Campbell and Lisa. Our guide took us through the market and explained the different areas for meat, fish, fruit and veggies. She gave us a demonstration of how to use some cooking tools to make decorative veggie garnishes. I was impressed and bought all of the tools, which will now probably sit in a drawer for the next few years while I push them out of the way to get a spatula or wooden spoon. The cooking class was a blast. The chef was great fun ... read more

We flew into Hoi An in the evening, so it was dark and we couldn't see much of the town or beach. When we got to our hotel, however, it was easy to see this would be an easy place to enjoy. The room was huge with high ceilings, a bathroom with a deep long tub, and French doors leading out to our own private lanai. Yup - this'll do. The next day we had free, so we took the hotel shuttle into the town and started shopping and siteseeing. We stopped at the first of what must have been a hundred tailoring shops. The owners were nice - in that seductively friendly Vietnamese way - and before I knew it, we had ordered 2 skirts, a top for me and a shirt for Paul. The ... read more

Today Ha took us to Halong Bay. It was unbelieveably beautiful. My side still hurt, but I kept popping the ibuprofen I bought at a Hanoi pharmacy - 600 mgs per dose. Who needs stomach lining anyway?. I would have preferred to not have crashed, but I was delighted with the change in our itinerary. Halong Bay is a must-see. There are these funky islands that jut up from the ocean with tall hills covered in foliage. It's unlike anything I have ever seen. The junk boats were wonderful - in the same style as the historic Asian boats, but with every modern convenience. Our stateroom had a big window view to the sea and a private bathroom. I haven't been on a cruiseship, but I imagine our room was much bigger than you'd typically find ... read more

Today was our first day of the motorbike tour. Ha arrived with another guide - someone with motorbike experience, but the kid didn't look a day over 18 to me. We needed to get helmets, since we didn't want to lug our existing helmets halfway around the world. We also didn't bring our motorcycle jackets, figuring it would be too hot, didn't want to have to pack another suitcase and that we wouldn't be going very fast anyway. Um... more on that later. I can't exactly remember the bike guide's name. I think it was something like "En-Yu," so for convenience sake, that's what I'll use in the blog. En-Yu had me take a test ride around the block since I'm used to an automatic scooter. These bikes were sort of a scooter-motorcycle hybrid. They were ... read more