In the beginning

---

This entry is my planning reel...not much on travel adventure just yet.

March 29, 2007 8:29 thursday morning: Plan shpan

Sigh... the Santa Cruz sun's come up from over the palm trees and draped itself onto the deck, bleeding into the the front room. A few more minutes and it'll find his way into the office where I'm sitting, to warm my toes. There's a blue jay that's been hopping around the complex this past weekend, and for the first time I've seen, he's just paid a visit to my cacti on the porch. I should probably put out a bird feeder to coerce him from poking into my prized sand dollar cactus-- as gorgeous as you are, don't even dare Mr. Bluejay... the first signs of spring...

8:58 am and my second pot of coffee is on. I threw out the first because it tasted like wet tobacco. I wasn't sure what I did wrong-- but then again, Im not usually sure about what I do wrong in the kitchen since its the room I spend the least amount of time. I admit that, for as much as I love to eat, I owe the kitchen much more respect and time spent there. Turns out that the reason my coffee tasted like wet tobacco is because I poured orange juice in it instead of milk-- how did i miss that? ...made me miss mornings with Apollo and Athena back at 1120, where morning coffee was a ritual with vanilla or hazelnut creamer that I would never mistake for orange juice (milk and OJ cartons in our fridge look identical-- they both say "calcium" on them). All this talk of coffee, I think I'm ready for the day.

Oceanus, Athena, Apollo, and I are off on a voyage to Europe this summer. We're in the planning stage-- yes, "planning," something I've somewhat dreaded in the past, but now realize its relevance to things such as traveling and spending money. It's fun to roll with the wind without a care for where I'll end up or how much money I'll spend... just as long as I know I'll have a safe night's rest and food in the belly. But a voyage for four civilized travelers with a return date, calls for planning I guess. Here we go...

March 29, 2007 9:46 thursday morning still: Milk over OJ (5/10/07)

Finally...sleep out of my eye. Still thursday morning, and the coffee is finally right. Milk is much better than orange juice in my coffee!

So Oceanus and I have been kicking around thoughts for our first destination. We've decided on Greece. We'll split about week between Athens and one of the islands. So far, we're leaning towards either, or-- and, Mikinos and Santorini. Why Mikinos? I don't know really- Oceanus was drawn to Mikinos, and where he goes, I go. He's proven good taste in many things- food, adventures, furniture, art... I would trust his hunch. As for Santorini- I'm drawn by the wine. After Greece, we'll make our way to Montenegro/Serbia to meet good friends, Budamere and Nia. By plane, train, or automobile... we have yet to explore-- not to mention, where are we bunking in Greece? We'll be meeting Nia Peeples there, so will have to arrange for that.

Planning ("italicized" items are yet to be completed)
Stage 1: Homestays and itinerary
a. Greece- we're good to go! -5/10/07
b. Serbia- we're good to go! -5/10/07
c. italy- Apollo and Oceanus working on it -5/10/07
d. France- we're good to go -5/10/07
e. amsterdam
f. london
Stage 2: Places to see and things to do
a. greece- acropolis, mt olympus, pelopennese
b. serbia- montenegro
c. italy- vatican, trevi fountain, stadium, pisa, wime country,
d. france- eifel tower
e. amsterdam- red light district
f. london


Tethys...

March 30, 2007 Blue jay ate my lithop

He didnt get the sand dollar cactus, but my living rock has disappeared form its pot. Thief.

Tethys...

---