I'll begin with me: Back from a 50-day odyssey involving two cruises and a testy train journey. I didn't like the continuous stress level.  Plus I mildly suffered from pollen pollution.  Maybe worst of all, I gained 10 pounds. Mind you, the overall enjoyment level was high, and whole effort worthwhile. Back home in my cocoon called 15 Craigside, I appreciate the security and comfort. I haven't started my low calorie diet yet, for the meal offerings since my return have been difficult to avoid: My first lunch came from Marukai:  hamburger curry, Korean chicken, macaroni salad, sashimi with beer.   I'm easing into my diet. By the way, I returned home to watch the University Hawaii men's volleyball team beat California-Irvine for the NCAA national championship. Yesterday, for example, 15 Craigside featured Chili Hot Dog for lunch, then Corned Beef and Cabbage for dinner. Today, Fish and Chips, followed by Beef Curry, with the soup of the day being New England Clam ...

I yesterday summarized the two cruise segments of our recent 50-day trip, and half those days were in Canada, mostly on VIA Rail Canada and Rocky Mountaineer trains, both with no WiFi.  Somehow, I think I only missed a couple of days of posts.  And some amazing good news.  The SJourney train trip we are taking from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi at the end of the year does have WiFi. Interestingly enough, during this current travel period, my original blog site, which had been averaging 500 visits/day for the first 15 years, jumped to 25,000/day.  For reasons I can't explain, this surge began from the American Melody cruise, Memphis to New Orleans, and continued on through Canada. This Canadian train trip changed my mind about trains. Turns out that the only time I slept overnight on a train was on VIA Rail Canada, a four-day ride in December of 2017 from Vancouver to Toronto . Passengers were peeved because we arrive half a day late.  Why? What happened about a year...