SO HOW HAS THIS JOURNEY BEEN SO FAR?

But first:

President Donald Trump escalated his threat to target Iran’s infrastructure, warning a "whole civilization" will die, "never to be brought back again," if Iranian officials miss his deadline to make a deal to end the war.

Emphasizing the Tuesday night deadline, Trump referred to the upcoming crossroads as “one of most important moments in the long and complex history of the world.” Speaking of the Iranian regime, he added that “47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end.”

Vice President J.D. Vance, during a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, with whom he is currently visiting, said the U.S. is confident it will get a response from Iran before the 8 p.m. E.T. deadline passes.

However:

Iran rejected a cease-fire draft on Monday and submitted its own counterproposal.

"They made a proposal, and it's a significant proposal. It's a significant step. It's not good enough," Trump said during a White House Easter event.

Thus at 8PM EDT (2PM Hawaii Time), something terrible could happen....or not.  

• 
  Is this a bluff?
• In the meantime, the U.S. bombed military targets on Kharg Island.
• I've always thought that boots on the ground would come when American troops invade this island.

But back to our cruise on the American Melody down the Mississippi River, I thought I'd spend today doing some restrospection and prospection.

• We began our trip flying from Honolulu to Las Vegas on March 22.  Stayed at the Golden Nugget for 3 nights.

• 
  On to Denver, then arriving in Memphis on March 27.
• Went Graceland.  President Trump just beat me there.
• Eye-opening for me.  Memphis is an Amazing City, which was essentially my posting title on  March 30.

• 
  Boarded the American Cruise Line Melody on March 29.
• Food has been okay, crew personable and overall experience good.
• However, these have been boring port towns.
• Plus, the Mississippi River is a dirty brown, and I have yet to see a non-human mammal in the water or on land.

Under those conditions, something extraordinary has occurred.

• Readers to this blog site have significantly increased.
• I was On My Way to 3 Million readers to this site on 15August2020.  My original site has averaged around 500/day for the past 18 years.  I began a second site several years ago.  Same posting, but necessary because the initial one lost its links to the internet.
• 
  Well, I just looked at the readership for this initial site, and saw 4,989,285 pings.  I'm getting very close to 5 million.
• Four days ago, the total viewers to my two sites numbered 69,046, and the day following, this original site tallied 55,170.

• 
  While I tend to draw more visitors during my trips, this cruise down the Mississippi River has been less that fabulous, way less.  Nothing particularly significant has occurred.
• Hopefully, New Orleans will add some tastier flavor.

So about the future.

• We fly to New York City on April 11,
• Then we board the Viking Octantis in Manhattan for another 13-day cruise, this one to Toronto.

• 
  It gets more exciting in a different way, for on April 29 we catch the Canadian VIA Rail train on a 10-day trip that connects with the Rocky Mountaineer to Vancouver, with overnight stops in Lake Louis and Banf.
• We then fly home from Vancouver to Honolulu on May 10.

But in August, we fly from Honolulu to Seattle, then on to Reykjavik, Iceland for a few days.  We then board an Azamara ship on a 13-day cruise to Montreal.  The draw is the total eclipse of the Sun onl 12August2026.

Very few people in the USA will see a total eclipse.  Hawaii will just about totally miss this eclipse.  The next total eclipse of the Sun will be in 2106.

Some final doings on the American Melody.

Salad.

Desserts.

Lunch.

Another salad,

Was given a new bottle of 18-year old Glenmorangie.  Costs around $200 in your local liquor shop.

Tomorrow, Gators in Cajun Swamp.

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