And Away We Go

Not to channel Jackie Gleason but there's some blue in the sky, we both slept decently, and the colds we picked up along the way aren't slowing us down too much.

After hitching a ride to BLI (Bellingham International Airport) courtesy of our next-door neighbors (Thanks Victor and Laurie!) we fly Alaska Airlines BLI-LAX and overnight near the L.A. Airport. Why? When we booked our flights to Buenos Aires (EZE) the cost to fly out of SEA was exhorbitant compared to flying out of LAX: about $400 additional for each ticket, so it was mildly cost-effective to fly to LAX first.

Tomorrow we fly LAX-IAD-EZE and our upgrades have all cleared, meaning we're assured of lie-flat seats on the overnight flight - Yay!

We arrive Thursday morning and will spend some time wandering around Buenos Aires during our first three nights there, possibly attending a Tango show as we did on our previous trip. We might even return to Senor Tango, a touristy but magnificent production - after all, we are tourists. We're also forward to visiting a wine shop recommended by a couple of Birch Bay's resident wine experts who know the owner, picking up some Argentine Malbec to take aboard, and possibly a case to bring back.

We're staying at the Hilton for three nights, now one of our favorite Hilton properties, and at the Marriott after Greg and June, Kathy's brother and sister-in-law, arrive the night before the cruise, since the Hilton was full.

Oh, and the cruise? It's a 13-day Oceania cruise on Insignia starting from Buenos Aires and sailing around the Horn before landing at Valparaiso Chile. Since that link may become defunct once we've sailed, we reproduce the itinerary below:

Feb 22
Buenos Aires
6:00 p.m.
Feb 23
Montevideo
8:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m.
Feb 24
Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
Feb 25
Puerto Madryn
9:00 a.m. 10:00 p.m.
Feb 26
Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
Feb 27
Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
Feb 28
Punta Arenas
8:00 a.m. 8:00 p.m.
Mar 01
Cruising the Chilean Fjords
Mar 02
Cruising the Chilean Fjords
Mar 03
Laguna San Rafael
8:00 a.m. 8:00 p.m.
Mar 04
Puerto Chacabuco
8:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m.
Mar 05
Puerto Montt
8:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.
Mar 06
Cruising the Pacific Ocean
Mar 07
Valparaiso
8:00 a.m.
Disembarkation Port: Valparaiso

From Valparaiso we catch a shuttle we've booked to the Santiago Airport (SCL)and fly Air Canada back to EZE, overnighting at the Hilton before flying home March 8.

We're all packed, definitely including the Meclizine since we hear it can be a wee bit of a bumpy ride around Cape Horn. If you too are subject to mal de mer, you may want to skip the video.