We got a Christmas card from Tom and Carolyn today. Not for Christmas 2007 - this was last year's card that was returned to sender, resent, and has now arrived.
We met Tom and Carolyn in Popondetta in 1974. They were fairly new doctors from Canada working in conditions that must have seemed extremely primitive to them. After 4 years in the Sepik in PNG, the Popondetta hospital was almost state of the art as far as we were concerned. We socialised and when we went finish (back to Australia) we kept in contact.
When we met we had two kids - they had none. By the time we visited them in New Brunswick in 1990 they had five, and a few years later added a sixth.
This is what we garnered from the card. Son #1 is a neurological registrar (aka brain surgeon) who married a lawyer last year. Son #2 is doing a PhD and has to spend a semester in Paris - poor soul. Son #3 is teaching in Oman and doing lots of travelling (hasn't ventured to Oz yet). Daughter #1 is also teaching (Calgary), daughter #2 is in first year at Uni in Nova Scotia and #3 is in Year 9 and very sporty. Wow! They certainly did the right thing as parents.
We would like to meet up with them again, but there is no chance on our July trip. We will be pushing it to meet up with Ann (Kevin's cousin) and her husband Doug who live in British Columbia. Definitely no possibility of getting to the Maritime Provinces.
Besides, Tom and Carolyn have never visited Western Australia. We will have to keep putting forward the idea that a BIG TRIP is a necessary part of their future.
Showing posts with label US trip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US trip. Show all posts
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
It IS happening
Today I booked the tickets for our trip to the US in July for Bruce's wedding. They were about $100 cheaper than the last time I looked, so I will not look again. Too demoralising if they become even cheaper closer to the time we leave. I am happy with the price we got though.
I also bought travel insurance, booked a hotel room for our first night in LA and hired a car. Too easy. Tomorrow I will book a Hearst Castle tour and the accommodation we will need on our way to Portland. This part is pretty well organised.
I am trying to plan what we will do after the wedding and the days we are going to spend with Jenny. Our next-door neighbours went to this part of the States in January and we need to pick their brains.
I also bought travel insurance, booked a hotel room for our first night in LA and hired a car. Too easy. Tomorrow I will book a Hearst Castle tour and the accommodation we will need on our way to Portland. This part is pretty well organised.
I am trying to plan what we will do after the wedding and the days we are going to spend with Jenny. Our next-door neighbours went to this part of the States in January and we need to pick their brains.
Monday, February 5, 2007
More Googling
I have spent a lot of time on the Internet today trying to track down the best value air fares for our trip to the US in July for a nephew's wedding.
It is almost too easy. Fares, accommodation, car hire - all at the touch of a button. But I can understand why people go to travel agents. There is never all the information you require at any one site and the quoted fare prices differ wildly from one place to another. In the case of the fare we are considering, one online site offers it at half the price it is at the airline's own site. How do you know that the cheap site is reputable? In this case we do - I have booked fares before with them and the outcome was completely satisfactory - but without that experience how would you know?
So we now know how much we are going to have to spend. All we need to decide is actual dates and what we are going to do before or after the wedding and we can make the bookings. Need to consult with other family members who are going as well, I suppose. But we'll have to make the bookings soon because it is high season in the Northern Hemisphere.
It is almost too easy. Fares, accommodation, car hire - all at the touch of a button. But I can understand why people go to travel agents. There is never all the information you require at any one site and the quoted fare prices differ wildly from one place to another. In the case of the fare we are considering, one online site offers it at half the price it is at the airline's own site. How do you know that the cheap site is reputable? In this case we do - I have booked fares before with them and the outcome was completely satisfactory - but without that experience how would you know?
So we now know how much we are going to have to spend. All we need to decide is actual dates and what we are going to do before or after the wedding and we can make the bookings. Need to consult with other family members who are going as well, I suppose. But we'll have to make the bookings soon because it is high season in the Northern Hemisphere.
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