Haute Savior

That's France to you and me.



We are with our good friends Hannah and Erik, and their two boys Finn and Frank in the Vallee Verte. It has been wonderful to see them all again, it's been about five years since we've seen them all, they were in Norway the last time. New country, new language.

Great cycling, easy trip over. Cyclists, fly Luftansa. So simple with the bikes.

One more photo and a promise of more later. This is everything that went with us. Oh, and Rich as well.

Dancing

Dancing together for 9 years.


Dancing together for 50 years.



That's my Mom and Dad, Happy Anniversary.

We leave tonight for Geneva, as excited as I am it's difficult to realize I won't see my family and friends for 10 months. We will miss so much in their lives; happiness, sadness, babies arriving and kids growing up. I know it's only a year, less really, but for such a homebody like me, it's a lot.

The next post will be from an internet cafe somewhere in France.

Packing up and saying goodbyes.

Although we don't leave on our big adventure until Sept. 1st, we will be on a 3 week trip to the East Coast starting Wednesday, and then a trip to Colorado for a week. So, not much time left in SF, and not much time to pack up the apartment. We've started to pack up and since we will have house sitters staying at our place we need to leave it neat and tidy. That means the current state of chaos needs to be cleaned up. As we found when we moved into our 600 Sq Ft rental cottage - there isn't much room for boxes! Well, not if you actually want to walk around. So, today will be re-org day. When you live in a small place you spend a lot of time re-orging.

Yesterday Rich's step-mother Julie had a lovely going away party for us. She had a map marked with our stops and solicited travel tips from the guests. We got some great advice and some lovely gifts - a travel clothesline and some soap were my favorite. We intend to be doing a lot of laundry in hotel sinks!

By popular demand....the itinerary.

Rich and Cheryl’s Itinerary, dates are subject to change.
East Coast trip beginning on July 19th.
Colorado trip beginning on Aug 17th.

Leave for Geneva on Sept 1st.

After we return to SF in June 07 we intend to go back to Europe to do some bike touring.

To Munich and on to Geneva:

Flight: LH 459 operated by: LUFTHANSA
from: SAN FRANCISCO CA INTL, TERMINAL INTL
to: MUNICH DE FRANZ J STRAUSS, TERMINAL 2
Departure: 01. September, 21:55 h
Arrival: 02. September, 18:00 h
Class: Business Class (D), confirmed

Flight: LH 3690 operated by: LUFTHANSA CITYLINE
from: MUNICH DE FRANZ J STRAUSS, TERMINAL 2
to: GENEVA CH, TERMINAL M
Departure: 02. September, 18:45 h
Arrival: 02. September, 19:55 h
Class: Business Class (D), confirmed

From Geneva through Vienna and on to Sarajevo:

Flight: OS 572 operated by: TYROLEAN AIRWAYS
from: GENEVA CH, TERMINAL M
to: VIENNA AT VIENNA INTL
Departure: 11. September, 10:35 h
Arrival: 11. September, 12:20 h
Class: Business Class (D), confirmed

Flight: OS 757 operated by: AUSTRIAN
from: VIENNA AT VIENNA INTL
to: SARAJEVO BA BUTMIR
Departure: 11. September, 13:30 h
Arrival: 11. September, 14:40 h
Class: Business Class (D), confirmed

We’ll travel through Eastern Europe, starting south with the good weather and going north back to Vienna and then on to India:

Flight: OS 33 operated by: AUSTRIAN
from: VIENNA AT VIENNA INTL
to: DELHI IN INDIRA GANDHI INTL, TERMINAL 2
Departure: 09. November, 11:10 h
Arrival: 09. November, 23:10 h
Class: Business Class (D), confirmed

We’ll stay in India until Dec 11 then on to Thailand:

Flight: TG 318 operated by: THAI AIRWAYS INTL
from: MUMBAI IN CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI, TERMINAL 2C
to: BANGKOK TH BANGKOK INTL, TERMINAL 1
Departure: 11. December, 23:00 h
Arrival: 12. December, 04:50 h
Class: D, confirmed

Flight: TG 253 operated by: THAI AIRWAYS INTL
from: BANGKOK TH BANGKOK INTL, TERMINAL DOM
to: SURAT THANI TH
Departure: 12. December, 10:40 h
Arrival: 12. December, 11:55 h
Class: C, confirmed

Then from Thailand to Vietnam:

Flight: TG 697 operated by: THAI AIRWAYS INTL
from: PHNOM PENH KH POCHENTONG, TERMINAL INTL
to: BANGKOK TH BANGKOK INTL, TERMINAL 1
Departure: 01. February, 10:30 h
Arrival: 01. February, 11:35 h
Class: D, confirmed

Flight: TG 684 operated by: THAI AIRWAYS INTL
from: BANGKOK TH BANGKOK INTL, TERMINAL 1
to: HANOI VN NOIBAI, TERMINAL INTL
Departure: 01. February, 17:50 h
Arrival: 01. February, 19:40 h
Class: D, confirmed

On to Hong Kong:

Flight: UA 862 operated by: UNITED AIRLINES
from: HO CHI MINH CITY VN TAN SON NH
to: HONG KONG HK HONG KONG INTL
Departure: 23. February, 06:05 h
Arrival: 23. February, 09:40 h
Class: D, confirmed

Flight: NZ 38 operated by: AIR NEW ZEALAND
from: HONG KONG HK HONG KONG INTL
to: AUCKLAND NZ, TERMINAL INTL
Departure: 01. March, 19:00 h
Arrival: 02. March, 10:45 h
Class: D, confirmed

And on to New Zealand:

Flight: NZ 531 operated by: AIR NEW ZEALAND
from: AUCKLAND NZ, TERMINAL DOM
to: CHRISTCHURCH NZ, TERMINAL M
Departure: 02. March, 12:30 h
Arrival: 02. March, 13:50 h
Class: M, confirmed

Then to Austrailia,

Flight: NZ 793 operated by: FREEDOM AIR / FULL AIRNZ SERVICE
from: CHRISTCHURCH NZ, TERMINAL M
to: MELBOURNE VI TULLAMARINE, TERMINAL 2
Departure: 30. March, 15:35 h
Arrival: 30. March, 17:25 h
Class: D, confirmed

To Singapore:

Flight: SQ 232 operated by: SINGAPORE AIRLINES
from: SYDNEY NS KINGSFORDSMITH, TERMINAL 1
to: SINGAPORE SG CHANGI, TERMINAL 2
Departure: 26. April, 12:55 h
Arrival: 26. April, 17:50 h
Class: D, confirmed

Then to China

Flight: TG 402 operated by: THAI AIRWAYS INTL
from: SINGAPORE SG CHANGI, TERMINAL 1
to: BANGKOK TH BANGKOK INTL, TERMINAL 1
Departure: 04. May, 08:15 h
Arrival: 04. May, 09:35 h
Class: D, confirmed

Flight: TG 612 operated by: THAI AIRWAYS INTL
from: BANGKOK TH BANGKOK INTL, TERMINAL 1
to: KUNMING CN, TERMINAL INTL
Departure: 04. May, 10:50 h
Arrival: 04. May, 14:05 h
Class: D, confirmed

The flight home is open.

from: SHANGHAI CN PU DONG
to: TOKYO JP NARITA
Class: D, open

from: TOKYO JP NARITA
to: SAN FRANCISCO CA INTL
Class: D, open

Who wouldn't miss this crew?

Group photo from my going away lunch of Thai food and chocolate cake. People said nice things, which was sweet. This is why I never aspired to work from home.

Is Rich getting happy? See below for an idea.

Cubicle with a view

I've worked at my current job for five years and 9 months. It's a big company in downtown SF, my cubicle on the 28th floor has a great view down Market Street.



I gave notice Friday the 9th of June. My last day at Big Company will be Thursday July 6th. I haven't dared to start this blog before I gave notice - I didn't want to become one of those internet stories - "Woman loses job by blogging about plans to leave".

Back in August when Rich and I hatched this plan it seemed so far away. Ten months of planning and plotting and not telling. First there was sale of the condo to get through, complete with staging and open houses and keeping the darn place clean during it all. Then the move from a 1,900 sq ft place to a 600 sq ft rental cottage. The getting rid of all the stuff that wouldn't fit in a 600 sq ft cottage. Getting rid of more stuff that fit, but was in the way. And then getting rid of a little more so there would be room to turn around. And of course trying not to accumulate more stuff. It was a good lesson in what's necessary for happiness.

Here we are. 11 more days of work left for me, 12 for Rich. Big Company is more generous with the holidays then his work place. Fourth of July means the Monday and Tuesday off for me, just the Tuesday for him. Until then, I'll continue to enjoy my cubicle with a view and the morning coffee runs with my co-workers.