Getting further along the path

So, yes, we are going to the south Pacific!! In an e-mail from Dietmar (on Carinthia, see 52 Hertz link on the side bar) he mentions the itinerary:

French Polynesia
Northern Cooks
American Samoa
Western Samoa
Northern Fiji
Vanuatu
Santa Cruz
Solomon Islands

We likely will not get past Vanuatu due to the short (3 months) time frame for this adventure!! In the meantime we are starting on a land tour that started in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico and has progressed as far as Portland, Oregon (Orygun, as one one bumper sticker had it the other day). In a week or so we will go to Florence, OR and continue up the coast into Washington to see the five eco systems that present themselves along the way. This nomadic thing is addictive!!! The "Dirt Yacht," as Sandy has been calling it, has the benefit of being a lot like the water version. It is very mobile and the people we have met are very friendly.

Oh, and no picture of this, but while I was driving north along I-5 yesterday I passed a place where I could see the southbound train... there were two unlikely fellows on a grassy area next to the tracks... they were mooning the passengers on the train quite enthusiastically!!! "Oh, look Martha, local color!"