Dan and I had an 11:00 o’clock flight last night on a brand new Bowling 787 Dream Liner. It smelled like a new car and was very nice. Destination: Houston. Flight time: 8.5 hours. We enjoyed a light dinner, put our watches back three hours, and then set ourselves to the task of sleeping. We each had a seat that fully reclined, a pillow, and a blanket, so with the help of my trusty sleeping mask, I actually slept for just under six hours.

We went through the expedited immigration process in Houston with the help of the Global Entry kiosks. Then baggage claim, then rechecked our bags, then we settled in at the United lounge where we had a snack and coffee while waiting for our 7:30 flight back to Virginia. Flight time: 2.5 hours.

We have had a fabulous trip and covered a lot of territory. In our view, well worth the time, money, and vacation days. There were few firsts for us (penguins, milky apple juice, outdoor church), but that was expected. The fun was being in such remote parts of the world where not only few live, but few venture. It gave me a huge appreciation for the explorers who got excited about scouting around down there in the first place.

Favorite things
Hettie: being with cruise buddies …and… visiting the penguin rookery
Ronnie: seeing countries, on a new continent, that were on his bucket list …and… the lamb barbecue lunch in Argentina
Cleone: penguins
Walter: happy hour and dinner each night
Dan: being with friends
Schele: the penguins …and… seeing such remote places …and… the magic of Dramamine

Least favorite things
Hettie: high seas …and… traveling with shingles
Ronnie: the graffiti
Cleone: flight to Sao Paulo …and… too many sea days
Walter: flight to Sao Paulo
Dan: rough seas
Schele: rough seas