Jim's trips

In August of 2024 my Grandson Ben was told he would be taking command of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines in 29 Palms, a USMC base for desert training in southern California in 2025. In March he let me know that there would be a "Change of Command" ceremony at the base on May 9th. I found that parents etc. could attend so I made plans to be there. I had been at his commissioning as a 2nd Lieutenant and again when he was promoted to Lt. Colonel in 2024 Mom and Dad pinning on his 2nd Lt. bars at Quantico Both his grandfathers were Marines and attended the commissioning as well. Duty in Afghanistan Promotion  to Lt. Colonel at Quantico At the promotion. in 2024. Proud Mama in front! May 6  Well   - the first leg of my flight to Dallas was cancelled due to storms there. No other flights could get me to Palm Springs on Tuesday.  I will  return to Syracuse, stay there again tonight, then fly to Washington DC, Phoenix and finally Palm Springs   tomorrow, arriving th...

After enjoying my Mississippi River cruise I looked at my schedule after the Christmas and New Year holidays  and found .... Nada, Zip, Nothing! Its going to be a long boring winter I thought, Why not look for another trip? Florida ?-Just went there last winter I thought;  Somewhere not south? Get away from the cold I thought. I looked and looked on line and found that AAA was offering a Cruise through the Panama Canal. Fly to LA, cruise the Mexican Rivera to Costa Rico and Panama, though the canal to Aruba and back to Ft Lauderdale. Bingo!! I made and appointment with AAA travel agent Tammy Cook who arranged my trip to Alaska. She set me up just in time to get one of the last staterooms on the Coral Princess ship.  partial map of the trip Coral Princess February 20 Fly to LA from Syracuse  After all the widespread snow, wind and ice of February it was not surprising there were airline delays, I was delayed out of Syracuse so the agent put me on a later flight to Cha...