“The greatest adventure
is what lies ahead.”
J.R.R. Tolkien

And we’re off… together this time. Kathy and I certainly don’t qualify as avid travelers or frequent flyers, but we have traveled a bit in the past forty years. Since we’ve been married, Kathy has taken a few trips without me — to Chicago, Seattle, New Jersey, some God-forsaken place in Texas, and a fall foliage cruise in the Northeast, to name just a few. She also spent 36 memorable days without me in scenic Los Altos, California! I’ve taken a few trips without Kathy, too — to Japan, the Bahamas, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Pacific Grove, Palm Springs, and San Diego. 

In addition to those trips, Kathy and I have traveled together many times — to Chicago, Orlando, the Bahamas, Nagasaki (Japan), Fort Wayne (Indiana), Lake Tahoe, Twain Harte, Pacific Grove, Eureka, Spokane, Seattle, Solvang, San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, the upper Michigan peninsula, Carmel by the Sea, Santa Barbara, and San Louis Obispo. I’m probably missing a few other places. 

Last summer, Kathy and I embarked on our first cruise together. It was a river boat cruise on the Columbia River, from Astoria, Oregon to Lewiston, Idaho. The journey followed the path of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, but in reverse. We enjoyed it immensely, so we signed up to take another cruise this summer — a New England Islands cruise from Providence, Rhode Island to Block Island, Newport, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, New Bedford (Massachusetts), and Bristol, RI. At the end of the excursion, we’ll spend a few extra days in Bristol visiting with my high school classmate, Steve Aveson, and his wife Karen. 

Our 2025 adventure begins today. We fly out of San José this morning, arriving in Providence, Rhode Island around 8:00 tonight. Tomorrow we’ll board the American Star for the cruise. It’s a small ship, carrying only 200 passengers. Kathy and I prefer this to the mega-cruise ships which are like floating cities. American Cruise Lines offers a variety of small boat cruises across the United States. One more we would like to take some day is to Alaska.

Last year’s cruise was, essentially, a practice run. I wanted to see how I coped with being on a ship for a week. Kathy has been on several cruises in her life, but last year’s was my first. At no time did I feel queasy, so we booked the 2025 trip to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary.

Kathy and I married on June 29, 1985. I’ll never forget the headline of the Sports section of the San José Mercury News that day: “CARROLL SAYS HE’LL FIND ESCAPE CLAUSE.” Apparently, the Golden State Warriors center, Joe Barry Carroll, was unhappy playing for Golden State and wanted out. The timing of the headline could not have been more perfect. Well, it’s been forty years and I still have not found an escape clause!!!

I don’t know how much I’ll be writing over the next week, but, if nothing else, I’ll post a few photo updates of our trip. We will return to San José on the evening of July 7th. I’m looking forward to including you in our adventure.