Expect the Unexpected

It seems every time we plan a trip we encounter unexpected issues that could potentially change our plans. We both have had dog babysitting issues, I had the company I worked for get taken over by another and that caused some panic. We planned a trip during soaring oil prices and air tickets were going through the roof. Now, it is just the general world economy that has everyone scared. Through it all it always seems to find a way to work out and to be very honest, we have been very fortunate that we have been able to be together as much as we have. Petra has been in the US 4 times, 3 of them with her son and I have been to the Netherlands 3 times all within the past 19 months. Pretty good I think.

Now we have our latest trip planned for the end of April. Petra and her son will be coming over for the first time during the spring season. We need to meet with the school that her son will attend here and start to get those arrangements made. We will find other things to do also. I checked what is going on here during their trip and was happy to see that there are a couple of things locally that I think we could enjoy.

Greyhounds in Gettysburg is being held during that time so that is an obvious one for us. I think Petra will be very interested in seeing how these events are held over here compared to what she is used to in The Netherlands. And yes, they do dress the dogs up for a parade. LOL


Another local event is the annual Apple Blossom Festival near Gettysburg. That area is one of the largest apple growing regions in the USA and the trees should all be in bloom and covering the hills and valleys for as far as you can see. It's an old fashion country festival and should also be pretty interesting for them to see if for no other reason than to get a good laugh at all of the ways apples are used in food. My favorite is the apple dumpling.



Since we are only about 1 1/2 hours from Washington DC I hope we can go there as well and see the Air and Space Museum and other Smithsonian museums.

We'll all survive this terrible economy we have currently and our plans will move forward. No one ever promised us that something so good would be easy. These vacation trips have been great fun but I can't wait for the day that we plan them together from the same place.