With a Little Help from My Friends…

No “Wordless Wednesday” this week, people – nope. Instead we have a most EPIC new tale.  Indeed, a tale of to ‘n fro emails numbering nearly two dozen – simply to get the precise Vietnamese address right.  Then days of anxiously tracking a lone package winging its way from Seattle to Oakland to Anchorage, then across the big Puddle to Guangzhou, China.  Breathing a sigh of relief as it landed in Ho Chi Minh City, and then… gape worriedly as the tracking status changed to “N/A” (WTF???) and the package took the most convoluted path possible – first to Da Nang (go figure, perhaps to visit the old helicopter stompin’ grounds of the sender?) and finally here this morning, right to the gate at L’Auberge Ami.

In short:  Wo-HOO!  Way ta GO Fed Ex!!!

And an even bigger: WOO-HOOO! to a dear friend who knows EXACTLY what puts a big ol’ GRIN on the TravelnLass’ face.

The truth is, this little Fed Ex C.A.R.E. package was meant to be just a “test-run” to ensure that my dear friend Jim (a.k.a. “CENT5” – a fellow geocacher) could get a package to me here at this obscure Garden of Eden in Dalat, Vietnam.  Indeed, a test-run for future – far more critical, mailings of… my renewed U.S. credit cards.  The last time I received such a critical mailing, my renewed chunk of precious plastic went by way of my virtual mailbox in the States, and cost me a mere (not) 75 bucks in postage for the 3 oz. packet.

So this little post is dedicated to my good chum, Jim – who, not once but TWICE kindly flew me (and 8 other lunatic Seattle geocachers) up to Alaska (on his precious Alaska Air freebie passes) to crunch, crunch, crunch our way through the glorious Alaskan countryside – to grab Tupperware in the snow.

Thanks for all the great memories, my friend!
(CENT5, on the far right, red jacket in back)

And trust that I shall have many happy moments here in Vietnam, spooning Skippy from the jar – uh, for many months to come!