Cool sounding trip, Dorph! Right up your alley! Congrats big time to Robin! And Jan? Stop getting sick! That's an order! I'm sitting on the bed of our hotel room in Sevilla, Spain right now. We got in a few hours ago, we've had a poquito siesta, and we're trying to cobble together a plan for dinner. Since this is the birth place of tapas, I'm thinking we'll slap on our walking shoes around 9pm-ish and just walk from bar to bar to sample the local delights. Tomorrow morning I have an all day market tour and cooking class set up for just me while Steve attends his meeting, and then we have the whole rest of the week and weekend to get to know the city better. My Spanish is pretty weak, but that doesn't stop me from trying it out. I know from experience that one looks less foolish making mistakes while *trying* to speak the native tongue than one does by responding to every question with a loud "Do you speak English?" Our cabbie was cool and helped me with my pronunciation and after some slow exchanges he asked me if I spoke French (seeing as how I answered him in half French/half Spanish). He was fluent but for his heavy accent (as was I, but for mine) so we got a 20 minute personal run-down in the city in French. I hope I can shake this jet lag nonsense because I'm so thrilled to be here right now and I want to soak the experience in. Life is so short and uncertain. I want to seize every moment on this trip.

Dax, yes the koraiensis is 'Winton'. Kmanz5, thanks for the recommendation! I'll have to check 'Weithurst Seedling W/B' out. Ghgvv, Wecome, hope to hear more from you, thanks. Tj, The last two winters have been pretty tough, with at least brief periods of Zone 5a temps. I think 'Joppi' is listed as Z6 but so far it seems pretty tough. I've had Pinus jeffreyi 'Gold' as well for a few more years and it has done well, but has grown very slowly, which in my case is a good thing. Here's that pic of the P.j. 'Joppi' cone. I thought it was kind of cool. Thanks for the responses, Dan

Kind of scary... all that excitement... and I'm supposed to be part of the entertainment... Didn't I ever tell you I start each day by peering into the bathroom mirror and saying "Now THERE is a reliable disappointment..." Sometimes Idiot She calls me Eeyore... but I think he was too much of an optimist for my taste... I like the Thelma and Louise thing... except for the whole killing the guy, blowing up the truck, driving off a cliff thing. Think we'll try to dial back the excitement a little...

It's funny that you mention Viking. We are on their email list and in the past few months have been receiving a weekly email with offers, after years of once-a-year contact. I'm sure the economy has taken it's toll and they are trying to stimulate business. One of my DH's partners did a Viking Cruise and highly recommends it. He is someone whose opinion I would trust about this sort of thing. We are considering doing one as part of our next trip to Europe. I did a Caribbean cruise once and I'll never do that again. I didn't like the huge ship, the big crowds, the mediocre food, and the bizarre atmosphere of gluttony that pervades the ship. I didn't like being stuck in the middle of the ocean, with nothing to see, for days. I'm hoping a smaller river cruise would not only avoid those things but I can get off the ship in Paris, or somewhere, and see the sites & go find a decent meal if need be.