A month of chaos and fun begins. Day one.

 So we are off from the Grove to Tukwila to SEATAC and then on to Doha where our team will meet up.  Kathy is already there along with Maxi, Pepper and Elsie, the guardians of the home front.  Greg and Jenn are coming from Istanbul and Jeff, last we heard, was eating tapas and drinking sangria at a bar in Spain.  We all meet up with Kathy on the 29th and then the chaos will really begin.

It’s World Cup time and even though all of us tried to get ticket packages only Fran got lucky and drew four matches, Mexico v Saudi Arabia and Serbia v Switzerland in the group stage and then two matches in the knock out round.  No USA v anybody, but it will be fun regardless.  Shirley and I have been to Qatar several times before and am amazed at how the country has changed in the 13 years Kathy has lived there.  The physical transformation of the Doha skyline, the building of a new city at Lusail, and the infrastructure developments are amazing.  There have been many stories about the labor abuses, working conditions, and worker deaths associated with this building effort, most are accurate, but a lot seem to be a n attempt to punish Qatar for getting the tournament awarded there.  It’s not a perfect place and we will try and tell you what we see in the month we are there.  The sad part of this story is that in much of the world poverty is so pervasive that people will risk almost anything to try and provide support for their families.

First leg complete: Amtrak to the Tukwila station, 3:05 on the train.   Comfortable and on time.  We love the ride to Seattle on Amtrak.  We are traveling heavy this time, not like our usual one bag limit, but the AMTRAK employees were super helpful helping two old folks with their excess luggage.  Staying at a hotel close to SEATAC for our afternoon flight (14.5 hour) to Doha.  Qatar Air has always been a comfortable way to go, and we expect nothing less this trip.

We hope you are following the tournament.  Lots of upsets, lot of chances for countries that are not considered soccer powers to advance into the knock out stage.  It’s been fun so far, we’ll keep you informed.