Two Weeks!!

Well, my ship sails in just two weeks from tomorrow out of New York City. One of the nice perks of this trip is that the cruise line has your luggage picked up from your house and delivered directly to your cabin on the ship. I'm so glad I won't have to haul around and check-in baggage at the airport. The UPS guy came by this afternoon and carted everything off.  Now all I have to do is get on my flight on January 10th with a carry-on bag with my medications and a change of clothes. My "World Dulcimer" would not fit in the bag so I'll be carrying it on as well.

My Visas Are In...

I had to send my passport off to the Indian Consultant in Houston to get my Indian visa. Some of my visa applications were a single page questionnaire without much being asked other than my name and address and that I bring it with me on my trip for it to be stamped. China and India were different.  They required long questionnaires on all sorts of issues. Let's just say that for China it's a good thing I'm not a former Chinese national that is now a U.S. citizen applying to do business in China with a daughter who is U.S. born seeking to go to school in China. Good luck with that. I'm just going as an American tourist. Having said that, I think I am most looking forward to going to China. They have the most modern and fastest (300+ mph) passenger trains in the world.  I'm taking trains across China from Beijing to Hong Kong instead of the ship. They also have the largest railroad police department. I'm really anxious to meet those guys. Right now I'm glad I got my passport and visas back in plenty of time before my trip.

My new "World Dulcimer."

I just picked out my "World Dulcimer" at The Dulcimer Shoppe in Mountain View.  This is the dulcimer that is going all away around the world with me in 2019.

This is Jim Woods, the owner, who is sponsoring me, musically on this trip with this mountain dulcimer. I will be playing this dulcimer with local musicians from different cultures, musical traditions and eastern notation structures.

He is doing some customization work on it for me now and will have it ready next week, so I can play it some and get used to it between now and January when I leave.

I name my dulcimers. My main dulcimer is "Melinda" and she has been with me across the United States including some train trips on Union Pacific business cars.

Here is where I could use some help.  What should I name my new dulcimer?

I'm looking for a nice name that in some way ties into this trip around the world. I would appreciate any suggestions you might have. Whatever name I choose I will give the person who came up with it one of my soon to be printed "Beach World Tour 2019" concert tour shirts. Reply here or on Facebook where this post will also listed.     

Also, to see the full line of some of the finest dulcimers in the world go to https://mcspaddendulcimers.com/