Travel Journal

It's been a while!

2009-02-15T21:30:00.000-08:00

Wow, things have changed drastically since our last active posts to our website. We're still in Seattle, but now have a wonderful 3 year old and a great house in the Phinney/Greenwood area of town.Life is good.

Sunny Seattle?

2004-07-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

Yes it's true. Seattle is sunny in the summer. It's the area's best kept secret! We found a cute little rental house in a great location - close to the freeway, grocery store, and Greenlake (for dog walking and running). It's been fun settling in. Backpack travel for 2.5 years didn't seem so bad at the time. We are now living like most people our age with our own bathroom, bed, kitchen,

Moving...

2004-05-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

We flew down to Austin a week ago to begin the process of moving our stuff out of storage up to Seattle. Also, we're really excited to have seen our dog the other day at EJ & Gideon's. Our nephew Isaac is very cute and has a ton of blond hair. This past weekend we ventured over to Shreveport, LA to visit M's Dad and step-mom Barb. They took us out to a couple of great meals, and we really

Back in the USA and still traveling!

2004-04-16T15:26:00.000-07:00

Our journey is now over and we are having some bittersweet feelings. On one hand, we are very happy to be back and moving on with our lives, and on the other hand a bit sad that our travels have ended. The past two weeks have flown by. It's pretty surreal to be sitting in a coffee shop at Lake Tahoe logged into the web and updating our site. We left Kuala Lumpur in time to attend a wedding

Last three days!

2004-03-23T06:29:00.000-08:00

We are now chilllin in Kuala Lumpur, simply called "KL" by those in the know. Much like downtown Bangkok and Hong Kong, KL is full of shopping malls and is pretty sprawled out. However, there doesn't seem to be as much pollution here. We are only in KL b/c we found a VERY cheap flight home originating here. So, we aren't doing much except a little shopping. It's been a while since we walked

Last Week of our trip - Beaching it!

2004-03-20T18:59:00.000-08:00

We weren't really sure how to beat our fabulous beach experience in Koh Bulone Lae (KBL). No other beach could possibly compare! We considered going back there for our last week of the trip, but decided that it would be better to explore another place. Fellow travelers were ripe with suggestions. We settled on going to Koh Phangan after we found an incredibly cheapo flight. This island is

Visit to an elephant conservation camp

2004-03-15T14:25:00.000-08:00

Chiang Mai is filled with travel agents offering many types of hill-tribe treks, cooking school classes, and elephant camp visits. We decided not to go to one of the touristy elephant camps after learning about Elephant Heaven, an elephant conservation center. It turns out that most of these tourist outfits don't treat their elephants very well - overworked and controlled with ropes and chains.

Touristy in Bangkok

2004-03-10T12:51:00.000-08:00

Despite many pitstops in this busy city, we hadn't seen too much of Bangkok on our short stop-overs. Street vendors that hawk anything imaginable (esp. fresh fruit), blaring car horns, scooters with no mufflers, and unrelenting tuk-tuk drivers soliciting business are a few things that make Bangkok unique. Think about how crazy we are about child seats/safety in America. Check out this kid

Pai, northern Thailand

2004-03-04T11:30:00.000-08:00

With only 5 days left in northern Thailand, we left behind the hustle and bustle of Chaing Mai for a small town called Pai. We were told that this would be a good place to chill for a few days, go on a hill-tribe trek, raft, and hike without being too touristy. The four hour ride halfway to the Burmese border from Chiang Mai was along the typical Thai roads - twisty and bumpy. The bus driver

Chiang Mai, Thailand

2004-03-01T18:46:00.000-08:00

Big town. Chaing Mai has been a traveler’s hub for centuries. It’s not challenging in the least for English speaking travelers to get around. Our plan was to stop in Chiang Mai for a day or two to organize a hill tribe visit and trek for several days then head east to float the Mekong River to Louang Prabang in Laos. Well our plans changed as they always do. We ended up getting sick again

The Ruins of Angkor Wat

2004-02-24T11:58:00.000-08:00

It was pretty easy to find a guesthouse. The internet and our used copy of Lonely Planet are pretty helpful. We didn't know whether or not to expect someone from the guesthouse to be waiting for us outside the airport. Our driver Preyta was waiting with a sign. Five star service at one star prices! We took the 20 minute drive past Angkor Wat to our guesthouse in an extremely comfortable moto

Pitstop in Bangkok

2004-02-20T14:44:00.000-08:00

Bangkok had become much hotter in the weeks we had spent down south. This humid, polluted, FAST city was quite a shock after quiet beach life. We spent a day figuring out how to get to Siem Reap, Cambodia and a day at the famous weekend market. We splurged one night and caught a movie (Cold Mountain) and ate some great Vietnamese food for dinner at the 7 story mall near our guesthouse. A

The long-haul from Paradise to craziness

2004-02-19T12:06:00.000-08:00

The journey took all day. So we found a cheap ticket (<$20) back to Bangkok from Phuket, a touristy island ~ 7 hours north of KBL. Our original intention was to stay on KBL for a week then work our way north towards Phuket, exploring the many islands along the way. So much for that!!! Why mess with perfection? We took the long-tail boat at 9am to meet the ferry for an hour’s ride to the pier

KBL part 2

2004-02-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

We must have needed a vacation after traveling so fast and furiously through Israel, Turkey, Africa, and Honk Kong for the past two months. We can't seem to leave our little paradise in Koh Bulon Lae (KBL). Nope, don't want to take a boat trip to another island, get on a train or plane. We just want to sit. And that's we are doing. It's even an effort for us to leave the area and walk 1K to

Koh Bulon Lae

2004-02-03T06:13:00.000-08:00

We are now doing absolutely nothing on a very small island in southern Thailand. We are pretty close to Malaysia on the Adaman Sea. The overnight train from Bangkok was much nicer than we expected. We upgraded to our own sleeper complete with a sink since Dave had such a hard time fitting in the dorm-style sleepers in Europe. We were a bit wary of the lovely chicken dinner included with our

Bangkok Joyride

2004-02-02T08:06:00.000-08:00

After grossly underestimating how long it would take to get to the train station, we missed our overnight train down the Thai peninsula to Had Yai. We thought that 1 hour would be plenty of time for our cab to navigate the 6km distance to the station. No Way! This is Bangkok traffic and we missed the train by 10 minutes. One of the info desk employees who saw our disappointment and look of

Finally made it to Thailand!

2004-01-25T07:30:00.000-08:00

We flew to Thailand this evening and are already in love. We are staying at a great little lodge not too far from the hustle and bustle but far enough so we can get some sleep. The food at the hotel is delicious, organic, and cheap! Our room and dinner only cost us $12. Perhaps we shouldn't have stayed in Europe so long (no regrets)... It's SO MUCH CHEAPER HERE!!! We plan to head very far

Hong Kong

2004-01-23T04:20:00.000-08:00

We spent half of our week in Hong Kong recovering from the worst jet lag experienced thus far on the trip and the other half of the week mad that everything was closed for the Chinese New Year Holidays! We recently read that it takes 1 day for each hour of flight (or time change?) to recover from jet lag. I guess we still have a few more days to go. We can't seem to get to sleep before 2am!!!

Johannesburg - Jan. 12th & 16th

2004-01-17T11:49:00.000-08:00

Our flights to Vic Falls were not that convenient and necessitated an overnight in Jo’burg at the front and back end. We found a local backpackers close to the airport that had a pool, laundry, and BBQ for $10!! Just what we needed…clean clothes! We really hit if off with the guy running the hostel for his son. Vince used to be a professional hunter, turned park ranger, and then became a

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

2004-01-15T12:03:00.000-08:00

If we spent all our time believing what we saw on TV, we wouldn’t have visited 7-8 countries on our list. Zimbabwe has horrible political problems, but Vic Falls is still a somewhat safe haven for travelers. We stayed at a backpackers within 2 miles of the falls and town and spent much time chatting with South Africans, Namibians, Zimbabweans, Aussies, and Zambians. The owner of the

Overall Safari Experience

2004-01-11T06:55:00.000-08:00

At both hotels, we’ve chatted with the staff about various things. Everyone we talked to commented on the fact the Brits and Americans stopped coming to East Africa unlike other nationalities. The government travel warnings have a very negative impact to local tourism. Kenyans, like the Turkish, don’t understand how Westerns can believe that Kenya is a war zone like Iraq. Just like 9/11, the

Masai Mara - Day 8 - 9

2004-01-10T06:20:00.000-08:00

We started the day very early again with a long drive south to the infamous Masai Mara. This was possibly the worst of all the roads, and the three of us arrived to the Masi Sopa Lodge pretty battered! The Masai tribe has had so many articles and books written about them unlike the Samburu. We visited with some Masai in Amboseli Park earlier in the week. At the Gates of every national park we

Drive to Lake Nakuru - Day 7

2004-01-08T06:20:00.000-08:00

We spent six hours driving south across the equator again, then headed west to Lake Nakuru which is in the Great Rift Valley (stretches from Lebanon to Malawi). Along the way, we passed through coffee and tea plantations, small towns, even smaller villages, and managed to see another rainbow. The country is very poor outside Nairobi, but everyone has a ready smile. We took some pics along the

Samburu National Game Reserve – Day 5-6

2004-01-07T06:19:00.000-08:00

Since we missed the leopard yesterday, our goal today was to spot one. Duncan’s plan was to try to reach the place we saw him yesterday where he had his kill in the tree. He was sure that the leopard wasn’t done eating. We beat two other vans to the site by a long shot, thanks to Duncan’s 17 years worth of knowledge of the back roads. The majestic leopard was lazily sprawled out on a tree in

Samburu National Game Reserve – Day 4

2004-01-06T06:18:00.000-08:00

Another four hours in the car this morning on horrid roads in order to reach our northern most destination – Samburu National Game Reserve. On the drive we passed through several small, impoverished towns and made a stop at the Equator. An industrious man was charging $2 to show tourists how on one side of the equator water flushes in one direction and goes the opposite way on the other side of

Mountain Lodge – Day 3

2004-01-05T06:16:00.000-08:00

Duncan was pretty upset this morning as the pop-top on his beloved van broke. He assured us that he would somehow get it welded before our next game drive. We were thinking – how, we’re out in the middle of nowhere!!?? We left the lodge early this morning after hanging out with a small pack of very cheeky monkeys. They were brazen and not shy to sit right next to us along with their tiny

Amboseli National Park – Day 2

2004-01-04T06:51:00.000-08:00

Our day began at 6am with a quick dose of tasty Kenyan coffee before hitting the road for an early morning game drive. Not quite caught up on our sleep, we weren’t awake until Duncan spotted another pride of lion. The lions were feasting on a kill hidden in the bushes. There were two mamas and a bunch of babies. Scavengers such as hyenas and gray-backed jackals were hovering very closely in

Masai Mara Village

2004-01-04T06:16:00.000-08:00

Duncan arranged for us to visit a Masai Mara village somewhat close to the lodge. This tribe of people has inhabited Kenya and Tanzania for centuries and maintains their ancient lifestyle. Chief Raphael welcomed us to his village which was followed by a welcome dance by his tribe which involved much singing and jumping. At the end of the dance, the tribesmen surround us both and asked us to

Amboseli National Park - Day 1

2004-01-03T06:13:00.000-08:00

So, after sleeping one hour on our nine hour overnight flight from London, we met our safari guide Duncan at the airport. Immediately we headed south three hours to the Amboseli National Park right on the border with Tanzania. This park is well-known for game viewing with Mt. Kilimanjaro as a constant in the background. We made the requisite pee breaks at the local safari stops and were

How to Choose A Safari

2004-01-02T06:12:00.000-08:00

When we purchased our around-the-world ticket, our travel agent told us that it would only cost $150 for each of us to go to Africa and get four flights within the country! Though not part of our original plan, of course we said “yes”. So we began the process of researching safaris and were pleased to find out that there were some targeted towards budget travelers. Turns out that there are

Hamam Heaven

2003-12-30T18:10:00.000-08:00

Another tradition we thoroughly enjoyed was visiting a traditional Turkish bath –Hamam. The day before leaving Turkey we felt well enough to make a visit to one of the local Hamams. There were about six to choose from, and we picked the oldest one in Istanbul which was reputed to be very sanitary. This Hamam segregated the men and women unlike many which are communal. We each had a similar

Istanbul - Second Time around

2003-12-28T02:41:00.000-08:00

Istanbul is the only city in the world built on two continents. Its history is a very long one. In 395 AD (when Istanbul was named Constantinopel) the city was made capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Domes and minarets fill the skyline. The city is a continual bustle of crowds, the rumbling of vehicles on cobblestone streets, and the cries of street vendors. After our time in Cappadocia,

Cappadocia – Day #2

2003-12-24T03:28:00.000-08:00

There were some new faces in our tour group today aside from our newfound friends Jim & Joanne from Charlottesville. Unfortunately these new folks were a complete pain in the ass! From D.C., a Greek Orthodox couple and their 20 year old kid were touring the area. They believed themselves to be the authorities on almost every subject. This characteristic came out strongly on our visit to the

Cappadocia Day #1

2003-12-24T03:12:00.000-08:00

What a strange place Cappadocia is...It feels like we are on the moon! Most of the towns in this region have dwellings built right into rocks. The rocks are roughly conical in shape, rising into the air and topped by a mushroom cap formation, a natural phenomenon which was created by wind erosion aeons ago. The dwellings have holes cut into them for doors and windows, and the rock is soft enough

Bus ride from Hell!

2003-12-23T08:37:00.000-08:00

We arrived into the Cappadocia town of Urgrup after our 12 hour overnight bus ride. The bus was nice and clean, we watched "The Matrix" in Turkish, and the stewardess served cups of water or coffee non-stop. She also came by a few times with some spritzes of perfume to keep the B.O. at bay. Though we only slept about 3 hours total, we have had much worse bus rides (Guatemala). Our next

Istanbul

2003-12-21T13:33:00.000-08:00

Having only been here in Istanbul for a short 24 hours, Turkey has left a great first impression. The food, ancient sights, and engaging people won us over quickly. Today we got a feel for the city and its beauty by riding a bus and tram around for a few hours. The only official siteseeing accomplished today was a visit to the underground Basilica Cistern. This underground water storage

Jerusalem

2003-12-18T08:52:00.000-08:00

The first day we arrived at sunset and met up for dinner with a friend of M's from her year in Israel back in 1988 as well as many years at summer camp. It was great to catch up with Caryn who now lives and works in Jerusalem full-time. Our plans for the day centered on checking out the Old City which contains Jerusalem's most important historical and religious sites. Old City excavations have

Northern Israel

2003-12-14T05:06:00.000-08:00

Haifa - We realized just how small Israel is when we drove from the Dead Sea to Haifa in a mere 2.5 hours! The funny thing was that it took us 45 minutes to get from Tel Aviv to Haifa and another 45 minutes to find our hotel through the windy, messy streets of Haifa... The next day we hung out with Seth Katz, a family friend of M's. She babysat him when he was a baby, and now he's in college.

Dead Sea Area

2003-12-10T01:09:00.000-08:00

On arrival into Tel Aviv, at the rude hour of 5:30 AM, we began our travels through the Holyland. We took a cab ride to M's cousin Patty and her husband David's house, said hello and went to sleep immediately. After catching up on some much needed rest we hung out with them and their 3 kids (Ben, Noa, and Eshlee) and 3 dogs (Mocha, Jesse, and Tessa the 12 week old puppy). Our two days in

London

2003-12-07T08:50:00.000-08:00

After the whirlwind b-school tour, we headed out from North Carolina to JFK and finally London. Our timing was brilliant, as we were traveling during the 1st big snowstorm to hit east coast this winter. Both of our flights were delayed but not cancelled. We managed to fly out 4 hours late during the snowstorm. You’d think that would have given the baggage handlers enough time to put on the

Suprise Thanksgiving!

2003-12-05T00:56:00.000-08:00

We used miles to come home for a suprise Thanksgiving and also for D to visit and interview at b-schools. I think we suprised Dave's parents pretty good (Thanks Jen for keeping the secret)! After a busy weekend of hanging out with family in Seattle, eating leftovers, and getting to know our new niece Brynn & nephew Froggy it was work time. Dave spent the week visiting 5 b-school campuses - U

Milan

2003-11-25T05:57:00.000-08:00

Big City! We found a perfectly located hotel just off the square near the Duomo on an alley containing the oldest vegetable shop and wine store in Milan. It rained just about the entire two days we were there. No, it was pouring. That didn’t take away from the beauty of the Duomo or the Galleria a bit. We did quite a bit of walking and window shopping. The city was full of well dressed

Cinque Terre

2003-11-21T05:58:00.000-08:00

The Cinque Terra consists of five villages clinging to the rugged Ligurian Coast. Most folks visit here to hike from between the five villages along a windy coastal train. The small village of Vernazza was our base, the fourth of the five towns town going up the coast. We got off the train after emerging from a long tunnel and found the town spilling down the hillside towards a beautiful

Firenze

2003-11-17T05:55:00.000-08:00

Florence is all about museums, architecture, old churches, and small windy streets filled with all kinds of shops. Of the two days spent in the city, we managed to squeeze in a visit to Michael Angelo’s David, Campo de Fiorno, and Forze caste for a great view of the city. It was fun to wander in the city market and found a screaming deal on a couple of leather coats.

Country Drive

2003-11-05T05:20:00.000-08:00

The rain went away! We spent a long afternoon driving around the countryside south of Siena with Jules & Brent. The leaves are changing, the air is cold, and it is very peaceful here. Our destination was the well-know town of Montepulciano and the lesser known Montalcino. Each town has their own famous wines and were equally interesting. We had a picnic at sunset near the old fort in

Asciano - Tuscan Hill Town

2003-11-02T07:32:00.000-08:00

Home base for two weeks is Il Molinello, a 14th Century Etruscan farm complete with 3 yellow labs for us to play with and a very skittish truffle pointer to hunt down the famous fungus. The farm is 30 minutes SE of the well-know town of Siena. This puts us in a perfect spot to sample the wines of Chianti, Montepulciano, and Montalcino. Dotting the countryside are ancient walled villages, vines

Cortona, Italy - Tuscan Hill Town

2003-10-25T02:31:00.000-07:00

We are now a couple of hours north of Rome in the hill-town of Cortona in Tuscany. We are actually staying at the place where the crew of the new movie “Under the Tuscan Sun” stayed last year. Some of the movie was filmed here too. We look forward to seeing the movie because it was filmed when it was sunny. The town has been socked in since we got here…. We plan to rent a scooter when the

Rome – Noise Pollution

2003-10-24T02:37:00.000-07:00

Well it’s fall. The weather has taken a turn to be a bit cold and quite rainy. We spent about 5 days here sightseeing, uploading tons of photos from our camera, ingesting car, bus and scooter fumes, and eating Chinese food. Yes, Chinese food. Believe it or not, a diet of incredible pizza and pasta gets old after eating the same thing for almost 2 weeks straight. Also, the internet and

Rome - Sightseeing

2003-10-22T02:33:00.000-07:00

As far as sightseeing, Rome is one hell of a place to be a tourist. We can’t imagine being in Rome during prime tourist season in the summer. Even now, some of the most famous sights – the Colosseum, Pantheon, Forum, Trevi Fountain, and Spanish Steps – were jam packed with tour groups. Touring these sights was pretty overwhelming for two reasons: The hundreds of buildings, monuments, and

Amalfi Coast – Eating like Italians

2003-10-20T02:42:00.000-07:00

After a few days in the picturesque town of Positano, we took a boat south to the touristy town of Amalfi. From there we hiked to a nearby fishing village called Atrani. We enjoyed a few days of without another tourist in sight with plenty of rocky beach time, clear blue water, and hiking. We hiked up the steep canyon (1.5 hrs.), through the olive groves and lemon trees to the town of Ravello.

Paestum – Cool Ruins & Buffalo di Mozzarella

2003-10-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

The weather was perfect on our first day in Paestum and turned rainy for the rest of our visit. Luckily we chose to visit the ruins on our 1st day and were able to get some pretty nice photos of “the best preserved collection of Greek ruins anywhere,” as the guidebook says. Paestum (originally Poseidonia) was founded by Greeks in ~ 600 B.C. and remain so well-preserved because malaria-carrying

Positano, Italy

2003-10-07T03:03:00.000-07:00

After a few harrowing bus and train rides, we made it to the Amalfi Coast of Italy. Specifically, we are in the town of Positano. It is as beautiful as it looks!! The food we've eaten in the past 48 hours has been incredible. The pasta, veggies, soups...everything is so fresh. Hopefully we'll fit into our clothes by the end of the month. If not, it'll be worth it. The wine is delicious

Gimmelwald, Switzerland

2003-10-04T01:24:00.000-07:00

We headed south again toward Switzerland for more hiking time in the Alps. We made a pitstop in the capital - Bern - to see one of Dave's friends from his GMAT crash course in NYC this summer. Mario was a good tour guide and showed us some great views of the Alps. We ate at a fabulous brewery and had some typical Swiss food. Mmmmm.. The next day we headed toward a small, mountain town

The highest mountain in Europe - Mont Blanc

2003-09-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

How did we end up in France? It wasn't even on our itinerary???? Here's the story: After Oktoberfest in Munich, we headed west toward Lahr, Germany (very close to Strasbourg, France) to see our friend Jorg who we worked with on the coffee/mango plantation last August in Australia. We spent a fun few days hanging out with his friends, walking through vineyards & a devastated corn crop. What a

The Romantic Road - Rothenburg

2003-09-19T22:35:00.000-07:00

Along with Susan, we spent the day in Germany's best-preserved walled town. We did all the essentials without feeling too touristy: medieval crime & punishment museum (sinister but cool), St. Jakob's Church, walked along the 1.5 mile wall circling the city, and took the Nightwatchman's tour after sunset (tons of historic tidbits about Germany and Rothenburg). Medieval Crime & Punishment

Prague, Czech Republic - Rain, rain go away

2003-09-14T02:06:00.000-07:00

We are spending 3 days in Prague and are pretty impressed so far. Here's a little history for ya.. Prague is the only major city in Central Europe to escape bombs in all the wars of the 20th Century. Thus, it is a very well preserved city. We've seen architecture as old as the 9th century! Ruled by Charles IV in the Golden Age (14th Century), Prague was the largest, most highly cultured

Rivers, Castles, & Friends

2003-09-10T09:55:00.000-07:00

We came to Frankfurt to visit M's friend Susan from Austin who had married a German-American a few years back. Susan & Douglas live with his sister and family. This happy home, dubbed "the Commune", is always home to a seemingly non-stop stream of welcome visitors. Thanks to Susan & Douglas, as well as the von Schroder family (Kristin & Benedikt, Wendelin & Claudius (impressive 17 yr old twins

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2003-09-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

We've been flying pretty fast and furiously through Europe with no time to upload our pics, type up journal notes, or call family/friends. It kinda makes us feel like we are late completing a work project. Haven't felt that in a while...say a year and 9 months! So here it goes.... We stumbled onto a typical, old Amsterdam hotel. It's not uncommon for folks to own a brownstone on the canals

Copenhagen, Denmark

2003-09-03T07:16:00.000-07:00

While Norway hands down had the coolest topography and scenery, it was just a bit sleepier than Denmark. Fewer homes, smaller towns. Though Oslo was quite the happening city, Copenhagen is almost 3X its size. Bicycles ruled the road, picturesque, colorful buildings lined the streets and canals, and everyone seemed to be milling around on the street day and night. Copenhagen just felt more

Norway - Sognefjord and Glaciers

2003-08-29T12:48:00.000-07:00

Our next stop was Balestrand, a small town on the Sognefjord (the worlds largest fjord!). We took a 5 hour "express boat" trip from Bergen through the Sognefjord to the idyllic little town of Balestrand. A fjord (pronounced fi-ord in English, and F-jord if your a Norwegian) is an ocean inlet or sound surrounded by mountains and step terrain leading directly to the waters edge. The boat ride

Norway - Oslo & Bergen

2003-08-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

We spent ten days in Norway to return to Dave's Norwegian (& German) roots... We began our jet lag/head cold recovery in the beautiful, modern town of Oslo. A harbor city with ferries, trams, and modern buildings mixed with those from the 19th century, Oslo was a great place to play tourist for a few days. And were we ever quite the tourists.... Here are some of the places we stopped: Our

Congrats to E.J. & Gideon....

2003-08-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

Congrats's to E.J. & Gideon on the birth of their 1st child on August 26th...a boy! Now we are a pround Aunt & Uncle to both a new niece and nephew!!! No name for Posner boy until the bris ---coming soon!

The Blackout of 2003

2003-08-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, we were still in the US. Over a late lunch, the power went out in New York City. People gathered on the street around a man playing his car radio at full tilt. We were all wondering if there was a terrorist attack. Thank goodness no. Mayor Bloomberg said the power would be out for several hours and maybe even the night. We grabbed flashlights from our hotel and decided to leave a bit

Hanging in NYC

2003-08-09T11:13:00.000-07:00

Dave studied for the GMAT, while M walked the entire city many times over. We managed to fit in visits with just about every relative in M's family and had a great time catching up. Visits with family are usually quick and over Thanksgiving. It was great to spend quality time with everyone! We saw "Rent" together and M saw "Matt & Ben" with her cousin Pete. Too bad we couldn't see a show

Congratulations little brother...

2003-07-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

We got a call at midnight here in NYC that Jon & Jen are the proud parents of a little baby girl born at 8:12 pm PST. Congrats from both of us and we look forward to more pictures.....

Canvassing the NE

2003-07-25T10:12:00.000-07:00

Back to being touristy! NY, DC, North Carolina, Virginia...we are doing them all! 1st Stop: Washington, DC We hung out with M's Aunt Janie and Cousins Stoll (Adam, Anita, Izaama, Naomi, Malakai, Reuben, Dan & Teresa) over several days and had fun catching up, esp.with the kids. D.C. in the summer is a bit steamy, but since we just came from nasty, humid Texas..it wasn't so bad. We

Bumming around Austin

2003-05-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

It's so weird being "home" and not on the go every day. We've been working on our homework (studying and travel planning), eating great tex-mex food, catching up with friends, and just being lazy. Pretty wonderful! With the continuing troubles in Israel, another new travel warning for Kenya, and SARS, we're going to have to be pretty flexible with our travel plans over the next 9 months.

Our last Costa Rican adventure....

2003-05-06T13:46:00.000-07:00

...It was all Jerry's idea, but of course an idea we heartily agreed with. (BTW - Jerry is affectionately known to all the locals as "Yeti".) Yeti wanted to go rafting seeing info on the internet about the awesome rivers in Cost Rica. So we found a company that ran a 2-day trip down the Pacuare River. This river is considered by many experienced rafters to be the most scenic class III-IV

Volcan de Arenal

2003-05-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

Our trip from the Monteverde area to Volcan de Arenal had two options. A 5 hour winding bus ride around Lago de Arenal or a 4 hour trip by horse and boat. Of course we chose the horse ride, and we are glad we did. It was an amazing adventure as we started early on Friday morning at around 5000ft in Monteverde and descended along the ridges and through the valleys leading down to the lakeside.

The Cloud Forest.......

2003-04-30T18:27:00.000-07:00

The ride to the Cloud Forest area was through the mountainous region around Santa Elena and Monteverde. Our ride was full of bumps as the road is unpaved purposely by the areas founding Quaker residents to keep tourism in check. The town of Santa Elena is the home to two of the last remaining "Cloud Forest" reserves. The two reserves straddle Costa Ricas continental divide, Monteverde facing

Pure Adrenaline

2003-04-28T17:19:00.000-07:00

It was nice getting back to our life of travel after lounging in Dallas for a week eating fast food. The flight to Costa Rica was pretty uneventful except for the enormous man sitting next to me on the plane which made my flight VERY uncomfortable!!! They really should make the seats bigger....but then they would have to charge more, right? After a quick overnight in a small town near the

Five Dreadful Hours in Acapulco

2003-04-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

We were quite sad to leave our little paradise of San Augustinillo, but it seemed rather timely since a rainstorm hit and M picked up a case of tourista. We said goodbye to our gracious hosts, newfound people and dog friends, and took the collectivo bus an hour west to Puerto Escondido to catch our late night bus to Acapulco. It was boiling hot in Puerto Escondido even after dark and we waited,

Sunblock

2003-04-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

Without sunblock, this week would have been a disaster. Miraculously, we have come through without burning our pasty white selves by slathering up with sunblock every few hours. Also, it is just unbearable outside from 11-3 in the direct sunlight, so we just read/study in the hammocks under the palapas.. We keep putting off leaving the idyllic town of San Augustinillo for our next stop, Puerto

Think Houston, Texas in August

2003-04-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

The worst place to be in the world in August is Houston, Texas - hot as hell and humid. When you walk outside, it's like you are entering a sauna. That's what it feels like here on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. One exception....there are beautiful beaches to keep us cool... Our all night bus ride from the border of Guatemala/Mexico to the Huatulco area was complete with speed bumps everywhere,

Thoughts on Guatemala

2003-03-29T19:38:00.000-08:00

We were only there for 3 weeks, but were quite taken with the place and the friendly, colorful, happy people. The country offers so much scenic beauty - the Mayan ruins throughout the country, massive mountain ranges, beautiful Lago de Atitlan, colorful and historic Antigua, and so much we didn't have time for! Amidst all this beauty underlies devastating poverty and a still corrupt government

Mexico Bound

2003-03-28T10:45:00.000-08:00

After riding a jam-packed water taxi back to Panajachel from Casa del Mundo, we caught a 4 hour bus to the Mexican border. We had heard that entering Mexico through the state of Chiapas was difficult for folks who need more than 2 weeks in Mexico. The border folks don't want reporters or Zapatista sympathizers hanging around!! Besides having to compete for time with "Raiders of the Lost Ark"

Lazy bones..

2003-03-27T09:16:00.000-08:00

So much for our plan! After overnighting at a complete dump in crowded Panajachel with people trying to sell us their wares at EVERY moment, we took a small boat over to Santa Cruz, the poorest, smallest town on the lake. Lago Atitlan is JUST BEAUTIFUL, like Lake Tahoe...We ended up staying for 3 days in Santa Cruz instead of tramping over to some of the other hippie towns around the lake

Lago de Atitlan

2003-03-23T11:26:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday was our last day of Spanish School, woo hoo! No more homework. Now the trick is to keep using the language. We´re doing pretty well with it so far. We took our host family out for dinner on Saturday night and enjoyed our last evening with them. On Sunday, took the early morning bus to Lago de Atitlan which is big lake formed by a collapsed volcano sitting at about 1500m

Antigua & Escuela Espanol #2

2003-03-14T10:24:00.000-08:00

Our first week of spanish school is over and we can actually communicate and understand, although our verb conjugation leaves something to be desired. The more we use it the better we´ll be for the rest of our travels from Guatemala up into the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Our typical consists of 3 meals with our host family, 4 hours of spanish classes with our teacher Rosa Maria, and some

Ever hiked a Volcano?

2003-03-13T16:11:00.000-08:00

We did it for the 1st time yesterday with our friends Will & Arabella. IT was amazing!! Volcan Pacaya is about 2 hours southwest of Antigua through some pretty rough looking neighborhoods. We opted for a tour instead of taking the chicken bus, as we were told that the area was not very safe- banditos. Our $5 tour included a round trip shuttle ride, a guide for the 2 hour trek up the mountain,

Escuela Espanol

2003-03-10T15:12:00.000-08:00

No 1st day jitters at Spanish School today. We arrived at 8 am anxious to learn some conversational Spanish and boy did we learn a ton!! It was fun but completely exhausting. Our teacher, Rosa Maria, took us out to the lovely courtyard to one of the many tables full of students and teachers and spoke only a few words of English for the next 4 hours. Needless to say, immersion is the best way

Ride from Hell ends in Paradise

2003-03-09T15:15:00.000-08:00

Eight hour bus ride, no problema! After two bus rides in the middle of the day through weather similar to Texas in the summer, we have finally learned how to do it right. The key is to figure out what side of the bus the sun will be shining on for the shortest portion of the trip before picking your seats! We've now learned our lesson. The bus was actually nicer than a greyhound and was

Ruins, Ruins, and more Ruins

2003-03-08T15:14:00.000-08:00

Our adventures to Tikal required a pretty long day of travel. We picked up our enjoyable one and a half hour water taxi ride through the islands from the Caye back to Belize City in order to connect with our bus to Guatemala. We were informed by a local that we should expect our 10am bus to show up on Belize Time. So of course this meant the bus would be about an hour or so late. He was right

Sun, Snorkeling and Fun - Belize Style!

2003-03-06T13:40:00.000-08:00

The windy weather we´ve been having here on Ambergris Caye finally let up on Friday enough to get out snorkelling on the Barrier Reef that follows the coastline of Belize. After a 15 minute boat ride and a quick refresher on snorkelling ettiquete (i.e. - don´t touch the coral, etc.) we hit the water. It was a crystal clear day so the water was very clear and brilliantly colored fish and coral

Beans are YUMMY!

2003-03-04T13:00:00.000-08:00

One minute we are freezing our butts off in the ICE STORM of 2003 in Dallas, the next minute we found ourselves BOUNCING to a halt at tiny Belize International Airport. After breezing through customs and baggage within 5 minutes, we were whisked through Belize City just in the nick of time to catch the last water taxi to Ambergis Caye. We were immediately struck by how improvershed BZ is -

Our trip home

2003-02-14T13:28:00.000-08:00

After a quick layover in Auckland, we headed back to the US for the first time in 6 months. We were both a little anxious as we didn't quite know what to expect on arriving back to the real world. It turns out that not much has changed and we fell back into the comfortable pace of life quickly. On our return trip we stopped in LA to see our friends Nicole and Margot & David. We had a really

Lynette & Matt's B&B stay

2003-01-24T13:10:00.000-08:00

Our luck started good in Chch! We got ahold of Lynette and Matt who graciously told us that we had to stay at their house while in town. So they set us up in their guestroom and we hung out for the next week. Over many great meals and drinks we discussed our travels with them and learned much about our impending parenthood as they have a 10 month old. We advertised Stella at all the

Camping and fishing our way back to Christchurch

2003-01-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

Our travel plans have changed. Instead of staying in NZ until the end of February and starting the rest of the trip around the world, we decided to start early. The plans started to change when we decided that we would regret not seeing James and Kelly (Bach) get married on February 1st. Then we started thinking. How about we head back to the States, go to the wedding, see pregnant Jen & Jon

Queenstown & Fiordland adventures

2003-01-15T12:50:00.000-08:00

We continued driving until we found sunshine in a budding town called Wanaka. After a spectacular sunset and good dinner, we continued to one of the best known adventure capitals in the world - Queenstown. Bungy jumping, jetboating, paragliding, skydiving, mountain biking, river surfing and whitewater rafting can all be found in Qtown. We actually spent the night on the side of a residential

Fun (grrr!) on the Fox Glacier!

2003-01-12T20:44:00.000-08:00

Our stay in Chch was good with sunny weather and lots accomplished. After our last round of travel shots (our 3rd round) we left the good weather behind us for the West Coast. After a rainy 250 mile drive, we arrived in the town of Franz Joseph Glacier hoping for better weather the next day. No Such Luck! the weather forecast looked very bad for the next several days, so we decided to bag the

On to Christchurch (the first time!)

2003-01-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

We arrived Christchurch without any further problems from Stella. I think she was just a bit cranky. While in Chch we completed our last round of travel shots, caught a few movies, and checking out where to sell our van at the end of our trip. We'll be taking off soon for the West Coast again to check out the Fox Glacier and soak up the beautiful sights along the coastal drive before heading

Is it really News Years already???

2002-12-31T12:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, sad as it may seem we realized around 5:30 or so that it was New Years Eve. It's pretty cool that we were so relaxed and not concerned with anything that we lost complete track of what day it was. So we hurried back to Stella at the hostel parking lot, took a shower and headed out for a night on the town. After a nice dinner and drinks we rang in the New Year with the locals at a fun bar.

Cross-Country Marathon

2002-12-30T18:25:00.000-08:00

After overnighting in Greymouth, we continued over the beautiful Lewis pass to Christchurch (Chch), the largest city on the South Island (~330,000 people). We had planned on taking a few days to cross the pass and do a bit of hiking of the weather cooperated, but Stella lost her groove and needed some attention from the local mechanics. We decided to get our butts to Chch to see what the

West Coast Drive By

2002-12-27T18:20:00.000-08:00

We drove west on our continued quest for fishable water along the Buller River. Bad luck prevailed and we decided to take a tourist stop at Buller River Gorge to cross the longest swing bridge in NZ and take a 2 hour hike. Finally, the weather cooperated, and we had an amazing day! We dropped by a seal colony and watched the newborn pups frollicking around on the shoreline. VERY CUTE! Next

The Farmer, the Pigs, and the Pups

2002-12-26T18:07:00.000-08:00

In search of better weather (our continuing mission), hiking, and fishing, we motored SE to the Nelson Lakes National Park area to the towns of St. Arnaud and Murchinson. We drove right into a massive rain storm-perhaps left over from Xmas Eve? Some folks have all the luck! Again another drive with AMAZING scenery- more alpine-like. We had hoped to complete our 2nd trek (4-day hike) in these

X-mas Wind Storm

2002-12-24T17:56:00.000-08:00

After climbing the mountain pass (thanks Stella) west of Abel Tasman National Park, we were rewarded with Lord of the Rings-like views of the Kahurangi National Park and Golden Bay. On this beautiful day/Christmas eve, we rolled into Takaka-a small hippie, organic, farming town. The place was bustling with activity as folks were buying last minute food and gifts. We chose a great camp spot

Old Mc Donald's Farm

2002-12-22T17:49:00.000-08:00

We made it to Abel Tasman National Park, famous for it's beautiful, calm beaches, protected coves, abundant wildlife, and one of the eight "Great Walks" in New Zealand. All the huts for this four day hike were booked up last year! NZ has an extensive hiking/hut system. Huts are strewn along most of the major hiking trails at comfortable mileage intervals. Huts have drinking water, a basic

Beer & Berries

2002-12-19T17:38:00.000-08:00

Since Nelson is one of the major hops-growing regions of NZ, it's not surprising that the brewer of one of our new favorite brands of beer (Mac's) is just outside Nelson. Of course, Dave required a stop for a free tasting where we discovered some more new favorites. The woman providing the samples and beer history was insistent that we know that beer is actually a very healthy drink containing

Back to Civilization (movie theaters)

2002-12-17T17:35:00.000-08:00

Too bad it was still raining on the drive from Havelock heading west toward Nelson. We crossed a mountain pass and carefully negotiated the windy road which would have afforded stunning views of the Tasman Bay had the weather been good. Bummer! Nelson is the 2nd largest city on the South Island and is known as the "Sunshine Capital" of NZ. Why we would stay in yet another big town when were

Mussel Boys

2002-12-16T20:26:00.000-08:00

After throwing our soaking wet selves and packs into Stella, we decided to drive west to the quaint town of Havelock in an effort to outrun the stormy weather. We ended up spending the night in relative luxury in a hostel which was formerly the town school house (early 1900's). We had been sleeping in either a tent or the car for so long that we felt pretty fancy for staying in a real double