jensjourney

Back Full Time (Sort of) In San Diego

2011-03-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

Well gosh has it been that long?? Ok, a brief recap.... I left Vietnam and my Operations Manager position in June of 2010. Came back to San Diego and started working with my best friend Dean in the Land Banking business for Velur Enterprises. Why?? Because I can make good money and you can't tell whether I'm working or playing at this job! My new career allows me to continue to help the kids in Vietnam, the US and Mexico - in fact, I leave on April 8th for a month to go back to Vietnam. I'm organizing and riding in a 400 mile bike / fund raising ride - it's going to be a challenge - my biggest physical challenge to date, but I'm looking forward to it.

On a personal note, my nephew Ambros is almost 5. I'm back working in the US because I'm committed to paying for his college and I'm confident that my investments in land will allow me to reach that goal.

I'm happy to be back to San Diego and reconnect with my former financial planning clients, friends and family here. I'm working out 6 days a week not only to get back in shape overall but to prepare for the loooooong bike ride next month.

Hope you are all well and LIVING THE LIFE, like we are.
All the best!
Jen

Update from USA Dec 8 2009

2009-12-08T11:28:00.000-08:00

Boy oh boy have my plans changed....Did you hear about the girl who jumped on the trampoline...successfully. Then she tried jumping OFF the trampoline. Didn't have quite the same result,unfortunately! Surgery, a plate, 8 screws and staples later, I've had to rearrange my plans! I was suppose to be flying back to Vietnam today to pick up where I left off in September when I started my vacation / fund raising trek. However, I'm now back in Connecticut, recuperating and resting for 4 - 6 weeks.

I missed my friend Tomie's very first Ironman race in Perth, AU. The plan was for me to be there with the crew to cheer her on. I was able to track her online but it certainly wasn't the same as being there!

Ok - well trying to keep a good attitude about all this (and daily asking myself, Why Did This Happen???), I will keep in touch with the team in Vietnam via email and Skype and I'll get to enjoy the holidays with my family!

Vietnam is changing rapidly - resorts are being built along China Beach from DaNang to Hoi An - it looks like a mini Las Vegas rising up from the sand. The two typhoons that hit in November did a tremendous amount of damage to village areas and we were able to raise over $6,000 USD to help rebuild homes and lives.... It's amazing when you think about how torrential the rain, wind and flood waters can get - and this happens EVERY YEAR!! I've been lucky to be out of the country for both rainy seasons.....timing is everything.

We have former volunteers now in VN and other coming back to do extended stays - basically, we're waiting more western management to help the staff we currrently have in place and to support the new volunteers. Kerry Flynn is in DaNang and Shae McDonald is going to Tuy Hoa in January. They'll both be kept quite busy with the regular program PLUS new projects like the medical clinic in TamKy, potentially running Malnourished in DaNang as our very own foster home and overseeing several sponsored kids in Tuy Hoa.

Also, in May there will be a mobile dental clinic going to TuyHoa to treat 400 local kids - this will be staffed by East Meets West and GVN, and funding is currentlybeing spearheaded by vols in New Zealand.

The volunteers from the last 2 months have been great for the program - a lot of fundraising and brainstorming has taken place. Sometimes it's a bit tough to manage expectations but I guess that comes with the job. We just can't save every sick kid or get the cheapest deal on supplies at the drop of a dime. We're in a developing country and their is a system - it's not 'our' system and certainly not the best system but it's the system we have to work within......

I hope to be back in Vietnam in early Feb but it's up to the doctors to decide. In the meantime, I'll get back on to fundraising here for the regular program needs, plus to fund Malnourished - literally to keep it open! The vibe will be different when I go get back - my 2 other long term volunteers whom I became really good friends with (Carrie and Eadaoin) have left. Although they'll be back, it won't be quite the same without our regular chats and bottles of wine at the beach!

I'm committed to the kids in our program though and doing whatever we can in 2010 for them. I want to open a vocational school to teach ESL, Life skills and vocational skills. Maybe find someone with ESL experience to create, implement and oversee an ESL curriculum so we can measure our progress. And that's just the beginning!

Sept 09 From America

2009-10-06T16:41:00.000-07:00

Been back in the US for 2 weeks now and it's still an adjustment. I'm not sure what to do with all this time - I know I should be relaxing but it's more like a working vacation: time to recharge my batteries for the return to Vietnam and also time to set appointments to recruit volunteers or find donors for our program. All in all, I'm lucky! I'm spending a lot of time with my nephew Ambros and my parents who are (mostly) in good health.

I'll be going to Boston and NYC, then PA before going back out to CA. Still have lots of friends and family to see and a former vol has me booked in to speak to the Asian Club at Columbia U this week! So far I've spoken to Sedgwick Middle School and the local Red Cross - both have an interest in donating to our kids!

Back in Vietnam last week there was a 3 day typhoon that devasted some villages just south of our placement in TamKy. Viet and other vols have just put out an urgent plea to fund raise on First Giving site. Our goal is to raise $20,000 to help the families who lost homes and are still without fresh water and power.

Before I left - things were much calmer. We had a couple of kids who needed hospital care but one was adopted in Aug and the other should be going to Cananda this week! Otherwise, we still have our staffing issues at the orphanages - but our volunteers are working extra hard to help out. In fact, we've had 2 nurses as return volunteers recently who have begun training for the carers and actual nursing staff.

We have a lot going on with the day-to-day operations but we're also starting to think long term about how to build the program. A few ideas are to have long term western volunteers in each city to help the Placement Managers and also to fund and build our own foster home and / or vocational center. Any way we can reach out to more kids - the better. We've seen so many street kids and orphans just waiting for thier fair shot at an education or job training - we hope we can provide for them soon.

So since everything is running well- I'll be back in Vietnam for 2010 - My current plan is to travel back to America in the spring and fall versus just in the fall like this year. It's a bit too long of a gap between seeing family and friends....Plus if the recruiting and fund raising works out well on this trip, I'll have another good reason to return twice per year!

People ask if I'll stay in Vietnam. Well, for the time being I will. The kids need me and I need them! Thanks for all of your support - it means a lot to me to know you're out there reading my blog and newsletters and sending good karma out our way.

Another Hot Summer

2009-07-21T00:56:00.000-07:00

With temps in my bedroom often over 85 degrees, it's tough going in the summer but last month I broke down and bought an airconditioner. Running it about 3 hours a day Sun - Thur (when I'm home before bed), it's so far only cost about $10 to run. I had heard horror stories of $100 power bills from locals and wanted to avoid that since my darn rent is only $75 per month! Remember, I'm living on $300 a month here so a $100 power bill is not in the budget. ha ha ha Gone are the days of $210 Electric bills from SDG&E!

One of the highlights since I last wrote was the night I went to Social Support with Minh Chau. She had 'a suprise' for me and when I got there, I received 9 Mother's Day cards from 9 kids that I used to teach. It was wonderful! They all asked me to 'be their mom', told me they loved me and wished me a Happy Mother's Day. I keep one card hanging in front of my laptop, just to remind me why I'm here because - Some days I forget -

Most days, I'm lucky. Lucky to have volunteers with big hearts and some with equally big wallets. Volunteers who might be only 18 but committed to recruiting their friends and family to volunteer or committed to fund raising when they go home. I'm grateful for all the interns who look after the volunteers by taking them to the market, to the beach, to placements, to the bank, to the pharmacy - so I can keep managing projects and fund raising.

I'm happy to be planning a trip home for 2 months. Although it'll be a working holiday because I'll be fundraising and recruiting - it'll be worth it. I have been told by more than one adult volunteer that I could so much more for GVN if I can get abroad and get the message out. Actually 'speak' to people vs. email and tell them about the wonderful kids and opportunities here.

I miss some things from home. It goes without saying that I miss family in CT and friends in CA. But I also miss Mexican food, a gay community, the gym, my mom's cooking, home made wine and Grey's Anatomy. But, I'm not ready to trade in my $3 movie tickets, my 35 cent coffee, the neighbor kids who make a mad dash at full speed down the street to give me a hug, the kisses from the carers when I bring them shampoo or diapers, the spring rolls, the motorbike rides to HoiAn or the friendly "Hello" I get as I walk down literally, any street. Nope - not ready to trade that in just yet.

In the meantime, I'll go home, fund raise, eat, drink, travel, enjoy, relax, play and rest......

Summer is here

2009-04-28T22:18:00.000-07:00

Well a lot has gone on in the past 4 months! Suffice to say - we're keeping busy. On the down side, I lost of friend of 20 years to cancer about a week ago. She leaves behind her partner and 2 wonderful kids. In addition, we lost a 6 year old girl in our TamKy program this month - she had cerebral palsey all of her life and finally succumbed to an infection and fever.

On the positive side, one of the 4 kids who ran away from our DaNang Social Support Center is back. Viet and I are trying to move 5 boys to a different home in TamKy where they can be kept busy and learn a vocation. I found a Vietnamese pediatricain and nutritionist; both have visited an orphange and will work with us to provide better care for the kids.

Dad arrived about 2 weeks ago for a 1 month vacation. I kept him busy up north in Sapa where the ethnic minorities live, then Hanoi - Vietnam's Capital, and in Halong Bay which is beautiful. He's now resting in HoiAn and loving it there. He has at least 5 women doting on him every day. He also went with me to a wedding in Saigon last weekend so I think he's set for beach and sun time for now. Oh and he came to 3 orphanages and was terrific with the kids - especially the disabled ones. He picked them up, gave them hugs, took them for walks, played with leggos - I might have to sign him up to volunteer for a month!

My 2 best friends: Sofi and Eadaoin left this week to return to Spain and Ireland. We had several months of fun and memories together. They kept me going when I lacked focus or energy and I want to thank them for the ongoing inspiration! Carrie is back to stay - from AU - although she has a boyfriend now, I'm sure I'll see her lots!

It's getting hot - about 85 (32 c) during the day / night - I am renting a house now, near the GVN House but there isn't any A/C yet. I'll be shopping for some soon though! It's just really tough to regenerate w/o the cool air!

I've been driving a motor bike regularly and the car or van sometimes. I find it pretty easy to drive here but then I've driven in Rome and THAT was insane.

I want to begin a bi monthly meeting with other NGO's in DaNang so we can share information with each other. Recentley we've made improvements with teaching the mothers English, working on feeding practicies and hygiene. East Meets West provided dental care to over 95 kids. (I finally lost count). I was really happy with their program and the care - they will also go to Tuy Hoa in May 2010 and provide care for another 500 kids there.

I'm getting asked a lot about my plans for after Dec of 2009. So far, no decision yet. I'd like to go back to the US for a visit though. I miss a lot of friends there. Might have to plan around the latest epidemic of Swine Flu though! Jeez do we have problems! In the meantime, I'm loving the simplicity of life here - I have a very modest house that I split with a 26 yr old guy from France. We each pay $75 per month plus utilities. I'm living on the $300 per month GVN Vietnam is able to pay me - plus all my meals are included. So, I really can't complain.

I don't shop when I'm bored. I read. I don't research the latest cars, fancy vacations or rental properties. I'm happy helping volunteers from around the world, help kids in Vietnam. It's that simple really. I would like to meet someone to date though. That's quite a challenge in this country - it doesn't help that I'm not really attracted to Asians - plus, the local women here are not as independant or confident. I'll have to find a western woman in an Asian world!

6 Weeks Later.....

2009-01-31T00:16:00.000-08:00

I've been back in Vietnam for 6 weeks now and I've been fortunate to have participated in: Christmas, My Birthday, New Years and the Tet Holiday commonly known as the Chinese New Year. Whew - it's been lots of fun and lots of work. The fun part was being inviting to local homes for a meal or a beer, celebrating Vietnamese style. They truely are warm people who treat us like family.

As for work - we've been busy - as normal. Loads of new infants have arrived from the hospital - no idea why they are left at orphanages.....I'm trying to get the government to help us spread the kids out over several places so the mothers have a chance at keeping an eye on them all. Viet and I will meet with officials who might help us next week.

Orientation for Feb is tomorrow. We'll have 7 volunteers in Danang, 5 in Tamky and 6 in Tuy Hoa. There are so many plans in the works now - both large and small. Several volunteers around the globe are either returning to help out or fund raising and brainstorming from home. The support is fantastic. I'll need to prioritize and continue to delegate and seek help in order to keep up with everything. Seems like Viet and I are busy weekly with day-to-day issues and rarely have time to discuss larger plans for funding or maybe even building a foster home.

On a personal note, I'm doing really well. Although I feel like it's a transient (sic?) lifestlye with my little room, small amount of personal possessions and volunteers who become friends only to leave after a month or two - I'm still feeling like this is where I am meant to be for now. I often think about 'what's next' only to realize ' this is it' the here and now. And it's perfect, just the way it is. I worry less and less about 'retirement plans', owning another house, keeping up with the Joneses and my favorite TV shows. I'm appreciateing more of 'being in the moment' - enjoying riding a motorbike on a sunny day, through miles and miles of rice fields with mountains in the background and farmers in the fields. I also enjoy the neighbor kids who are never far from our front door - who call out to me, 'Miss Jen!', as they walk past. They come by with their siblings and we give them a carton of milk and let them play with our stash of toys, paints and books. They range in age from 2 to 8 and they're some of the most beautiful kids, inside and out.

The hard part about being in Vietnam (aside from missing my family and friends) is knowing that so much can be done to improve the lives of kids and families, yet we have so little resources. It's not just money. It's manpower, government cooperation, out of the box thinking and getting a society to believe in more than just day to day survival. The impact that several recent wars (in just the last 60 years) has had on Vietnam and it's people is still clearly evident. They tend not to plan for the future much - not surprisingly after reading so many books and listening to stories - everything can all be taken away in an instant. Bank accounts, homes, possessions, even loved ones can be gone tomorrow. So in our program, we deal with loads of pre teen and teenage kids who don't see much of a future for themselves beyond the orphanage or being a motorbike mechanic or tailor. They are surrounded by short term mentality and lack of self worth. Rarely do they have someone - especially who can speak their own language - who inspires them to go beyond themselves as they currently know themselves to be.

I so wish I could insert a disk in to my brain and learn this language overnight! I would use all my past training in the military, my careers, Landmark, life experiences and how I was brought up to inspire these kids to be powerful, compassionate contributors to their country and the world! Boy do I need to learn Vietnamese. The kids love me - they respect me and trust me. But we cannot communicate beyond the basics and that's what they need from me. More than being able to say 'hello' or 'how are you?', they need inspiration in their own language. They need adults to tell them about the world to encourage them to dream and to finish high school or college.

So, I'll close for now. I must go study my Vietnamese.

Short but Wonderful Visit

2008-12-02T05:41:00.000-08:00

I'm leaving CT tomorrow for CA - just 2 weeks to go before returning to Vietnam. Yes that's right. Going back to Vietnam for a year. Some say I'm crazy - sometimes I agree - but mostly I know I'm making a huge impact on a lot of lives. I love the kids in Vietnam - they have no idea how much! I have a 50 pound bag of clothes packed for them and I'll be back in time to celebrate Christmas with at least 40 if not over 100 kids, depending on where I am. My plan is to get high on Vietnamese Coffee and stay awake for as many days as it takes to see all the kids, mothers, staff and volunteers as soon as I get back!

The team in Vietnam has been doing such great things since I've been gone. There have been trips to the hospital, educational seminars, more supplies bought, 1 on 1 time with troubled kids and much, much more. I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of everyone in our program.

Here in the States, I've been busy selling Christmas Cards made by Red Cross kids, I've done 2 speaking engagements, I've sold embroidery, coffee, scarves and purses - all for the kid's food program in DaNang. I have more cards and calendars to sell in Ct and even more waiting for me in CA!

Time with family and friends in CT has been priceless. I love my family and I'm blessed that we have such a great relationship. They are very supportive of my desire to return to Vietnam although I know they're sad that I'm leaving CT - yet again - after saying I'd move back here. I'm considering working abroad long term and coming home to CT / CA for a couple months a year to vacation. We'll see. Still need to find that sponsor to pay a salary for me!

My nephew Ambros is 2 1/2 and talking like crazy. It will be hard to leave him but we've spent a lot of quality time together. By the age of 3, I'm sure he'll be emailing me! He loves to read, run and repeat whatever we tell him. I think he'll be top of his class and make us proud. Hopefully he won't ask ME for any help with homework! Yikes.

I've been going to the gym 4 - 5 days a week - it feels great to be in a workout routine again. Vietnam was WAY TOO HOT the last few months I was there. However, now that I'm back in shape, I'll have to find a way to work out in the 90 degree weather with the 85 percent humidity. The older I get, the more work it takes eh?

I've been lucky to have such a huge support base - literally from around the world. From family, friends and new friends (volunteers) - you have all been wonderful. You're fund raising, sending inspiring emails, coming back to Vietnam to volunteer - you inspire me to keep going. Although my vacation has been somewhat of a working vacation, I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's the perfect combination of rest, relaxation, brainstorming and visiting! Thanks for all your love and support.

October 6 -

2008-10-06T04:04:00.000-07:00

As much as I love Vietnam, I'm anxious to get home for a visit! I've booked my flight out of Saigon for Oct 20th and I'll come back 2 months later. I've started a list of all the food I want to eat and it's getting longer each day! Today I came up with thinly sliced provolone and salami on cracked wheat bread with spicy mustard! That, and a home made glass of wine will make me VERY happy!

In the meantime, I'm getting ready to be out for two months. Leaving notes for someone to take my place, last minute shopping for the kids, getting the petty cash lined up so things don't fall through the cracks. Seems like every time we turn around, there's another project here or more kids there. Just today I found out that 3 kids whom we recently got reunited with their family will be going BACK to the orphanage. Seems it's just too much for the parents to handle...

My days are still a blessing - light office work, brainstorming with volunteers on how to make the kid's lives better and my most favorite - playing with the kids whenever I can. I'm happy that I'm coming back for Christmas - that in itself will be a gift for me. I've really learned to appreciate such small things in life - a 35 cent cup of coffee (who needs a $4 Macchiato anymore), really cool pair of jeans for $18 - wait till you see them, families earning $350 a month and living just fine.

I've always loved kids - everyone knows that about me. I never thought I could combine my love of kids with my natural ability of organizing and leadership. It's a perfect match in some ways! I'm committed to working here for a year (Dec 2008 - 2009). I've created a proposal for an income that I'll send to prospective donors who feel management skills help a non profit run more effectively - (call me if you're one of those people!).

Otherwise, my next task is to get myself back in shape - regular workouts again, and to create something big for myself for 2009. There are lots of options: running my own company, expanding this company, building a foster home, finding someone to share my crazy ideas with!! It's all possible - I just need to create it! I think I've been afraid of failing at any one of these ideas so I've been playing small lately. Doing the easy stuff, the stuff I already can do well. A friend recently reminded me that I'm up for bigger things!! (Thanks Cory!)

So, stay tuned - the rest of this year and next year should be a wild ride. I'm looking forward to it!

September 9, 2008

2008-09-09T06:40:00.000-07:00

Today I'm in TamKy and I've just received fabulous news! The Scottish couple I met in Hoian last month have agreed to fund our Education Program for a year! Hazel's Footprints is a non profit in Scotland that fundraises and donates to orphanages in India and to educational programs around the world. (For details, see: http://www.hazelsfootprints.org/). They recently agreed to be our exclusive sponsor for our Education Program in Danang and TuyHoa and I'm soooo excited to get this program rolling! More to come once we're up and running!

In the meantime there is always lots to tell: I've been to two new places on the weekends recently. First was Bach Ma about 90 minutes north of Danang. It's up in the mountains with lots of waterfalls - one was 300 yards tall. We hiked down 687 steps to get to the base (then back up of course). Last weekend I went to Dalat which is about a 6 hour drive from TuyHoa, our southern most placement. Viet and I took all the volunteers for the weekend and it was terrific. Wonderful views, a chill in the air (haven't felt that since April!!) and loads of good food!

On the work front - I've been very busy. I hosted a two day training seminar for our Placement Managers. We covered things like our newly created Staff Manual, Leadership, Caring for Volunteers and Fund Raising. It was a lot to cover but everyone did a great job and I'm visiting all the sites this month to continue the training. I love the opportunity of being an Operations Manager and a Coach. Additionally by traveling, I get to work at all the schools and see lots of kids and young adults who are benefitting from GVN. It's a great feeling to walk in to an orphanage after not being there for a month and having kids run up to me with a smile and a hug!

In addition to the structure and standard procedures that we're putting in place, all the volunteers are really pitching in and doing a lot. We've had some huge fund raising success stories and others have been working weekends, brainstorming, using their experience or education to help GVN grow. I believe the program is really taking off in the right direction.

I'm going back to the US for about 7 weeks from the end of Oct to early December. I need to see family and friends. (Especially Ambros!) While home, I'll keep tabs on what's going on here, keep the newsletter rolling and get some fund raising done. I should be in CT first then CA for my last couple of weeks. Planning on heading back to Vietnam out of L.A. around the early or middle of December.

Keep sending those emails. I love them! I'll write more often. I'll have to keep better notes if I ever want to write that book about my experiences to fund the rest of my retirement! ha ha ha!

Whew - Way Overdue

2008-07-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

Yikes - it's been over a month. Sorry about that! There is some much and so little going on here. LOL. When it's busy, it's crazy, when it's slow, I'm laying in a hotel with aircon and pretending it's winter!
So - aside from the emergency appendectomy of one volunteer and two of my staff being in the hospital last week - all is well. Nothing more than a 2 month old with acute hydrocephalus to manage this weekend!
The good news is - it rained tonight and dropped the temp about 5 degrees F. The bad news is we've had daily power outages - todays as far as I know is still an issue - At our house if the power goes, the water goes. So I'm sitting at my favorite bar, drinking a cold beer and surfing on their Wifi! Thanks Yim!
The rest is all going according to plan - sort of: I'm working on the first Monthly Volunteer Newsletter to go out to 1000 past Việt Nam Volunteers, also writing a staff manual from scratch, updating the volunteer manual and creating fund raising proposals to create a regular inflow of money for the kids and programs we have here.
I love it all! Where else can I work in shorts, work in a bar (sometimes), play with amazing kids, hug babies who don't cry when I pick them up, pay 40 cents for a Pepsi, 90 cents for a beer and $1 for lunch?
I recently bought 9 pieces of embroidery made by disabled kids at the Red Cross Vocational Center. Mom has them in CT if anyone is interested in donating and getting something in return. If you just want to donate, email me!
I'm building 3 funds currently: Education, Medical and Monthly Wellness (fruit, milk, rice). It's a slow process but I'm committed to making it work. Despite the red tape, hospital incompetence, police harassment and government asking US for money to volunteer in THEIR city '- the nerve, right??? Oh well, that's Vietnam and I'm not planning on going anywhere soon. Call me crazy but it all seems like a challenge for me. If I can stay patient in the midst of corruption, child abuse, school neglect and more, I can do so much to help so many kids! Yep - it's a challenge alright. And why not?
So - attached are a few fun kid photos to share with you. I need to get back to writing my newsletter and creating the funding needed to keep these lil' buggers healthy and happy. I hope you are well and enjoying air conditioning, running water, electricity on demand, family, Mexican food, and whatever else I used to take for granted! (Oh, I did get to see a few Miss Universe contestants in Natrang a week ago - that was a bit surreal considering!) Ha Ha Ha! xxoo

Time flies when you're having fun!

2008-06-12T07:31:00.000-07:00

Time sure flies - some of it's fun, some of it not so much. Whew - where do I start? Well, the last several photos you saw were pretty tame - there are many more of kids tied up (due to the 'mom' to kid ratio), kids with mental illness and kids with scabies, heat rash and heart problems. The good news is that we keep on, keepin on! My friends and I have taken 5 kids to the doctor this week - two for rashes, one for scabies and the last two I just left in the hospital with the 'mom', both with high fevers. One is the twin of Baby Kai who is in HoChiMinh waiting for her open heart surgery. Now that Ka, the sister is in the hospital, it's likely we'll need to continue the fund raising to get her treated before she gets as bad as Kai.

I'm teaching more English this month which means I spend more time with teenagers and less time with toddlers. It's ok - I'm getting them to read Vietnamese comic books, playing soccer in the 90 degree heat and trying to enjoy their Summer, despite the fact that their living conditions are horrible. Many of these kids (about 20 of them) are at Social Support where they simply don't get the attention they need. This center should be for the elderly and disabled only. I'm trying to get other organizations that have regular school and vocational training to consider taking these kids in. I'm afraid otherwise, they'll die of boredom or will never have dreams of being outside this 'compound' that they live in.

I had them fill out a survey the other day. One wants to be a doctor, one a journalist, one a businessman, one a seamstress and two want to be farmers. Not bad for kids who eat rice three times a day and rarely get to go outside to explore the rest of the city. They trust me now and give me candy, bracelets and big smiles with a thumbs up when I crack the soccer ball in the back of the net! Today I brought them some used comic books (I bought 35 books for $8) and they were really excited. I created a 'library' so they can sign out books and return them when they're done. I'll have to keep the stock fresh as they seem to read these rather quickly!

One girl is reading Harry Potter in Vietnamese. I found 3 books here for her so far. (She'll be the journalist when she finishes school!) I told the kids I'd gather some volunteers Tuesday night and we'll come back to play some soccer. They're ready to kick our butts!

Meantime, we're fundraising to save Baby Kai who needs heart surgery in HoChiMinh. She should be healthy enough next week. Her sister needs to be looked at soon and the baby with the massive arm tumor is still getting her infection treated. No radiation yet. She might lose her arm if things don't get better soon. (She's only a few months old).

I've been asked by the local VN director to stay on and work for him as is operations manager. There is some much to do here both administratively and for the kids. I'm not sure I'll work with this group beyond July 30th (my initial agreement), but we'll see. I really want to see some of these kids moved into better situations. I saw a fantastic foster home in Hoian last weekend where a very determined Australian woman is raising 30 teenage kids with about 4 VN staff. It's a great operation. I think the Street Kids Program in Danang is set up similarly and GVN can learn a lot from both of these groups.

There is still a lot for me to learn. I'm experiencing red tape, corruption, lack of common sense and plain old stubbornness on a daily basis! But, that's what's so and I just have to learn how to work within the system. It's challenging for someone like me - direct, process oriented and with a compulsion for 'completing tasks on time'. LOL . (My old boss gave me that last one!) But, I started taking VN language lessons this week so hopefully I'll catch some of the conversation soon!

Anyway, I'm getting used to the heat - I'm soaked with sweat by 10 am most days and just ignore it. I played soccer in heavy pants, barefoot, today and loved every minute of it! Thanks for you emails, prayers, donations and well wishes. It means a lot to know you're all out there!
Much love, Jen

Three Weeks In

2008-05-21T06:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I've seen and done a lot in the past several weeks. I've been to all the centers and they all have terrific kids and unique needs. Our team of volunteers this month is terrific. It's a mix of people who have been here for 3 or more months and 8 of us who are new. 9 total are leaving at the end of the month so it'll be me and two others to train the new volunteers as of June 1st.

Here's an overview of the 4 centers:

Social Support - Seems to be my favorite and I'm trying to make it a pet project. There are about 200 people here from infants to elderly. Mostly homeless and abandoned people / kids. About 15 kids have mental disabilities, about 20 others are healthy and most go to school daily. There are about 4 other kids 5 - 11, who have never been to school. We're trying to get a plan together to get these kids an onsite teacher who can get up to speed to join class someday. There isn't much for these guys to do at the center. It's like a large compound actually. Dirty, old buildings with little light and very few working fans. We're taking some of the kids to a local waterpark this Sunday. I'm sure they'll love it.

Red Cross Vocational Center - has about 33 kids, most all disabled. We teach crafts, and 3 levels of English (basic, intermediate and advanced). I've been lucky enough to teach both Basic and Intermediate. The kids are eager to learn although the pace is very slow. The severely disabled kids participate in crafts that 2 other volunteers creatively come up with that are both fun and easy to follow. Ultimately, they'd all like to be outside playing but that comes after the lessons! This center also has an embroidery, beading and sewing area where the kids do some amazing work. I'd like to buy some pieces (they're about $10), ship them home to sell for a profit and send the money back to these kids. They currently don't sell products outside of the center so there isn't much exposure for them. (Need to add that to the follow up list).

Agent Orange Center - There are about 20 kids here. 12 disabled and 8 seemingly healthy adorable infants. (the infants may not have been affected by A.O. but they're at the center regardless). Today, thanks to fundraising from home, I was able to have 2 new cribs delivered to the facility. They are large enough to hold 2 kids each without being squeezed in like the old wicker cribs. The cribs were delivered by a guy driving a bicycle with a flatbed front attached to it. (who said you need a truck here??)

Malnourished Center - There are about 6 toddlers (age 3 - 5 we guess) and 6 infants, plus 2 severely handicap kids with C.P. These tods are running around all day on concrete play areas and hard tile floors. Always scraped and bruised, they seem to enjoy being outside and love it when we show up to play with them.

A couple of volunteers go to a local University to teach English to kids studying tourism. These kids are almost ready to graduate and need to practice their pronunciation and tourism related words. The other centers with the younger kids is where we're focused most.

Our weekends are spent touring around either locally to Hoian and Danang or some have flown to Hanoi, Natrang and Dalat recently. All are on my list. So far I've just been going an hour away to Hoian to visit with local friends, relax, get some time in an air conditioned room and enjoy the seafood.

There is so much to do here for all these kids - they really don't ask for much more than shampoo and washing powder. After meeting with the directors of several centers, we were given a wish list that we're slowly working on. They have asked for fans, cribs, strollers, white boards for class rooms, paint, toiletries and more money for rice which is served at every meal and sometimes it's the only thing at the meal! We're also collecting money from volunteers to get more fruit to the kids at least twice a week.

Our schedule is 8:30 - 11:00 each day and 2:30 - 4:30 Mon - Thursday. There is a lot of down time that we use to shop for the kids (and ourselves), get in some exercise, sight see or take a nap. The heat here wipes us out! Once school is out, I'll probably hang out with the kids at lunch and play some soccer with them.

If you'd like to donate money for these kids, I'll be in the country until October 1st. You can send a check to my mom in CT and she'll deposit it in a special account that I can access via ATM here. Here's the address: Jen Flynn, 40 Ronal Drive, Berlin, CT 06037. Thanks to all of you who already donated. You've made a huge impact on these kids and their smiles are priceless.

First Day at the Orphanage

2008-05-05T07:05:00.000-07:00

Well today was our first full day volunteering and it was terrific. My group went to the Social Center first where we play with and entertain about 10 kids from the ages of 3 - 15. These kids are in a facility with about 200 other people who vary in age from infant to elderly. I played catch with two kids for a bit, then we played Hide and Seek for an hour! After that, I was in the infant room with about 10 babies. We all take turns playing, feeding and changing the kids. They don't wear diapers normally - just baby clothes. They are often in their metal cribs but sometimes (and always when we are around), they get out on to the tile floor to hang out. They are all developmentally behind American kids their age. We'll try to get them to crawl (most aren't there yet despite being 8 - 18 months old). roll a ball or just feed them a bottle. Many of them were very animated. They smile and laugh when you give them attention.

After the Social Center morning, we had lunch at the Vol. House and did some brainstorming for the upcoming orphan competition happening on Sunday. The able body kids will be competing in singing, dancing and drawing. In addition to them being taught a Vietnamese song by their teachers, we started teaching them the Hokey Pokey tonight! It was a riot!! They speak very little English but it was a lot of fun and I'm sure they'll have it down pat by Sunday!

After my mid day run around the tiny lake across from the house, we all went to the "Malnourished Center" for our afternoon assignment. These kids aren't necessarily malnourished but they do have some learning disability or have been abandonded. Mostly under 4, these kids were a lot of fun. They are relatively healthy and fiesty. We played with the older ones, then help feed both the infants and the toddlers. After dinner the tods get an unsupervised bath!!About 5 of them were in buckets in the bathroom with water pouring out of a hose from teh sink. They were sitting in little red buckets and just having a grand ole time!! One even doused me with a bucket of water and laughed himself to tears!

Now I'm back at the house and it feels like 120 degrees at 9:30 PM. It'll be tough to sleep tonight. Did I mention we don't have A/C here? Whew!! OK - if the kids can do it, I can do it.
Thanks for all your well wishes. More to come soon.

May 1 - First Day of Training Today

2008-04-30T16:38:00.000-07:00

Hoian was fabulous. My friends treat me like a Queen - so do their parents. I've been invited for lunch, dinner, stay at their place instead of the hotel.....They love that I'm here doing charity work in their country and they've rolled out the red carpet for me!

I came to Danang yesterday and met the girls I'll be working with. (All except for my roommate so far). They range in age from 20 - 50 plus. Seems like a good group. I'm waiting to get picked up to go for my first day of training. The house I'll be at has 5 bedrooms for 10 of us. Two big beds in each room and not much else.
Two women are on staff to cook 3 x a day and there is a security guard who sleeps on a mattress in the hallway by the front door. Hopefully I won't wake him up too often. Ha ha ha.

Here's a few insights from my last couple of days. Maybe you'll get an idea of life in Vietnam:

Can deoderant really melt??
Why wash a glass when you can dump what's in it and leave it in the dish rack for the next person?
'Yes' from someone in Vietnam means: Yes, No, Maybe AND I don't know. It's a fun guessing game. I'm not very good at it yet
I can swallow vitamins with orange soda
I know how to drive a motorbike and I have my own helmet and face mask
Could I live on $100 a month?? I read that woman is living on $0 - getting everything, including room and board on trade. Most people here live on less than $100. Hmmmm
I can 'P' while barefoot, squatting over a toilet, standing on a wet floor. (I hope that's water I'm standing in...)
BYO. T.P. - Everywhere you go.
I ate squid rings but passed on the 'full squid'. looked too much like a huge snail out of the shell.
Babies will smile at you - regardless of the language you speak
I've become very patient teaching friends English phrases - It took me 3 Damn Days to master - "See you later" so I could be understood.
Nobody is in a rush. 10minutes means 20 plus.....
Beeping horn on motorbike is for: Passing on the right, Passing on the Left, Hurry Up, Move Over, Hi I'm here, I'm bored what are you doing?
I can get a coke for 45 cents. I paid $3 at Riva Grill in Tahoe - those bastards
I can teach locals to dance (Cracks up the moms)
My new favorite fruit is a Pomello (I have no idea what that is ). It's a 'buoi' in Vietnamese.
I can get my nails painted for less than a dollar. (I have to ignore the dog hair on the floor though. Apparently it was his turn for a hair cut)
I'm loving every minute of it

2 Days Later.....

2008-04-27T03:57:00.000-07:00

Well - I made it w/o incident to Danang around 10 pm on the 25th. It was a nice 24 hour journey. About 18 on 3 planes, the rest in airport and car. I had my first beer at hour 20 and damn did it taste good. It was at the airport in HoChiMinh - they don't have a/c in the airports so I had to have a cold drink!

My buddy Tuan made sure I was picked up in Danang and driven to the $10 per night hotel he booked for me. My friend Mai was waiting for me there! The hotel is great - just a room with queen size bed, small tv, wall unit, and bathroom with a large tub! Free internet is included. I think I can handle it for $10. It's on a noisy street but the traffic didn't start till late morning.

I'm meeting Mai (the masseuse) at 10:30 for coffee. Then she'll take me to get a phone. Not sure if it will be for local calls only or if I can also call home on it. Stay tuned.

---Got the phone. It cost about $45, then I paid $11 for a bunch of minutes (182,000 Vietnamese Dong worth!!). i think I'll get 1 min for 10 cents in country. Works great!

I went to a Vietnamese Wedding today!! Bride was in a beautiful traditional dress. (My friend Oahn's cousin was getting married and as I was sitting at the coffee shop by the beach in shorts flip flops and a T shirt, she said: 'Come with me!' Off I went. We drove to her house on the motorbike and took a free boat ride across the bay (Oahn's dad runs a boat once a week). The wedding was a lot like ours, lots of food, kids running amok, old ladies dressed in their finest clothes.

Earlier in the day I met two guys from Amsterdam. Since I have been here before, I was able to give them some sight-seeing advice! I don't really feel like a tourist - more like a local. People still look at me kind of funny when I'm the only American in a large group but they pour beer for me, peel my shrimp and even crack watermelon seeds for me! (I seem to always crush them!) Anyway - everyone is very friendly and helpful. I spent an hour with Oahn, reviewing her English homework and she helped me with my Vietnamese pronunciation. That's gonna be tough! Stay tuned....

April 17th - one week to go.....

2008-04-17T12:53:00.001-07:00

Well, the clock is ticking away. There are a few more details to manage then I'm off to Vietnam for 6 months. I fly out of JFK in New York on April 24th and will arrive in HoChiMinh city about 15 hours later. I spent the last few weeks with friends in San Diego, Palm Springs and South Lake Tahoe - everyone has been terrific! Very supportive of my trip and my goal to raise money for the kids at the orphanages. Thanks to all of you, I surpassed my $1000 fund raising goal!! As of today, I have raised $1290! I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart! As I said before, this money will go a long way in Danang to help the kids and their families. I'll keep you posted as to what the money is used for and send lots of photos.

I've experimented with Yahoo Voice and it seems to work well. If you have a Yahoo Messenger or MSN account, I can call your computer from a computer in Vietnam for free! Keep in touch via e-mail at: jflynnis@yahoo.com.

Catching up in CT!

2008-03-03T15:14:00.000-08:00

Whew, it's been a wild ride! Dad and I got back to the U.S. on Feb. 6th after an amazing tour of Asia! We saw more temples in Cambodia and Vietnam - saw the base in Danang where Dad was stationed in the 60's and hiked up a few hundred steps to peek into caves that were used to hide out the buddhas and supplies during the revolution.

Cambodia was fantastic - Angkor Wat is a must see if you are remotely close to Siem Rep. I went out at 5am twice to watch the sun rise over this majestic temple / village built in the 11th century. It's amazing to see all the carvings up close - every inch of the temple and others we saw in the area were carved with scripture, stories and visual drawing of the wars that took place over 900 years ago.

The people we met in the villages were very friendly. They work long hours - alot of them farmers or groundskeepers for the temples. Cambodia in Feb is H-O-T - Temps were regularly in the high 80s or low 90s and it was a bit humid. I met our driver's family who treated me to lunch and a fresh off the tree coconut!

Vietnam was amazing as well but much colder than Cambodia. We were unprepared for the rain and 55 degrees in the north in Hanoi. Again - we were treated to exceptional tour guides and saved from being run over by motorcycles more than once!

The central part of Vietnam in Danang was warmer - we spent about 4 days in Danang and Hoi An. We visited the 'real' China Beach where soldiers had R & R, Monkey Mountain, Marble Mountain, Historical homes, a wood carving community, a boat building company and a few markets with load of fresh veggies, fruits, meats and fish.

I had the most amazing massage of my life at the Life Resort in Hoi An. A woman named Mai did such a great job, I had to go back on day 2 for another dose of pampering. Highly recommended, worth the money (about 1/3 the cost of a massage in the US) and totally relaxing! I spent two or three nights out with Mai and Oanh(the bartender). You know, the two most important people at a resort! We partied, ate, danced, rode motorcycles, listened to Kareoke and had a blast! We were like sisters by the time I left for Hue. I'm going back to this part of Vietnam soon and hope to work with Mai and Oanh on their Englilsh.

Hue was a pretty city but the weather wasn't cooperating. It was cold and rainy so we hurried through the one day tour. Off to HoChiMin (aka Saigon)- much warmer than the rest of Vietnam. This is another big city like Bangkok wtih large buildings, lots of stores as opposed to the local farmer's markets, lots of motorcycles too. They were getting ready to celebrate their Tet Lunar New Year in 4 days and the party had already started! The streets were decorated with brilliant flowers, paintings and photographs. People rode their motorcycles by the thousands around and around the town square just to see and be seen. Young and old - all had a great time.

Our trip concluded here in HoChiMin - we headed for the airport in the evening, transfered in Hong Kong and were off to LAX without a hitch. It's a loooooong flight - but it's worth it. Dad flew back to CT the next day and I headed to San Diego for a week.

Fortunately for me, I was able to see several friends the week I was back. My friends are terrific for working me in to their schedules lately! I flew up to South Lake Tahoe to spend a week with a friend and do some snow boarding, snow shoeing, and cross country skiing. Not to mention the spin class, work out class, dog walks and airplane ride! That was all in a week! So, I'm now in CT planning my next adventure back to Vietnam.

Yes that's right. I had such an emotional, awakening experience there. It's hard to describe but it was like experiencing poverty and generocity all at once. I have to go back and get more of that. It's very humbling and very powerful. I'm going to volunteer with Global Volunteer Network from May - July in an orphanage near Danang. I don't have a lot of details yet but will post them when I do. In the meantime, I'm enjoying being with my family, especially my godson and some of my friends in CT! Stay tuned...

Jan 27th in Cambodia

2008-01-27T06:21:00.000-08:00

Obviously I haven't been keeping up on the blog but we''ve made it to Cambodia as of today. We landed in Siem Reap at about 5 PM Sunday. After getting to our hotel, we unpacked EVERYTHING - we'll be here for 3 nights, and I headed to the bar! We took a taxi for $2 to the town center to find a place for dinner. I spotted a Mexican restaurant and we had ribs and fish tacos - FINALLY!! YUM!

The last several days we were in Pattaya, Thailand with some new friends: Kai, Tucki and Poo. We were treated to the most wonderful food, beaches, shopping and hospitality on the planet! ( I dare anyone to rival these ladies for taking care of us!) We had (and I'm sure I'll forget something): lobster, crab, oysters, several types of fish, pecking duck that puts a Thanksgiving Turkey to shame, veggies, rice dishes, noodle dishes and desserts to spoil a queen! We also had lasagna, pizza, ice cream, beer and whiskey once in a while! I can't believe how much food we can eat! I really need to stay in the gym longer every day!

Now that we're in Cambodia though, I hope to work off some calories at the gym and in climbing the thousands of steps at Angkor Wat and the surrounding wats. We're here for 3 nights. (maybe Mexican for 2 out of 3?) Who knows. The hotel has a restauant but they have a prix fix menu for $19 or $25 per person. We chose the city for the $2 cab and $12 dinner for 2! That, internet, people who speak English, plenty of cabs for the ride home (where are we staying again?), and we're all set.

Bangkok is just like NYC! Huge sky scrapers, lots of pollution and traffic. The food is good and the people are friendly though. Not as much horn beeping as NYC! Our trip to Chiang Mai in Norther Thailand was a lot of fun too. We rode and elephant, I paddled us down a river for an hour on a bamboo raft and we (again) ate as if the end was near! :-)

We're collecting an armful of ''good luck"" bracelets. I now have my original one from Cancun, one from the monk in Bangkok, one from the Monk University in Chiang Mai and one from the kids at the elephant camp. I should be buying lottery tickets soon!

There are a lot of people in a very small space both in Thailand and Cambodia. Seems like a little goes a long way. the next time I'm temped to shop at Bed, BAth and Beyond just because I'm in the area, I'll think twice. It's amzaing how happy people (of any nationality) can be on so little - food, furnishings, material things like clothing / cars / 'stuff''. These people eat to live, recycle whenever possible and conserve natural resources. I look at us in the US and see us eating till we're ''stuffed'' when we go out, we toss recyclables regularly and we use water and electricity like it's a gift from heaven. They say third world countries have a long way to go but I believe it's us in the other countries that have more to lose then the petroleum is scarce or global warming really has an impact on how we live day to day. Some of us would never survive in this 'simple'life...

In the meantime, I'd recommend everywhere we've been. Bangkok has the Grand Palace, Pattaya has wonderful beaches and a fabulous drag show that really would put Vegas to shame and Cambodia gets by on a lot less than Thailand! More to come.....

From Coogee Beach

2008-01-02T22:40:00.000-08:00

Hi-
We're about 25 minutes south east of Sydney at a popular beach spot. Lucky me - I've found a nice private, women only beach nearbye! We've both been in the water several times. It's cold but refreshing. There's lots of shops and restaraunts around so Dad is in heaven. He's going to eat his way through eat town I think! He's getting brown like an Indian and I'm not far behind him!

If I get my butt in gear, I'll book a day trip to the Blue mountains for tomorrow and allow for an overnight stay if I feel like it. It's suppose to be like the grand canyon but GREEN! We'll leave for New Zealand on the 7th of Jan. but not before we finish our tans.

I ran at 7 am this morning along the beach. It was wonderful. I did part of the run on the boardwalk then about 10 minutes, calf deep in the water. (Gotta work off this beer belly somehow! ha ha ha)

I've had trouble uploading photos but I'll keep trying. All the best to everyone.
Love, Jen

Dec. 31 2007 New Year's Eve

2007-12-30T17:51:00.000-08:00

Well Happy NYE to everyone. Just a quick note to say hi! We're getting ready to head over to Darling Harbor to get our boat at 6PM to watch the fireworks. They have 2 shows. One at 9pm and the biggie at midnight.

So far, we've been to Bondi, Coogee and Manley Beaches. I just booked us for 5 night (Jan 2 - 7) at Coogee before we head to New Zealand. The beaches are very nice- clean, hot, busy, lots of people watching to do! The water is cool but i've been in twice. Dad goes in to his knees (barely).
Day before yesterday dad stayed at the hotel to recup from a bit too much sun on his feet and I went to lunch with a friend's niece at The Rocks, near the Opera House. There was a nice open market, lots of art galleries and photo studies. I also walked half way across the harbor bridge - lost one of my camera filters up there. (Don't ask!) :-)

Saw lots of bats in the botanical gardens on my walk back to the hotel - took some photos of the plants, fountains and boats. All very beautiful!
We were at Manley Beach all day yesterday - About 2 hours in the sun and about 4 in the bar! We met a group from Melbourne who were up for the NYE celebration. They said the bugs in Melbourne were ' tragic' but here we've been fine. After they left (hour 3), we sat with 3 local guys who were out for the afternoon avoiding their wives.....not much changes from USA to AU! They invited us on Sat. the 5th to come watch a huge boat race and carnival on Manley. We might takt them up on it - two of the guys will be working in the beer garden and that works in my favor! Well after about 5 pints, it was time to catch the ferry back to our place. Maybe that's why I have a headache today....naw - that's not it!

We did laundry at the hotel last night. Dryer leaves a lot to be desired so 1/2 our clothes dried in the room over the shower and chairs. I even hung a few T shirts in the hallway on the banister. It worked! Gotta be flexible. (not flexible enough to save $100 a night and stay in a hostel according to Dad though!). No worries mate - Good accomodations at Coogee Beach coming up. We'll be 25 yards from the beach. Heaven! I might do a day tour to wine country or the Blue Mountains - not that I need more alcohol but it could be fun!

There is no such thing as non-alcoholic beer here for dad. The bartenders offer 'water' as the only similar option! (And they think that's funny!) We did find that Lemon Twist is a nice lemonaid that seems to quench dad's thirst. Ice Tea comes in a bottle like Nestea - nobody makes it by the pitcher. Funny place!

OK - Gotta run. (We'll I ran this am but gotta get ready for my Big Birthday Party on the harbor). Everyone is so excited about my birthday. They started carrying picnics to the park at 9am this morning! They didn't have to get up that early just for me....

Cheers!

Thurs. Dec. 27, 2007

2007-12-26T23:17:00.000-08:00

It was rainy today so instead of the beach plans, we went to the AU Museum - dad wanted to go....he's a history buff apparently. We went there, St. Mary's Church (thought mom would like that), the Prisoner Barracks Museum and then the top of the Tower - for a 360 degree view of the city. (Like the Needle in Seattle). It was a good day, despite starting off being rainy.

I haven't posted any photos yet because I can't find my camera cable but I'll pop the sim card in next time and load up a few. In the meantime, I'm trying to arrange something for viewing the spectacular fireworks display for NYE! The locals say the harbor vantage points start getting taken by 9 am! I'm considering getting a spot on one of the harbor boats for a really good view but I might have to sell a small, cute, child to pay for it! :-)

Plans for the beach tomorrow.
Cheers to all-
Jen

We made it to Sydney

2007-12-25T13:48:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update - We finally made it the 19 hours (via 2 plane rides) to Sydney. We got our luggage - no worries mate!- found a shuttle to the hotel $12 each - also no worries. Our hotel room is quaint; aka very small room, small TV and few ammenities but it was available and it's a short walk to downtown Sydney.

We're in Wallamoollo, near King's Cross (almost like a Red Light District) and Sydney. Yesterday after we unpacked, I went for a 30 minute run to the downtown area, around the warf and past the Opera house. I found an internet cafe and told mom we were safe, then jogged back to the hotel.

Dad and I walked in Potts Point for about 2 hours and didn't see a darn thing open. Sydney is pretty closed up on Christmas evening. We finally called the cab company and found that Kings Cross is open 24 hrs a day. No wonder - The Red Light District never sleeps! Anyway, we found good food and did a little people watching.

It's a new experience to travel with a Senior! They move so slow! I'll have to adjust myself and give Dad a head start whenever we're getting ready to go somewhere. Ha ha. He's doing great though. His 'other' knee bugged him yesterday but we've got him on a daily dose of Aleve to keep him mobile.

Getting through security in CT was fun and I'll write more on that later but needless to say, we arrived safely and are off on our first adventure of the day. We'll walk through the botanical gardens then take the city tour bus around town. The sun is out and I'm looking forward to working on my tan.

Cheers Mate!

Finally - An Entry

2007-12-10T17:09:00.001-08:00

Well, a lot has happened since I got here. I decided to move 'back home' to CT after all. It wasn't a hard choice really. Once I spent more than a few days with my godson Ambros, it was pretty simple. And more good news - my dad has agreed to go on the rest of my 'round the world trip w/ me.

We're leaving Dec. 23 for Sydney then we'll head on to New Zealand, Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam. All in all, we'll be traveling for 6 weeks. Dad will head back to CT from LA, and I'll go back to San Diego to pack up and drive the BMW out to CT. (Pray for sun and NO snow on the southern route)

I've interviewed with Met Life here in CT and will go back again later this week, so I might have a job lined up for March. I'll stay with my parents until I finalize the work location then I'll probably move close to the job. In the meantime, mom and I joined a gym and we're working out about 5 days a week - feels great.

The trip plans are shaping up and since we've had temps in the 20's, I'm ready to go! :-)
Hopefully I'll get to update you along the way. I'm not bringing my laptop but I should have access to the the internet. You can e-mail me at jflynnis@yahoo.com to keep in touch. I'd love to hear from you.

Take care - Happy Holidays and Be Safe-

Update from CT

2007-11-05T14:04:00.001-08:00

As you know, I made it to CT on Oct. 19th. It was great to see the family - especially my godson Ambros! He's 17 months old and just a doll! I spent one weekend with my high school friend Denise, in Boston and one weekend in NYC with my Cousin Kyle and his partner Jason. Both trips were great and I was able to see more of the beautiful foliage.

I'm back in CT and Shawn (My Brother) and I are taking the RV camping in Mass for two nights starting tomorrow. We found a place on the lake in Oakham. It'll be cold but the scenery should be worth it. Can't remember the last time I had time alone with my brother. We'll bring our bikes and fishing poles and see if we can get in to some trouble!

In the meantime, I'm researching trips to Thailand and New Zealand. I'm hoping to go during December / January to sight see and do more work for Habitat for Humanity. Plans are still in the works but if you have any suggestions or hook ups in those parts of the world, let me know!

Finally Made it to Connecticut

2007-10-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

Hi Again,
I finally made it to CT on Friday the 19th. I spent a few wonderful days in Delaware then a couple outside Philly PA with Toni, Jack and Jagger! (had an awesome Philly Cheesesteak!) I spent the weekend in Boston with Denise, a friend from high school, now I'm back in CT for a bit. True to form I've seen a bunch of family already with more to come! I'm going to help mom at the American Red Cross where she's a disaster relief volunteer in between babysitting for my 17 month old godson!

I'll have more photos and updates soon. My laptop is on the fritz but will be fixed soon.

D.C. and Delaware

2007-10-16T13:02:00.001-07:00

Friday, October 12, 2007

Long day in D.C. walking and touring. I saw most of the memorials, including WWI, WWI, Korea, Vietnam, Lincoln and the Women’s Memorial. (My name is in the history books of that one!) I also made it to Arlington National Cemetery. I had no idea it was that enormous – very moving – also saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown. Interesting history about how they choose the unknowns for each war we’ve had. I finally got back to the camper at around 8:00 PM and called it a night!

Saturday, October 13, 2007

I have a friend whom I’ve met through Met Life that lives in N.J. who happened to be in Virginia for a conference. He invited me over and since it was only 30 minutes away, I headed out for the day. I helped him staff the Met Life booth and met some local gals who took me out on the town back in D.C. later that night. After 2:30 am when the bar was still open – we decided to leave – I haven’t been up that late since partying with Jay! (oops that was only about 10 days ago!) Anyway, the gay bars in DC are popular and Saturday seems to be the night to go out so I was lucky to see a crowd and listen to some good music.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

My Met Life buddy Paul offered his beach condo in Delaware for a few days and I took him up on it. It’s awesome – 3 bedroom condo less than one mile to the beach and all to myself! Rehoboth Beach is a quaint area with a gay vibe, gay street and even a gay community center. Great place to hang out for a few days. With the weather still at 72, running along the boardwalk, riding my bike and laying at the beach have become my new routine. Paul might just have to evict me! I caught a drag show in the evening at The Purple Parrot (don’t ask…) and the following night went back to the same spot for Monday Night football!

Monday, October 15, 2007

After my first hour-long run in a while, I headed for the beach for a walk along the cool ocean. Not as warm as N.C. but still warmer than San Diego I think. I got the tire on my bike fixed and rode around the town for a few miles in the afternoon. (after my post run nap!) The town is a bit quite due to it being off season but most of the shops and restaurants are still open and eager to see people stroll in.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Today was a day to watch Ellen on TV and head to beach! I was at the beach by 10:30 and laid out for about 4 hours before testing Luigi’s grinder shop with an Italian Sub. (He passed!) It’s cooler today than yesterday but still comfy. I’m at the GL Community Center using their wifi to catch up. Tomorrow I’ll head to Philly to catch up with Toni and Jack. More later!

Catching up on the last week!

2007-10-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Today I planned to drive to Oklahoma City, OK. It’s 680 miles from Arvada. I modified my route to N.C. a bit so I could stop by the OK City Memorial. The drive took me through most of Kansas – no offense to Kansas folks – but it isn’t worth stopping. Lots of flat, hay fields and that’s it. Good new was there was very little traffic so I was able to drive at about 70 MPH the entire way. It took me 11 hours to get to OKC and I figured since it’s a big town, I could find a café downtown, have a bite and park overnight. Well – that didn’t happen. Seems the memorial which I found easily is in almost a industrial- like area of downtown. The streets were empty at 7:30 PM. I didn’t find anything but office buildings, the state capital and empty store fronts for several blocks. I drove around a bit and still found that I was in the wrong part of town. So, I drove back toward the memorial and found a spot outside a local Firefighter union building and parked it. No hanging with the locals tonight!

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

I was up and at the OK City Memorial early this morning – fortunately I was the only one there for about 30 minutes so I was able to get photos of the memorial before people began crowding in. It’s the most moving memorial I’ve ever seen – inside and out. The outside has the reflection pond and 163 chairs – one for each of the people who lost their lives in the explosion. The museum is a great tribute to those that died and the hundreds who survived and helped during the chaos. There are videos that show parents looking for their kids, strangers carrying each other out of the building over broken glass and the fire and rescue personnel risking their lives to search what was left of the unstable structure for survivors. I could have stayed there for hours listening to the stories of the tragedies and the miracles. After the memorial, I headed for Memphis, TN – I had lived in Nashville for 2 years back in 1989 and 1990 so I knew Beale St was the place to stop in Memphis. It’s still the best place for blues. There were about 200 motorcycles parked along the 3 blocks – seems that Wednesdays are Bike Nights and proud owners show off their hardware. Pretty impressive sight! I found my was to the Big Ass Beer and Peel and Eat Shrimp and listened to a fine female blues singer, Barbara Blue. Bought her CD and called it a night.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Another long day in the car but I wanted to make it to North Carolina. I stopped just south of Winston-Salem for the night.

Friday, October 5, 2007

I took off early and made it to Aunt Pat’s house in Cary, N.C., around 11:00 am. Cary is a small but growing town made up mainly of transplanted New Englanders. Lot’s of folks from NY and NJ have relocated for a ‘family’ style neighborhood, less traffic and better weather. I took it easy today since I was road weary and wanted to get up early to see my 7 yr old cousin play baseball in the morning.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Up early and at the ball field to watch Derek (yes, named after Jeter) play baseball. No T, no funky pitching. At 7, these kids are pitching and hitting. Pretty impressive. Derek’s dad (my older cousin Tony) coaches the team and seems to me although they don’t keep score, our team won! After Aunt Pat got hit in the shin with a foul ball, (ouch), we had breakfast and went to see the rest of the family – Angela (Tony’s wife) and my other cousin Jillian. See photos of these cute kids! We played soccer, baseball and computer games – wahoo!

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Aunt Pat and I drove about 5 hours to Elizabeth City to see a small (very small) Ansel Adams exhibit on our way to the Outer Banks. The Banks is a very thin strip of land just off the coast of N.C. Not sure how many miles but we drove about 20 miles of it and stayed for two nights. We had terrific weather – about 85 degrees – I swam in the ocean twice and did a little sun bathing. We went shopping, drove by the Kitty Hawk memorial and enjoyed the sights.

Monday – Tuesday October 8-9, 2007
If you’ve never seen several hundred, 4500 square foot plus, $5 million dollar homes in one spot, the OBX is the place. These homes are so big, you need 3 families to fill them for a week’s vacation. I heard they rent for about $10,000 a week! Right on the ocean or the sound, great views and lots of beautiful beach. More sunbathing and swimming then on Tuesday we took a tour of the northern shore which is only accessible by 4wd. Our mission was to find the wild horses that have taken over about 14 miles of the beach. There are actually homes out here too – again, they are enormous and only accessible by 4wd. About 250 locals live out there year ‘round, but mostly these homes are rented. By the way, if you’re thinking of buying one of these babies – don’t plan on getting any hurricane insurance – if you have beach front property, insurance is unavailable. You and your $5,000,000 are out of luck! As for luck, we were lucky enough to see almost a dozen wild horses on our sand dune excursion. These horses mingle among the million dollar homes and graze as they please. They are a sight though. Worth the trip if you go.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

We prepped for me to get back on the road: cleaned out the RV, the frige, got 4 new back tires (preventative), and pedicures and manicures! (Gotta have some fun right?) After chocolate shakes for lunch….I said we had fun, didn’t I? We picked up the kids for one last run – homework, pizza, icecream, baths and bed. We were beat by the end of the day! I don’t know how you parents do it!

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Around 9:00 am I took off for D.C. I had booked a camp ground for two nights and wanted to get in before dark. There wasn’t much traffic so I made it by 3:00 and settled in. I’ve been able to catch up on e-mail, upload photos and plan my tour of D.C. for tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Last Day in CO

2007-10-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

So my last day in CO was terrific. I asked for and received a ride on a cool chopper - see photo. Damian and I rode his bike to Boulder, CO, had lunch, shopped around a bit and came home. Dave's 5 nephews are in from Louisiana to work at the refinery for the month so it's a bit of a zoo here. Lot's of enterainment with the 20 something year olds, out on the road for a while! Jay and I had one more pint in a local pub in Golden CO, about the size of my old living room! The beer here sure is good! I'm heading out tomorrow and plan to make it about 680 miles to Oklahoma City. I want to see the memorial of the OK City Bombing. After that, I'll head to Memphis then N.C. to see my Aunt Pat, Cousin Tony, wife and kids! Can't wait to see more family.

Weekends Are Made to Party!

2007-09-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

Well in the old days, weekends were made to Party - lately I've been on my best behavior therefore it was time to let loose and I had just the party partner! Jay was finally finished with his exams and we went out on the town in Denver Saturday night. We tested a couple of breweries - there is an endless supply of local beers here and so far they've all been terrific. We met a few friends at Sing Sing - a dualing piano bar - and then found two of 'my kind' of bars! (Girls of course!) After drinking, dancing and meeting new friends, we closed the last bar at 2:00 am. I don't think I've been up that long in years..... Anyway, fortunately for us, there was a taco shop next to the last bar and we enjoyed some late night beef tacos that looked like they were made from the street vendors in T.J. They were delicious! We made it home by about 2:30 and I headed for bed. I was up at 6:30 to watch the final Women's World Cup soccer match with Brazil and Germany. (I wasn't able to make it up at 4:30 for the 3rd place game where the U.S. beat Norway but fortunately, I caught the replay on Sunday night!)

Sunday was spent watching football back in downtown Denver. Avalanche beer is sold by the pitcher - probably not a good idea - but we ordered them anyway. Bret Favre is now the T.D. passing leader with 422 touchdowns, the Chargers dropped to 1 and 3 and the Broncos (affectionately known here as The Donkeys) lost too. The highlight was the Rockies winning in baseball today. They now have to play the Padres in a tie breaker to see who gets in to the playoffs! Early to bed tonight since I'm a few hours in the hole.

9/27 - 9/28

2007-09-28T19:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 27, 2007

First day on the job at Habitat for Humanity. It was fun even though I spent the first few hours cleaning up the site to get ready for the plumbing, electrical and framing inspection tomorrow. The second half of the day I spent on the roof with another woman who showed my how to lay out the shingles. We spent about 3.5 hours on the roof and made pretty good progress. That night, I found Jay’s buddy and we went out for Mexican food. That was great too!

Friday, September 28, 2007

Day Two at the job site was going to be a ‘construction’ day. As it turned out it was more physically demanding than roofing day! I was either in the crawl space under the house building stairs or up on a ladder framing boxes for house fans. Lots of bicep work! I learned a lot though and my confidence is building quite a bit. The guys and gals are very helpful and great at showing me what I need to do, then they leave me alone to finish the task I’m on. The hardest part of the day was hammering in two 18” spikes to secure the crawl space ladder to the dirt floor. I broke a sweat on that task! Since there are going to be 15 volunteers tomorrow and probably not enough work for everyone, I chose to head back to Arvada for a few days and hang out with Jay and his roommates. Back at his house I showered, got some food and got caught up on e-mail. I’ve sent an e-mail to the folks at Habitat for Humanity regarding some work in New Zealand during November – January. We’ll see if there is anything available.

Mon - Wed 9/26

2007-09-26T09:29:00.001-07:00

Monday, September 24, 2007

Went for a 2 hour bike ride yesterday around the lake. It was great – the dark clouds were a bit threatening but the rain held off until today! Today we had a good rain and hale storm – it was pounding on the roof top for a while. Once it subsided, I went to the movies and to run errands with Kim, Jay’s roommate. We saw The Bourne Supremacy. Great flick! We also did a little wine tasting – there was a wine bar just outside the movie theater – how convenient! Watched a little Monday night football – not a very good game though.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Kim, Whitney and I went horseback riding! Wahoo. I’ve wanted to go for a very long time and just about an hour in to the Rockies is a horse stable that Kim had been to before. We took a 3 hour trail ride that was amazing – the Aspens were bright yellow and occasionally we saw a reddish orange tree which was set off beautifully by the sunlight. The ride was great – my horse liked to trot up and down the hills but I was told to only let him trot on the up hill and flats. Otherwise he and I might tumble on the down hill and I’d get propelled over the top of him. (We slowed down after imagining that scene!)
After riding, we had a bite, dropped Whitney off and saw her dad’s domestic bobcat that he keeps in his downtown condo. Looked an awful lot like a house cat to me but I’m told it’s really a bobcat. It did have a bobbed tail and felt very muscular. He was also eating a mix of cat food and rabbit so what does that tell ya?

Later, Jay, Painter and I went out for dinner. We had some great Mexican food. My first since leaving San Diego I think! These guys know how to eat for sure. I’m hoping that my little exercise here and there is keeping me in shape, despite the food intake lately!

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

I drove to Ft. Collins, CO today to volunteer at the Habitat for Humanity house being built. Unfortunately, the hour drive and fender bender along the way were for naught. The days work was canceled and I neglected to check e-mail yesterday. I’ll hang here for today and volunteer tomorrow. If it goes well, I’ll stay through Friday too. As for the fender bender, go figure. I can drive 3000 miles and not get in to trouble or get lost, then on a day I choose to volunteer, I not only ram in to someone on the highway, I have bad directions for the job site and wind up 10 miles down the road. Then as I said, the job was canceled for the day. What’s up with that??

So, hopefully the fender bender won’t turn out to be too much trouble. I bent the guy’s bumper on his truck. His girlfriend’s truck actually. Someone in front of this guy made a quick turn to the breakdown lane, the guy slowed down and stopped and I tried. Didn’t work out in my favor though. My RV seems to be fine. No damage other than a bent license plate. More on this later I’m sure.

Fri / Sat 9/21-22

2007-09-22T12:31:00.000-07:00

Friday /Sat, September 21 - 22, 2007

Yesterday was another long driving day – I left Custer State Park around 10 am and headed to Arvada, CO to visit Jay. It took me about 9 hours total to do the 400 miles. (I took a few photos, stopped for gas, etc.) I only hit traffic once for about 20 minutes and that was due to an accident. I’ve been really lucky with the driving. Mostly out on 2 lane highways and when on a major interstate, very few cars! The RV is now parked for at least a few days out in front of Jay’s house. He’s got two great roommates / friends and I’ve got my own bedroom and bathroom! The best part is I now have people to talk to!! I guess I missed conversation more than I thought. I’ll pedal around the lake and maybe out to the Rocky Mountains – hopefully one of the guys will take me on a motorcycle ride too. It’s about 75 degrees here today – another gorgeous day! I’m not too concerned with getting out and doing all the hikes and bike trails around – more interested in relaxing and enjoying time with family.

Thurs. Sept 20, 2007

2007-09-20T14:21:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Wrapping up the day – I finally made it to West Glacier (which is really the south entrance). It had been raining hard for the first time on the trip and the weather is expected to stay this way till Thursday. Bummer! I got lots of tips from the Ranger regarding hikes and that half of the Road to the Sun road is closed for repair. That’s the main artery that connects East and West Glacier and gets you to the ‘good side’. After weighing my options, I decided to do a drive on the West side – according to the Ranger, most of the sights are visible from lookouts and then travel around the park to the East side where he said the animals were more popular and the trees were changing color. There wasn’t much to see on the West other than the enormous lake McDonald. I didn’t hike because of the rain – kept driving. (Hey, there’s a rabbit outside my RV!) Sorry – anyway, on the trip to the West, the colors of the Aspen in particular were awesome. Some were actually orange and they stood out among the yellows and greens like they were on fire. I saw another bear too – just the top of his head though – he was in some tall bushes eating (I’m assuming) berries. I’ve come upon Two Medicine campground – not much here (few people, the store is closed, no gas station – should have filled up earlier and hummmm now the Check Engine light is on – lovely.) Anyway, since I’m here in the boonies, I’ll camp by the lake (rough life), hope the weather is nicer tomorrow and go for a hike. Two others in the area told me they saw bears up in them there hills – and I’m going to go lookin’ for em! Cross your fingers that the Check Engine light will be off in the morning, I’ll have enough propane to make my coffee and enough gas to get out of the valley after my hike! Oh the drama!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Well looky here – I went to bed with rain and woke up with 2” of snow! Crazy!! The roads were clear but it was still snowy and windy so no hiking today. I tried to drive up to the St. Mary’s (West) side of the mountain but was met by roads covered in 6” of snow and a small car on the wrong side of the road, pointed toward the canyon! Fortunatelyl there was a snow plow on it’s way up the hill and he plowed the back end of the car out and two guys pushed the car back on to the road. Since I don’t have 4 w drive I decided that Glacier was out for this trip. Unfortunate but I prefer warmer climates and safer driving! So, after driving about 450 miles to get there, I turned around and headed 550 miles toward Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. I made it about 10 hours with stops along the way – not much to see since most of the western state was snow and rain socked in. WY was clear but by the time I got there, it was about 8 PM and pretty dark. I hung out in a hospital parking lot, showered in the RV and went to sleep. Woke up to 60 degree weather – now that’s more like it!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

I looked for wi-fi in Spearfish, WY – doesn’t exist here. Went toward Grand Rapids and drove to the town just before Mt. Rushmore (one of my most anticipated desitinations). After many twists and turns, I finally landed at the base of Mt. Rushmore and what a sight! It really is amazing to see 4 presidents faces clearly carved in granite alongside a huge cliff! I spent a few hours walking around the manicured areas, listening to a Ranger presentation and watched a short movie on the making of Mt. Rushmore. It’s really spectacular to see. After that, I went to Custer Park nearby and am here now, using their wi-fi and having a beer while more buffalo roam. It’s about 70 in the shade, there’s a nice light breeze and I’m not driving another mile today! Might even watch some college football in the lounge later. Tomorrow, I’m off to visit my cousin in CO

Sat. - Mon 9/18

2007-09-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Headed up to Yellowstone this morning after getting up at 5:00 AM to see the sunrise. Long story but I was in the wrong place at the right time. Oh well- I did see the the sun light up the Tetons and that was nice. I also caught a huge buck elk running across the meadow – got a photo of him too! I headed for a hot shower ($3.50 buys you an unlimited amount of hot water…I’ll never look at a Mocha Frap the same again). After talking to the Ranger in Yellowstone I decided to take an 11 mile hike around part of one of the back country lakes – it took me about 4 ½ hours. The first part was beautiful, lots of color around the canal areas and not a sole on the trail the entire time. The second part of the hike was through the area that had a lightening fire about 10 years ago – it’s still littered with dead trees but – there are thousands of new trees growing. Apparently the fire is actually good for the ecosystem. It purges the old trees, makes room for new trees, and the ash allows new flowers to grow and adds food to the water which brings in more fish. So they don’t rush to put out natural fires here anymore. They normally let them run their course. After the hike I was beat – I found a camp site, cleaned up and headed out for another walk to dinner and the sunset. (Why I think I had to walk another 2 miles, I have no idea!) Anyway, the pasta and salad was worth it – walked back along the lake when the sun was setting and creating nice pink clouds – my favorite. Getting to bed early tonight – finally I think I’m tired enough to crash quickly.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Well I haven’t updated my log in a few days – hopefully I can remember what went on since Saturday. I spent all day Sunday in Yellowstone looking for wildlife and doing small hikes around the geysers! I say Old Faithful erupt twice and an even more impressive Bee Hive geyser went off for about 12 minutes later in the day. This geyser hadn’t erupted in two days so it had lots of pressure to release. There are hundreds of thermals in the area. I drove to the eastern part of the park and spent the night at Fishing Bridge along the lake. Another beautiful sunset graced the end of my day.

Monday I headed out early to look for more animals. I checked in with the ranger station and plotted my course for the day – I was going to head north through Hayen Valley then Lamar Valley toward Mammoth Lakes. As soon as I left the campground, I spotted about 9 buffalo grazing alongside the road! Great photo opp! Thought my day was made but it had just begun. After that, I saw elk and goats then a HUGE heard of buffalo- at least a hundred of them in a big meadow. I pulled over and had lunch while watching these mammoth beasts from the roadside. Very impressive. After driving a while longer, there was a bit of a traffic back up (3 cars!). Someone had spotted a black bear!! I took two shots before I had to move on. I pulled over about ½ mile down the road because I wanted to go back for a closer look but after remembering all the warnings about Beware Of Bears, I decided against it. Thought my parents would appreciate knowing I used common sense in the wild! I was considering staying another night in Yellowstone but after seeing the bear, my day was complete. Oh, I forgot to mention that I saw the most amazing river too – I fell in love with Yellowstone today! I was at Yellowstone River just north of the Lower Falls and man was it awesome. I sat for half an hour and just stared at the water. It was beautiful. Between the river, the sky and the wildlife, this place is like a slice of heaven! After that experience, I was convinced that it couldn’t get any better. I headed for the north exit and saw more buffalo and lots of rams on the way out. (It did get better!) Then I headed for Massoula. My goal was to get ½ way to Glacier before stopping. Well – I was awake and on a roll so I kept driving – past Butte, past Massoula and in to Polson, MT. about 60 miles from Glacier. I spent the night at my first Walmart parking lot – they allow RVs to park overnight – and found (God Bless ‘Em) a wi-fi internet café. Fresh coffee, an egg burrito (in MT???) and wi-fi – life is good!

My First Week

2007-09-14T20:57:00.002-07:00

The Adventure Begins:

Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007

I finished packing my new 21’ RV, and headed out for the open road at 9:00 AM. After a brief stop at the RV dealer in Temecula, I was off to the Grand Canyon. I had no idea how far I could drive in one day and although I knew from maps that it could take me about 8.5 hours, in the RV I wasn’t sure. So I didn’t make camping reservations for the first night. As it turned out, the weather was awesome, there wasn’t any traffic and the RV handled beautifully. I made it to Williams, AZ, just 56 miles outside of the Grand Canyon by 6:30 PM. I decided to spend my first night in the back of an unattended RV park. The attendant, no hook ups, no fee in my book. I walked through the town – it’s like an old tourist town with lots of shops and diners – found a place for a beer with live music and relaxed for a bit. Back at the RV I found I had free wireless access – sent the family a quick update and hit the sack early.

Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007

I woke up around 6:30 am and headed for my first solo National Park experience. The park entrance is straight down the road – easy to find. Saw some deer, a few cows and not many people on the road. Perfect.
I was able to get in to my camp site early. I hooked up my power and water, unpacked a few things – decided to wait to install my bike rack on the RV till later – then cooked my first meal – fresh coffee and two eggs and sat back and enjoyed the quite time. I then took the shuttle to see what this Grand Canyon was all about. All I can say is “Wow!!”. It’s absolutely amazing – the depth, length and stretch from any angle is impressive. The colors in the morning were terrific – and again, not many people out. I decided to walk about 4 miles of the rim, the top edge of the canyon. About an hour in to my walk I met a guy from Germany who name was Mark. We spent the next 8 hours together – walking, taking pictures, shopping and just enjoying each other’s company. He’s hooked on McDonald’s of all things but I introduced him to Wendy’s Spicy Chicken and I think I converted him! After he left, I went back to the RV, figured out how to crank up the hot water heater and took a shower. Yes – that rocked!! Now it’s all about some e-mail, making these notes and listening to great music. I’ll be in bed soon. Then off for a bike ride along the rim. Can’t wait – weather should be great again.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Woke up early enough to see the sun rise but stayed in bed! It was a bit chilly in here and staying under the covers for another couple hours was way more enticing than getting up. Got up and worked on photos and email then got the bike ready for a ride. Rode the rim trail from trailer village all the up to Hermit’s Point – about 14 miles or so. Hiked a bit below the rim and the view was great but it was hot. I ‘found my way back’ in time to outrun a thunderstorm! I watched the grey clouds turn to black, then the rain came for about 20 minutes. Lots of thunder and lightning – it was great. Once the storm passed, I rode my bike back to the RV and had a snack. I installed the bike rack on the RV – during some sprinkles and more lightning – probably a bad idea! It was cloudy and rainy but I had faith that it would pass so at 5:00 PM I headed for the shuttle to Hopi point to shoot the sunset. I was rewarded with a couple nice shots even though it was a bit cloudy still. No free wireless today. Not sure if I had it from another camper earlier or??? That will have to wait. Another warm shower and dinner in the RV – Hot soup and tea. A little tv, reading then off to bed!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Started the day with the news. The six yr anniversary of 9-11 was on. Sobering moment. Decided to head for Bryce Canyon instead of the North Rim – everyone here says it’s ‘more of the same’. I had only been to Bryce for about an hour during another road trip so after draining the tanks, doing my safety check (i.e., not pulling away with my hoses connected and awnings out!), off I went. It was about 280 miles and the drive was easy. Mostly rolling hills. I ran in to a bit of rain, but not much. The drive was serene and I was in no hurry. I stopped at McDonalds to use their free wi-fi – very slow today so I couldn’t check all my mail – then continued another 80 miles to Bryce. I got in around 4:30, enough time to find a camp site for $10 and go for a short hike. I then drove the 18 miles to Rainbow Point at the end of the park to see the sunset – it was a bit cloudy, but worth the drive. I was rewarded with a vibrant pink band of sky just below the clouds and above the horizon. I also saw turkeys and about a dozen deer – they love hanging out along the road side at dusk! Not very safe I tell you…The hoodoo are still here – amazing anywhere you look at them. I think I’ll go for my first real hike tomorrow.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Up at 7 – had breakfast, packed up the camper and headed to the trail head. I planned on the 4 – 5 hour triple loop: Queens Garden, Navaho and Peek A Boo. I made the trip in about 3.5 hours and that included lots of picture taking. I met a 65 yr old guy named John from Ireland. We trekked about 2 of the 3.5 hours together. He has traveled quite a bit since retiring 7 yrs ago – including a 1000 KM trek in Spain. He and his wife had just come from Zion and were heading to Yellowstone in a couple of days. The rock formations we saw were amazing. The dry air, freezing temps and sand stone combine to make natural sculptures that defy gravity. The hike was well worth it – it allowed views not possible from the rim. Hiking in is definitely the way to go. After the hike, I hit the road and wound up in Salt Lake. I was going to stop sooner but – well it’s a long story. Anyway, after putzing around the Temple North, South and West streets, I finally found an RV park with wifi. Yhoo. Upload the photos of the day, take a hot shower and relax. They have a shuttle to take a quick loop of the sights in the morning. I’ll do that then head off to Yellowstone. Long drive ahead.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Went out for a free tour of Temple Square this morning. It’s a very pretty area with buildings dating back to 1830. The Mormons drug stones from 20 miles away to begin building the temple. They also have an auditorium that seats 21,000 people. After the tour, I headed off to the Grand Tetons. I finally arrived after about 7 hours of driving. (A couple of stops along the way – awesome fruit stands and stocked up on beer! The Tetons were clouded by something, fog, smog or fire – couldn’t tell. I couldn’t see them very well. I did see an enormous bison though! He was huge! Drove by him too fast to take a picture. I’m in the campground for a night. Probably head to Yellowstone tomorrow – I think there will be more to see there. No internet access from here…

Friday, September 14, 2007

Well – I take back everything I said about The Grand Tetons Nat’l Park! I woke up this am and it was 42 degrees in my camper – brrrr. After tea and oatmeal, I read for a bit then went back to sleep till it warmed up! Once I got the RV in to the sun it was great. I went to a Ranger talk and found out about Jenny Lake – and other sights so since I had heard so much about the Tetons, I decided to hang out for the day and I’m glad I did! I took a quick ferry across Jenny Lake and did a 2 hour hike up past Inspiration Point – the views were spectacular. Yesterday the Tetons were shrouded by smoke from a local fire – today they were majestic! The sky was clear and the lake pristine. I’m so glad I stayed. I also saw a moose (from a distance) at the Jackson Lodge where they have free high speed wireless. I’ve charged my camera, laptop and checked my e-mail. It’s now thundering and lightning outside – not sure if there’s rain but I’m expecting to get wet on the way to the RV shortly. More thunder – it’s gonna be a great storm tonight!