tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91964532011-12-07T00:55:07.813-08:00Stories, pictures and observations from our family's world travels.-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.comBlogger991100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-81665200949793798992011-12-07T00:36:00.000-08:002011-12-07T00:36:11.636-08:00

This happy little thought prompted by the above linked article about what the world might be like 90 years from now. The mainstream thought is 10B people, no oil or gas, food shortages, everybody living in mega cities, a quarter of the population over 65 yrs old. Not a pretty sight. Here's the interesting part. There were two alternate scenarios (from the UN study), either 6.2B people or 15B.

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-75774300438686066872008-04-30T22:37:00.000-07:002008-04-30T22:43:22.908-07:00

My sustainability thought for the day. To the 1st world:You can continue tolive in de Nilefor awhileBut sooner or lateryou're going to have to learn towalk like an Egyptian.Happy Earth day.-robertw

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-68377654885213634612008-02-09T23:43:00.001-08:002008-02-09T23:43:27.560-08:00

This is likely to get interesting. Tell the military what we think isimportant for them to protect in the world's oceans.From my POV, the biggest threats are environmental - corporate dumpingof toxics, mismanagement of arable land, water and other criticalresources, our continued denial of global climate change, etc. Theseare the the things a properly responsive arm of a government for

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-9260271461468626932007-12-28T22:23:00.001-08:002007-12-28T22:23:40.322-08:00

  New Year Greetings from Robert, Francie, Connor, Josie  The O'Shea &Williams Family These are the things We warmly wish for you: Someone to Love Some work to do, A bit o' sun A bit o' cheer, And a guardian spirit Always near. Celtic Blessing

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1152291242176174162006-07-07T09:47:00.000-07:002006-07-07T09:54:02.190-07:00

Just a quick note to let you all know we're back in Corvallis. It's been a long strange trip, as they say. Actually it was really amazing and a great experience for all of us.Our friend Judi met us at the airport at 1AM (!), and drove us home. When we got here Joanna and Casandra were waiting up for us, having fixed up the house like a Class 5 hotel - flowers, chocolates on the pillow and all.

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1151877982073320012006-07-02T15:03:00.000-07:002006-07-02T15:16:21.930-07:00

I'm sitting in a chair in the side lawn at Mosegaarden, Ole and Vibeke's country place outside of Odense. It's 23 deg (Centigrade of course, this isn't backwards USA). My wife is sitting next to me in panties and a t-shirt, looking lovely as ever after these 25 years of marriage. Dozens of birds are singing in the trees around the yard, there are hordes of bicycle riders going by in pelatons and

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1151764613869939482006-07-01T07:32:00.000-07:002006-07-01T07:36:53.906-07:00

In line with a book I read recently, Don't Think of an Elephant, I'm working on a new concept/name; "corporates". It's all the organizations and induhviduals who act without conscience or ethics. It's the agribusiness that grows crops but looses top soil. It's the automobile industry that destroyed public transit to create a market. It's the drug companies that market products that don't work or

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1151917395429174362006-06-20T02:01:00.000-07:002006-07-03T02:03:15.443-07:00

We're taking it easy, spending a lot of time swimming, using the sauna, the kids on the dock catching crabs, shrimp, several different fish. Last night we had a whopper of a thunderstorm, lightening, big thunder, wind and lots of rain. It was a real treat for us displaced mid-westerner's.Finn came down twice this week to go sailing, once with his daughters friend and again with Hannah, I think

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1150405748314182132006-06-15T14:07:00.000-07:002006-06-16T14:04:49.896-07:00

Well. How do you like the new look of the blog? No more pictures. My camera, the little square waterproof one, which faithfully took almost 10,000 pictures around the world is now in some stupid sub-human's possession. Yesterday we had lunch at an outside (the only outside) table at the Kabob Place in downtown Svendborg Denmark (The one on Lundevej, I think). Unfortunately I took my shoulder bag

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1150405620325321782006-06-14T14:04:00.000-07:002006-06-15T14:07:00.326-07:00

Had a couple minor mishaps with the old workplace (aka the IBM laptop).First disaster: I ordered a new battery on ebay, since the standard battery is getting tired. The one that finally came was for a different computer. (It also took almost a month; the seller claimed 10-12 days world-wide. Guess he didn't mean Ireland.) Anyway, so he shipped another one to Ireland, after I told him I wouldn't

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1150405474820524942006-06-09T14:01:00.000-07:002006-06-15T14:04:34.840-07:00

Another week, another country - Denmark. We took the usual collection of taxis, trains, planes and a rent-a-car over a 7 hour period to get from Findhorn Park to Odense.Denmark is a land of islands, water, sailboats, and wind turbines. Lots of wind turbines. So many in fact, that the government has stopped subsidizing their placement, for now.Arrived at Ole and Vibeke's outside of Odense in good

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1150406254030837232006-06-07T14:14:00.000-07:002006-07-02T12:05:23.096-07:00

Almost a week at Findhorn, and still feel like we're targets of a "fleece the eco-tourists" campaign. Everything here costs, most of it twice the going rate. The damn bus to Forres (20 minutes) is 9Poids for the four of us. The taxi is cheaper! And don't get me started on our accomodations.We moved into a B&B run by one of the old timers here, thinking we'd get to spend some quality time with a

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1151909812727842622006-06-05T23:54:00.000-07:002006-07-03T00:13:54.366-07:00

Here I sit in Findhorn, Scotland at the Foundation of New Age thinkingand doing long known as those who speak to the garden Devas and growmagically huge cabbages! We arrived yesterday and before I go out todiscover the world of Findhorn- I thought I'd fill you in on what we'vebeen doing these last few months.I really meant to write earlier but was so cozily at home in Irelandthat I just didn't

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1149542549963802692006-06-04T14:21:00.000-07:002006-06-05T14:25:48.263-07:00

Inverness and Loch Ness are near Findhorn (or vica versa), so we decided to take a little trip to see if we could find the critter in the depths. We booked a trip with a Jacobite tour that took us to the 4000 year old Corrimony burial cairn, the Urquhart Castle, and a boat trip down the lake and into the canal. It took all day and we loved it. Sometimes it's easier to just relax and be a

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1149542385539947112006-05-30T14:08:00.000-07:002006-06-05T14:19:45.556-07:00

Off to a new adventure - Findhorn, near Inverness Scotland. A good solid day of travel commencing with a 7AM departure from our happy home in Knockbrown, with the offer of a ride to Cork airport from our kind and generous neighbor, Pauline. Then Ryanair didn't bat an eyelash at our 4 (!) oversize, overweight duffels, 4 rollarounds, 4 backpacks, 3 purses and assorted shopping bags. On we went to

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1147561601729768352006-05-09T16:03:00.000-07:002006-05-13T16:06:41.733-07:00

Then back home for a little more catching up on time zones, and off to Dublin, via the Nicholas Mosse pottery factory outside of Kilkenny. Well, old "asleep at the wheel" almost missed that one, forgetting we had to turn off the highway shortly north of Cork, but we managed a little roundabout and got there in good form. Too bad it was a bit of a disappointment. The pottery is pretty much the

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1147561407281840192006-05-07T16:01:00.000-07:002006-05-13T16:03:27.283-07:00

A quick day trip to Blarney castle goes well. Blarney town is a major tourist trap, but the castle and grounds themselves are truly worth a visit. The castle is, of course, in ruins, but what remains is documented (but not as well as Aughnanure] or even Kanturk]) and of course there's the stone to be kissed (No I didn't!). But the the walk around the rock keep is the truly magical part.One of the

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1147561278926205662006-05-06T15:57:00.000-07:002006-05-13T16:01:18.940-07:00

The Cleveland and Minnesota contingents of the O'Shea clan arrived this week. Now we have a full house, with Kathy, her two young'ens Erin, Devin an older one, Kate and HER Significant Other Matt (better known and Mattata), and Maureen from MinneHopeless.While I can't say they fit right in, we've spent enough time together that we get along pretty smoothly. Connor and Josie in particular are

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1149543894247656622006-04-19T14:42:00.000-07:002006-06-05T14:44:54.280-07:00

OK, we've laid around Knockbrown long enough. Time to go see the rest of Ireland. So we planned a 7 or 8 day driving tour of west and north country. Francie was particularly excited about the north country since we'd never been there before.Drove up to Clare, Ennis today, stopping at the Kanturk castle and Lough Gur.Kanturk I think, was for a time, the home of the infamous O'Malley clan, about

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1149631420831218982006-04-09T14:58:00.000-07:002006-06-06T15:03:40.846-07:00

Apr 5-9Having had enough of cold and rain in Ireland for the moment, and knowing we wanted to at least get a glimpse of "The Continent", I got on Ryanair's website and looked for where we could go for cheap. Although Corghaigh remains a backwater, with flights limited to Dublin and London, Ryanair has recently expanded offerings from Shannon. We could go to Barcelona (Girona, actually) for E29.

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1147037301583486392006-03-19T14:27:00.000-08:002006-05-07T14:28:21.596-07:00

In Ireland they use the little paved butter roads for something more useful than tractor movements - road rallys. These aren't the tame little rallies that obey the speed limit and stuff like in the US. No way! These are screaming little mini-cars with way too much horsepower and no fetters on velocity or sound control.Apparently Ireland is the only place they rally like this on paved roads.

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1146442398140001772006-03-18T17:09:00.000-08:002006-04-30T17:35:15.343-07:00

It was brilliant. Marvelous parade in the swirling driving sleet and rain. Everybody from the Chernobyl children's project to the Royal somebody pipers band was there.Finally got to St Finbar's church (He was a Catholic, no? The current church is Anglican!) Cork Butter museum is quaint, but not really worth it unless you want to learn some advanced business tactics. The elevation of Ireland's

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1142381172511511462006-03-14T15:57:00.000-08:002006-03-14T16:06:12.526-08:00

Has anybody seen this puppy? His name is Steve, and Josie misses him very much. So does his best friend Bubby. He seems to have fallen off the bus somewhere in Ireland. So he could be in Cork, or Baltimore or Church Cross. Or he could have wandered off to some far off land with better dog food or catching a get-a-away bus out of Portland. Anyway, if you see him, let us know and we'll make

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1146567585949106852006-03-10T03:55:00.000-08:002009-09-01T15:35:27.178-07:00

By special request from a previous resident, 'ere are a couple more pictures of the "Old House". For some reason the pictures may not be showing up here, but if you click on the little square boxes you will see them. We're in "The Old House" in Knockbrown, near Bandon, Co Cork for a time (till end of May), catching our breath and enjoying living in a house for a change. The house is on the road

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1145309984713398772006-03-02T14:08:00.000-08:002006-04-22T05:41:08.763-07:00

Since we're staying in Ireland for several months in a ruralsetting it seemed most sensible to buy a car rather than renting orrelying on public transit. There's two buses a day past theKnockbrown house. Plus, it would cost E15 to get all 4 of usto town and back.Hmm. My keyboard doesn't have a euro character. Howcrass of them to go off inventing a new character to represent theirmoney.

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1145709494119877742006-02-27T05:31:00.000-08:002006-04-30T17:08:21.983-07:00

Failing for the moment to secure insurance so I can drive my new MB, we opt for a rental for a week or so and hit the road (sort of). Actually Francie decided a little isolation in a West Cork cabin would be good for us, so our destination is Jason's cottage, just down the road between Skibbereen and Schull. This turned out not to be the best. The little Ferringi owner, in addition to charging

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1145709080666341592006-02-12T05:15:00.000-08:002006-04-30T17:03:32.916-07:00

At last we reach what has been Francie's goal all along, Ireland. I was sort of looking forward to it too. But 50 deg N in February? It's freakin' COLD here. And about 3 hours of feeble twilight that calls itself a grand sunny day. We shoulda gone to Africa. Or stayed in Thailand! It was pretty darn nice there.Anyway, we're in Cork at the Kinlay guest house. Appears to be one of the larger ones

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1139653911210480782006-02-11T02:02:00.000-08:002006-02-11T02:40:21.143-08:00

We've been in Ireland for over a week now- and it feels normal to be here- like we live here or something! One of the things about all this travel that bothers me is that it starts feeling commonplace to be in some of the most exotic places. Not that Cork is exotic exactly- but it's always felt especially exciting to be here. It still feels fantastic- just more like home. So to spice things up

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1139179607758322552006-02-05T14:23:00.000-08:002006-02-05T14:46:47.790-08:00

We are in Cork City, Ireland at the moment, staying in a nice hostel Kinlay House by the Shandan Bells up the hill from town. We got here a few days ago- with both Robert and I coughing our heads off (almost literally) with this cold that we just couldn't shake. Getting better now after going for acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. We get to cook up this pot of very interesting looking dried

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1142120397450469302006-02-02T14:59:00.000-08:002006-03-11T15:40:07.070-08:00

The name of this file is Turkey. That about sums it up. Istanbul is a turkey of a destination. The weather sucked, the people (with a couple major exceptions) were rude and obnoxious, and it was very polluted. But the bus and ferry system worked well, provided you had a map of the city in your head, because there were no usable maps of either system to be found anywhere.Istanbul is the only

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1138180905877060332006-01-25T00:41:00.000-08:002006-01-25T01:43:36.463-08:00

We arrived in Turkey a few days ago and have been at friends Laurie and Cetin Koc in Istanbul. Beautiful house up in the hills above the Bosphorus River where the continents of Europe and Asia meet. We have been made to feel very much at home, doing lots of cooking, reading and writing. We have been looking forward to exploring Istanbul and have a long list of things to do and see. One problem

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1139658666586124352006-01-18T03:48:00.000-08:002006-02-11T03:51:06.586-08:00

Yes the nail came off peacefully. Seems to be healing well. I did ask a doctor about it while in Thailand (at Bumrungrad hospital). He said, leave it alone, keep it protected, it'll heal itself. He was wise.

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1138017874378504612006-01-16T03:53:00.000-08:002006-01-25T01:40:57.616-08:00

BANGKOK THAILAND 16 JAN 2006We are happily back in Bangkok again. We've been in Thailand since the 4th of January. After we arrived and made our dentist appointments (people from all over the world come to Thailand to get their medical care- often the trip will pay for itself with the saving on the first-rate, state of the art medical care here) we took off on the over-night train to Chiang Mai-

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1140294062294445712006-01-09T11:13:00.000-08:002006-02-18T12:21:03.256-08:00

We were able to book into the Baan Keaw guest house in Chiang Mai, based on our neighbor's recommendation. Wonderful place. Quiet, off the street, they have a small kitchen for breakfast, their own tour service and, get this, NO ensuite TV. Their are however, a dozen flea-bitten cats to chase around, and some mosquitos to contend with.One day we took a guided tour from the guest house of the "

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1140297693540863982006-01-06T12:55:00.000-08:002006-02-18T13:21:41.986-08:00

Thus began our marathon airport adventure. Starting with the Tuesday night sleep-over in Auckland, a morning flight on Wednesday to Melbourne, hang in Melbourne airport for 5 hours, then 9 more hours on a brand new Air Thailand Boeing 777, landing just before midnight in Bangkok, 6AM Thursday our time. With it's screen per seat arrangement and 40-50 movies on board, the kids were in heaven.

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1140294224067733932006-01-05T12:21:00.000-08:002006-02-18T12:23:44.066-08:00

In Australia they love them so much they call them mossies. They love them because they're better than the flies. We've gone the route for mosquitos apparently. We've had them everywhere we've gone except Paihia on the north island. We've tried DEET, which sort of works, if you really put it everywhere. But you don't want to, that stuff is really bad for you. Citronella based repellents

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1138016461823554162006-01-05T03:38:00.000-08:002006-01-23T03:41:01.836-08:00

Hello all! We arrived in Bangkok the night before last- very late and very tired after a couple of days of non stop airports going from New Zealand to Australia to Thailand. We slept in the Auckland airport- with a surprising number of like-minded people. Really quite comfy- better than some of our camping experiences and much easier to get a Cappuccino in the morning! We arrived in Bangkok

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1139699867721698782006-01-04T14:56:00.000-08:002006-02-11T15:17:47.860-08:00

Arrived back in Wellington Jan 1. Decided it looked interesting enough to play there for a day instead of heading up the coast. Stayed in Nomads on Wakefield, right downtown. Next day did the main museum (Te Papa). Stayed in there all day, which was just as well because it stormed most of the day. Very windy, occaisional rain. Finally departed ~7PM; drove to Bulls, then north toward Tuapea

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1139657466175697482005-12-31T03:07:00.000-08:002006-02-11T03:31:06.313-08:00

Dec 14 took the ferry Wellington to Picton. Drove across Queen Charlotte Drive (not recommended unless you like narrow twisty road) Stayed in Cable bay ($50 to camp) then drove up to Manfred and Anna's just north of Takaka in Golden Bay.WWOOFing proved it's worth this time. What a wonderful place to land and get over travel weary for awhile. Liked it so much we stayed until we HAD to leave for

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1139658483873385762005-12-30T03:45:00.000-08:002006-02-11T03:48:03.936-08:00

Returning from a night of mild debauchery in Takaka I managed to get my thumb between the door and the jamb of our little home on wheels. It took no mercy on me, mashing the end of my thumb such that the nail is probably going to come off. Yes, it really HURT!

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1138017000106290242005-12-25T03:45:00.000-08:002006-01-23T03:50:00.106-08:00

Happy Holidays to All!We hope this letter finds you all well and enjoying the last few daysbefore the Holiday whirlwind hits. We are blissfully removed from theChristmas frenzy- at least Robert and I find it so- I think the kidsare a bit concerned because no one is running in and out with largebags filled with ?!. It's a little difficult to get in the Holidayspirit when you're in New Zealand and

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1139654665210243842005-12-14T02:29:00.000-08:002006-02-11T02:44:25.223-08:00

OK, so Bay of Islands is pretty nice. What about the rest of the country? Having worn out our welcome in the parking lot of the Mousetrap, we loaded up the camper, lowered the roof and headed off for the midlands of North island.Along the way we saw a few strange sites. The PNW has it's Ecotopia, but New Zealand has Eutopia.Next stop Rotorua - land of hot springs and stinky gases. We stayed

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1138214255119569222005-12-06T09:17:00.000-08:002006-01-25T10:37:35.720-08:00

Soon it was time to hit the road again. Having tried the car/hostel routine, and a minivan for occasional sleeping in, we thought we could pull off actual camping. This time around we rented a camper van of sorts. It's a little Mazda minivan with a pop top that the kids can sleep in and seats that recline to a bed in back. A little butane stove and some dishware and blankets from an op shop and

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1138203795038856912005-12-02T07:18:00.000-08:002006-01-25T07:43:15.256-08:00

Stayed in an airport motel for 2 days. Not sure why, just seemed like we didn't know what else to do. But the kids loved the pool and the little pond with goldfish. But at $15/day for internet and way more to stay this was unsustainable so...We moved into town, Parnell, a section of Auckland near the museum and downtown. We got a room in the Aloe Inn backpacker or hostel on Queen's Bay st. Yes,

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1133335841243141862005-11-29T23:25:00.000-08:002005-11-29T23:41:09.463-08:00

We're in New Zealand at an airport hotel, kind of nice with a poolsauna and spa. I have just bought 24 hours of internet time for 25.00.Bizarre (and annoying) customs and rates- you'd never get away withTHAT in the US. But I feel like I'm getting a deal. It's 15.00 forjust an hour! And it's been so long......Robert is a bit PO'ed as her hates hotels and the extra charges foreverything just give

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1138046688361088602005-11-28T11:57:00.000-08:002006-01-23T12:04:48.426-08:00

I'm sitting in the Melbourne airport, waiting for our flight to NZed. Last night we took the ferry from Tasmania. It's an overnight trip, about 10 hours. We opted for the day seats, which have been sadistically modified to be be impossible to sleep in. So we slept in the lounges just like everybody else did, despite the well posted rule barring passengers from sleeping on the lounges, or even

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1138039971317288972005-11-27T09:54:00.000-08:002006-01-23T10:12:51.340-08:00

Another bright spot in our trip is Hobart with Clare, Jeff, Brooke, and Kate. We greatly enjoyed and appreciated you sharing your home and family with us. Special highlights were the Saturday market ,watching the sailboat race, the hike through alleys up to the shot tower, and of course the wonderful meals. Thank you, thank you.

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1138031486736617072005-11-24T07:20:00.000-08:002006-01-23T09:08:19.513-08:00

Ah Tassie - the one state all Australians admit is nicer than the state they live in. And no wonder, with the higest lakes, most remote beaches, most picturesque coastlines, no flies, few mosquitos, and lovable little Tasmanian devils and wombats, it's certainly got a lot going for it. The apt licence plate motto is "Your natural state".We rented a minivan so we could save on hostel bills by

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1137408837416459602005-11-17T02:28:00.000-08:002006-01-16T02:54:02.566-08:00

Having safely arrived at Oonagh and Jason's, we were greated in the finest Australian fashion - "There's a cold one for ya in the Eski, here in the ga-rage. We'll get the barbi going shortly." Right on! I can tell right away I'm going to get to the real Australia now - kangaroos, Coopers brews, didgeridoos, and all!Interesting, their house is solid brick, even the interior walls. Everything

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1136471792986608272005-11-14T05:52:00.000-08:002006-01-05T06:40:04.536-08:00

OH boy, a road trip! We had secured a car, from Thifty again, as the local boyz didn't want their 2nd hand heaps leaving the confines of Melbourne, and they were charging almost as much for a 10yr old Camry as Thrifty charged for a new Mitsubishi Lancer. Except that Thrifty pulled a switch on us, giving us a Hyundai hatchback instead of the Lancer, which we had just managed to squeeze into last

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1136468995451496792005-11-13T05:44:00.000-08:002006-01-05T05:49:55.473-08:00

One of my hobbies is maps, in particular electronic ones, and their use with GPS. I have used OziExplorer for about 10 years, especially for marine navigation. It can use almost any bitmap image that one can figure out latitude/longitude placement, plus a bunch of proprietary formats. For US maps one can go to NOAA or BSB or any of several state sites. Oddly enough, even though OziExplorer is

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1133254821475869632005-11-13T00:45:00.000-08:002005-11-29T01:00:21.480-08:00

Travel today across the south of Australia along the Great Ocean Road. A rather audacious name but it is an audacious road. Very beautiful country here- the prettiest we've seen so far. We stayed at The Kookaburra Cabins just east of Apollo- kind of spendy for us at 160.00 a night but once we laid eyes on it and the lovely woman who owns it we could not refuse! It is owned by Lesley Kidd and her

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1133253142609629632005-11-12T22:46:00.000-08:002005-11-29T00:32:22.660-08:00

Frankston is a respite from the travelling life. A small city that has all the amenities of home- shops, malls, good roads, nice people, pretty homes, interesting architecture, good places to eat. Also it has the added attraction of being right on the huge Melbourne Bay which is enough like Ocean to satisfy. Add to that a great train station that you can easily walk to from about anywhere and you

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1132915005856515412005-11-10T02:15:00.000-08:002005-11-25T02:36:45.916-08:00

Thu Nov 10 22:17:13 EDT 2005Dandenong Ranges NP and its tourist road.We didn't get out of Frankston until after 2, about our usual performance. Consequently by the time we'd gained Belgrave, near the forest reserve it was apparent we wouldn't get to Francie's goal, William Rickett's Sanctuary, before 4:30 when it (like everything else in Australia) closes. Besides it was raining cats and dogs (or

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1133515743618559902005-11-09T01:25:00.000-08:002005-12-02T01:29:03.620-08:00

After touring Mornington Penninsula, we had a house reserved in Frankston, the Peartree house. This quaint little house sits a few blocks from the Frankston beaches and a couple more blocks from the shopping mall. Also across the street from 2 cricket pitches, a croquet court and nearby, the Frankston bowling club. (This is the outdoor variety - very impressive greens that you must wear special

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1133515345672022122005-11-08T00:50:00.000-08:002005-12-02T01:23:06.733-08:00

No man is an island - he's a penninsula. -Buffalo SpringfieldSo we cut the planned 2 month WWOOFing stay to 2 weeks and get on with our vacationing. Just in time for Melbourne Cup Day. Yes, it's a national holiday for the horse race. Damn near everything was closed, but fortunately for us the international chains don't take national holidays that seriously, so we were able to get (back) into

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1132922332538911752005-10-31T03:29:00.000-08:002005-11-25T04:38:53.110-08:00

Mon Oct 31 18:47:17 EDT 2005WWOOFing, it seems, is a very different way to see a country. While it would be rash of me to draw general conclusions about WWOOFing from our single experience, I'll just relate how it went for us, and you can draw your own conclusions.It all began with an article Francie saw about McLeod Eco farm on French Island, near Melbourne. It sounded interesting; biodynamic

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1133246696583752532005-10-30T22:39:00.000-08:002005-11-28T22:44:56.583-08:00

We spent 2 weeks at the McLeod Ecofarm with the Cunningham family Mark, Melinda, Alex, Darcey and Gracie. We worked hard, I think Robert fixed everything that needed fixing, I cooked and cleaned - and have the out-of-practice burns on my hands to prove it! Connor and Josie went to school for a week and watched tooooooo much TV and played games on the computer. Since they had to take turns with

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1130237622491737112005-10-25T03:51:00.000-07:002005-10-25T03:53:42.493-07:00

Of course we took pictures. Hundreds of them. Unfortunately our internet connectivity is somewhat meager at this point, so I'm not posting as many as I would like. I'll back fill photos (and probalby more posts) when I can.-robertw

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1131171681681059922005-10-18T22:12:00.000-07:002005-11-04T22:21:21.683-08:00

We had a fantastic time in Sydney! We took the train in as planned and walked around around the Botanic Gardens and the Sydney Museum. Both were wonderful!We happened upon an ancient tree exhibit- The Wollo trees- they found a few in some remote area here and grew about a hundred seedling trees which they will auction off thisweekend- starting at 1500.00. Lots of interest- very high class-

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1130237436913861012005-10-18T03:43:00.000-07:002005-10-25T03:50:36.913-07:00

Sydney Oct 17 (Oct 16 disappeared over the Pacific somewhere)We are booked into the "Old Rectory" in Tempe, near the Sydney airport - very near as it turns out. Lots of traffic, both air and surface in this declining part of Sydney. Nothing to recommend this B&B at all, other than quick airport pickup service (one way anyway).Sydney has superlative train service which we used to go down to the

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1133246161684377352005-10-17T22:34:00.000-07:002006-01-23T10:13:34.776-08:00

GOODBYE USA! We are now in Sydney Australia! We arrived this AM after a long- 11 hour- flight from Honolulu. Great flight, no problems, we all slept, had a yummy breakfast from Air Canada- food was good flight attendants were cranky, seats were a little more spacious than US flights but nothing really special. An older plane. But we got here safe and sound so no worries! Customs was a breeze-

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1130236956747409332005-10-15T03:40:00.000-07:002005-10-25T03:42:36.746-07:00

The airlines continue to tighten the rules for luggage. They brought the 50lb rule to international flights too. This happened Oct 10, just a couple days before our flight to Sydney. Once again the human at the check in counter (thank god for humans) lets us through becuase the rule was so new. But it'll be harder next time.Air Canada treated us reasonably well, the ticketing agent even went

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1130236642236356032005-10-14T03:13:00.000-07:002005-10-25T03:37:22.243-07:00

But then, I wasn't there for most of the week. I got to go to Hilo to visit our long time friends, Mac and Lisa. Mac works at the Hahvard radio telescope on Moana Kea. He's also an avid natural phenomonen watcher, so we had to go hike on the the new volcano in search of some hot lava. Alas, we didn't get to burn a stick on hot lava, but we did see some amazing fireworks where it's falling into

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1130235084529223842005-10-10T02:54:00.000-07:002005-10-25T03:11:24.536-07:00

Stayed in Haiku, on the weather (north) side of Maui for 6 days at Bill and Bonnie's house. Diann's too. It's a rain forest there. It rained every night and a little bit most every day, except for the last night. Then we got to enjoy a full moon over the mountain (Haleakala, 10000 ft). Also a rainbow every day, sometimes several.While we were staying in Haiku, Diann, the denizen of the downstairs

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1129255984079209752005-10-09T19:10:00.000-07:002005-10-25T02:52:59.396-07:00

We're sunning our selves in rainy Maui. It's really interesting, sovaried in such a small space. Over on the Kihei side it's dry andwindy, in Haiku, where the house is it's windy, rainy and hot.Yesterday we drove up to Olinda, about 4000 ft straight up from Haiku.We went through a eucalyptas forest and a ponderosa pine stand. It waslike driving from Costa Rica to San Francisco to Bend in 10

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1131170669397442402005-10-03T21:43:00.000-07:002005-11-04T22:04:29.420-08:00

We are on the road! Have been for a for a few days, in fact. Here I sit in Haiku on the beautiful Island of Maui in a friend of a friends home- very comfortable!We're having a wonderful time in Hawaii! Stayed the first night at the very neat and inexpensive Royal Grove Hotel www.royalgrovehotel.com in Waikiki Ohau- just a 2 minute walk from crazy gorgeous Waikiki Beach! A tourist trap with great

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1128593242888740742005-10-03T02:29:00.000-07:002005-10-06T03:07:22.903-07:00

At long last we are departed - from Oregon I mean. We actually moved out of our house Sept 15, and I said that should really mark the beginning of our trip. But I must admit that it didn't really feel like it until we got on the plane for Honolulu this morning.Having slightly weird one way tickets, we were singled out for a thorough search at the airport. Keep that in mind. It took about 20 more

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1128589974118165812005-10-02T01:45:00.000-07:002005-10-06T02:28:24.130-07:00

It's been a long haul, with not a few little bumps and detours along the way, but we're headed out today. Well, we're only going to Portland to catch an early morning flight to Honolulu, but still, that means we're now disconnected from our support group/family. To say nothing of cell phones, internet connections, cars, my beloved Keith Lippy road bike, and of course, our critters Katie, Althea

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1130222408472947192005-09-24T23:36:00.000-07:002005-11-04T22:07:31.346-08:00

OUR HOUSE TO PETE AND JUDI"S HOUSEWell sometimes things just don't work out as you imagine - and then they change to something better than you could have planned! The night before we were to move into our friend Karens parents house we found out that the house was not available. Seems Karens mom had some work being done on the house unknown to Karen and we couldn't move in for the 2 weeks we had

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1123467357067342072005-08-07T19:04:00.000-07:002005-08-07T19:15:57.076-07:00

Thailand is a new point on our travel map. We don't know anybody there, (other than a nice person I had a random Skype conversation with) and don't know much about it. So asking around I've gotten the following conflicting advice:A kind lady who came to our yard sale said go to northern Thailand, not Bangkok. ChangRai is good place to fly to, much more rural. The other big city is ChangMy, also

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1123019913623417962005-08-02T14:56:00.000-07:002005-08-07T17:07:15.873-07:00

Hi All!Yes, we are getting all ready for our trip! I bought the ticketslast week and we are going for immunizations next week. We have rentedour house to our friend Rob, our friend Lynn's daughter Amoris and herfriend Sarah. We'll be able to leave our animals in their care and they will also take care of the gardens. We are relieved and feel they will be super tenants!We have the car up for sale

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1121900270632711422005-07-20T15:56:00.000-07:002005-07-20T15:57:50.633-07:00

Hello Everyone, We are getting ready to take off on our round the world trip and need to get our house rented. We wonder if anyone in our community of friends is looking for a rental for 9-10 months (Sept or October thru July or August- perfect for the school year) or knows anyone who might be interested. We live in a nice house on a 1/2 acre in town, close to OSU, Sam's Station and the North

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1121899842140815202005-07-20T15:43:00.000-07:002005-07-20T15:51:39.913-07:00

I've been collecting some favorite quotes lately- not necessarily on purpose but you know how sometimes they fall into your life and stay. Usually I don't remember them for more than a day but these have hung around. The first came from Connor and it is a favorite. "Forget love, I'd rather fall in chocolate" Then the one that Robert told me. "In the 60's we took drugs to get high. In the 90's

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1118875124793177222005-06-15T15:03:00.000-07:002005-06-15T15:51:37.083-07:00

Finally some cohesion is gracing our little travel dream! You know, it's hard to plan a year - a year and a half- in advance. People can't think that far ahead- they give you a vague- sure it'll be great to see you! Let's talk when it's closer. We can all relate to that- even moi- the most serious planner- at least when I'm feeling patient! Well it IS getting closer- only about 3 months till we

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1118427011101327562005-06-10T10:27:00.000-07:002005-07-30T15:47:52.976-07:00

Well! We thought we had a renter and it seems we don't. Our friends who were interested decided to stay in their rental honoring their need for less stress in their lives- and we all know a move is stressful! We totally understand and feel sure that it will all come together with someone else. I had a dream last night and woke up with the French sentence in my mind "Seceurs de pas poses." I had

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1115443058080104742005-05-06T22:17:00.000-07:002005-05-06T22:24:32.670-07:00

A very good friend suggested the other day that we allow people to contribute to our cause- after all it's going to be an expensive endeavor and every little bit helps! We thought we'd try it- after all maybe someone really wants to give us money- stranger things have happened! So if that person is you and you really feel the pull to help us along- please feel free! You can make a donation via

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1115140732095137742005-05-03T09:34:00.000-07:002005-05-09T12:56:07.280-07:00

Hello All! IT'S ABOUT TIME THAT THE "OTHER PLANNER" SIGNS IN AND TALKS ABOUT HOW OUR TRIP IS SHAPING UP. I'VE BEEN BUSY WORKING ON THIS - EXPLORING VIA THE INTERNET AND EMAILING INTERESTING PEOPLE AND PLACES. ON THIS POST I'LL TALK ABOUT THE FIRST LEG OF OUR TRAVELS- HAWAII AND AUSTRALIA AND HOW THE PLANS ARE SHAPING UP!We are planning on leaving late Sept/early Oct. and first stop will be

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1114449594255909662005-04-25T09:29:00.000-07:002005-05-17T12:25:30.886-07:00

April 13, 2005 -Costa Paraiso in DominicalToday we came to Costa Rica. I went on the beach and there was a HUGE tidepool with thousands of fish. Baby fish, angel fish, a crawdad, an eel and a leopard eel. On the beach at night time we saw hundreds of hermit crabs with our flashlight. And the little geckos barked at us. We found 10 big crabs that live underground and a hopping crab on the beach.

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1114382608128306082005-04-24T15:43:00.000-07:002005-04-25T11:28:26.593-07:00

It has always been my view that mothers are bound to protect theirchildren and fathers are bound to push them out of their comfort zone. Turns out that means out of the mother's comfort zone as well, to saynothing of the government's, the church's, and auntie Maude's.So be it. I'll push, mom will protect, the church will disdain myactions, the government will charge me with crimes and auntie

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1114318194250365502005-04-20T21:03:00.000-07:002005-04-27T00:04:43.866-07:00

The very American Hotel Mango put us up, fed us and transported us to the airport competently. Had a computer for customer use too. There was wireless, but they wouldn't/couldn't let me use it so I declined to upload this.Be aware that the government charges an exit fee of $26/head, all ages.This little un-announced surprise will occur at the airport betweenentry and ticketing. They'll take a

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1114318009937195962005-04-19T22:09:00.000-07:002005-04-26T23:56:22.116-07:00

Hiked around Antonio's park. Saw several sloths, some white facedmonkeys and too many tourists. No pythons. Too bad. Maybe they couldhave eliminated a few tourists. This is not a rainforest. It's morelike where we live in Oregon, a humid forest, only warmer. Sloth Sloth again White faced monkeys posing for us.  Drove on up to San Jose's airport and the Hotel Mango which

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1114317867826317572005-04-18T19:03:00.000-07:002005-04-26T23:45:16.833-07:00

Here it is 2 days later. You'd think a lot had happened, but you'd bewrong. We explored Uvita, its beach and some of the roads around there.Found a pizza place in the middle of nowhere and a butterfly farm. I gotsome more surfing (boogie board) in on the rocky beach of Domincalita (welearned the name of the bay Coconut Grove and Costa Paraiso are on).Managed to scrape up my toes on said rocks.

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1114317777344893312005-04-16T22:07:00.000-07:002005-04-26T23:38:30.890-07:00

Note: There isn't a bank or ATM in Dominical or Uvita. Well, actuallythere's supposed to be a bankish type place in Uvita, open a couple hoursa day, some days of the week, but we couldn't find it. So when you run outof coinage it's back to San Isidro to tap an ATM.We moved back out to Coconut Grove today. A nicely run littlecollection of cabins and small houses with a pool, beach, boogie

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1114317702716699332005-04-15T21:06:00.000-07:002005-04-26T23:59:42.906-07:00

Having run out our reservation at Costa Paraiso, we set out in search ofanother house or cabina in the area. Checked out Balcon De Uvita, apleasant little villa way up on a hill overlooking Ballenas Nationalpark.Three very pretty little cabins, a small but very deep pool (nota kids pool), and about 300 vertical(!) feet up a semi improved trail, afine little restaurant. It would be

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1114317551090858142005-04-14T00:33:00.000-07:002005-04-24T13:57:45.303-07:00

Costa Paraiso, near Dominical  We're staying at Costa Paraiso, about 2 km south of Dominical. It's apretty little collection of "villa's" right on the beach. The beach islovely, perfect for the kids to body surf and chase little crabs. It'stoo rocky for real surfing, but with protection from the SW,doesn't have the big break or rips. We picked up coconuts andmangos off the ground to

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1114317417579092972005-04-13T20:43:00.000-07:002005-04-24T13:53:00.643-07:00

Whoa! All night on a full Boing 757 - a close approximation of hell. Includes a couple hours standing around a little waiting room inGuatemala City while the policía did a 'security check'. I'll bet theyweren't looking for bombs. I mean, why would anyone want to bomb Costa Rica?Anyway, we made it, and Alajuela airport was a welcome site. There's anexchange bank that won't take cards, and an

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1114488262856441222005-04-13T20:41:00.000-07:002005-04-26T23:09:14.506-07:00

Day oneToday we arrived in Costa Rica! Mom says that we will be driving for over 5 hours but first we need to rent a car- 15 minutes from the airport. The drive over was very pretty, lots of cows and small towns. Lots of cliffs and windy turns. We didn't stop very much because we wanted to get to the ocean-side hotel that we rented. Long trip, eh?  The first thing we did was run to see

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1114317200083822612005-04-12T20:15:00.000-07:002005-04-24T13:01:27.543-07:00

We're on our way to Costa Rica! How did this happen? I'm not sure.It seems friends of ours were going there to do a surfing and familyvacation (contradictory, methinks), and they got to talking to Francie,and the next thing I know we're on a plane to San Jose, Costa Rica.We're planning on spending most of our time on or near the beach aroundDominical, on the SW coast. Yes, I know it's THE

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1111206743188341112005-03-18T20:28:00.000-08:002005-03-18T20:32:23.193-08:00

Last week I took a train to Sacramento, it was a lot of fun. Mostly because I got to ride the train. The train ride was very cool because we were either playing computer games, reading or watching the scenery go by. Maybe that doesn't sound all that great to you but believe me, it was. In some parts of my trip I thought that the scenery was pretty cool, in other parts it wasn't that

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1111205776007775562005-03-18T18:13:00.000-08:002005-09-11T22:25:32.940-07:00

To Sacramento CA. By train. We thought it might be a good idea to try out alternative transportation in this country before venturing forth to less understood parts of the world. Also, Francie's cousin invited us to his 40th birthday - that made it a plan.The much maligned, neglected, American passenger rail system puts on a good front. You can go to a web site, find the train, schedule, price

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1105039923730152212005-01-06T11:08:00.000-08:002005-01-06T11:32:03.730-08:00

Hello all! As you might have noticed (if you read Robert's ch..ch..ch changes post) that we are sticking around the old homestead for a bit longer. After a few dazed days I got with the program and now feel quite happy to take a little more time to plan and dream. We will be contacting all our foreign friends within the next few weeks reconfirming when we will be visiting/working/touring. We

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1104546834010038992004-12-31T18:13:00.000-08:002004-12-31T18:33:54.010-08:00

As you might have guessed, since there haven't been any updates lately, things are changing. Or have changed. I had the bad form to get employed for the next nine months (by Robust Decisions). It'll be fun, but... We've decided to postphone the trip until next October. This is good, actually. We'll have more time to get the house in shape to rent and figure out where we're going and who

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1101931142400949002004-12-01T11:50:00.000-08:002005-01-06T16:16:05.383-08:00

We got all our passports updated last month. I recommend you take care of yours before the new US passports with smart RFID cards come out (late in '05, supposedly). It appears they will protect the US from unwelcome intruders, but they won't protect YOU. Rats. Eweek moved the original link, so I found another. -robertw (We're from the government. We're here to help. )

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1101891185935539912004-11-30T23:22:00.000-08:002004-12-01T12:01:32.436-08:00

I would think, if one is planning a trip around the world that involves flying from here to there and there is someone's house, a hostel, a cabin or the like that camping equipment could be pretty minimal - like sleeping bags, comfortable easy to wash clothes and a ditty bag. Oh I suppose one might take and extra pair of shoes. Or not. Put it all in a bag designed for airport, train station use

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1100796928432625552004-11-18T08:37:00.000-08:002004-11-18T08:55:28.433-08:00

I am "the wife" - that's what happens when you are the second poster- I guess! Robert and I have been dreaming about this for awhile. The kids are excited. We are all ready to make this adventure happen! I'll add to this blog as things progress. Obviously we are now trying to get enough money together now so the next post will be our "here's what we're planning and please buy my cookbook letter

Franciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122405684843257624noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1100760741625478652004-11-17T22:52:00.000-08:002004-11-17T23:02:28.740-08:00

This isn't really here, nor is it me. Well, OK, it is me. Gee do I look like a world traveler?

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1100667053877693392004-11-16T20:50:00.000-08:002004-11-16T20:50:53.876-08:00

Summer '04 in Ecotopia 

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196453.post-1100663258721729302004-11-16T17:45:00.000-08:002004-11-16T19:47:38.723-08:00

Well, 6 months from now we'll be on our way to some other part of the world. Say goodbye to lovely lush Ecotopia for awhile. We're going to see what the rest of the world is all about. We, my wife, and children 7 and 10 will post our thoughts observations and pictures here. Y'all are welcome to listen in, comment, offer travel advice (or lodgings, work, food, etc) as you see fit. Thank you,

-robertwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04522574342227736093noreply@blogger.com0