Dear Blog Readers, There is power today in the town of Kilosa so we can get on-line. The last few times we've tried, we haven't been able to log on, or after walking 1/2 hour to town, the power was still out, etc. So, to bring you up to date, here's goes! The training has been intense 8 to 5, 6 days a week. On Sunday it's walk to church for a 2 hr. service, wash clothes by hand, do homework, help prepare the meals, and in bed by 9. The Kiswahili language has been very difficult for me, but I'm [View Full Entry]

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Dear Old & New Readers of our Blog, We are sitting at Dulles Airport eagerly awaiting our Lufthansa flight which will take us on the next leg of our journey. We are in the company of 49 new friends who are all on this adventure with us. There are 4 seniors counting ourselves, but we are the only couple. We said we could be mom & dad to anyone who needs some TLC. Naturally the majority are newly college grads, more women than men. They all seem very nice, committed, and caring and we are happy to be accepted at our [View Full Entry]

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Dear Family & Friends, As Dave and I got on a very early American Eagle Flight from Monterey to LAX, we knew our long awaited time had come. We are truly off on our Big Adventure. We have been preparing for this day for 18 months so you can imagine our excitement! Before we leave California's golden shores, we just want to THANK all of you who have wished us good luck, safe travels, and Godspeed. We know you will keep us in your thoughts and prayers and we will do the same. There were so many going away events: breakfasts [View Full Entry]

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Dear Blog Readers from long ago, You haven't heard from us for a long time as we have been busy with family, friends, trip details, and farewell parties. Just to bring you up to date, we are packing and preparing to leave Carmel on June 7, 2008. We will fly to Washington, D.C. for our orientation with all other volunteers who are going to Tanzania, Africa. After a few days of intense training and numerous inoculations, we head half way around the world. So, stay tuned and if we have interne service, the blog will continue in our spare time. Did [View Full Entry]

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Dear Faithful, Faithful Family & Friends, After a flat tire scare, which only turned out to be a stem, we visited the Pueblo and then headed out across the deserted desert to Page, Arizona. Wendy's childhood friend Carol Long lives there and was able to meet us for lunch. We then set our sights for St. George, Utah. The next day was the big push to get up the spine of Nevada while avoiding Las Vegas. As a storm was approaching we drove and drove until we reached Fallon, NV and Wendy's cousin Bob & Mary Oxley. They have a lovely [View Full Entry]

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Dear Blogifiles, We are willing to bet that no one reading this has ever been to Elkhart, Kansas...right? And, on a whim of sorts, we ended up there to get to Cimarron Nat'l Grasslands. It was a bumpy 4 miles on a dirt road across prairie grassland, a few oil wells, windmills, cattle, sagebrush, and some tumbling tumbleweeds. When we finally arrived (after every cupboard being tossed into chaos and a few fillings missing) we were greeted with the most incredible sunset across this wide open sky of skies. There was nothing there except 2 pit toilets and a place to [View Full Entry]

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Dear Music Lovers, Well, Branson, MO is THE place! We were not quite prepared for the numerous venues & shows that can be found in this city. 125 shows are currently playing and all have Christmas shows. Even Andy Williams at 80 has his own theater & Christmas show, but we opted for Jim Stafford & his family as we could walk to it from our campground. It was good, clean comedy, lots of guitar & harmonica from Jim, and drums, piano, harp from his children 12 & 14. His wife even read a prayer and there were dancers. It was [View Full Entry]

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Dear Mountain Lovers, Great Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park is another true gem in our national park system. It is so lovely basked in layers of blue hues with trees everywhere which are barren of leaves. It is not crowded at this time of year and we drove all the way to the top of Clingmans Dome then hiked uphill .5 mile to the observation tower at 6643'. There you are rewarded with a 360 degree panorama of the many mountains in layers as far as you can see. It is truly breathtaking! We also took another scenic road to Cades Cove [View Full Entry]

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Dear Blog Dudes & Dudettes, Well, we are on the move again and this time it is south. From Albany, NY, we headed into Eastern Pennsylvania to Lickdale...cheap food, clean restrooms, and Christmas lights & decorations everywhere...and this was just in the campground...oh yes, and rain. Off to the tip of Maryland and a mid-state stop at Flatwood, West Virginia. We stayed on scenic by-ways and viewed Monongahela Nat'l Forest, Alleheny Mts., and the beauty of "West Virginy, Mt. Mama, take me home country roads!" Wanted to stop and visit with the Hatfields & McCoys, but they were not to be [View Full Entry]

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Dear Everyone, Today's the 1st back on the blog after a wonderful Thanksgiving break. We had a wonderful time with Paul's parents and enjoyed their Albany hospitality. They took us to the Sienna vs. Stanford BB game which was a great one. Sienna pulled off an upset and left the #20 team Cardinal out on a limb...79-67; sorry all of you down on the farm. The student body went wild; you would have thought Sienna had won the NCAA Tourney. Then, we ate many of Joan's wonderful meals, had the grand tour of Albany watched football, and took off in a [View Full Entry]

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