Tamara and Rosanna had always wanted to spend New Years Eve in Las Vegas. Will saw no reason to go since he wasn't 21. I am always ready to go anywhere. The girls finally convinced Linda to go, since Will could take care of the animals. So the day after Christmas, which we always celebrate at home with the whole family, we hit the road. 26 December 2008 Friday. With winter days being so short I wanted to get an early start so the we could get to both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in Utah while it was still light. But getting everyone up and ready to leave by 8 am proved impossible. I guess I should have been happy with the 9 am departure, but consequently we had to miss Canyonlands. We drove west ... read more

In October 2008, I had an opportunity to visit Uganda as part of a team from Engineering Ministries International learning construction management techniques in East Africa. EMI provides planning, design, and construction management services free of charge to organizations who serve the poorest of the poor around the world. Facilities include hospitals and clinics, schools and orphanages, roads and water systems, etc. I departed Denver early Monday morning, October 6, 2008, and after a few hour stopover in Amsterdam, arrived 30 hours later in Entebbe, the evening of Tuesday, October 7. I was amazed at the number of aid workers on the plane. I payed my $50 in new bills for a visa and checked through customs. As it was dark, I didn't see much of Uganda on the hour long drive to the guest house ... read more

Monday, June 4, 2007, began with a 7 AM arrival from Chiang Mai at the Sam Sen railroad station in Bangkok, about 15 minutes from the guest home that my sister, Carol, manages. We had a quick breakfast and showers, changed clothes, dropped off dirty clothes and packed up clean clothes, and by 9 AM we were off again with the guest home driver and van, with our first stop being the Rose Gardens. Back in the '60s the Rose Garden owner, who was a friend of my dad, started Thailand In Miniature (TIM) Land near Don Muang Airport. Anyway, he eventually became the mayor of Bangkok, a very good one, and his small tourist attraction moved and evolved into what is now the Rose Gardens, an extensive area with recreated Thai village where a wide ... read more

On Wednesday, May 30, 2007, we hired the guest home driver and van, and right after breakfast left Bangkok headed north towards Ayuthaya and then east to Khao Yai National Park and the Khorat Plateau. We took the superhighway which provided a fast exit from the city. Our first stop was the king's summer palace at Bang Pa-In, about an hour north of Bangkok. The royal family has many palaces scattered around the country. This was one of the older ones, dating from 1850 - 1900, that the king could ride the royal barge up the Chao Praya River to get away from it all. Again, the kids had to don long sleeve shirts and pants to display appropriate decorum. In my view the highlight of this stop was the ornated Phra Thinang Aisawan Thipha-at pavilion ... read more

This is my first travel blog entry, and as such it is my trial run for entering text and pictures so that when I take my next trip, this time to China and Southeast Asia, I will be able to provide credible blog entries. I have enjoyed reading travelblog for several months now in anticipation of this next trip, and am ready to dive in. Although I presently do not fit the normal profile, being retired and prefering more upscale accommodations (and spelling words correctly), I once was young and adventurous. While a high school senior I treked by myself to the top of the highest mountain in Thailand (Doi Inthanon), sleeping in hill tribes huts along the way. I surveyed the top of the mountain for a radar station, and found that the highest point ... read more