Progreso Progreso is a nice day trip. We took the minivan and drove down. On the web, Progreso looks like the ideal place to rent a house on the beach. We stopped at a cafe on the beach and had breakfast. There were many American and Canadian tourists drinking their breakfast. We went on a tour and saw some of the homes of the wealthy and famous. We then went to a Mayan village and salt works. Both were very interesting and the guide was very knowledgeable. The village was a relatively small Mayan village. It was the home of the Mayans who worked the salt flats. The guide explained the genius of the Mayan salt gathering system. When we returned to Progreso, we had lunch. The American and Canadian tourists were now drinking lunch. Though ... read more

Introduction I thought I would introduce myself and this blog. I tend to be a person who collects experiences and not things. I think my son-in-law expressed it best when he told me - Some people think those who have the most toys win in life, he feels that those who use their toys the most wins. In writing the blog it is nice to have the pictures and memories, but the primary reason I write the blog is that it forces me to be a more acute viewer. When I am going to write about something, I generally pay attention. This trip started on January 13th when I flew to Cancun. I met up with Alfonso, my old college roommate from Monterrey, MX. He showed up with a woman he met on the plane. It ... read more

I got up early and went for a walk along the river. A lot of old people were doing Tai Chi. The younger people were running. The middle-aged people were doing some Tai Chi and some running. No pictures, it was too early and I forgot the camera. I am meeting Kate and Lizzie about noon for a cooking class. It should be interesting. It is being held in a personal home. The cooking class was great. The two English Speakers were delightful. He learned his English by dating English speaking girls. She learned her English watching a divorce program on a daytime English language program. They first took us to a real Chinese market and explained every stall to us. I spent a lot of time asking questions about each of them and how they ... read more

We arrived in Shanghai. Again, the fast train is awesome. We made four or five stops and still arrived in three hours. The cab line was long and then our driver had trouble finding the Astor Hotel in the Bund. He was relieved to find it and so were we. Cleaned up and went for a nice walk. We actually had a western dinner.... read more

Visit the orphanage. What a wonderful day. We are so blessed that Lizzie is part of our family. They have a new orphanage and senior building which we visited first. The new orphanage only had about 30 children. Most of the children were handicapped. In 2001 there were 100 to 200 children. We then went to the old orphanage and were meet by a couple of Lizzie's former caregivers and the daughter of one of the caregivers. The old caregivers described Lizzie as “The beautiful quiet baby”. Lizzie asked how many babies were in each room and was a bit shocked when they said 12 to 14. They are using part of the old orphanage for senior housing.... read more