http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Lucky-Charms/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Lucky Charms en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:14:54 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:14:54 +0000 April 1 2008Athens and Cape SounionIt felt good to be back in Europe even though at the airport outside of Athens it was raining. I got some money. It felt good to have Euros in my hands although it was bad to think about the exchange rate. I was wondering if the people of Greece would want to talk politics like the rest of Europe. I hoped so as I liked the discussions. The comments from t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/blog-347663.html March 31 2008India was by far the hardest country for me to travel in. After being in a bus crash auto rickshaw crash getting scammed for a lot of money I was so happy to be exiting India. India had gotten the best of me. Originally the plan was to travel to Kenya but with the recent violence I chose to go to Greece instead. I had a layover on my original flight in Dubai so I decided to just http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-339103.html One of the things that I missed during my 1.5 years of travel was the family get togethers when we made turtle soup. In stating turtle soup the first question from everyone's mouth is you make soup from turtle I then say yes but the turtle is optional. The soup is made of about 17 ingredients and really is a vegetable soup with chicken beef and turtle if available or desired. Most peopl http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Denver/blog-337212.html As I traveled I stayed with people all over this world through an internet based organization called couchsurfing. I am now hosting people from all over the world in Denver. I met Florence through couchsurfing and it so happened we both wanted to go to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. After some discussion we decided to take the trip together and head to Moab as well. Following are our pictur http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/blog-325116.html ORIGIN OF OUR EVENT While traveling in Hawaii I was couchsurfing with a lady on the island of Kauai. She introduced me to some people who were cooking meat the traditional Pacific Islander style which is burying the meat underground with hot rocks and banana leaves. I being the consummate traditionalist probably not very true accepted the invitation to participate in the event. These fol http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Illinois/blog-297818.html 2408Man Vietnam is in the bag. It seems like I get to a country and begin feeling a little relaxed and the the next thing I know I am running out of time. I get rushed to see everything in that counry and quickly find myself in the next country and the cycle repeats itself. I paid the cabby 12 for the prearranged fare by my hotel from Hanoi to the airport. I really think booking things thro http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-291021.html 11708My last night in Melbourne and in Australia for that matter went very quickely as I only had 2 hours of sleep as I was up all night trying to get my blog updated. I told Andrea my dilemma that I did not want to lug my computer around Vietnam and she said she would mail the computer to the U.S. for me. I really was not expecting her to mail it but after several minutes of contemplating http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-285836.html 122007 I was really tired and all I really remembered doing was hitting the bed as I fell asleep immediately on mattress impact. It was quite hot actually last night and the birds outside were very loud and I think were up at 430. I was excited as this was my first day in Australia. I was tired though too and resting seemed ok as well. Trudy left around 800 and I used the internet most http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-236504.html March 4 2008EXECUTIVE SUMMARYI am going to start off describing India like I did China. India is but deserved of another and another . This place is full on over the top just basically nuts I went to Delhi Srinagar Kashmir Jaipur Pushkar Udaipur Agra Taj MahalVaranasi Mumbai Goa and Bangalore. I liked Pushkar Udaipur and Goa. The other places were just a littl http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jodhpur/blog-261481.html 12207This is the first day of the round the world trip at least sort of. More correctly this is the first day outside the United States.I left Honolulu at roughly 1000 PM on November 30 2007 and arrived in Auckland on December 2 2007. It seems weird doesnrsquot it It was almost December 1 when I left and once you cross the International Date Line the day moves forward.Midway through the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/blog-236499.html Hawaii Maui Stay10312007As soon as I arrived in Honolulu and got off the plane I seen one of the most brilliant rainbows I have ever seen. I thought man what a great way to start the trip. Maria the couchsurfing person picked me up at the airport and drove me to her place. The couch I slept on which was rather small and probably 12 inches of my body hung off the end but I am not complaining http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/blog-236494.html 10507I slept pretty good and got up to use their wifi for awhile before leaving. Mr Coole is a computer science guy but is working on bikes currently. I think that is cool that he is doing something that he really enjoys. Not many people can say that. Good for him. He was actually leaving as well and I offered to take him to the bus station which he agreed to but then after researching th http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Durango/blog-236492.html 10207This was Bruce Springsteen day. I had waited for this day for a long time about 1.5 months actually. This was the day that his new album called Magic comes out. I went back to the Twin Rocks restaurant and had breakfast. Navajo Indian women worked there and one I talked to for a long time. I delicately asked her if the people here hold any grudges against the white man for what they did http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Utah/Arches-National-Park/blog-236489.html 92607I got up around 8 and went for a swim. The air temperature was colder than the water. I had slept pretty good and the swim felt great and refreshing. I swam for about 15 minutes and then headed back to the truck to get ready to mosey on out of these parts. Actually these parts were very nice and I really enjoyed my stay. It is amazing how somethings things turn out a lot better than e http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Grand-Canyon-National-Park/blog-236478.html 92407I got up around 7 and had some oatmeal. When I have a big hiking day I usually eat oatmeal as that really provides me with a lot of energy and seems to burn very clean. Went to the Visitors center with my map of Zion and asked them where they recommended going if I have only one day. She mentioned Angels Landing and followed that up by asking if I was afraid of heights. I told her I am http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Utah/Zion-National-Park/blog-236295.html 92207I slept good and got going around 10 after a quick shower. I always take advantage of a shower whenever possible as I never know when the next chance for me to have one of those may come. I thanked Andrea my couchsurfing host for everything and apologized for the late notice lst night and then headed out. I went to a gas station just down the road and tried to call Laura my couchsurfin http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Nevada/Las-Vegas/blog-235486.html 91007When I first got up around 800 I walked to the restroom and saw where my Canadian friends had already left. They are some go getters. I ate my oatmeal and got packed and ready to go around 1000. I slept reasonably well but not great.I was heading to Redwoods National Park to sleep amongst the Redwoods for another night. Actually several different people recommended I stay at the Bea http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/blog-235111.html 9607I got up and worked on the computer for awhile. Lana called down to me and said she would be ready to play tennis soon as we discussed the prior night. I got ready and we headed out. Lana had recently got some tennis rackets and was wanting to try them out. We had a great time hitting the ball back and forth without being too serious. Just trying to get a little bit of a workout in. A http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/Portland/blog-235107.html Back to SeattleWell I had a short couple of weeks at home and it was time to get on the road again. I did not sleep well and was tired not the way I wanted to feel to continue this trip but that is the hand I had been dealt so I had to just go with it. Mark dropped me off at the airport and as soon as I walked into the airport some guy was telling another guy in the airport a supposed joke abo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/blog-235099.html 71807I am sitting in Kristiansand Norway typing about where I just left in Denmark. Here in Norway I have never in my life seen so many blondes. Every woman is blonde I think in this country. The prices are expensive as well. I just walked into a very nice hotel actually it is just a Clarion but at the ferry ticket office described it to be a very nice hotel. The cup of coffee I am drink http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Hovedstaden/Copenhagen/blog-233679.html