http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/One Girl One World/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from One Girl One World en-us Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:25:41 UTC Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:25:41 UTC Most of you don't know that for the past eight months I have been training for the Marine Corps Marathon...a race I ran on October 26th. It wasn't something I wanted to tell everyone...just in case I proved to be a big weenie when it came to pain. I've delayed writing about it and quite honestly have thought once or twice that I might just skip it altogether. The marathon has been difficult for http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/District-of-Columbia/Washington/blog-341452.html Here are a few pictures and videos from a short trip to Oahu with friends last week. Ingrid and Jim friends from Sacramento and Ingrid's brother Mark from Annapolis and I all met up in Oahu at Bellows AFS for a few days. Jim went diving every day while Ingrid and I hung out at the beach. Mark had to spend a few days at the Marine Corps Base at Kane'ohe Bay. Fortunately his nights were free http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Oahu/blog-328343.html MaryAnne spent her senior year of college in Paris. Her host mother is a famous french actress named Patrica who lives very close to the Eiffel Tower in a four story home. Needless to say MaryAnne wasn't anxious to return to the United States. She spent nearly every day walking by the Eiffel Tower and had a free pass to the Louve for the year she was there. Lucky girl The last time I was in http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/-le-de-France/Paris/blog-279085.html She came to us as a puppy unexpectedly dropped off on our front door 13 years ago at a time when having a dog was absolutely out of the question. But MaryAnne and Craig wanted her and they begged and made promises and I gave in as I always did. Those first few weeks she barked all the time was difficult to house train and for the next 13 years destroyed everything in her path during thunderst http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Utah/Salt-Lake-City/blog-272970.html I'm often asked if I ever have famous people on my planes. Those who know me well know that celebrity status alone does little to impress me. While I have flown with many celebrities and many more very special passengers there have been a few recently that I'd like to tell you about.Roy Clark Country music legend Roy Clark famous for hosting the variety show Hee Haw in the early 1970's was a p http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/blog-270910.html Had a layover in Yakima Washington a few days ago so took MaryAnne along for the ride. She's been staying with me since the accident in Nebraska totaled her jeep and sidelined her Sacramento plans so a short trip away to clear her head was a good idea. As you might guess there's not much to do in Yakima when the weather is cold but I had a really fun crew and we discovered happy hour in the http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Washington/Yakima/blog-265567.html The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis maintain their neutrality. John F. Kennedy June 24 1963Showdown in BerkeleyTo summarize in January of 2007 the United States Marine Corps Recruiting Division opened an Officer Selection office at 64 Shattuck Square in Berkeley California. In September eight months later a group calling itself code pink http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/California/Berkeley/blog-257850.html We were one of the early flights out of the city the morning these shots were taken. The flight deck received special permission for a rare 'Bay Tour' at 3000 feet. We flew out over the bay around Alcatraz and over the Golden Gate Bridge before heading south along the coast for Ontario. I imagine it was quite a sight to see an airliner flying at 3000 feet over Alcatraz http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-255279.html Lesson 1Dont Drink The Water p.s. The ocean is water.MaryAnne and I had a blast surfing in San Juan del Sur with Larry our friend from the Scuba Shack. The waves at Remanso Beach were awesome and the water was perfect but I wiped out one too many times in the surf and... well lets just say I wont need a Neti pot for months but I could really use some Immodium AD. SWALLOWING THE OCEAN I http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/blog-251405.html San Francisco to Eugene Oregon January 31 2008. The most spectacular sunset above the clouds I've ever seen. There's nothing I could say about these photos that John didn't say better. http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/blog-242230.html Here are a few shots from the last several months...enjoy And by the way though it may have taken me 47 days I've finally added a few pictures from the Costa Rica trip. One of these days when I get around to it I'll have to look into why I'm such a procrastinator. http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/blog-238155.html Ive never been to Costa Rica during the rainy season before and now I know why. The rain stopped for five minutes my first morning in Puerto Viejo...long enough for Wendy Leah and myself to have coffee on the beach. The beach is just a few steps out Wendys front door and they have coffee on their favorite log every day. By the time we headed back into the house the rain began again and did http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Limon/Puerto-Viejo-de-Talamanca/blog-218771.html There's a scene in the movie Forest Gump when Forest is running along a lonely highway and then suddenly he stops turns around and says I'm kinda tired I think I'll go home. That's kind of what happened to me...somewhere in Bulgaria. I couldn't tell you where I was exactly I was following signs rather than using a map I only know I was headed for Thessaloniki Greece when the overwhelming http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Utah/Salt-Lake-City/blog-199056.html Naturally I had a flat tire in the middle of nowhere about 24 km before Giurgiu Romania. I walked the bike close to 4 km before I saw what looked like a rustic gas station ahead. Four very small fluffy dogs who were hoping to look ferocious ran out to warn me to keep away. I would have laughed at them had I not been so exhausted. Three men who had been watching me walk up from the highway cam http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Bulgaria/blog-198011.html There has been no internet and English speaking people have been few and far between. It does make things a bit more difficult. Distance is measured in kilometers and on the long stretches of road there are cement markers marking each kilometer and in between each kilometer are eight smaller cement markers dividing each kilometer into eight pieces it took 25 pedal rotations in between each of t http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Bulgaria/blog-197762.html The trip took a total of 13 flight hours with an hour layover at JFK but the hours flew by quickly. First class to Europe is definitely the way to go and I can see why some people you know who you are refuse to travel unless they get first class. Too many upgrades to mention but the biggest advantage was a fully reclining leather seat in which I actually was able to sleep for several hours wi http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Romania/Bucuresti-Ilfov/Bucharest/blog-196862.html Hello everyone and sorry you haven't heard from me for awhile. My last vacation didn't go according to plan and the only place I really went was to Denver for one night...long story but let it suffice to say that buddy passes are on my Black List and I really wouldn't mind if I never had to use them again I'll be home for the family reunion next week...I wasn't able to make Uncle DeWayne's funera http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/blog-186662.html MaryAnne teaches at the EMT school in Bloomington and since there was a class in session she needed to be there for a few hours Saturday morning. The Air Evac helicopter was landing for training purposes and so the timing of my visit couldn't have been better. The crew spent nearly an hour answering questions and allowing students to get in and around the helicopter. The class size is about 20 s http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Indiana/blog-160158.html OLIVER WINERY Flew to Indiana this weekend to visit Girly Whirly and she surprised me with a visit to the Oliver Winery on the way to Bloomington. It was my first visit to a winery and though this one seems small they bottle a large variety of wines. We sampled several but nothing really appealed to me except the 2004 Shiraz Reserve. I seem to be losing my taste for wine unless it was a very go http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Indiana/blog-160149.html I had no idea how much I would love this historic city I am staying in the middle of the Centro Historico surrounded by buildings older than the United States. The building Im staying in is over 350 years old and four blocks from the Catedral Metropolitana which began construction in 1573 atop the ruins of the Aztec temple complex. I unintentionally attended mass in Spanish of course in the http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Distrito-Federal/Mexico-City/blog-153984.html