Travel Blog Posts
Smoky Mountain Hike
Published: September 20th 2008North America » United States » Tennessee » Great Smoky Mountains Parkway
September 20th 2008
Hi all, Just thought I'd add an update with some pictures from a recent hike to Spence Field and Rocky Top. The weather here is finally getting a bit more liveable: in the upper 70's to low 80's with humidity finally getting a bit lower. The hike was beautiful, hope you like the pictures. Starla... read more
June 11th 2008
Hello from Lake Junaluska, North Carolina! We had an awesome day today at the Holston Annual Conference. Tony was commissioned along with 19 others. His mom and Tom drove in from Knoxville, and my folks came in last night so they could be here this morning. We are all very proud of Tony! We are excited to get settled into our parsonage next Wednesday. I am also still looking for a job, and am looking forward to the many opportunities for nurses in the Knoxville area. So, most likely, this is my last post for awhile (at least until we go on another trip!):)... read more
May 28th 2008
Hello from Amsterdam! Tony and I have been enjoying our time here. We have gotten to visit several museums so far, thanks to the IAmsterdam Pass, which gets us into many museums for free and onto the public transportation system as well. So far we have been to the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum (yahoo!!), and the Amsterdam Historich Museum. All of these have been very interesting, and we have also walked around quite a bit of the city and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. All of the canals of Amsterdam make it quite the picturesque area. Also, because the city is so far north, the sun doesnít set until around 10:30 pm, and it stays twilight until around 11. Although we are enjoying ourselves so much here, we are both finding that we are quite exhausted from ... read more
May 25th 2008
Tonight is our last night in Africa. We have enjoyed a wonderful few days on safari, it was so amazing! I am posting from the Methodist Guest House in Nairobi, and it is so nice to once again enjoy high-speed internet! I wanted to post some of our favorite pics from the safari. The Masai Mara is so very amazing, I wish everyone could enjoy a few days there. Tomorrow we head out super-early in the morning for our flight to Amsterdam. We will stay there for 3 nights, then it’s back home to TN. We’re really looking forward to getting settled there. ... read more
May 22nd 2008
I am writing the blog again because Starla is currently getting a well deserved pedicure at the spa here at the Sarova Mara. We left Maua to head to the Masai Mara on Wednesday. It was very sad to say bye to everyone, and we hope that we get another chance to come again. All the Kenyans said that they won’t say goodbye because they know that we’ll be back. I’ve even had an invitation to teach at Kenya Methodist University in Meru. I felt very honored! They said that Starla and I have been a huge blessing to them and that they cannot believe all that we have been able to accomplish in a 40 day period. The funny thing was we figured it out and we were in Maua for exactly 40 days; a ... read more
May 19th 2008
Hello, for the last time, from Maua! It is Sunday afternoon, and the internet café is closed, so I will be posting this blog tomorrow during my lunch break. We have had a wonderful last weekend here. Thursday we had Rev. Muriki over with his lovely family. His two children are 2 and 5, and they were so cute and energetic! Tony was very sad to say goodbye to him. Friday night we went to a potluck at the Savuto’s house. After the potluck, we all sat on the floor and played the card game “Nine’s”. We are truly going to miss all of the mission partners we have gotten to know during our few weeks here. Saturday, I wasn’t feeling too well: I felt that I had a bout of flu or a bad cold. ... read more
May 15th 2008
Today I, Tony, am writing the blog because Starla is busy in the OPD and I wanted to write about our trip to visit Dorcas. This last week of ours is going by so fast. Yesterday, we walked with Andrew from the AIDS orphans program up past Kiegoi to the home that the team from St. Peter’s built for Dorcas in 2005. Andrew is doing an internship for his diploma at the hospital, and he is in charge of the overseeing the building of the homes. He also does semi-annual check-ups on the children who live in the homes. We did not know if Dorcas would be home or not because she is 8 now and is in primary school. However, when we got there her Father greeted us and said that she was home because ... read more
May 13th 2008
What an eventful weekend we had! Tony and I enjoyed a visit to two churches on Saturday with Rev. Hosea who is the pastor of the circuit (which includes these two churches along with 9 others). Rev. Hosea and his wife had us over for tea before the services, and while we were at their house, we learned how Kenyans prepare food and what kind of stoves they use. We also learned about the 2 week process to make charcoal out of wood. It was a good time, and we had discussions about Kenyan marriage and the fact that arranged marriages are dying out. I asked them about men having more than one wife. I was confused by the fact that it seems that if some men have many wives, does this not leave some men ... read more
May 9th 2008
Today I don’t have too many new pictures to add, because we have been sticking around the hospital this week and not travelling about. So, the pics aren’t too exciting… but I hope you still enjoy them! We have had fun figuring out what all we can cook with the supplies around here. We can get most groceries in town, but there are many things which you have to travel quite a distance to find (no takeout food, it even takes one hour to drive to the nearest store which sells cheese!). I included a picture of Tony making chapatti, the Kenyan bread which reminds me of Naan (the Indian bread). It is very good! Also, Tony made a “southern meal” which included fried chicken, beans, and a green called “sukumawiki”, which is a lot like ... read more
May 6th 2008
Well, our time seems to really be winding down here! At the annual Synod meeting, Rev. James told Tony that he is already beginning to miss him. They seem to really have enjoyed working together, and I know they both have a great amount of respect for one another. Tony did a great job preaching on Friday and Saturday for the annual meeting! The theme of the conference was, “Service to God is Service to Humanity”, and Tony said his main goal was to encourage the pastors to continue doing their work. We got to meet the Presiding Bishop of Kenya, who wanted Tony to travel to Northern Kenya (on the border of Somalia) to see that not all of Kenya looks the same, and to see the work of the Methodist Church of Kenya (MCK) ... read more
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