I have decided to bend with the pressure of sooooooooo many readers from around the world and I will resume my almost-daily blog on New Year's Day. Not at this address, but at the one listed below. You can also subscribe to it as you did this one for our New Zealand Trip. http://www.thehowsershouse.wordpress.com LIFE IS GREAT!!!!!!......And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!... read more

For the time being, I will not be writing TheHowserHouse blog. No, I am not ill....other than my heel problems......but I have decided to take a break from the daily slog of blog writing. I have done this almost every day since May of 2005.....and the time spent with this each day (much more time than you might imagine) needs to be reduced. How will you know if I am back on here? Well....since I do not know the vast, vast majority of you readers, the only suggestion that I have now is to "subscribe" to this blog and then you will be notified when and if I return to writing on here. It costs nothing and as far as I know you are not signing up for spam nor commercial emails.......so....that is my suggestion to ... read more

WOW.....what a great sleep it was!!! During the morning, we enjoyed a continental breakfast in the lower level of this "boutique" hotel........and realized just how much of a little, inexpensive jewel of a hotel we had found!!! Soooo, clean, such amazingly friendly staff, and located in the most wonderful spot for our 5 days here in Philadelphia. After an extra cup of coffee......a bit weak for my tastes.....we left the hotel....maps in hand...and walked to the City Hall...about three blocks from where our hotel is located. I MUST pause here to discuss the largest Convention Center I believe I have EVER seen in a city.....even for a city this size. It must stretch more than a quarter of a mile, going from east to west, and is one block "deep". The streets going north and south ... read more

OMG.....what a morning!!! Up at 4:45, took the hotel shuttle across to the Airport at 6am.....and then through Security! Not as easy as previously since.........I was carrying one large carry-on bag plus my laptop carrying bag which inside had my camera in it's bag, a plastic ziplock with gels, toothpaste, shaving cream, etc., etc.....and another ziplock with some meds in it. I took out the one with the gels and put it into a plastic bin, put the laptop into a bin along with my cell phone, my shoes and jacket in another bin and then the carrying case for the laptop in another one, and then shoved the carry-on bag down the rollers and through the x-ray machine. Everything came out and back to me on the other side....except the carrying case for the laptop. ... read more

A really busy morning......with a PT session this morning at 7:30! Arriving with my travel mug of French Roast coffee in my hand.....it was not long before I was having my foot wrapped in a heated pad......and then....the exercises and massages began. An hour and a half later.....and, I was then back in the sticknbrick. Not having done any real "packing" yesterday, I quickly began to pull some shirts and jeans/slacks out of the walk-in closet.....fold them up carefully, and with the other "necessary" items, I soon had my carry-on bag packed and ready to leave. Then......the careful inspection of the bag to see if there were any verboten items inside the bag. My hair gel, my shaving cream, deodorant, eye drops, etc were all placed into a zip-lock bag....and then a few meds were put ... read more

Yep......another short journey which will begin next week!! And.....as the title suggests, we are flying to Philadelphia from St. Louis, MO to spend the weekend visiting our son Jay and his wife, Anne-marie! We have not seen them since they made their three month trip around the world this past winter, so we will enjoy hearing about their trip, and we can then add more details as we describe to them our trip....at the same time as theirs....to New Zealand. We were in Philadelphia last fall.....and, quite frankly....we fell in love with the city center of this old city. And, as you can expect I will have more about everything when we arrive next Thursday morning.....October 20th. Sooooo, for now.....I will close this beginning of the journal/blog of our upcoming journey to the East Coast. And, ... read more

OK.....I have not posted on here since we returned from New Zealand this past April......a six week trip that left us in an euphoric state of amazement, and a love for New Zealand that I would never have imagined could occur! Check my six weeks of blog if you are interested in an awesome time there!! But.....two years ago we purchased a lot in an RV Resort, about 50 miles southwest of Jackson Hole, WY. Yep.....right on the Idaho border.....which is only about 3 miles from our property. We are in the Star Valley Ranch RV Resort......and, it is just an incredible place to live in the summers.....especially if you are from Misery (Missouri) like we are! Not only have we spent our three months just outside the lovely LITTLE town of Thayne, WY.......we have also ... read more

Monday, April 25, 2011: WOW......it is difficult to believe that we have been back in our stick-n-brick here in Misery for four full days(and, by the way, it IS Misery now after having about 6 or more inches of rain!). NZ is NOT out of my thoughts, and I suspect that it never will be out of my thoughts. How can you remove thoughts about anything that you love.....be it a person, a thing, or....in this case, New Zealand??!!! It is still difficult to step back and see the six weeks as a whole.....it is just to soon to do that since my thoughts are influenced by my intense positive feelings for such a marvelous and amazing place. I have used sooooo many adjectives to attempt to describe this country.....those two large islands.....and yet, I have ... read more

The last map of our travels from the USA to New Zealand and back to the USA..... ... read more

April 20, 2011.…..AGAIN!!! OMG……As if I am not old enough already, I now have to live this day all over again!!!! I went through April 20th yesterday….and, here it is again…..UGH!!!! Yesterday morning….the 1st April 20th…..we got up, loaded the cleaned out car….and then went about a block from the Apex Car Rental Center….about 5 minutes from our little motel….and there was a Dunkin’ Donut that I had discovered the night before while trying to get online at McD’s , which I couldn’t do because they closed, except for the drive-through. We had a few donuts…..would you believe a dozen donuts costs $18 plus change there in Auckland, of course I really do not know what they cost here in the states, so I suppose I should not be complaining toooo loudly. Anyway…they tasted great…and the ... read more