July 19, 2008 (Overland Park, KS) - The team spent the night (what was left of it) at the La Quinta in Overland Park after negotiating their way in. A good rest after the hiccups on check in. So what is this thing we call RAGBRAI? RAGBRAI®, The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, is an annual seven-day bicycle ride across the state. In its 36th year, RAGBRAI is the longest, largest and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world. It is not a race. RAGBRAI is sponsored by The Des Moines Register. RAGBRAI begins somewhere near Iowa's western border [View Full Entry]

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It was so good to see some messages from all of you!!! We had a change in plans since leaving Branson, MO. Chris had an epiphany on Sunday morning (so he says:) and mentioned that he thought that the Kansas City Royals were playing a home game that day...hmmm. I think that he might be going through some baseball/sports withdrawal while being on this trip. Sports radio doesn't seem to cut it. I checked on-line and sure enough the Royals were playing the Mariners at Kaufmann Field at 1:10. PERFECT!! We undid the RV and hit the road. We made it [View Full Entry]

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We just picked up the RV at noon and are loading it up with everything but the kitchen sink. Pictured is the route that we plan on taking with stops in: - Manitou Springs, CO (Pike's Peak, Garden of the Gods) - Bryce Canyon Nat Park, Utah - Zion Nat Park, Utah - Salt Lake City, Utah - Grand Teton Nat Park, WY - Yellowstone, WY We still have lot's of packing and prep to do, but it's getting exciting! The boy's excitement is bordering on obnoxious...We'll be driving west tonight and see how far we get, overnighting in a rest [View Full Entry]

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Editors note: I have one more travel blog entry from Vietnam to write called the” Library System of Vietnam. It will be a long blog probably done in several installments. I am not through writing it and I am home, enjoying my place in this wonderful land, Larned (my home town), Kansas in the good old USA. The following blog is on the 4th of July Celebration in Larned at the home of Clark and Judy Redding. These kinds of celebrations happen all over the United States. Family and friends get together in backyards and enjoy an evening of friendship and [View Full Entry]

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about 2 days and i'm off. this feels big, and i believe it will be a big movement in my life. i am excited for change and the unknown (even though sometimes i let my mind convince me that the unknown is scary, not usually for too long though). i have felt my life is too stagnant for quite some time and am ready for that feeling to dissipate with visions of things i will be seeing for the first time. i am getting together a list of all i will be taking and will post it hopefully before i go [View Full Entry]

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I left Bridgeport, Texas with everything going fine. As I pulled into Oklahoma City the motor home backfired and lost power, then it picked up again and off I went. I figured I had got some bad gas (petrol). I met up with Tony Neeves for a very pleasant afternoon in Guthrie, which is about thirty miles north of Oklahoma City. Tony retired recently and has just bought himself a BEAUTIFUL Mercedes, which I enjoyed seeing. We talked about the backfiring and decided that a tank full of premium gas might be just what the vehicle needed. So the next morning [View Full Entry]

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I was born in 1947, so the first American President that I can recall is Dwight Eisenhower. I know that the British were very fond of him, but didn’t realize that he had developed life-long friendships with Winston Churchill and Field Marshall Montgomery. Eisenhower’s Museum is located in Abilene, Kansas; which is in the middle of nowhere; because he was raised here. He was actually born in Texas but spent his childhood and youth in Abilene, so I guess this was “home” for him. He was the third of six boys born to David and Ida Eisenhower. From what I understood [View Full Entry]

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Ozawkie and Topeka, Kansas Council Grove, Kansas Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Fort Larned, Kansas Garden City and the Sunnyland B&B Sandsage National Wildlife Preserve After our wonderful visit outside of Baldwin City, we drove north through Oscaloosa and across Lake Perry to Ozawkie to see my Uncle Dennis’ place that he built with his wife Jolayne. She was very welcoming, and gave us the full tour of the office building, home and still-under-construction new addition. We also met the friendly young couple who have taken over the law practice and their delightful toddler. My Uncle, of course, is on the coast [View Full Entry]

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Part of the reason I am doing this is to make sure that I don't completely lose every single bit of grammar knowledge I once had; I need to maintain my habit of typing correctly. i don't want 2 get lazy and start typing everything like this and not now how too spell or use the right words or a period i also dont want ppl too get upset w/me 4 not caplitalizing they're name so i will use this web sight to tell my freinds about washington and waht i will do when i get their. The world is beginning [View Full Entry]

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So I've officially completed my first year of med school. It's a bit surreal having a year behind me, being one step closer to having the responsibility of being a physician, and knowing that I still have a lot of learning ahead of me. Our last exams were yesterday, and I'm pretty sure I'll end up passing them. That said, I can now focus all of my attention on preparing for going to Kenya. I'll spend the next couple days in McPherson followed by a couple days in St. Louis. We are to report to Indianapolis on May 28th where we'll [View Full Entry]

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