Blogs from Toledo, Ohio, United States, North America

When I've boarded the first bus back in New-England, it was half empty, quiet and had wifi and electric power. All this changed when we left New-York at Buffalo and entered the Mid-West. Now the bus is less new, no electric sockets, and instead of the neat kid from Rochester, I'm sitting next to some weird old guy who smelt funny and tilted his seat right on the poor guy behind him. But on the Cleveland to Chicago bus I really got the Full Monty, especially since Toledo . And I'm not just talking about the resident crazy guy, self (and loudly) proclaimed to be an air force officer, gay, porn star, up and coming Hollywood actor, holding top secret proofs to alien presence on Earth, and believing in God (but not the Devil). All in ... read more

Das wird der letzte Eintrag werden. Sitze schon am Flughafen und in einer Stunde geht es nach Hause. Am Donnerstag vor einer Woche bin ich bei Cornel, Ann und Alexander angekommen. Ziemlich krank, aber zum Glueck ist die gute Ann eine Aerztin und sie hat mich wieder ganz gut hinbekommen. Auf jeden Fall hat sie mir das amerik. Krankenhaus erspart und dafuer bin ich gar nicht genug dankbar. Also, die ersten Tage, habe wir es ganz ruhig angehen lassen. Ging ja darum, am Sonntag fuer das NASCAR Rennen wieder fit zu sein. Cornel & ich sind mal nach Michigan gefahren, um einen Anhaenger anzuschauen, haben ein Motorrad gekauft oder waren kurz mal eine Monsterkohlrabi kaufen. Sonst waren wir meistens ums Haus und haben uns an dem aeusserst netten Baby erfreut, mal kam ein Nachbar oder Freunde ... read more

I finally posted the blogs that I wrote on my blog ages ago but never copy and pasted into the travel blog. I didn't upload any pictures because you can see them on my Facebook. Right now, I'm up in Toledo visiting with a friend. We had a great day yesterday. I got to see the city and the campus of the University of Toledo. I really liked the campus, it was pretty. It has a lot of old buildings. I'm curious to find out about the connections that Toledo has to Toledo, Spain, since it's a sister city. Afterwards, we went to Tony's bar-- JoJo's which was fun. I think we're going again tonight because his roommates will be back from Missouri. Today we're either going to the Toledo Zoo or the Toledo Art Museum, ... read more

We left the stunning Yellowstone National Park behind and continued our long drive east. We headed out of the east side of the park, up and over the Sylvan Pass through part of the Rocky Mountains. This road was supposed to be the most scenic entrance into the park, but is often closed due to snow fall and avalanches. Luckily that did not affect us and it certainly was pretty spectacular, going through the pass and hugging the side of the mountains as we wound our way back down again. The only dampener was the fact that we again saw signs for forest fires. The road remained open as it was being used by the emergency services, however as we got closer the sky was thick with cloud and we could see parts glowing orange. The ... read more

Well, friends, the journey starts tomorrow. I am flying out of Chicago and will be stopping in Miami before traveling on to wintery Santiago, Chile. My bags are not packed; I'm not ready to go. I should be packing right now. But alas, I am not. Clearly. I was til just a moment ago. And I will resume packing in a few minutes. It is very tiresome work. It will not be fun living out of two backpacks, one big and one little, for six or so weeks, but it is a sacrafice I am willing to make so that all of you may live vicariously through me. Enjoy!... read more

Part I I arrived at the airport without much hassle. Believe it or not, the 7-11 in the MTR station was closed, so I had to go to one on the street. That was pretty much the only hitch the whole morning. Reading material for the trip: The Quiet American by Graham Greene (Paul Farmer’s favorite author), Catfish and Mandala by Andrew X. Pham, and I may refresh my memory on Mountains Beyond Mountains. The two new books were disserted in the hostel room. A copy of Salmon Rushdie’s Satanic Verses had also been disserted, but I heard a roommate talking about how he thought he’d take a look at it. Both of my roommates seemed to have interesting stories, from what I heard last night. I figure my backpack that I got in Shanghai still ... read more