1 June (Monday) - I got up early to sort through our laundry and set it outside the room to have it washed. Then I had breakfast while Will slept in, and who should show up but my cousin Larry who had taken the night train from Chiang Mai where he and his wife Nancy live. She is also a Facebook friend, and had casually mentioned to him as he got on the train that we might be here. So we had a great day talking to him about his projects. He recently completed his PhD with a disseration on Thai "Face." By 9 AM I had to head to the hospital for my root canal. Mom decided to tag along; perhaps to see more changes in the many years since she had been here. The ... read more

Right now I am at an internet cafe at Hong Kong Airport...a very beautiful airport. We made it safely from Xian to Shanghai yesterday afternoon. We stayed on the 43rd floor of the Novotel Atlantis looking over the river and the Bund, but is was too far away and hazy to get any good pictures. We awoke at 4:45 to catch the 7:40 AM Dragonair flight here. The flight to Bangkok leaves at 2:25 PM. Will is taking Singapore Airlines via Singapore and gets to Bangkok 5 minutes before us assuming there aren't any delays. Caril gets there sevaral hours later. We will get to the guest home in time for dinner. I hope there are other guests there! I will blog about our first day in Bagkok tomorrow, and upload the pictures that Will took ... read more

28 May (Thursday) - We planned for an early start so that we would beat the crowds at the Terra Cotta Warriors Museum, so after breakfast and checking out of the Ibis Hotel, we met with Jack our driver/guide. He dropped our luggage off at the Mercure Hotel, and we proceeded to Bang Po Village, the remains of a 6000 year old village (on the way to the Terra Cotta Warriors Museum). By now my foot was really painful...a reoccurence of the gout. They didn't have a functioning wheelchair so I hobbled around leaning on Will's shoulder. The museum was interesting; more for the age and skeletal remains than for anything else. Our next stop was a terra cotta factory where they make reproductions of the warriors. Of course, there was also the obligatory souvenir shop, ... read more

Reviewing my lat blog on my time in Shanghai I realize that I didn't add many pictures. I tend to look for the better pictures, and due to the flat light and smog, I didn't find many I liked. But perhaps these pictures will tell this story; that not all travel can produce beautiful pictures. So enjoy...... read more

May 21, 2009 (Thursday ) - Our daughter Tamara drove down from Denver last evening, to be able to drive us to Denver International Airport today to catch the 3 PM flight to Chicago O’Hare. We decided to fly the day before our flight to Shanghai and spend the night near O’Hare, rather than getting up at 2 AM to drive to DIA to catch a 6 AM flight to Chicago, then the 14 flight to Shanghai. Upon arrival and check in at DIA, we went through TSA’s screening, where my Mom was routinely asked for her drivers license or ID. She rummaged through her bag and produced a Florida drivers license which had expired over a decade earlier. I asked her where she put her new Colorado ID. He replied that she had left it ... read more