Marty Freeman's Guestbook

Yippee!
The hand & foot part sounds great to me! Have fun!! Lucy

images refresh the visual memory
Hi Marty It was indeed a great cohesive group ,traveling through extraordinary vistas, meeting knowledgeable, erudite tour leaders and kind ,generous fellow hostelers. Thank You PS I have told numerous people about your $$$ orange.Thought you would get mileage out of that

Wow
Marty... you did an excellent job!! I just relived the trip... it was prettyf special wasn't it? I ended up flying from LAX to Denver with my brother since Chicago was late. So poor bro had me for one more night before he could put me on a plane to Iowa. Thanks so much for sharing your photos and running commentary of daily events. carroll

Wow
I am pretty impressed with what I have been reading of your trip. You are really getting an in-depth exposure to NZ and Aus. Have even more fun...stay healthy, and safe...we miss you two...Blessings...RLG+

Happy Thanksgiving
Hi Martha, 6 of your trip blogs suddenly appeared, Austrailia is wonderfully weird and interesting. Your trip is amazingly strenuous and I see you are resting as much as you can. I picked up mom's ashes yesterday and cannot get it that the small box I can carry under one arm was her body. I am very grateful today for the fact our family is connected and supportive of eachother, what a gift we have in such an estranted world. I hope you and John and everyone on the trip have a great Thanksgiving Day and that you feel better! Sincerely, Shirley

thar we blows
coughing and blowing I can relate to though I am finally not doing it as much. I'm sorry to hear you have to deal with not feeling well during this trip. Besides me and Dan being sick, almost everyone I know seems to be either sick or getting over sick. I'm sending you prayers for improved health, sincerely Shirley

Life looks good
Keep the stories and pictures coming. Looks like you are seeing some fine sites. You are missing 1-3 inches of rain daily last several days in Longview. Seeing some of Australia and New Zealand is on our list. Find some destinations we can hope for.

So sorry to hear about your mom
Dear Marty and John, so sorry to hear about your mom. I imagine you feel very far away at this time. Congrats on the new baby. I bet Sara is glad that is over with! Such sadness tempered with such joy. Much love, Sara

Hello, world travelers!
Dear Marty and John, This is basically unbelievable, being able to communicate like this. I am still in shock about the $200 orange. I can only hope the money is NOT equal (or greater) than American money. I would be in tears, by that point. Jessica came over and yesterday my mom and my sister Heather and I went shopping with her for a wedding dress. You would have been a help, but somehow we struggled on without you. My sister bought her a garter (blue) and a tiara (new) and I am loaning her my veil (borrowed) (or old, take your pick) and the dress looks good on her. Did i tell you she is going to be cooking all the food with her mom right before the wedding? To give you a sticker shock, (now think back to your Sara's wedding) we gave her $1000 to do the whole wedding with, and she is going to do it (not including the dress, which my mom and sister paid for.) OK, better eat your orange before you faint from shock. Got Rachel a dress to wear as a "bridesmaid" (all the girls are just wearing a "little black dress" and Rachel looks like a million bucks in it. Got it a Ross for $24 after looking at EVERY black dress in the ENTIRE Three rivers mall. My feet are still in recovery mode. Sounds like you are having a lovely "spring" down there. Hope to hear from you again soon! (maybe you should have the orange bronzed!) Love, Sara

Best Wishes for a safe trip!

short and sweet
Mar....got your blog....guess you figured out how to do it. Catch you later, Bon packaging Voyage,,,,,