Blogs from Toledo, Ohio, United States, North America

Geo: 41.6538, -83.5361We woke this morning to what we now understand is typical weather near Lake Erie…thick overcast, hanging low and heavy in the sky. And before we could leave the parking lot of our hotel, the rains came pouring down. It was 8 AM and 72 degrees when we left our hotel room, but we were not on the road for quite some time. We sat in the car for a very frustrating 45 minutes, arguing with the Toyota GPS, my phone's Mapquest and a paper map of the area. All we wanted to do was find our way to Rt. 5 along Lake Erie, but getting technology to help us just was not to be. Fortunately the hotel clerk had some very simple instructions to offer, but not until we were frustrated with the ... read more

Getting ready for a trip is always a joy and a trauma. We knew we wanted to go via Trafalgar, we have been on 6 tours with them and they are always GREAT. I found out that I could save 10% by being a Costco member. That's right Trafalgar will give you 10% right off the top. Then as a previous traveler we got an additional 10% PLUS the tour was on sale. So we had no choice but to go, right? Air flights are always tough overseas. I checked for days and could not get a reasonable fare. Finally I saw flights on Air Canada direct through Toronto for the lowest fare anywhere so BOOM booked and ready to go. Another great idea was to use Trivago. We are staying a few EXTRA days 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

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

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