WE MADE IT! After 4 days of driving with two cars, two dogs and a cat we finally made it from Durham, NC to Longmont, CO. And believe it or not, it really wasn't all that bad. The first day we only drove 4 hours to Asheville, NC and spent the night catching up with Becky. Then we took off on Wednesday Aug 13th and spent the night in one of my favorite places to say... Paducah, KY. We hit the jackpot with one exit that had the terrific trio: a hotel that allowed dogs (Days Inn), a Cracker Barrel and a Waffle House...who could ask for anything more??!!
The second night we stayed in Topeka, KS and it turned out there was a dog show that weekend so there were purebred dogs EVERYWHERE. Diego was definitely outnumbered and like one woman said "You better hold on to that cat cause there's a shitload of dogs around here". We managed though with our cat and two muts and were on our way the next day. We arrived in Longmont on Friday night around 8pm MT (yep we're on Mountain Time now). It turns out that our landlord now lives next door to us. They are staying at the neighbor's house for the next couple of months until the husband recovers from a heart attack he had this summer. He's fine though and they were happy to show us to our new house.
Since then we have been unpacking and I have been attending orientation for my school, Naropa University. I registered for classes today and here is what I am taking this semester:
1. Contemplative Hinduism
2. Sanskrit I
3. Meditation Practicum I
4.Trends in Religious Studies
5. Methods and Issues in the Study of Religion
Pretty cool huh? Meanwhile, Gabriel has already applied to a job with the OSMP (Open Space Mountain Parks) Department and is looking for other possibilities. We love it here! So, that means...y'all need to come visit right quick! We miss everyone already and can't wait to show off our new life here. It's been quite a ride getting here but has very fortunately gone so smoothly.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
Back in North Cackalacky!!!!!!!!!!!!
We made it, we're home! Well if that's what you can call it. We actually don't have a home right now. Mom and Dad get here on Sunday and bring the babies. Then we pack up a trailer on Monday with all of our stuff to be sent to our new home in Longmont, CO. We'll start driving across country on Tuesday (12th), me in my car and Gabe in his. We'll have both dogs and our cat Diego with us so it should be quite the experience. We originally wanted to camp on the way out there to save money but I'm not sure how that'll go with all of the animals. We'll see. We're hoping to stop in Asheville on the way out to visit Becky and then haul ass to Colorado. My grad school starts on Monday, Aug 18!! YIKES! In the meantime, our friends are throwing us a goodbye party on Saturday (thanks Hopie and Charlie) so we're going to have some fun and try to get our bodies adjusted back to EST....just in time to move to Mountain Time:) In case I forget here is our new address in Colorado..
1433 Gay Street
Longmont, CO
80501
Well, that's it for now. Our journey to the other side of the world and back is over for now. It's time for the next phase. We'll be updating the blog with pictures from the trip and our highlight and lowlight lists for each destination so stay tuned!
1433 Gay Street
Longmont, CO
80501
Well, that's it for now. Our journey to the other side of the world and back is over for now. It's time for the next phase. We'll be updating the blog with pictures from the trip and our highlight and lowlight lists for each destination so stay tuned!
A-L-O-H-A
Hawaii was fabulous! We were only there for 2 1/2 days but it was a nice transition before coming home. The craziest thing for us has been the time changes. I'm not really sure what time zone are bodies are on right now. We left Thailand on Aug 5th at 8:15am and arrived in Honolulu the same day but at 7:30am. So it was like we landed before we even left! Crazy! When we were in Thailand we were 11 hours ahead of NC. But in Hawaii we were 6 hours behind. Needless to say, we were all screwed up and extremely jetlagged most of the time there. Still, we rented a jeep and drove around the island with the top down. We managed to catch some rays on beautiful beaches and watched a hula show in Waikiki. Due to all of my work travel we were able to stay at the Hyatt in Waikiki with my points. After staying in places that didn't even have screens in the windows or electricity, we were beside ourselves with the decadence of the Hyatt. We wish we could have stayed longer and checked out more of the island. We'll have to go back someday to get more quality time there. One thing is for sure, Hawaii is gorgeous!
Roxanne... you don't have to turn on the Red Light.
So no trip to Bangkok would be complete without visiting the Red Light district, Patpong. We decided to hit up the nearby night market first which was huge. Not quite as big as the Weekend market but still big. Lots of stalls with higher end goods. Then there was a big stage and a beer garden where you could grab a beer and watch Thai bands play. We also managed to squeeze in an hour foot massage because our feet were sore from all the shopping:)
We walked over to the Red Light district not really knowing where we were going or what to expect. Surprisingly it's not much different than all the other streets in Bangkok. There were street vendors selling the same stuff as everywhere else and then a few selling more "erotic" items. The only real difference were the throngs of people asking you if you wanted to see a "ping pong" show. I will leave that one to your imagination but if you'd like details, give us a call. In all I guess you could say it was a cultural experience. It's strange that a country that infuses Buddhist ideals into all ways of life would have such a HUGE sex market. But it does, and for a reason. It makes a lot of money!
Our last day in Bangkok we went back over to the infamous Kho San Road for last minute souvenirs and to grab a new book for the plane ride home. Gabriel had mentioned maybe wanting to get a new suit custom tailored made while we were there and it turned out they could still do it in time. For $80 we met with the tailors, chose the style of suit, the fabric and had a suit made. We initially met with them at 2pm, had a fitting at 6pm and it was ready to take home by 9pm! It's really nice and fits him to a T. Now he just needs somewhere to wear it! I think it was a great purchase on his part. Thailand is famous for that and there are tailor shops all over Bangkok. I could have had a suit made myself or even a fancy ball gown made from Thai silk. Maybe next time...
Our final wish before leaving Thailand was to have one more traditional Thai massage so we did that on our last day. It's funny though. The massages are so cheap you really can't complain but it's not like getting a massage at a spa. You walk in and there are mattresses laying on the ground next to eachother. You can be getting your massage with numerous other people. There is no soft music playing or privacy. And the masseuses are usually talking the whole time to eachother in Thai so you have no idea what they are saying. It's kind of like getting a pedicure at a Nail Salon in a strip mall vs. getting one at a spa. Even though the atmosphere may not be as nice, it still feels great! A good way to get relaxed before sitting on a plane for 24 hours.
Hawaii here we come!
We walked over to the Red Light district not really knowing where we were going or what to expect. Surprisingly it's not much different than all the other streets in Bangkok. There were street vendors selling the same stuff as everywhere else and then a few selling more "erotic" items. The only real difference were the throngs of people asking you if you wanted to see a "ping pong" show. I will leave that one to your imagination but if you'd like details, give us a call. In all I guess you could say it was a cultural experience. It's strange that a country that infuses Buddhist ideals into all ways of life would have such a HUGE sex market. But it does, and for a reason. It makes a lot of money!
Our last day in Bangkok we went back over to the infamous Kho San Road for last minute souvenirs and to grab a new book for the plane ride home. Gabriel had mentioned maybe wanting to get a new suit custom tailored made while we were there and it turned out they could still do it in time. For $80 we met with the tailors, chose the style of suit, the fabric and had a suit made. We initially met with them at 2pm, had a fitting at 6pm and it was ready to take home by 9pm! It's really nice and fits him to a T. Now he just needs somewhere to wear it! I think it was a great purchase on his part. Thailand is famous for that and there are tailor shops all over Bangkok. I could have had a suit made myself or even a fancy ball gown made from Thai silk. Maybe next time...
Our final wish before leaving Thailand was to have one more traditional Thai massage so we did that on our last day. It's funny though. The massages are so cheap you really can't complain but it's not like getting a massage at a spa. You walk in and there are mattresses laying on the ground next to eachother. You can be getting your massage with numerous other people. There is no soft music playing or privacy. And the masseuses are usually talking the whole time to eachother in Thai so you have no idea what they are saying. It's kind of like getting a pedicure at a Nail Salon in a strip mall vs. getting one at a spa. Even though the atmosphere may not be as nice, it still feels great! A good way to get relaxed before sitting on a plane for 24 hours.
Hawaii here we come!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Last few days...
We are back in the big city, Bangkok, for two days before leaving Thailand. It's bittersweet. We are really sad about leaving but also excited about starting the next chapter.
We are trying to do all of our last minute sounvenir shopping while we're here so we made a point to be back to Bangkok during the weekend. There is an incredibly HUGE weekend market with thousands of vendor stalls so we went today. There were so many people and tons and tons of stuff to buy. Everything from puppies to Western shirts. It was crazy! As if we didn't get enough, we're headed to the night market tonight. Tomorrow we'll visit the floating market and then off to Hawaii on Tuesday. We have a two day layover there before going home.
The last couple of weeks we've been in the islands. We found our beach paradise on Koh Pha Nang and then went to Koh Tao to dive. We spent three nights on Koh Tao. Being the smaller and more remote of the islands, I thought it was going to be quiet but since this is the #1 place to dive in Thailand, everyone was there! We saw some amazing fire shows where they twirl fire. We even saw a three year old boy do it! And Gabriel finally got to experience his first ocean dive. We did two dives on one day. There was a rumor of a whale shark at a particular dive site so our captain changed the schedule last minute. We weren't the only ones with that idea so we ended up diving with a TON of people. It was kind of a mess underwater. Divers everywhere! There was no whale shark but we did see two banded sea snakes which were really cool. Gabriel had a great time too! The second dive was better....less people. We even went through a really cool swim through that was the highlight of our dive.
All in all, we really enjoyed our time in the islands. We can't wait to show you pictures! Now it's time to go shopping. See you all soon!
We are trying to do all of our last minute sounvenir shopping while we're here so we made a point to be back to Bangkok during the weekend. There is an incredibly HUGE weekend market with thousands of vendor stalls so we went today. There were so many people and tons and tons of stuff to buy. Everything from puppies to Western shirts. It was crazy! As if we didn't get enough, we're headed to the night market tonight. Tomorrow we'll visit the floating market and then off to Hawaii on Tuesday. We have a two day layover there before going home.
The last couple of weeks we've been in the islands. We found our beach paradise on Koh Pha Nang and then went to Koh Tao to dive. We spent three nights on Koh Tao. Being the smaller and more remote of the islands, I thought it was going to be quiet but since this is the #1 place to dive in Thailand, everyone was there! We saw some amazing fire shows where they twirl fire. We even saw a three year old boy do it! And Gabriel finally got to experience his first ocean dive. We did two dives on one day. There was a rumor of a whale shark at a particular dive site so our captain changed the schedule last minute. We weren't the only ones with that idea so we ended up diving with a TON of people. It was kind of a mess underwater. Divers everywhere! There was no whale shark but we did see two banded sea snakes which were really cool. Gabriel had a great time too! The second dive was better....less people. We even went through a really cool swim through that was the highlight of our dive.
All in all, we really enjoyed our time in the islands. We can't wait to show you pictures! Now it's time to go shopping. See you all soon!
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