ITS

Mind the gap!

Published by Ms. Thirlwall on March 29, 2008 in Romania. 0 Comments

Today was a great day for our delayed travellers. We slept in, had a terrific breakfast at the hotel where they have been treating us like gold. We let the staff know that we had planned a Tube trip to Picadilly Circus and they packed us brown bag lunches! How cute! Our tube experience was thrilling and we all loved the repeated “mind the gap” reminders. Athough it rained we had a terrific time exploring some of the highlights of London. Beginning our journey with a walk through Green Park, stoppping in front of Buckinham Palace to see the changing of the gaurd, on to Westminister Abbey and Big Ben and finally finishing up at at the Circus! We all felt our time was short but sweet. There were many students talking about how they cannot wait to come back again soon…sorry parents, it appears they have caught the traveller bug!

We are all keeping our fingers crossed about tomorrows flight. After such a great day today, we are all feeling a bit apprehensive about what Heathrow holds tomorrow.

So, wish us luck and keep checking the airport updates!

Laurel

Peru on the wayhome

Published by Mr. Topping on March 29, 2008 in Peru. 0 Comments

Just a note to let you know that we have arrived safely in Toronto and should be home on schedule tonight. See you then.

Delayed

Published by Ms. Thirlwall on March 28, 2008 in Romania. 1 Comment

Hello families,

As most of you know by now, our flight home from London was cancelled by British Air. Today was a very stressful day trying to get arrangements made for another flight. We have been up for 15 hours, and were at the airport for over 8hours so please be patient with me and my bad typing today.

We have been booked on a flight Sunday BA 103 arriving in Calgary at 7:15pm. The Heathrow airport was a distaster today with numerous flights cancelled. We heard that 37 flights were cancelled yesterday alone, no idea how many today but needless to say it was a very unhappy place! The good news is we are together and everyone is ok…if a little travel weary…they are ok. BA has put us up at a Holiday Inn near the airport. They have paid for the hotel and our meals but for everything else, we have told the students to keep their receipts as you may be able to claims incidentals back to BA. As well I have a copy of their flight cancellation policy that I will give you when we get back so you can read it over.

Tonight the students just want to go to bed and in sleep in late. I have agreed as this has been one of the longer days in my life. Tomorrow at some point we will take the tube into downtown London for a walking tour of Big Ben, the Tower of London ect. For any specific questions about your child, please email me at lthirlwall@calgaryacademy.com

If you need to phone your children, the best way to do that would be to call the hotel at 0870 400 8595. What your children probably need from you are a few extra “pounds” on their bank cards to get them through the next few days. That would help them to buy phone cards to contact you and buy minutes for the internet and other things they are needing to get over their homesickness! They were all very excited to come home and see you all. Now we are excited for a short tour of London…and we are all making the best of it!

Laurel

Last Day in Peru

Published by Mr. Topping on March 28, 2008 in Peru. 0 Comments

It is morning in Lima. We arrived late last night. Since we have had many early morning starts and this is going to be a long day. Last night was the last in a bed until we get back to Calgary. The weather so far looks like what we has grown to expect, hot with a little bit of overcast, our luck continues.

We did a short tour of Iquitos prior to going to the airport last night. Iquitos was first established by a Jesuit priest in 1753. It was named after the local native tribe. The city had its first boom days during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s during the rubber days. With the use of more durable materials being used the rubber market fell. Today the major products are oil (a number of oil companies are in the area closer the border with Ecuador), wood, fish(they export many exotic fish), and of course tourism. There us a karge population of Chinese in Iquitos. They immigated during the rubber paantation days to work the plantations, similar to the amy who came to Canada to help build the railway. They stayed in Iquitios and have prosperred. It is different here in that the main vehicle of transportation is the motor cycle. Because there is not road route to Iquitos everything must be shipped in by boat, resulting in high costs. There are not that many busses considering the size of Iquitos, for the same reason. They are anticipating a further population growth as more oil companies move into the area.

Iquitos is the capital of the state, the largest in Peru. Because it borders on Ecuador and Columbia, they have both army, naval and airforce bases there. Iquitos has a mayor as well as a president, almost like a separate state. Our guide told us that at election time everyone must vote. When a person votes, they have a stamp put on their ID card which they carry with them. The person also puts a finger in a special ink (this occurs in many countries) to show that thay have voted. After the elction police are vigilant, and check people’s ID cards for the stamp. Without the stamp you can not travel, do banl transactions, etc. If you are caught without thestamp you can be picked up by the police and then fined. It is certainly a way to ensure that everyone votes. If a person is not politically minded and does not care, they can go to the voting station and spoil the ballot, however all spoiled ballots go to count for the person in power. Therefore even in cases where it would appear that a person does not care, they are still making a decision, a vote for the status quo.

When we arrived at the airport it took its usual time to complete the check in and pay the departure tax. The airport is hot. It is open air. The exterior walls do not go up to the ceiling. The fans do move the air somewhat but ….. When our plane arrives from Lima, it is almost like we are out there with it.

Today we will have a short city tour, lunch and then back to the hotel. We have a late check out 7PM. This afternoon we will possibly return to the open air mall that we were at when we were last here. It is about a 20 minute walk from our hotel. After we check out, we will store our bags here and go for supper, probably something with a North American flare, KFC, Pizza Hut, or Macdonalds, very Peruvian. We are picked up at 9 and then go to the airport for our 1 AM departure.

With leaving Iquitos it felt that our journey home had begun, and although it has been an amazing trip and sad to leave, it will be great to get home and share our experiences.

See you at airport on Saturday. If there is a possoblity I will try to blog from Toronto, if not,

Over and Out from Peru.

Three Days on the Amazon

Published by Mr. Topping on March 27, 2008 in Peru. 2 Comments

Greatings form Iquitos. It is about 1:00 on Thursday and we just arrived back in Iquitos - one of the largest cities in the world that is not accessible by road. It is by plane or by boat. Now for the news.

We arrived late on Monday night (it seems so long ago) and were met at the airport by Charlie, out transportation man in Iquitos. Our bags and ourselves were loaded up onto a bus that was mostly open, as the windows are only put up when it rains. The temperature was actually not to hot. We got on the boat and met outr guide, Segundo, who has been be doing this for 20 years. The knowledge that he would impart on the trip was invaluable. He was also able to spot iguanas and sloths at an amazing distance. On the first morning for those of us who were up early, we went for a boat ride to see what birds we could find at time of day. They are most active then and at night - smart to lay low during the heat of the day. The were cranes, hawks, macaws, terns, and numerous other ones of many colours whose names I will now need to check in a bird book. After breakfast we stopped at a very small village and did a walk into the jungle. A local man went ahead of us with his machete to make sure that the path was clear. Most of us a chance to play Tarzan and swing form a vine. Along the way he pointed out many types of flora and the uses of many of them. In the evening we went for a night boat ride ( please note that I am calling what we stayed on a boat and what we went for excursions a boat. one big, one small - hope it is not too confusing) along the shore and up a small tributary. We saw fireflies, glow owrms in the water, he was able to see and catch a couple of different types of frogs to show us. Suprising how such a small frog can make such a loud noise. When we stopped the motor it was magical the sounds of the might that yu could hear.

Second morning it was fishing for pirranah before breakfast. On the way we say a large iguana in a tree. We tried a couple of fishing spots. For some it was successful, for me they were well fed as they kept eating the bait at the end of my line. For bait we used small pieces of chicken from our boat as well as small pieces of fish that we got from a local fisherman that we passed on the river on the way to the fishing hole. The pirranah are attracted by blood. We also learned that they will eat each other. The teeth on them are small but sharp. Later in the day we went on a tour of a traditional village. They residents did some traditonal dances which included many of the students. It was hot in that structure but everyone had a good time. There will be many stories about this experience. After the dancing there was time to buy some of there handicrafts. A couple of students were able to trade t-shirts for items. From here we continued on to the residence of the artist Fransico Grippa, Peru´s world famous artist. He lives in a in a larger village. His house is large and has sveral floors, one of which includes his studio. He uses vibrant colour in all of his works. At the top of his house is at small turret, from where we were able to watch the sun set. It is easy to see where he gets some of his inspiration for his paintings. Some of the students purchase reprints of some of his work. Didn´t have enough cash in the pocket for the originals. That evening we started our return to Iquitos - now going upstream. As we went along we were able to see two sloths in the trees neat the shore. The benefits fo being on a boat that could hold about 50, but was only us, it made a quick u-turn in the river so that it could pull up closer. We were also able to spot several fresh water porpuses;white and pink. The evening sunsets each night were spectacular. The Southern Cross was very visible in the sky; I guess we really are in the southern hemisphere. The milky was so bright, with no light polution there really is a sky full of stars.

This morning we took a boat tour after breakfast. Taking tributary for about 20 minutes, we stopped where a second tributary entered. The water of the second was a dark, almost black colour, a contrast to the brownish water we had become accustomed to. The water is dark because it has slow currents and drains lakes far in the forest where the chemicals in the water dissolve and stain the water. It is here that the pink porpuses likes to hang out. We got to see a numbe of them. You have to be quick for they surface, breathe fairly quickly. As we continued up the scond tributary we were able to spot another sloth high in the trees. They are slow and lazy. Continuing on the number of birds we saw increased. Before we turned around we were also able to photograph two spider monkeys. Seeing animals in there true habitat is something that we will all remember and treasure. We also passed a base camp at which people can stay for 3 to 5 days in order to take wlkingf tours and boat tours on the tributary. Th firts explorers would likely have gotten lost now and again as I think it would be easy to take a wrong turn. Back the boat to continue up to Iquitos.

I know that there will be other facts, stories, and information that will come to me - or you will get it from the students upon our return. All I can add is it is an incredible experioence to cruise the river in the Amazon - especially in the type of weather we have had.

I will try to upadate again from Lima tomorrow. A reminder, we will be arriving in Calgary on Saturday about 8:30 on AC flight 153. See you then. Giles says she is fine if you have not received an email from her - she has had email problems.

Over and out from Iquistos, and see you soon.

We are her in what is still the rainy season. The river is very high and there are places that we can go now that will be well above the ater level during the dry season. Thuis must be a different pace then. Irrosion is also a problem in some areas. There was a small village that we saw, it was where we tied up the big boat before going out on the morning fishing trip, that has had to move its school becouse of it. You could easily see where parts of the bank has been worn away. it is much like a meandering river on the prairies,; somtimnes chooseing its own course.

Sitting at the front of the boat as we cruised along the river, several of us thought of the movie, ¨The African Queen¨, wrong continent and wrong river, but it had that feeling.

Sibu

Published by Ms. Thirlwall on March 26, 2008 in Romania. 2 Comments

Yesterday after our wonderful tour of Sighisoara, which many of the students and teachers attributed as their “favorite” town, we got back on our bus for a short drive to Sibu. This ancient city, one of the Seven Citadels in Romania was the cultural capital of Europe in 2007. The city has done much work to restore the fortifications and buildings. On our walking tour of the old city today we all marvelled at the 3 walls of defense that the citizens used to protect themselves from enemies. It was no wonder to us why the city was never conquered by the Turks despite all of the battles that were fought. We marvelled over the Austrian Baroque architecture of the cobble stone streets. We made our way through the old city to Brukenthal museum with its impressive collection of art. We have all come to appreciate art of all periods on this trip, from Byzantine to Renaissance we are beginning to spot the differences and you can hear the students walking through town, pointing out various buildings to each other and arguing about whether they are Baroque or Gothic and most often they get it right!

After our walking tour we took a short drive to the rural agricultural village of Sibiel. Although only 30 minutes from the city of Sibiel, the feel was entirely different. We passed a shepherd dressed in a traditional coat made of sheeps’ hair watching over his herd. We have become accustom to seeing horses and wagons as this is still the most available means of transportation and tool for the small farmers. They are seen side by side with new vehicles sharing the highways! In Sebiel we had lunch at at local farmers home. The lady of the house made us the most delicious meal including our favorite Sarmales and had 2 of our students dress up in her traditional clothing to serve dessert. After lunch we had a tour of the glass icon museum where we admired yet another form of art so different from what we had seen just that morning. We finished our visit with a brief stop in their local Orthodox church which was very intimate as it was smaller than the monasteries of Moldova but just as beautifully painted inside. You could just imagine the sense of community. Sebiel was definitely a place where everyone knows their neighbors and looks out for one another.

Tonight is our last night in Sibu before heading back to Bucharest and we will be celebrating one of our students, John’s birthday! The students have had many discussion about how fast the trip as gone. We are sad to think that we are leaving this wonderful country so soon, yet excited to see our loved ones and share our adventures!

See you soon…

Laurel

Greetings from Sighisoara

Published by Ms. Thirlwall on March 25, 2008 in Romania. 2 Comments

Well it is only a bit ironic to find ourselves in the medieval citadel of Sighisoara built in the 14th century, the birth town of Vlad the Impaler and we finally have Internet access again! We have had an incredibly busy past few days and there is much to catch you up on so I will endeavour to keep it brief but I can’t promise as we have seen so much!

Day 8 had us drive from Brasov to Rasnov, and hike up hill to a peasant fortress built by the Saxons in the 14th century. This fortification was very well preserved and the students loved imagining the people who had once walked inside the walled old town. From Rasnov we continued on to the famous town of Bran and the Bran castle. This is the castle most often referred to when thinking of Dracula but in truth, Vlad the Impaler never did live in this castle. It was once owned by his ancestor and he did fight against the Turks in this area. Bran castle was built to protect the mountain pass but was most loved by the Romania Queen Marie (1875–1938) who spent many summers there and even asked that her heart be buried in a shrine overlooking the castle! After our tour of the castle the students were treated to some time in the large market place where they improved on their bartering skills and acquired many Romanian treasures.

From Bran it was back to Brasov for supper in a Chinese restaurant (yes they have these in Romania!). After dinner we were off to the train station for the first leg in our journey by rail. The students were very apprehensive about the train station as it held all walks of life but Radu our guide was excellent at finding the right track to get us on the proper train. We boarded a sleeper train early in the evening and the students have many comical stories about trying to cram their luggage and themselves into these small cars. The sleeper car was in excellent shape and once organized we did manage to get some sleep. Unfortunately we woke at 3am to switch trains for the rest of our journey. We all learned why travelling with a backpack rather than a suitcase is ideal for travel by train as we had to get off our first train and hike across gravel to get to the station! Soon enough our second train arrived and we were off again to the northern province of Moldova and the painted monasteries. To say that the travel by train was an experience our students won’t soon forget would be an understatement! But they were all excited to travel as so many Europeans do and many commented that now they know they could do it again!

Upon our arrival in Moldova we were greeted by a coach that took us the rest of the way to Sucevita and our hotel. The student ate and took a much needed nap, weary as they were from the train ride! We awoke and headed out to the first of the three painted monasteries, Sucevita Monastery built in 1582. The students were overwhelmed by the beauty of the frescoes that adorn not only the interior but the exterior. We all marvelled at how well preserved the frescoes are and Radu explained that the secret has been lost but it is believed that the paint may have contained honey to help with its preservation. In the afternoon the students had the opportunity to visit a Marginea village famous for its pottery. They each had a turn at the potting wheel making their masterpieces to bring home. They also picked up many treasure at great prices! The next morning we were up to visit two more monasteries Voronet and Moldovita. Voronet is known for its gorgeous blue colour that is predominant as well as its depiction of the Last Judgement.

Yesterday we woke early to begin our bus ride south. The students soon realized why travel by train in this part of the country is preferred over travel by road. The road in the north are completely under construction. Romania is a country eager to progress and their roadways were not improved under Communist rule. Therefore the highway are in pre-1950 condition and disrepair. The process of road repairs have begun but as a very slow pace as labourers are hard to find in this very rural area. Many labourers from Romania move to other parts of Europe to work where wages are still much hirer. Much of the time, our bus could not go faster than 50 kms an hour! We spend a gruelling 12 hours travelling yesterday to make it as far as Sighisoara stopping only for breaks, to stretch and eat! On the last stretch of our journey, our bus blew its fan belt and an alternate bus had to be found to drive us the rest of the way. Everyone was fine but we miss our driver Dorian who will be joining us again today once the bus is fixed!

We arrived in the Sighisoara, the best preserved medieval town in Europe around 8:30 last night to gorgeous snow falling in the lights of the old town. The students and teachers marvelled as we climbed up hill in our coach and drove through the citadel walls to enter the town. The sight and feeling of this beautiful place is very hard to describe. We had a wonderfully relaxing night in our hotel the Casa Wagner, a huge old house that has been converted into a hotel. Somehow, this place feels very much like a home away from home for both students and teachers on the trip. As I write, the students are exploring the citadel including the Clock Tower, The Torture Room, and the Covered Staircase. We will eat lunch later today in the home that was the birth place of Vlad Dracula. We love it here!

Happy belated Easter to all of you back in Canada. And thank-you again for your blog comments. To Grandma Henning in particular, James and all of us on the trip love your comments and we most certainly have given him a “cyber-hug” for you!

Laurel

Hello from Lima

Published by Mr. Topping on March 24, 2008 in Peru. 5 Comments

We are currently in Lima. But let us go back a day. Sunday was a relaxing last day in Cusco. We broke into groups and headed to the main square, about a 10 minute walk from were we stayed. It is again a sunny day but not too hot. The city is made up of mainy narrow streets, main paved with cobble stones. In the square at 10 there was a parade, very military based. It occurs every Sunday. Parade, speeches,some dancers - quite an occasion. There are also many shops around the square and on the streets that lead onto it. The economy had a bit of a spike today. By about noon we made our wsy back to the hotel in order to be ready to leave for lunch a local restaurant. The meal was chicken with fries, a meal that locals often come in for. The pieces of chicken were huge. After luch we started a walking tour of the downtown. First we stopped at the oldestr Roman Cathalic church in Cusco. The architectures was influenced throughout it construction as it took over 80 years to build and there were several bishops who as they came from Europe, brought differeing ideas as things changed in Europe. The carving are very inticate and from the features and what was carved you can tell that it wa done by local artisans, not ones from Europe. The bishops allowed this in order to have the Incas´s and other local peoples to feel comnfortable in the church. The idea was to get the people into the church in order to chritianize them. There was some overlapping with the Peruvians previous beliefs. The gold that covers many of the alters was from the looting of the Inca cities. The walls around many of the cities, Cuso was one of those, had gold on top of the walls. This gold was removed and used in the churches. We also walked along the remaing walls of the city that not for an alley. The stones fit together and no mortar is used. These walls have withstood earthquakes. We visited the local museum that contains original living quarters, similar to those that we have at all the sites. The building that houses them has been destroyed twice by earthquakes, the Inca built structures are still solid.

Our next stop was avfter a short bus ride to the top of the hill in Cusco. There we saw the head of the puma. Bcak when we first arrived in Cusco I mentioned that a street we wenrt along was the tail of the puma. The structure is very large and one stone is estimated to be over 100 tons. It had to be have moved about 3 miles to get there. Our guide talked about the way it was most likely moved. Trees were not used as rollers - no knowledge of wheel - they were used as skids. We also say the statue of Christ that is above the city. A close distance from here is where many of the goods sold in town, and elsewhere are made. Woops, another spike in the local economy. Some students did not have their money with them, but you could buy and then pay at the hotel. When there it was also explained us how to recognize alpaca material from that which is not or which is a blend. Some probably checked previous purchases upon returning to the hotel.

Dinner was at the Inca Wall restaurant, quite upscale. The food tasty and there was a great variety. Students were able to go up and select what they wanted, and go again. The desserts were delicious. The restaurant got its name because there is a section of one wall in the restaurant that is still the original Inca wall of the city.

The sad part was we had to say good bye to our guide Jose, who has been with us since we arrived in Cusco. The students became very attached to him and he worked well with them. He told us that generally his groups are 60 plus and it was a pleasant change to have a young and energetic group.

Now to today, Monday. We are over half way through the trip. Today we left Cusco about 10 AM and flew to Lima. It is an interesting flight over the Andes, as it was broken cloud most of the way. It is about 82 F in Lima and humid. With a 5 hour lay over, we have left the airport to go to an open air mall. It has may stores that one would recognize. It over looks the ocean so if you do not want to shop you can just lool. Lunc was a chicken meal. We leave for the airport again in about 30 minutes and then on to Iquitos. Lima is in considered to a dessert for it gets about 1 and a half inches of rain per year. All the greenery we see is irrigated. The slopes along the road we drove are irrigated by under ground pipes the trickle water out slowly.

All is well and now off to the Amazon tributary area. I am not sure of the availability of the internet as we will be on a boat so I may be silent until next Thursday night or Friday morning. We are all looking forward to a new experience. Everyone says hello, even if they do not write.

Til next time, over on out.

Final Day in Maputo

Published by Mr. Beaton on March 23, 2008 in South Africa and Mozambique. 3 Comments

Well, today was somewhat bitter sweet. Today we say goodbye to Maputo.

Our day began quite early as we embarked to the Island of Inhacca. This island lies 37KM off the coast of Mozambique in the Indian Ocean. The boat ride to the island takes approximately 90 minutes. Unfortunately, we woke up to rain this morning. This was unfortunate after the beautiful day we experienced yesterday. But, this did not seem to deter the group. And, the rain stopped just as we began our drive to the boat.

The journey to the island was not too rough and everyone made it without incident. The island is inhabited by very few people and the village is very tiny. However, it is somewhat of a backpacker desitnation and a deep sea fishing destination. So, the locals are very happy to welcome visitors. Our students tried their best to part with their remaining Mozambican currency and found a few treasures on shore.

After walking down the main street (not very far) the students were treated to a wonderful seafood lunch. I’m happy to report that all of the students (except those who are allergic) ate the seafood.

After lunch it was basically time to get back on the boat for the return voyage. However, this time we were not so lucky with the calm seas. Apparently, the Indian Ocean can get very rough. But, not to fear, everyone kept their lunch down. After arriving back in Maputo we had a quick rest at the hotel and then out for our final dinner. It was a really nice supper with a choice of beef, chicken or fish. You can guess what the majority of students picked as their supper. After supper it was time to say goodbye to our guide, Jorge, and our driver, Arone. The kids have grown very fond of both of them and it was a bit sad to say goodbye.

Tomorrow we begin the next leg of our adventure as we travel to Kruger National Park. I am unsure of how reliable the Internet access is going to be when we are in Kruger. I will try my best to find some access but thought you should all be aware of this so as not to worry, if you don’t hear from us.

Everyone take care. Thank you for your wonderful comments and I hope the Easter bunny visited everyone, Sean

Easter Sunday Greetings from Peru

Published by Mr. Topping on March 23, 2008 in Peru. 1 Comment

As I write it is Easter Sunday morning, 8:30ish, in the city of Cusco. Let´s go back to yesterday.

Saturday. We got up early - seems to be a bit of a theme these past few days. We caught the 5:30 bus to take us back up to Cusco. There are actually a numbe of buses as there are many who wish to be there when it opens. At that time of day it is a very peaceful setting as the daylight begins to break. There are clouds that cover many parts of the structures and the mountains that surround us. Structures and appear and then may dissappear again. Mountain peaks appear above the banks of cloud. Early morning at Machu Pichu is quite mystical. We begin our tour of the site. From parts of some strutures we can see that it was a city that was not completed as the stones have not all been smoothed down. The quarry that they used was on site, but moving and cutting the stones must have quite a feat. The stones are fitted together in manner that would make a prsent day stone mason proud - and the Inca´s tools would have been very primative. The terraces that one sees at this site would have been for decorative and structual support only. The agricultural sites at any of the sites we have seen are not part of the urban structure. Our time here passes much to quickly. We need to head down to catch our train to start our journey to Cuso. The train raid allows for some extra sleep over the two hour ride. The train runs on narrow gage rails. We leave the train where we had first got on. We tour a local Inca site that ove looks the river. It is at a bend in the river so that it served as look out. It too shows signs of not being completed. There are many theories as why the people left; disease, lack of food, Spaniards - or a combination of all these things. We then have lunch in a local restaraunt. One last stop before Cusco. The site of Moray. At first glance one would mistake for an amphitheatre as one looks down into it. It is a series of terraces that go down into a large depression. The Incas planted potatoes here and although the height difference between terraces may only be about 5 to 6 feet, each level had a slightly different temperature pattern. We are at an altitude of 3600m.

Now off to Cuso. Football, or as we know it as soccer, is very popular. We pass many children playing¨street football¨. Our place off stay is a great Hostel which is morn like a small hotel with a very friendly and helpful owner, who is originally from France. Our meal last night was a restaraurntlooking out onto the main square from the second story of the building. The meal again was excellent and the students could select from a great variety of choices. The evening even got better as the entertainment came out. Traditinal music, flutes, small guitars, dancers. Some of the students even became part of the act. Quinn, Cam, and Garrett are ones with stories to tell as well as others. Then is was back to hotel for well diserved rests after several busy and long days.

Today, Sunday, we plan a qiet morning with tours this afternoon. I will try to update tonight as tomorrow we are off to the Amazon area. We will be on a boat so I may not be able to update for awhile.

The weather continues to on our side.

Until the next report, over and out.

Trips