Ruins in the Remaining Hours

Today is our last morning with the Goodwin family.  Tonight they fly back to the U.S. Aimee really wanted to visit the Tulum Ruins and we managed to squeeze in a visit in their final hours with us. We had been to these ruins on our last visit to Quintana Roo.  I was only 3 years old at the time and I don’t remember anything.

Tulum was a Mayan seaport that traded mostly turquoise and jade.  I didn’t find the buildings very impressive but their location was amazing.  The buildings are perched on the edge of cliffs overlooking the clear aquamarine ocean.  The openings in the wall that surround the ruins are very small especially for four adults.  You can walk down the stairs to the beach.  We only had time for a short swim before the Goodwins had to leave. Adios amigos!  We also had to get to Spanish class, which will be in the afternoons this week.
- Brook 

Departing Dreams

We’ve had a very satisfying week at Dreams with the Goodwin family.  Brook enjoyed having unlimited time with Azor.  We appreciated the leisurely lifestyle – the ability to catch up with our friends after 10 months, enjoy the ocean and incorporate exercise into our everyday routine.  All of the employees were friendly and pleased to entertain our desire to work on Spanish.

John’s parents, Carl and Laurie, have been on our minds during our travels in the Mayan Riviera, especially during this week at the resort.  Our only other all inclusive resort experiences have been with them so it felt strange for them to not be here with us. We missed hearing Carl’s stories and laughing together over a leisurely dinner or a game of cards, which has been a family vacation ritual. 

We really appreciated the quality of the gardens on the grounds at Dreams.  There was a Henequen Agave plantation that we walked by on a regular basis from our room to the beach.  It was lit up at night and beautiful.  From the interpretive placard, we learned that this particular agave plant is used for fiber but what about tequila and agave syrup?  We did some research and learned . . .

Afternoon in Akumal

This afternoon we brought snorkel gear to Akumal Bay in hopes of seeing sea turtles. To get there from the resort we took our first colectivo.  Colectivos are van taxis that pick people up on the roadside as long as they have available seats left, very similar to “tro tros” or “bush taxis” in West Africa but far nicer and newer. 

Immediately upon arriving at Akumal we saw how popular this bay has become since we were there with John’s family in 2003.  There’s about ten times more people and activity than when we were here nine years ago.  There is also a Centro Ecologico that’s trying to manage all the visitors in a way that will preserve the habitat for the juvenile sea turtles that live in the bay year round.

We watched a video at the Centro Ecologico and learned that (1) sea grass is the turtles’ primary food, (2) snorkelers significantly disturb the grass at the bottom of this shallow bay simply by getting vertical and kicking their fins to keep their head above the surface, (3) some snorkelers dive down to get too close to the turtles, harass them or even grab them.  For these reasons snorkelers are implored to wear life jackets.

After negotiating a price for life jackets and heading into the bay, we quickly started seeing the juvenile green turtles munching away on the bottom sea grass.  Not just one or two, but several.  What an enjoyable experience to be swimming along and come across sea turtles over and over.  Regularly they would come up to the surface and we would see their cute heads above the water.  Occasionally we would have to back paddle a bit to be sure to be sure the turtles wouldn’t bump into us as they were surfacing.

On top of one of the turtles there was a green fish that appeared to be cleaning the turtle.  We also saw one of the largest puffer fish that we have seen on our trip.  The coral is not looking healthy at all, however.  There are about 12,000 people that snorkel in Akumal Bay annually, which seems to be adversely impacting the ocean environment.  As much as we enjoyed seeing the turtles, it is hard not to feel bad about contributing to the stress on this delicate ecosystem.  Often the negative effects on natural resources from overuse are not evident until they are irreversible.

Tankah Tour

Guest author Azor Goodwin in blue

Dictated by Azor with editing by The Travelin’ Trio:  Yesterday we took a motorboat on a guided snorkeling trip out to two areas in Tankah Bay.  At the first stop, we saw colorful fish, big pieces of brain coral, a stingray, starfish, and a green sea turtle – very cool!  At the second stop, there was a layer of fresh water over the salt water.  We couldn’t see well unless we dove below the fresh water.  Sammy got a big mouth full of water and was done snorkeling.  Brook and I went back to the boat with him and talked to the Captain about his shark sitings.  The scariest one that he has seen was a large bull shark. His favorite thing to see is large sea turtles.  The guide found two lion fish, which we later learned are poisonous.  Mom and Eydie followed a flounder and saw part of a hiding lobster.

Coatimundi

Now Eydie:  The group minus Brook took a walk on the beach this afternoon to find the Manatee Cenote.  Dani Ligett, the guidance counselor at Marion Cross School, told us about this one.  On the beach, we saw another coatimundi.  We also saw the house that Dani rents when she comes to Tankah.

Manatee Cenote is very long and narrow.  John and I rented a kayak and paddled through the mangroves.  The water was so clear that you could see fish from the kayak.  John didn’t even have to get his ear wet.

The kids had another decadent evening with a room service dinner and a movie and John and I had a date at the French Restaurant, the only restaurant that does not allow kids.

We are starting to work on our plan for next week. We are likely to stay in Tulum and take another week of Spanish lessons with Nelly.

Getting Into the Resort Routine

The two of us are enjoying a morning yoga class on the beach.  Yoga is something we very rarely push ourselves to do on our own even though we love going to classes.  We have done no yoga on this round the world trip despite our early intentions, so having a class available to us here is a treat.  Here are some of the other things we’ve been enjoying at this resort: sunrise over the Caribbean, tennis for the first time in many years, running on the beach, Aimee’s stretching or aqua exercise class, smoothie bar, a Spanish lesson, ping pong tournaments, sailing, mojitos, margaritas, and all you can eat!

The three boys are spending lots of time playing king of the hill on an inflated climbing contraption floating in the water.  They are also enjoying the independence of running around on their own together, having free reign, ordering food and drinks anytime, hopping from one activity to the next.  The three of us came up with these ground rules for Brook: no leaving resort boundaries, no television during the day, no more than two smoothies plus one sweet treat per day, and always clearly say por favor and gracias.

Living the "Goodwin" Life

Eydie: As a fitness trainer, Aimee is part of an organization that places instructors at international resorts to teach classes for a week or two.  She will be teaching two classes a day at Dreams Tulum in exchange for staying at this all-inclusive resort with her family. Throughout the course of our travels, Brook has spent a limited amount of time with kids his age. We decided that we would join the Goodwins at the resort to give Brook an opportunity to romp around with his good buddy Azor and for us to enjoy the good company of Aimee and Mark.

Brook and I took a taxi to Dreams Tulum on our own.  I forgot to grab some pesos from John, our human wallet.  My impression of Dreams was off to a positive start when one of the porters lent me 200 pesos out of his own pocket to pay for the taxi.

Brook, Azor and Sammy spent their first evening in decadent style, ordering room service dinner and watching a movie in bed.  Meanwhile, the adults went to the Seaside Grill to celebrate Mark and Aimee’s 13th anniversary.

Azor’s First Impression:  When we first got to Dreams, they walked up to us with champagne and Shirley Temples.  We checked in and the guy took all of our bags and walked us to our room.  When we opened the door, I thought this is one of the best rooms that I have ever stayed in.  It became the best room when the bellboy told me that there is a refrigerator full of Coke, Fanta and Sprite that gets refilled every morning.

John:  Brook and Eydie have each been to a hospital emergency room on our round the world journey.  Today it was my turn.  First thing this morning I visited the doctor here at the resort to have him examine my ear.  I’ve been suffering from a significant, chronic earache for 4-5 days now.  Upon examination the doctor recommended I see the ear, nose and throat specialist at the hospital in Playa del Carmen.  The resort doctor was concerned that the infection had gotten into my middle ear and believed I would have to have the eardrum pierced. (Yikes!)  So Eydie and I were off to Playa del Carmen in a van driven by a paramedic to see the specialist.  En route to Playa we had a good Spanish class with the driver.  To my great relief, the specialist in Playa found that it was just a bad case of swimmer’s ear.  He vacuumed all of the gunk out of my ear (third time in my life I’ve had this odd experience), gave me a prescription for two different antibiotic eardrops, and instructed me to stay out of the water for four days.  I’m relieved with the diagnosis and prognosis, disappointed that I have to avoid water for most of my beach & pool resort experience here, but not depressed by it since I’ve had more than my share of beaches and pools this year.

Just as we were with Brook’s trip to the ER in Hanoi and with Eydie’s in Bali, we are again delighted to have been able to see a qualified, English speaking doctor in a high quality international clinic.  Now let’s see if we can avoid the need for medical care for our final four months prior to our return home.

Chillaxing at Xamach Dos

At Xamach Dos we did a lot of “chillaxing” as Azor and other friends in Norwich would say. There were hammocks in the central restaurant palapa that were comfortable.  We especially enjoyed their specialty drink made with jamaica (hibiscus flowers) and pineapple juice.

Mom, Aimee, and I went out on an exploratory snorkeling expedition yesterday morning. Mom and I swam and Aimee paddled a kayak.  We found patches of coral and returned to get everyone else and eat lunch.

When we went out again, it was really windy and there was a strong current pulling us out to sea.  On the way back, Dad and Sammy were in a single kayak that flipped when Aimee was getting on.  Both my camera and Aimee’s camera got wet and stopped working even though they were in plastic bags.  Luckily we still have Dad’s camera.  Overall our second expedition wasn’t very successful.  Sammy and Azor still haven’t seen any coral.
- Brook

Today was the final day of our four-day Sian Ka’an bike ride.  We rode back to Tulum from Xamach Dos.  This was our longest ride but it turned out to be easier than the two segments in reverse.  We left Xamach Dos at 9:30 am and arrived in Tulum at 2:30 pm.  After returning the rental bikes we taxied to Dreams Tulum where Aimee will be teaching fitness classes and we will be spending a decadent week “resorting” with the Goodwin’s.

Several people including those that rent bicycles in Tulum strongly suggested that it would be better and possibly cheaper to rent a car and not ride bicycles into the Reserve.  Having ridden bikes in lesser-developed parts of the world, we decided to ignore their advice and now we are glad that we did!

Ten Miles, Not Minutes

All seven of us were signed up for a morning kayak tour yesterday but for one reason or another everyone bailed except for me.  I paddled in Caapechen Lagoon with a guide and another couple.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself, learning about the bird life and the four types of mangroves – white, black, red and gray.  It was fascinating to watch the crabs aerate the soil, which enables the mangroves to access fresh water.  After crossing the lagoon, I parked in front of a tremendous nest and had a long solo viewing of an osprey.

We made our way through narrow mangrove channels.  It was a fun challenge to steer my kayak through these canals, one that the kids would have enjoyed.  We paddled to what is appropriately named, Bird Island.  There are numerous small islands in the lagoon but this is the only one that birds have selected as their nesting ground.  We marveled at the ibis’, frigates, and several types of herons including a very small one that was new to me.  This is the end of the breeding season and many of the birds have already started migrating north.  The frigates were especially fun to watch take off and land, as they don’t have any legs.

Then a storm came upon us.  It was everything I could do to hold on to my paddle while heading into the fierce wind and torrential rain as we made our way back from the furthest point on the tour.

We left Cesiak casually around 3 pm in the blistering sun.  The dirt road kept getting progressively worse.  As the hours wore on, all of us started to wonder if we had passed Xamach Dos, our place to stay for the next two nights.  In his email to us, the owner wrote that Xamach Dos is located just ten minutes beyond Cesiak.  We eventually discovered that he meant to type ten miles, not ten minutes!

Finally we came to a sign that said Xamach on a locked gate.  Aimee and I walked around the gate despite John and Mark’s strong recommendation that we heed the sign that stated Do Not Enter.  Fortunately, we found a kind woman who directed us to the next property.

Ten miles may not seem particularly tough, but on a very potholed and muddy road, in high heat and humidity, and when one is expecting it to be considerably shorter, a ten-mile ride can be quite challenging for kids without a lot of riding experience.  Including a half hour stop at the Reserve’s visitor center, it took us over three hours.  The Goodwin boys were exhausted but they were real troopers on this second day of riding.  For the last third, Mark and John had the added challenge of riding Rosa without a seat since the seat post was damaged from being raised too high.
- Eydie

Four Flats in 24 Hours!

Centro Ecologico Sian Ka’an (CESiaK) Biosphere Reserve is a 1.3 million acre protected UNESCO World Heritage Site, the largest protected area in the state of Quintana Roo.  We are going to do a four-day, self supported bicycle trip in the Reserve.  We will be riding along the Boca Paila Peninsula, a narrow strip of land with a road that extends for approximately 56 kilometers from Tulum to Punta Allen.  There are beaches on one side of the peninsula and protected wetlands and mangrove lagoons on the other.  Our plan is to spend the first night in the Cesiak tent cabins, which are about 15 kilometers from Tulum.  The next day we will continue riding towards Punta Allen to Xamach Dos for two nights.  On Sunday we will ride all the way back to Tulum.

All afternoon we tried to let the tour begin but we were plagued with flat tires.  It started on Wednesday night with the flat that Sammy got in the driving rain while we were riding to dinner in the dark.  After dinner, Aimee got hers while riding double with Sammy (Mexican style) on our way home.  Of course we didn’t have any extra tubes or tools with us.  John offered to speed walk both of their bikes back to the hotel while Aimee and Sammy rode double on his bike.  Yesterday, there were more flats. We went to install a rear rack on one of the bikes at our hotel and it had a flat tire as well.  While Marco changed the tire, we went to exchange Aimee’s bike for the other one at Nelly’s house. Surprise!  That bike had a flat tire as well!  At 5:30 pm, four repaired flat tires later, Aimee, Sammy, Azor, Brook and I began our trip into Sian Ka’an.  We were pleased to roll into Cesiak just before dark two hours later.  The 360 degree view from the top of the restaurant was stunning; aquamarine ocean to the east and green lagoon or bay to the west.

Coatimundi

John:  Since we had not heard from Mark Goodwin by 5:00 pm and could not let him know how to get himself to Cesiak to meet us, I volunteered to wait at the bus station and bike with him once he arrived.  I didn’t know which bus he would be on, or if he would show up at all that evening.  I was thinking I best get myself on the road by 7:00 pm.
So I was glad to see him get off the bus at 6:35.  Once in the Reserve, in the twilight we saw a critter with a distinctive shape crossing the dirt road.  It looked familiar to me but it took some online research to recall that the animal is a coatimundi, which Eydie and I saw plenty of in Costa Rica years ago.

John:  On another note, two nights ago I developed an earache and couldn’t sleep well.  Yesterday my case of swimmer’s ear got worse, so I started using eardrops and a course of azithromycin to stop the infection.  This combination worked for me in Fiji, stopping the infection quickly.  No such luck this time.  Last night I had a fever and the ear wept a bit of fluid.  It’s still fairly painful and annoying.  I’d like an ear doctor to examine it but I’ve no good ideas on how to make that happen soon.  We are now in a remote location, Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, a one-hour bicycle ride from the town of Tulum.  I am guessing that the nearest ENT practice is in the area of Cancun, a two hour drive by private car, or more by public bus.  Adding to my concern is that today is Friday.  Specialist care may not be available tomorrow or the next day.  I’m not sure what to do.

Brook:  Azor, Sammy, Aimee, Mom and I didn’t see a coatimundi but we came across a really long line of leaf cutter ants.  The line stretched for about 100 feet and then swerved off the road further than we could see.  This is the first time we’ve seen leaf cutters in the wild.  The only other place that we have seen them is the Montshire Museum in Norwich. 

Much Ado About Bicycles

To get around town this week we have been renting beach cruisers, one-speed bicycles with coaster brakes, from our hotel. We also have been looking for bikes for all seven of us (4 Goodwin's + 3 of us) that will be good for riding into the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve. Aimee came up with the idea of traveling in the Reserve by bicycle and Eydie especially latched onto it.

Finding the right bicycles has been harder and more time consuming than we had guessed. Availability of anything beyond beach cruisers is quite limited. The irony of this bicycle experience is that we were able to find more used bikes of higher quality and more bike accessories in Ghana.  Tulum would certainly benefit from a relationship with Bikes Not Bombs.

We’re not sure how the cruisers will do when they are loaded with gear.  The road from Tulum to Punta Allen is only 35 miles but we keep hearing how very rough it can be.  We looked into buying some used bikes but determined that we were not likely to be able to re-sell them. 

After trying bikes at two shops, we determined that the bikes at our hotel are the most comfortable and the most durable.  The hotel owner, Marco, has agreed to rent them to us for a good price for our four-day adventure to Sian Ka’an.  These bikes don’t have front baskets or back racks so we went back to the bike shops to get them outfitted.  We ended up being directed to small operations that were a challenge to locate.  We had to go from person to person for directions, gradually making our way to the right spot.  This made for an interesting opportunity to explore non-touristy neighborhoods and test our Spanish skills.

The bikes that Nelly and Marco rent are too big for Sammy.  He picked up a small kid’s mountain bike that fits him at Braulio’s bike shop.  Braulio has two bikes that he has made into grown up tricycles. The tricycles have a big basket between the two back wheels that is perfect for carrying our bags.  We decided to rent one of these and trade off riding it on our trip.

Riding Rosa
Our tricycle is bright pink (rosa).  Its name has evolved from the Pink Piranha to Rosa el Jaguar to Rosa el Jaguar Borracho (drunken).  Rosa is a beast to ride, always lurching to the left. We had two days of hard rain creating massive puddles making navigating on bicycles fun and the tricycle a chore.  Here are some of our first impressions of riding Rosa:

The Goodwins Are Here!

Yesterday was our first day with the Goodwins!  We had a super busy day.  We started off with a special shorter Spanish class to give the Goodwins a taste of what we have been doing.  It was a lot of fun doing the games and stuff we had been doing all week with six of us.  We learned restaurant and food related words and phrases. Spanish ended at noon.

For lunch we went to a quesadilla puesto (a stand or small room open to the street where you eat) that Nelly recommended to us.  The lunch was interesting because it was a real Mexican place but we’ve had better food in Tulum.

Meet the Goodwins

Bikes are the best way to get around Tulum. Because Sammy didn’t have one that fit him, he had to ride double with Aimee.  He sat on the back of the bike while Aimee stood up and pedaled.
- Brook

We returned to Nelly’s in the evening for a cooking class.  We brought four Calabasitas – a tiny squash somewhat like a round zucchini – and we learned how to prepare a yummy vegetable stew.  The dish was flavored with epazote, an herb that the Aztecs used for cooking and for medicinal purposes.  Mexicans continue to use it to season a variety of dishes and to relieve gassiness from eating beans.

La Alberca

Balam (means jaguar in Mayan!)

Since yesterday it feels more like we are studying Spanish at a school and not just at Nelly’s house. Starting this week, there is a student from Belgium that Mauricio is teaching.  Nelly's kids are also back in school after a two-week break.

This afternoon Mauricio, Max (age 9) and Balam (age 5) came over to swim at our pool (la alberca).  The pool toys that we bought at the supermarket were a big hit. Spending time with Nelly’s family is always enjoyable. It’s a great opportunity to learn about the area and to practice our Spanish with slow and patient speakers. This time we added a lagoon within easy biking distance to our list of places to check out.

Max and Mauricio playing with us in la alberca

Mexican Mealtime

Tulum Pueblo is quiet on Sunday afternoons.  We had a hard time finding a restaurant that was open for lunch.  The Mexican meal schedule is a little different from ours.  This has messed us up a little.  They have a small breakfast in the morning and then go all the way until 2 or 3 pm without eating much and then have their biggest meal of the day.  Then they have another light meal around 8 or 9 pm.

In the late afternoon, Brook and I got out for a run together exploring some of the side streets and it felt very safe.  I’m excited that my knee is responding well to running and I love doing it with Brook.

By the time we biked back into town for dinner, the Pueblo was alive again.  Brook realized that he left his hat and his sunglasses at the bakery where we had lunch.  Mauricio, our Spanish instructor’s husband, told us that bikes will quickly be snatched away here if you don’t lock them up but all other things are far less susceptible to theft.  Brook was relieved that what Mauricio said held true and the owner of the bakery had his things.  We had a pleasurable and satisfying dining experience at an Italian restaurant, chatting at length in Spanish with the owner.

- Eydie and Brook

An Afternoon with La Familia de Nelly

Today was awesome!  After our Spanish class, we biked to Cenote Escondido and Cenote Cristal with Nelly and her family.  Nelly's family doesn't have a car.  They get around town on their tricycle and use public transportation when they need to go further.  Every time they take it out of their fenced yard, they have to turn it on its side to drag through the gate.  Mauricio is the primary tricycle rider and he doesn't seem bothered by the fact that the bicycle is way too small for him and that the seat tilts to the side.

Cenotes are natural sinkholes that form when the limestone bedrock erodes and collapses exposing the groundwater.  Cenote Escondido (hidden cenote) looked like a pond with a small cliff on one side.  The very clear water allowed us to see the bottom of the cenote when snorkeling.  There was a rope swing on the side with the small cliff.  It was fun swinging into the water.
- Brook

Another Satisfying Day

Tree shower in Nelly's house

Yesterday was another very satisfying day. Learning Spanish is an important aspect of this satisfaction for me.  For many years, I have dreamed of getting my junior high Spanish (enhanced by sporadic travel) over the hump, of becoming more conversant by doing what we are doing now.  Also creating opportunities for Brook to have at least a second language is high on our parenting to do list.  We’ve been trying to make it happen in Vermont since Brook was three, with minor success.  So here we are in Tulum and it is wonderful to be fulfilling my dream as a threesome.

Three hours of “classroom” learning is as much as the three of us are able to handle at this point.  We are establishing a nice rhythm to our days.  After class, we biked the short distance to Tulum Pueblo for lunch and then continued on to the beach.  We were considering a move to a beach-front hotel but determined that we valued the convenience of our current location and decided to stay here for eight days when our friends from Norwich, the Goodwin’s, arrive.

Cool shell faucet, too

We are planning to tour Sian Ka’an (1.3 million acres of protected coastal wetlands) by bicycle with Brook’s friend Azor, beginning next Wednesday.  Yesterday and today we are working on securing the bicycles.  This has and will to continue to provide us with fun opportunities to challenge our Spanish comprehension and vocabulary.

We ended up at a Vietnamese restaurant last night.  Sadly, it was similar to the bland food we had in Vietnam.  We were hoping that we would get a better impression of Vietnamese food.  I’m sure we’ll keep trying Vietnamese food.

Capoeira lesson

This evening we had a Capoeira lesson with Nelly’s husband, Mauricio, and her 9-year-old son, Max.  Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art. It is the only martial art of the Americas.  We learned about Capoeira and how to do it in Spanish, which was easier than it, sounds.  The African slaves devised Capoeira that disguised escape techniques using dance accompanied by music.  We had fun and appreciated the work out.  We enjoyed watching Max do his acrobatic moves such as no-handed cartwheels and Chinese splits.

Happy Day!

Our first day of Spanish class and it was wildly successful.  Everything is falling into place really well.  We are happy with our hotel and through blind luck it happens to be around the corner from our school.  Brook was a little nervous going into our first class since he didn’t know any of the answers to the questions in the on-line placement quiz.   Of course, this didn’t matter because the three of us are in a private class.  We arranged classes through the Instituto Chac-Mool.  Their main campus is in Cuernavaca but they have recently opened up a tiny branch in Tulum.  Nelly is our instructor and she is exceeding our expectations.  She is using an immersion approach but she speaks so slowly and clearly that it is not too difficult for the three of us to understand her.   We are going to spend three hours every morning with her for one week.  The class is at her house where she lives with her husband and two sons, ages 5 and 9.

Almost every afternoon or evening Nelly offers activities such as salsa dancing, cooking, yoga and cenote exploration for us to join in on.  This afternoon we took a cooking class in Spanish and learned how to make chili rellenos.  They are easy to make and very tasty.  The ingredients should be available in Vermont so we hope to make them a part of our cooking repertoire.

Tulum is the perfect size to get around on the bicycles that we have rented from our hotel.  This evening we rode them to Ginger restaurant for a superb dinner with a great waiter and a friendly chef.  The three of us had an exceptional day.

Blackening los chiles poblanos

Let Phase 3 Begin

Today is the first day of Phase 3! It felt really weird last night to be packing some things that I took all the way around the world with me, mixed with some new things. I had to replace some of my tried and true clothes with new ones since I have grown. It feels like we’re starting on a totally new trip and Phases 1 and 2 were a long time ago. Our flights have gone pretty well although I feel a little out of practice, especially when it comes to getting through Security.
- Brook

This is the portion of the trip where we hope to get a good foundation in Spanish. After visiting 11 countries in 7 months on prearranged airline tickets, we’ve decided to only purchase a one-way ticket one leg at a time. Our approach for this phase is to move on to a new place only when we tire of where we are.

Our first destination is Tulum, Mexico, where we will meet our friends from Norwich, the Goodwin family in one week.

During this phase of our world travels, we also are hoping to have a better approach to posting to this blog, one that we hope will be more interactive. We are going to jump ahead to the present and try to keep it in the present while slowly filling in the gaps from Phases 1 and 2. In addition, we’re going to try to use Facebook in combination with Blogger so it should be easier for you to know when we publish a new post.