Holiday greetings!

Where in the World are the Goozes?

All over! You can find Aaron and Gillian as serious Seattle Sounder’s fans enthusiastically cheering their team to many victories. When not in the soccer stands, both keep busy with work and school where Gillian is studying for a graduate degree in public health. Margaret loves a glass of wine in Sonoma Valley, which is just a skip and a jump away from her home in Davis, California. This is her second year with her autistic student and she thrives on the challenges and rewards of para educating. David spent last winter in New Zealand and Australia for a semester abroad and entertained (or scared) us with stories of bungee jumping and hiking up the mountains. We hope he is in his final year at the U of O and will graduate (fill in the blank).

The ma and pa of this group enjoyed traveling to Mexico, whitewater rafting in the Grand Canyon for fifteen days, and a trip to Thailand where we found Dumbo. Our passports are always ready for the next adventure. Look for us at the 2009 Rose Bowl with our green and yellow garb rooting for the Oregon Ducks. Rob and David can’t wait for the game. I just hope to get a good seat at the parade.

Enjoy your holidays and let’s all make a difference in someone’s life.

Wishing you the best in 2010!

Indiana Jones

forward to others, bad internet and may not have computer anymore. survived an incredible jungle walk today. it is hard to describe but our guide didnt speak english and we were on our own with him. we were scrambling up jungle stuff and through the streams. the guide cut the trail with a machete. i could only laugh thinking that it was a good thing we had our will updated. didn't see any wild life--thank heavens--and couldn't take any pics because we were trying to stay vertical and keep up with the guide. finished hike in pouring rain forest rain storm. our guide cut down a banana leaf for an umbrella for himself--to go along with his bamboo hiking stick that he didn't share. i guess it wasn't in his nature. needless to say, we lived through it and feel like we could be another indiana jones or--teddy roosevelt in river of doubt.

The trip continues...

We are finally back to civilization and what a trip it was! First off, the boat ride took us through a beautiful remote area. The boat looked like it would sink at any moment, but we made it to the elephant village without any mishaps. The village was full of elephants and a giant boa constrictor, which you could wrap around your body for a photo moment. Not my cup of tea so, no thanks to that adventure.
We did buy some bananas to feed the elephants. Their enormous trunks would reach out and grab whatever you had in your hand. One took the entire bunch including the plastic bag, but I managed to get it back from him. Their eyes are beautiful with the long lashes and the intelligent look they give you as they look you up and down. I'm not sure I would want to take one home, but I felt honored to be in their presence.
You would love riding an elephant--much different than a horse--very rocky. In fact, I almost felt car sick--or elephant sick. It took a while to get used to the movement but then we really enjoyed it. The Mahout--elephant trainer man--traded seats with Rob so he could ride on the neck. It was one of those things that is truly thrilling for the first five minutes and then got a little old after a while. Elephants have prickly hairs and when it started jogging, Rob had had enough, however, the mahout continued to sit in the basket with me and laughed as Rob flopped all over the poor elephant's neck. It was truly a unique experience.
After an hour and half ride, we got off the elephant and hiked straight up into the hills to the tribal village. That is a story in itself. We stayed with the teacher's family and slept on mats on the floor of their home. We were told the women in the village would come and give us massages for three dollars a piece. What a deal we thought. Little did we know that the village kids were part of the massage all playing and crying around us while their mothers worked on our bodies. Can't say it was the most relaxing massage. Our dinner, Thai style (sitting on the floor), was delicious and after seeing the kitchen the cook worked in, we were amazed at what she accomplished in a limited area. Bedtime was around eight because we were told the roosters start crowing at four, however, we heard the dogs howling at three. Sleeping on a mat on the floor with a mosquito net over our heads added to our list of "experiences we never thought we would have".
Our guide cut bamboo hiking sticks for us when we hiked out of the jungle towards civilization. A quick stop at a waterfall for a swim and pictures and were were then on to the very far north region. We saw the Chinese influence in the area from the foods we ate to the people we met. Our stay in the resort was a welcome sight after our night in the village.

We are still having fun, but it will be nice to relax by the pool today. This traveling is exhausting!

Thailand adventures continue

Yesterday we boarded a train to the south. It was an overnight train and thank heavens we were in first class. I can't even explain it. They made our little beds up--no privacy--we all slept together. Fortunately we had sleeping pills because our guide didn't and wondered if we had heard the woman screaming all night and the baby crying. The toilets were another matter and I just couldn't poop and leave it on the tracks for all to see. The food on the train--well, am not sure what we ate, but the guy next to us had a bottle of whiskey to wash it down.

The food in the south is spicier so I had a yogurt milkshake today. The stomach just can't handle it anymore. Rob is loving it because he can sweat when he eats the hot chillies. Off to a waterfall tomorrow--we must wear shorts when we swim--no bathing suits outside the resorts.

Today is Thursday in the afternoon. Every day here is so interesting and I feel like we are getting quite the education on asian culture.

Reporting live from who knows where.

Thailand travels

First of all, let me clarify Rob's last post. The rats were not big, they were enormous and the size of Barone's cat. I still get the heebie jeebies thinking about them. They also headed right towards us in this dark alley. I have no idea what our guide was thinking except that we were taking a short cut back to the hotel. Save ten minutes of walking or be eye to eye with my biggest fear--he did not choose wisely.

A recollection of some of the more adventurous events in Bangkok--a city on steriods. There are over 10 million people living there and I think half were on the street outside our hotel last night. The Tuk tuk ride through Bangkok was memorable and was quite the short changing experience--if you know what I mean. The traffic was whizzing by us and all I could do was hang on and hope the driver wasn't having any suicidal thoughts.

We also went to the festival honoring the water goddess and floated a beautiful bouquet of flowers after making a wish or saying a prayer. I was confused and distracted by the people--did I mention there were quite a few--so made a wish and prayed. I think we did this after the Tuk tuk ride, but I am now covered if we go again.

Every day we saw Buddhas--there are 52 different poses. Religion and the King are a huge part of Thai life and they love to talk about both with reverence.

Food is still out of this world except tonight we had a "free" night and decided to get a pizza from an Italian joint. We usually eat some kind of fish, chicken, and then a soup with all sorts of colorful things floating around in it. At the market we saw bins full of fried worms, grasshoppers, and other creepy crawling things. I don't think we have eaten anything like that yet but who knows. Our guide was telling us about eating mouse since it feeds on the rice and is very healthy for you. Let me just say hell will freeze over before that goes in my mouth.

We are now in Chaing Mai, which is in the northern region of Thailand. We drove about 4 hours to arrive here and saw much of the country side. The people are amazing--very friendly and kind. We stopped to see them harvesting a rice field where they get all their neighbors to come and help. The farmer's wife- the size of an American 10 year old boy-- was walking towards us carrying food for the workers and offered us a fried banana after I took her picture. They all act as if you are their new best friends. I love it!


Tomorrow we are off to the Golden triangle near the Burma border. Elephant riding, trekking through the jungle, and a night stay in a remote tribal village is on the agenda. I doubt we will be near an internet.

My second day of blogging

I survived the first day of writing on this blog and now have had time to see who else blogs. So far I have found many moms writing about their children. I probably will include mine from time to time, but they aren't the cute cuddly ones I have seen on the blogs. They are now big boys and a big girl. I do miss most of those sweet enduring days and then I remember...Selective remembering is always good.

I will now move on to the traveling part of my blog. Today is a much better day in terms of the dreaded jet lag. It has been nine days since we have been back and I actually feel that I am in this time zone. What an ordeal, though. I read that it takes one day for every hour of the time difference and since there was a 12 hour time change, I am ahead of schedule.

Thailand--This was from an email sent after the first day.
After 30 hours of a travel of which 20 hours of it were in an airplane, we have arrived! About hour 8 on the first plane I was about ready to jump without a parachute, but instead watched the 3rd of the 4 movies for the night. Bleah! Now for the good news, the little woman sitting next to me only got sick in the last half hour filling up 3 bags. I hope it wasn't the swine flu. Since I do not do well with the smell of vomit, I slammed my nose into Rob's arm to avoid the use of my little bag. Success! We all recovered and the poor woman apologized--I think--no English was spoken, but her humbled look was enough to convince me that it was an apology.

We were met by Mr. T at the Bangkok airport and what a hoot he was. First he walked very slowly and with a limp but assured us that he was a fast driver. Not quite. He started telling us about the old movies that he loved and began slowing down on the freeway as he went into detail about Madame X. Traffic was whizzing by us and his car stalled right in the middle of his narration. He mumbled something about the car and the engine finally roared into life. Not missing a beat, he continued with the plot of the movie.

We were not quite at our hotel when he announced that he loved to sing and proceeded to break into some old Elvis and Frank Sinatra hits. Fortunately, his voice was closer to Susan Boyle instead of an idol wanna be. He was absolutely uninhibited and kept asking us if we wanted another song. I had no idea the hotel was about five songs from the airport. Our first glimpse of Thailand and if Mr. T was a representative of what we were to experience, we loved it already.

We ventured off to a huge market today where they had little bunnies dressed in clothes, some exotic animals, and little chipmunks and squirrels on leashes. We didn't even see the endangered animals as they hide them in the back rooms in case of raids. Peta would not be pleased.

Dinner was off the beaten path at a very local open air restaurant. Food was delicious and the total bill for the the two of us and our guide came to 15 dollars! Tomorrow we are touring Bangkok and getting a 15 dollar massage--it is one of the higher end places.

Oh, weather is 85 today and 75 tonight. Great place so far after we had a good night's sleep.

Rob added this after I was finished.

Mary neglected to mention that our guide took us on some back alleys and told us to look for wildlife. Just then two BIG rats came running by. You know how my lovely wife loves rodents...her heart is still beating fast.

Rob

The Beginning

Okay, this is my very first post on a blog and my heart is actually racing. Pretty silly, but I'm not sure exactly how this will all work.

Let me start from the beginning (hence, the title). While in Thailand, I decided I had much to say, however, the emails did not really explain what I was experiencing at the time. Now that I am home, I have time to set up a blog and write my impressions of my travels.

I will post my past adventures and the next ones to come. Be forewarned that I plan on including it all from the good to the bad and to the downright disgusting.

This is all I have to say tonight. I am still suffering from the awful curse--jet lag--so I think I will sign off before my head hits the keys.

Good night