United States – Page 12 – Journey Toward Wholeness

Week 149 February 4, 2017

Published on February 4, 2017August 13, 2018 by ClaireLeave a comment

It has been another good week in Castro Valley. From having a delightful time visiting with good friends who are neighbors and friends of Loren’s since they were in Kindergarten and First Grade respectively, to having a walk and lunch with my dear friend and colleague who drove to Castro Valley for our visit. But, where was my camera to capture these moments? I remember my mother’s disappointment with herself for forgetting to have a camera at special events, and now I so understand how she felt.

I did have my camera when Loren and I drove his Mom for coffee at the cafe/bait shop on Lake Chabot.

And, I had it when former long time neighbors stopped by for a short visit the day when Loren’s sister took his Mom to have their nails done. Would you ever know that her favorite basketball team is the Warriors from her polish colors? We can also say she is set to cheer her Patriots team in the SuperBowl…

We have watched news programs and Warriors games with Loren’s Mom and sister, at the end of days that begin with a Bikram yoga class for me – and if it is not good weather for a bike ride for Loren then he joins me, then, running errands and/or doing house or yard maintenance projects. It was a delight for me to teach two more Bikram classes in nearby San Ramon this week too.

We had more laughs with “senior moments this week too.” I do not mean just for Loren’s Mom, though I have to mention one conversation that she and I had.

She asked: “When you leave for Spain will you still update your, your –

what do you call it – a glob? No, blob? No, what is it called?”

Me: “The blog.”

She: “Ha ha, that’s right!¨

Me: “Ha ha! And, yes, I will still update it every week, in fact, I am still

updating it every week, even now.”

Lil: “Oh, good.”

Fragrant trees and colorful stems are now flowering in northern California – yellow Acacia trees, daffodils, mustard, and, orange Nasturtium and the California state flower – poppies, for example…

We are also especially enjoying our AirBnB home nearby to Loren’s Mom’s house. When we stay at an AirBnb, we always have a private bedroom, and a bathroom that is sometimes private and sometimes shared. At this home in Castro Valley, we enjoy a lot of bantering and camaraderie with our host, her daughter, son, daughter’s boyfriend, friends of her son who stop by, and another single guest. We appreciate their two large friendly dogs and one tabby cat with white paws, watching cooking competitions on the food channel together, and, eating fresh laid eggs daily from the dozen or so hens who live in a hen pen out back. We feel very fortunate to have our home away from home with this delightful family for this special period of time.

Week 148 January 28, 2017

Published on January 28, 2017August 13, 2018 by ClaireLeave a comment

We have had a wonderful week in Castro Valley, with a little bit of time in the South Bay and also as far south as Santa Cruz. We visited with some of the special people in our lives who are close to home. Starting with more time with Loren’s Mom and sister, including a brunch and a lunch out with his Mom for pizza.

We caught up with our dear neighbor and met with our insurance agent, both of whom I neglected to capture by camera. I had the pleasure of enjoying dinner with a very dear friend, and Loren and I had a fun stay over at friends of his.

Again, I captured no photos of a meeting with our property manager, spontaneously running into a colleague who is also a neighbor and friend, and, a good visit with other neighbors. Loren also met with long time friends who gifted him with the postcards he had sent.

And, I walked and visited with dear college and friend, while Loren visited with another long time friend and his parents. I was sorry to not have my camera for so many of those meaningful times. I did remember to take photos of cousins who we visited at their home, and on a hike,

and of inspiring yard art, window art and back yard vistas, as part of a memorable lunch, dinner and overnight with them!

We also checked another routine doctor’s appointment off our list, sorted through hardcopies of mail, and took several Bikram yoga classes. I am excited to have taught two classes myself this week, and have two more to teach this upcoming week. I look forward to seeing more dear friends along with spending more time with Loren’s Mom and sisters…

Week 147 January 21, 2017

Published on January 21, 2017August 13, 2018 by ClaireLeave a comment

This week felt very full! We drove west across New Mexico through Arizona – surprising us in that it included driving through recent heavy fallen snow, as well as other beautiful vistas.

Then we were into Nevada at sunset and for the moonrise, to reach Tecopa Hot Springs in southern California, which is next to Death Valley National Park.

We were fortunate in that the forecast was clear for our stay, because this area had been deluged with a week of rain – which is very unusual for the desert. Other than the nuisance of mud-caked shoes, some wind, and winter cold, the major concern was for potential flooding… We enjoyed so much – the view from our “bedroom” (in our van!) on awakening,

a morning soak in the mineral baths, a hike, and, as our visit to Tecopa included staying Saturday night – when the new owner, who is a drummer, and several other musicians -performed their songs outdoors during the evening hours. Many of the visitors and the locals turned out for it at his family’s Bistro, a nice addition from our previous visits here. Fortunately we did not experience any flooding!

We then had a full day of driving north to arrive in Castro Valley. We stayed first with Loren’s Mom and sister, who still live in the house where Loren and his sisters grew up. Loren’s sister owns an inflatable double size bed, which fills up to the height of a mattress and box spring. It felt similar to sleeping on a water bed. We have very much enjoyed catching up with them. So far here, we have celebrated Mom’s 91st birthday,

enjoyed a hike with Loren’s sister, and I have taken daily Bikram Yoga classes while Loren has gone on daily bicycle rides unless it is raining, then he joins me for yoga.

We had a delightful dinner with some of our friends in this area, many of whom Loren has known since his primary school days.

We also attended the San Francisco Movement Arts Festival, an endeavor and lovechild of Loren’s friend, who has put on such annual events for some years now. This time it was held in Grace Cathedral, where it was awesome to see dance and movement artists at the “Stations of the Dance.”

During the week we moved in to our AirBnB with a lovely family, where we will stay for the remainder of our time here. Outside our bedroom window we see a festive sight, both day and night! On the personal side we have attended to some errands and so far visited the first of the several routine doctor’s appointments that we have lined up.

We look forward to seeing more family and friends while we are near home, and, mainly, spending much time with Loren’s Mom, starting with brunch later today.

Week 146 January 14, 2017

Published on January 14, 2017August 14, 2018 by ClaireLeave a comment

We were in Austin at the beginning of this week. As it is the Capitol city of Texas, and as we were in the downtown area, we paid a visit to the Capitol building. Here we learned a little more about the history of Texas. After it was part of Spain, it was part of France, then part of Mexico, then – yes there’s more – it was an independent colony of Mexico, before it became the 28th state to join the Union. Being an independent colony explains further what an AirBnB host had told us: since Texas was once its own country – a Republic – Texans are allowed to fly the state flag at the same height as the US flag. Texas was also part of the Confederate states after joining the union, but we learned that Governor Sam Houston was resistant to both sides of the Civil War, which then cost him his job. With all that history, the Capital proudly displays all 6 state seals.

We again enjoyed eating – here we had various tacos, a BBQ dinner, sushi… It was still quite unusually cold for in Texas winter – that is frost on our windshield one morning. We stayed one night at a hostel that was opened by a travel blogger who Loren follows. Unfortunately he was not in town. We attended a UU Sunday service, and, we had a little more exercise this week with daily Bikram yoga classes. I had the delight to catch up with a Bikram Yoga Teacher Training Littermate, here! And, we enjoyed an evening walk at Zilker park where we captured the skyline in the nearing of twilight.

It is true, Texans do things BIG… aside from the state itself being second only to Alaska in size, our first AirBnB in Fort Worth was in a big HOUSE, our AirBnB in Austin had big bed PILLOWS and big fluffy TOWELS, and, we saw big trailer loads of COTTON being harvested west of Austin, – in my photo, that is one “bale” with a huge tarp over it; and *at least* tens of square miles of WINDMILL farms, for example. I just had to stop by the side of the road to touch a puff of escaped cotton, many of which could be seen all over – there is a little seed inside, surrounded by soft cotton. On further thought, Loren and I might be more Texan than we thought – after all, we are on on a big 146 WEEKS of journeying, so far!

Along our 12 hour drive to Santa Fe, New Mexico from Texas, we saw a few more than the usual number of hawks. Their flying closer to our car allowed us to see them better. Then there was the beautiful male pheasant right beside the road. And, we can attest that Canadian geese end up in the south, as we saw so many here, with one pond absolutely teeming with them as we drove by. Unfortunately we were unable to capture snapshots of any of these. Please take my word, the images are indelibly anchored in my memory.

[Update from a week later: I was able to make a couple of photos of hawks in the desert near Tecopa Hot Springs.}

To sum up Santa Fe for us in a word? It would have to be smitten! For example, we were thoroughly inspired at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Her life story is impressive – she too was smitten with New Mexico. We learned that her style of art is known as “imaginative… grounded in personal expression and harmonious design” leading “to an interpretation of the natural world, not a representation of it,” as she learned from studying art at the University of Virginia.

Santa Fe happens to be the Capitol of New Mexico. Similar to how we visited the Capitol building in Austin, we stopped in at the one in Santa Fe too. Inside the building, most of its hallway walls are covered with impressive and inspiring galleries of art. Additionally most of the homes and buildings around Santa Fe are of the one story adobe style architecture, and some of them are gaily painted or decorated as well. Fun!

We enjoyed taking more daily Bikram Yoga classes here, and, we found a couple of meaningful weekday activities in which to participate at the local Unitarian Universalist Congregation too. It is wonderful when we find a place that is home to a Bikram Yoga studio and a UU congregation. But we only had time to just whet our appetites for the locale – wide open spaces with fringe mountains nearby… Ahh!

We also hiked at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. Kasha-Katuwe, translated from the Native American name, means White Cliffs. The only other place in the world where you can find such similar geological formations is in Cappadocia, Turkey. In a word, they are gorgeous!

[Another update from a week later: I think these unique formations highly influenced the Sufi meditative dance practice of Whirling Dervishes, especially based on this image I found at the small public Library in Tecopa Hot Springs. What do you think?]

Today we will be driving 10 hours to stay a couple of nights in southern California… When we had first arrived at our AirBnB in Santa Fe, we found a pair of fun eyewear. I believe it is still a fine time to wish you a Happy, Healthy, and Most Meaningful 2017!

Week 145 January 7, 2017

Published on January 7, 2017August 16, 2018 by ClaireLeave a comment

Happy New Year! We rang in 2017 with cousins on their farm in Nebraska. We aimed for playing cards all night! Well, we nearly did. Loren and I went to bed after 2:30 am, the latest we have stayed up on a New Year’s Eve for several years now. It was a very fun evening!

It was so good to be with these precious people again. Our weekend visit included going along to do a few farm chores…

to Loren playing basketball and throwing the baseball with one cousin and his teens. It also included time to play with the dogs, attend church, visit other family farmhouses, and, play more cards.

We were lucky in that the Nebraska winter was mild, until after we left! So driving to and from the farm was easy. Our next drive day took us from Nebraska, through Kansas and Oklahoma, to Texas, and we were again lucky with the winter weather for driving.

Starting in Fort Worth, we had a lovely dinner visit with more cousins. It was too short a time, yet most memorable, and for that I am thankful. That is my Mom, second from the left as an attendant in the wedding photo, and, the photo of four generations including my great-grandmother looks so very similar to another one that was taken of her, my grandmother, my Mom, and me. These are only some of the four generation relationships that my great-grandmother was a part of during her 100 years of life.

The Arctic cold snap that was predicted in Nebraska arrived in Texas too. Karen told us that they had been wearing shorts the day before, but for now it has turned bone chilling cold. In Dallas, Loren and I went to see the George W. Bush Presidential Center located at Southern Methodist University. It was very cold here too, nothing like Loren had envisioned of Texas.

The next day, in the city called College Station we toured the George H.W. Bush Presidential Museum at Texas A&M University. It was still very cold.

Now we are in Austin and have seen the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library at the University of Texas. As LBJ was in office when we were both quite young, Loren and I learned a lot about what life in the world was like during his Presidency.

Still in Austin we have taken a Bikram Yoga class, and plan to do so on each of the next few days. It is also cold here, but, the yoga studio staff assured us, even if the weather is predicted to be bad, it is always good weather on Sundays in Austin. We will see…

In the meantime, Loren and I wish you a wonderful, happy, healthy, healing year, 2017!

Week 144 December 31, 2017

Published on December 31, 2016August 16, 2018 by ClaireLeave a comment

It does not seem like a whole week could possibly have passed by, but it was a full week! We left New York after a special brunch with cherished family there, and drove to Pennsylvania to stay with a dear friend. She and I have known each other since Junior High translates to: Middle School, days.

It was fun to reminisce over several other visits we have had over the years, thanks to some of her precious photos displayed in frames.

When Loren and I left, we had a twelve hour drive to our AirBnB just outside of St. Louis. After our host learned of our intention to visit the Harry Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, he made sure that we were also aware of the National Winston Churchill Museum in nearby Fulton. Seeing this was also of interest to us, so we changed our plans for the opportunity to spend time learning more about Churchill’s life and work. We later arrived in Independence in time to see a little of the Truman Presidential Library before it closed for the day.

Our AirBnB in Independence was in an historic neighborhood, in walking distance to what was Truman’s home. We began early the next day with a visit there, which is part of the National Park system, and, extremely affordable courtesy of Loren’s Senior Pass! We then spent what was left of the day seeing the rest of the extensive Truman Library.

Speaking of historic, that is what we are experiencing this week – from seeing images and reading so much about WWII at Churchill’s memorial and at Truman’s Library, the AirBnB common area also had a sobering poster of the south New York City skyline from sometime between late 1970 but before September 11, 2001.

As with our visit to President Carter’s Library in Atlanta in 2015, we learned so much more about Truman’s presidency than we were aware of, giving us much more of an appreciation of the challenges and important decisions he faced. Both Truman and Churchill faced struggles early in their personal life until they discovered that their talents allowed them to excel through service in their military.

Loren and I have now left Missouri behind, arriving in time to ring in 2017 tonight with dear cousins in Nebraska. Somehow, for the first time, I hear them pronounce their state name as ‘nBraska’! Maybe I always heard them say it that way, and I am just clearer in that I want to convey it here. But also for the first time I understand what their 4H club name means and that is definitely worthy of conveying here too.

We have already had a few laughs together and look forward to many more before we drive south to Texas from here. Until then, it is delightful to spend time with these precious family members and see their appealing and festive holiday decorations.

In conveying the message of the season in the words of Truman, May there be Peace for All Time,

and, wishing you a Happy 2017, with an idea from another wall hanging from our Independence AirBnB showing street signs proclaiming, “Your Life” vs. the one not taken, which is “No Longer An Option.”

Week 143 December 24, 2016

Published on December 24, 2016August 16, 2018 by ClaireLeave a comment

Hello, we hope that you too had a great Christmas!

This post is a little late as this week Loren and I visited for four nights in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. We stayed first at an AirBnB for two nights in La Plata. Our host had two adorable sibling kittens named Cobre, which means Copper, and Felicidad for Happiness, who were entertaining. Loren was able to practice speaking Spanish, however, in Argentina there is a dialect spoken that is different from what we learned in school. For example, “You” familiar, is said, Bos here, not Tu.

Two more nights were spent at an AirBnB with a family and their dog, Athena, in Lujan, said Loo-han. The father is quite an artist as a hobby. The elder son is talented in playing the guitar, while his girlfriend likes to sing. The younger son is playful and fun.

We were all anticipating Navidad – Christmas, but, for us from the Northern Hemisphere, it felt unusual as it is summer and calor – hot, during the day in Buenos Aires. We had several laughs trying to translate certain ideas. We learned more of the dialect, for example, Sho, rather than Yo for I, and, Cashe, instead of Calle for street. As the mother spoke no English I was inspired to try a bit with my limited Spanish too. When Loren asked their word for Nun, they taught us it is Monka. When queried if the masculine would be Monko? The father quickly said, “No, no monkey!”

We were privileged to celebrate the older son’s 16th birthday, with this family hosting a traditional BBQ. At the start of the evening his parents, his aunt, uncle, Loren and I shared a traditional communal drink. It is called Mate, which Loren wondered if it was marijuana? No! It is a little like coffee or tea, served in one metallic cup with a special – usually silver, straw. This is one aspect of our travels that Loren and I most appreciate – to be able to spend time with the local people to learn more about their culture. And this family appreciates opening their home to travelers, for their sons to learn more about the larger world in their own home environment.

When the evening turned to well after midnight, Google Translate described what they were then saying as, “The night is in diapers.” We finally understood this to mean, “The night is young!” And, they meant it! The boy and his friends who had already arrived before we went to bed, went out to town to celebrate, at about 3am…

On our last day in Argentina, we went with the family to visit at the home of the aunt and uncle who we met the previous evening. They have two rescued owls which are among my favorite birds,

and a rescued pigeon! We had a lovely visit with an additional friend there and the sons of the aunt and uncle. The older one’s girlfriend gifted us with a lovely Christmas ornament that she had made by hand.

Then we bid a fond farewell to this lovely family after we returned to their home.

Loren and I then had a nearly a two hour drive to the airport, for a 5 hour overnight flight.

This was followed by a change of planes in Miami on our way to New York for Christmas afternoon and dinner with my brother and his family. My older niece’s beau was able to share this special time with us too. Santa brought my younger niece her first car, and she is beside herself with delight in it. We so enjoyed watching the movie, Elf together, which is competing with Polar Express for Loren’s and my second choice, after It’s a Wonderful Life of all time favorite holiday movies. After dinner we watched a recording of Loren’s favorite Golden State Warriors competing with the Cleveland Cavaliers in basketball, which had a disappointing outcome for us Californians. Despite that, it was another wonderful, memorable family gathering for us to cherish!

Now Loren and I wish you a very Happy 2017!

Week 141 December 10, 2016

Published on December 10, 2016August 19, 2018 by ClaireLeave a comment

¡Felices Fiestas! Season’s Greetings!

We were still in Tampa, Florida at the start of this week, visiting with cousins. We were happy to see the finished draft of memoirs that cousin his daughter was capturing the last time we were here, about travels during his career at Exxon. It is going off to the printer soon, just in time for celebrating his 90th birthday this coming week. One day we helped him to the Emergency Room for some precautionary tests. We have since learned that he is doing fine! Overall, we enjoyed good conversation and nice meals together, sharing more about family history and traveling. I regret that I did not take a single photo during this time, though have precious memories regardless.

From Tampa we drove to nearby Punta Gorda, also on the Gulf coast, where we had a memorable visit with a dear high school friend of mine and her mother. We packed a lot of wonderful activity into this regrettably short visit, which included an excellent evening seeing youth in a Performing Arts Christmas Showcase, especially to see their friend participate.

We all appreciated a lunch date with my Bikram Yoga Teacher Training friend and her partner from Freiburg, Germany, who also happened to be visiting Florida. We arranged for them to stop by at my friend’s home on their way from Miami to Sarasota. With our friends we also attended Sunday mass, and, toasted to another beautiful sunset on the beach, as we did when we were together here last time. Before leaving, we said sorrowful goodbyes to their beloved cat, Harpy.

We then drove to see a cousin in Lauderdale Lakes on the Atlantic coast for another too short visit. At 94 years young, she seems not a day older than 70. Well, maybe 75… Loren had not seen this cousin since his bicycle ride from California to Massachusetts fotty, yep, that is not a typo, it is her strong Massachusetts’ accent – “party” sounds similarly unique – 40 years ago. We had a memorable time with her and some of her friends who we met at Bingo. She won 3 of the many games we played during that evening. Loren and I also won $5 in a raffle!

One morning during our visit, Loren and I drove a little north to Palm Beach Gardens take a Bikram Yoga class from a littermate from my Bikram Yoga Teacher Training, and enjoyed a sweet lunch together afterwards at her home.

With our cousin we drove to Miami, where we had a brief though sweet visit with my Godmother. She actually turned 94 this week, but is weaker physically than she was when we saw her two years ago. She was unable to show us how she feeds the cats and ducks who frequent her back yard, as she did on our last visit. She has very good neighbors who ensure that her needs are met. We reminisced about all our travels and had a meaningful time together. Again, I regret having taken no photos, though I do have treasured memories of this visit too.

Then we went to visit our cousin’s daughter along with her husband. They raised their children just a few miles away from my Godmother’s home, but we had not known that before. She prepared a lovely dinner and we spent our last night in the United States, for now, together catching up on each others’ lives. Their daughter also takes Bikram Yoga classes at a studio that I had visited two years ago. Meeting their son has to wait for another time, as he was away working on a deep sea fishing excursion.

We bade our farewells, returned the rental car, and flew from Miami to Buenos Aires overnight. Our flight from Miami was delayed an hour due to weather conditions, which caused us more than a little concern, because we already had a tight schedule to make our next flight from the regional airport…

Fortunately, baggage retrieval, passport control, customs, car transportation, and traffic all went smoothly from the main city airport, allowing us to arrive with time to spare. We learned that this day was a national holiday, so normal commute traffic was absent. The tour officially begins a day before the cruise departs, so had we missed our flight we had leeway. The regional airport departure area was festively decorated for the holiday season, and our flight to Ushuaia, said Ush-why-ah, the southernmost city in the world, went well.

It is quite mountainous terrain here at Tierra del Fuego.

Loren and I settled in for our overnight at the hotel, then hiked a couple of hours to a vantage point of Del Glaciar: Martial Glacier. The clouds formed and dissipated repeatedly giving us only glimpses of the grandeur. It seemed as if we had all the time in the world to return to our accommodation, as daylight lasted well past 10:30pm.

On our walk back we enjoyed seeing a rainbow over the port, with still wonderful views of the harbor during dinner. Tomorrow we will tour a National Park before boarding our ship to sail away to Antarctica…

PLEASE NOTE: for the rest of December, we may have limited internet access, so, please check back here again for when we can next post to this site.

Week 140 December 3, 2016

Published on December 3, 2016August 20, 2018 by ClaireLeave a comment

We Wish You Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah!! Hope You have a Wonderful 2017!!!

It is already December. This week has mostly been one of reloading our van – sorting, storing, packing and preparing for our next adventure – in Antarctica! While in New York for most of this week, we continued our practice of daily Bikram yoga classes in Yorktown Heights. It was hard to bid farewell for now to the wonderful community of people there.

We also had the delight of a spontaneous lunch date with my brother and his wife at their lake house, and, thoroughly enjoyed our evening dinner date with them, and their daughters. Here is a treasured photo from Thanksgiving of the girls, with us – can you see me in the background and Uncle Loren’s reflection in the mirror? Now their home and front lawn are already decked out for Christmas…

Loren and I had a special dinner too with friends in New York City. Before we met them at their home, we walked the blocks from Grand Central, going by The Chrysler Building. I could not resist a traditional hot pretzel while we passed by so many other outstanding City attractions… like St. Patrick’s Cathedral, sparkling from a recent cleaning.

New York brings to mind a line from from Silver Bells: “City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style,” with the tree at Rockefeller Center all set to be lit, framed by the already twinkling angels with golden instruments, and, buildings trimmed in ribbons and lights.

The busiest building that we saw was across the street from cordoned off Trump tower, where a peaceful protest progressed.

We then walked through a part of Central Park to see one of Yoko Ono’s tributes to John Lennon, a permanent meditation area named Strawberry Fields with a mandala featuring “Imagine” and bordering benches.

We finished the evening with our friends at the “breast table” in the house – that is not a typo, we had a great time at a table beneath a bigger than life work of body art, with our waiter helping to make the evening more memorable. Then Loren and I enjoyed more city views as we walked back to Grand Central for our train home.

Now we have had an early morning flight requiring us to rise in the week hours to arrive in Florida for a week. Here we are visiting a few of our dear family members and friends. As we drove from Floridian ocean to gulf, we had a view of this sunset as we crossed a bridge, also reflected in a nearby car’s side mirror – it is almost duplicated by the brake light of the car in front, but not quite.

Outside our AirBnB near Tampa, we found these fun paw prints that shine at night, a fun way to represent our own footsteps as we continue along on our amazing world journey.

PLEASE NOTE: for the rest of this month, it is possible that we may have limited internet access, so, please check back again for when we are next able to post to this site.

Week 139 November 26, 2016

Published on November 26, 2016August 20, 2018 by ClaireLeave a comment

We are very thankful this week for more memorable visits with several people who are so special and for the mainly moderate sunny fall weather, but with regrets again of not taking more photos…

Continuing this week in Massachusetts, we are thankful for friends and their family…

…for cousins in New Hampshire, and their family and friends for a special birthday…

…for attending an especially touching Unitarian Universalist Sunday Service in New Hampshire for the week of Thanksgiving… for seeing the wonder of the first snowfall of the season while sharing two more memorable days with cousins in their lovely home…

…for a meaningful visit with cousins in Massachusetts, including catching up on twenty years of joys and sorrows since we last visited together…

…and, a sweet visit with cousins – one our age, and age 90 and 93, in Connecticut…

…for more Bikram yoga classes in New York, and, for a fantastic Thanksgiving with precious family and their neighbors.

Now, on the day following Thanksgiving, I must mention how very thankful I am for all the wonderful times we have enjoyed over these last few weeks in New York, New England, and New York again. As well, I have such deep gratitude for special visits with family members and friends old and new, on our more than two and a half years of travel in parts of the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa and Central/Eastern Europe, so far. I just tallied the visits of our journey, and – depending on whose definition of countries you subscribe to, Loren and I have now visited 44 countries together over the 25 years that wehave been together. We feel so blessed to be realizing our extended travels dream!

	Deborah Runyeon on Top 25 Moments
	Deborah Runyeon on 2016
	Deborah Runyeon on Top 25 Memories
	Deborah Runyeon on 2014
	Claire on 2016
	Claire on Top 25 Memories
	Claire on 2014
	Deborah Runyeon on 2016
	Deborah Runyeon on Top 25 Memories
	Deborah Runyeon on 2014
	Marie Cooper on Home Again January 4, 202…
	Ingrid on Week 298 December 14, 201…
	Nancy Guarnera on Home Again January 4, 202…
	Claire on Home Again January 4, 202…
	Doris on Home Again January 4, 202…