Ann Arbor-Days Inn

Well, it never seems like too much luggage, or maybe it does. But after you have all the stuff packed; small bag, big bag, laptop bag, carryon bag, food bag, two big coats, an extra, extra big coat for a friend from Syria, then, THEN it seems like WAY too mucch luggage. Oy! We could travel with smaller bags, but that would mean we would bring fewer gifts, and have less ...

... pytti pannam (onion, potoato, beef hash), plus steamed kale and wonderful Swedish-style beans, with honey and vinaeger. DeLISH! The small restuarant/tavern is filled with Sousaphones, Euphoniums, and of course, bigass TUBAs. Lots and lots of tubas! We were seated in one of the booths, with a world map next to us on the wall. I told our cute waitress that I was headed to Ghana, and she exclaimed, "My sister JUST got back from ...

I am still at home. Only one more week. Being away from my home for three weeks requires a lot of preparation. I even know the movie that are going to have on the Flight. I am tired already!! Since I will be on a plane for almost 24 hours, I am collecting all the necessary stuff needed to be comfortable. <br>

Phew... Going through US Customs was a bit trying... No searching but a lot of questions meant - I supposed - to catch us with something bad... Who knows. We did not loose any meal. We're in the middle of a fairground, with a weak WiFi but OK. The only analog TV channels are from Detroit but the Detroit area offers 22 digital channels, many <br><br>Longer day than expected but we grinded the flying condo to a halt. No problem other than a sticking lock on the propane door.

... diversion into Great Smoky Mountain National Park to see the fall colors. A week from tomorrow, we'll be back at our friend Pat's Place, in Webster, Florida, where warm weather awaits!<br><br> The colors have started to change up here - will upload a couple of pics taken today as we're traveing.<br>

... Yes!  Facebook was a great tool to keep track of travel friends.  Almost everyone I met was not American, so I probably won&#8217;t see them very often, but now I have a cadre of friends who are Canadian, British, German, Australian, Mexican, Kiwi, Romanian, Brazilian, Thai, Finnish, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish&#8230;<br><br>Fan: What was your favorite place you visited?<br><br>Me: I think my favorite country was Romania.  Of course, my impression of every place is colored by the people ...

... on the front door. As some of her neighbors are doing (and as I am doing in somewhat o\the same fashion at RiverHome), Cendra's yard is being encouraged to go back to a grass prairie ecology. Right now in high spring, it's lush high grass and various perennials that will compete with the grass, along with creeping plants such as vinca and a very low dense creeping thyme where the grass isn't so aggressive. Later in the summer when the grass matures it ...

... concerns about demonstrations and unrest. I am not sure how often I am going to be able to blog and send updates, but I hope it can be more than sporadically. From what I have read, there are many internet cafes and some hotels offer a business center. I am just not sure what sites are restricted to contact from China (being communist and all!). I will certainly be in touch as frequently as ...

... you a king?" Thanks for the suffix, Hulda. After accomplishing my shopping duties and taking picture after picture of the looming mass of Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile to the south. From there it was on to the Scottish Portrait Museum (some crazy and scary looking Lairds, "crowned" by Mary Queen of Scots), and finally to the Royal Museum of Scotland, which was very nice. I had intended to walk on the Holyrood Castle and ...

... s no press to greet us in Ann Arbor this Saturday afternoon as we pull into the campus area to make my reading from GUITAR ARMY at the Shaman Drum Bookstore on State Street, although one would have to say that this is one of the very few books actually set in Ann Arbor and one of the confrontational cultural artifacts-like its contemporaries, the LPs Kick Out the Jams by the MC5 and The Stooges-that put Ann Arbor on the national and international cultural map ...