Crowne Plaza Hotel Cedar Rapids, Ia

... this sort of feeling, and many people find it as empowering.

I spent the day today at the Civic Engagement Poster session in Iowa City, trying to network the Bplans project and Red Voluntario research to needy volunteers. From the feeling of things, I think people got pretty excited. Of the 20 people that I was able to talk to, 18 gave me their emails for further information.

Only 6 more days until our flight to RIO DE JANIERO!

Thank you everyone for your support!

A clip written by David Burgess (U.Iowa) for the group at the Civic Engagement Poster Session 9/2/09:

"Red Voluntario ʺVolunteer Networkʺ is collaborating with
BplansForHumanity to be the first University of Iowa semester‐long
study abroad social entrepreneurship initiative that integrates an onthe‐
ground team of students working with virtual teams at the UI
through ...

... We met up with other Iowa City ex-pats in Des Moines over dinner, at Thai Flavors, and breakfast the following day, at Gateway Market.

In Iowa City, I finally walked the tainted ground made sacred by fabled lore. An endless stream of stories (some of which I’d heard before, and some revelatory) kept me in stitches throughout our visit. When I wasn’t laughing at or suspended in disbelief by retellings of John’s crazy-making college days, I was ...

... woodworking skills and make fantastic rocking chairs, Bek tried a few out and it was hard to get her up. They also weave their own wool and other fabrics and make fudge. It was a beautiful community full of shops and homes that is open for the public to come and see.

Another day was spent cruising around the Hoover Festival. We went to the national Park and viewed (President) Herbert Hoover's childhood house and the Herbert ...

... get hair cuts,  we fueled up the truck and got a local company to change the engine oil, using a synthetic and pricey( or as they say over here "spendy") oil. Gotta look after the chevy. So far she has been very good to us!!  
Our RV park although called Sleepy Hollow was right on Interstate 80 but it was surprisingly quiet.
Our RV neighbours were from only a short distance away and were very friendly and we enjoyed talking about Iowa.

  

We spent the last 5 days with my sister and her family here in Marion, Iowa. I am always amazed with how quickly 'little people' change and grow. We haven't seen Sydney since Christmas last year and she, as expected, has changed quite a bit.

We have taken to calling her "Boogie". She informed us during our Iowa visit last year that ...

... and the internet. When we were 'home' we hardly ever saw them and we all lived in the same city. Now we have them come to us at least once a year. They get a vacation from 'life' and we get some quality, uninterrupted time with them. And we are usually back in the Bay Area around one of the major holidays so we get to see them then as well.

#2 - Where do you spend the winter? We don't have a favorite ...

... lot about this cultural that deceptively looks so similar to our own, yet is very different. America is so shiny and brand new compared to France... although there are many, many things that I prefer "our ways," still, we saw things we'd really love to have at home: - the clean, convenient, inexpensive, much-used public transportation - an ability to cherish and retain the old while providing citizens with state-of-the ...

... We began to realise that we were entering an area that had suffered severe flood damage about 3 weeks ago. We stopped at a great Welcome Centre as we crossed into Iowa and thank God we did because the camp ground we were heading for was not open and the road we were planning to take was also not open due to serious flood damage. It was the worst for 500 years! So the staff at the centre ...

... with my feet in the air and covered with broken glass. Very fortunately, Terry wasn't hurt at all and I only had a few small cuts and lots of bruises. If I had been buckled in, I know I would have been seriously injured, since my seat was pushed way up and back out of place. As it was, when I went to take my shower that night, I was shocked to see the humungous, basketball-size bruise around my left hip (where I had hit it on the seat arm ...