Quality Inn Conference Center Eau Claire

Hey everybody,

As you well know I'm leaving for Europe for 6 weeks starting this Sunday. Instead of writing lots of separate emails I thought I would chronicle my travels in this travel blog. Feel free to check back in to see where in the world I am and to feel so incredibly jealous of me. :D

<3
Alyssa

... bombs in the bus- every 5 minutes- and I'm telling you- this was NO friendly fire. It was horrible! I had my nose pressed up against the glass so desperately trying to reach the fresh air that I could almost see on the other side, but to no avail. This is how I was going to die.. Gassed to death on the Greyhound bus by falling bombs..

Finally the nasty smells stopped (that must have one unplesant cubicle to follow into at the service ...

... We had to drive to 115th st. and then turn and go to the corner of 115th St. and 17th Ave. Sure enough we found it and there was a vacant lot! Well, ok, there was an overgrown tennis court and a baseball field but nothing else. We drove around the block and decided to stop and ask in Jim’s Body shop. The very nice young lady there said that yes, indeed, that was the site of the old Gower School which had been made ...

... for a tall lady but nevertheless) and we are getting up very early tomorrow to go on a mission. You will have to check back in to see what it is..... I hope all is well with everybody and thank you for all the great responses to this blog, by e-mail, comments here or sms....this is one of the few occasions in life where you are glad that somebody is following you, hahaha Goodnight, L and J

Eau Claire Wir Treffen bei der Familie vom Cliff ein. Zur Feier des Tages hat Cliff seine Schwiegereltern eingeladen (die Martin unbedingt kennenlernen und Reto wiedersehen wollten) und ein Grillen veranstaltet. Spaeter sind dann alle Zusammen noch in die Stadt gefahen um in einer Bar gemeinsam etwas zu trinken. Nach einem gelungen Abend war dies der ...

This is going to be the longest drive on our epic sojourn. Tupperville to Eau Claire 674 miles (1085 kilometres) 11 hours 27 minutes estimated driving time Left home at 5:00 am. Lots of construction in Detroit and had to find 94W. Only got lost once but managed to get going after a 15 minute delay. Good drive through Michigan, part of Indiana ...

... and not a week ago Saturday when I was moving and having a garage sale. The drive back to Minneapolis was uneventful but within about 15 minutes of arriving home the dark clouds rolled in and a hailstorm began, while the sun was shining, lasting about 10 minutes and leaving quarter sized hail and a ton of leaves and small branches on the ground but thankfully no serious damage to cars or structures. What an exciting day!

... our trip, but I've still got two tests this week, and then all my finals next week to deal with. As soon as I'm done with finals next Friday, I'll head home for one night, then my mom is driving us down to Chicago on Saturday the 17th. We're gonna see some exhibit where they take real dead bodies and show thier muscular systems ...

... gets me extremely excited, but its the "out of the blue" thoughts at work and squirms of impatientness that alert me ...AM ACTUALLY GOING! I have a few odds and ends to get done before the trip, but hopefully that will all be taken care of a week in advance before I leave. Until that time, I get the joys of finding out how dorm life is different to having a house and making the most of my time before I leave the country.

... even though it's currently stressing our thinned blood) a white Christmas! This is it. We're HOME! We're done traveling but not exploring. Being home is the beginning to another adventure in its own right... We hope you enjoyed the African trip with us. Make sure to include us on your future trips!! Happy Holidays and Happy Trails, Beth and Erik