Carriage House Inn Emmitsburg

Well, it's been a while since I started writing this blog. First the bad news; the fundraisers aren't going quite as well as I'd hoped. It's amazing how my peers around me are quick to ask for money for their fundraisers, but slow to support my own. Oh well. I can do it myself. Because here's the good news...

The entire 3-week odyssey will cost considerably less than I originally budgeted. I put the ...

... got little to show. I can sometimes hold my own if I'm having an "on"-day--sink a few free-throws, drain a couple 3-pointers, slam a dunk (okay...not even on an "on" day). But anyway, the three of us played. It didn't take long for me to realize that I'm in no shape to play basketball. I was out of breath, throat dry, legs aching, feeling dizzy... did that stop me?? Well, yeah, for a couple minutes. But then we played some more.
Now, to compensate for my lack of skill, I just amp up ...

... dollars. Hah! It's pretty sharp, too.

That evening, we headed to the house of some friends of the Bjorndals (wow, Mike, lay off the prepositions). We shared dinner, and talked about our respective jobs. Cris Rhyner, our hostess, talked a while about her experiences in India. She works for an organization called Partners in Hope (and per her request, here's the website: www.partnersinhope.us). Partners in ...

... Cool :) It's neat how being a positive voice and sharing truth, even without using Christ's name still reflects what He's all about. Any Christians watching the show can see biblical principles clearly. Any non-Christians watching the show can still be empowered to make right decisions.

Tonight we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with the Bjorndals and a low-key evening at home. More to come :)

Today was our first day with YFC in Frederick, Maryland. We're staying with the Bjorndals--a nice long stretch of a homestay. Their daughter is getting married within the year, so we've been able to share some of our recent experience with that process.

We're sticking to our standard busy schedule--about two schools a day this week, and we're doing the same sort of thing as we did in Scranton ...

Hi everybody! We spent 5 weeks in June/July in the United States catching up with friends and family. We really wanted to take advantage of Melanie's unemployment to spend time with our families and visit a few towns that looked interesting to us. Before we left we were doubting if we'd really need 5 weeks, but by midway through it was clear that we could have spent even longer there. We were amazed at how many people we were able to see and some very lucky coincidences in travel ...

Chilling at home, looking on the web for some decent day-hikes in the Blue Ridge Mountains, that are relatively close to Winston-Salem. So far I've narrowed it down to two hikes: Daniel Boone Scout Trail To Calloway Peak or PinnacleTrail-TurnbackTrail. Anyone have any experience with either and can recommend one to me?

... next week I will find time to go to each of the businesses in Damascus to solicit funding. I am making a list of eveyone that I have approached and I need to make a list of my sponsors. I am also behind on my Thank You letters to those people nice enough to have contributed already. As you are not supposed to wear tank tops or sleeveless shirts in Tanzania, I went out looking for end-of-the-summer bargains ...

We were up early (about 7 a.m.), because Tom actually had to be at work today. But, before he could get to work, we had to obtain transportation for me. As I mentioned before, we had rented a car when we first arrived in Philadelphia. But, Tom needed that car to get to work. Since I wasn't enamoured with the idea of wandering the streets of Reading while waiting for Tom to get out of work, we decided to rent a car for my use. That meant we had to go to the Reading Airport ...

... was not far from the hotel. Now, I enjoy spending time in book stores. But, I was in Pennsylvania to see the sights. With the day's plan centering around a tour of the battlefield at Gettysburg, I wanted to minimize my time in the bookstore and get on the road. But, Tom would not be budged. So, we spent most of the morning in Borders.

After Tom finally finished his coffee, we set off for Gettysburg. It was on this drive that I got my first ...