Past Eight Months in A Nutshell

Fast forward from our last June posting for Inspiration Weekend last. The most notable happening brings us to January 2011 which highlights our visit to South Korea to visit our daughter Johanna. She somewhere acquired the travel/vagabond bug, a good bit of it came through her shared DNA of Mom and me.

She spent a good 6-8 months jumping through hoops and completing myriad forms, documents, affidavids in order to qualify for a teaching English As A Second Language in South Korea. Upon her return from a month in Colombia, South America which she loved; she received her orders to be in Seoul by August 18 for a week long orientation. Off she went with one huge suitcase and a backpack made for Paul Bunyan. Within a few days we had our first of many Skype sessions with her. We undoubtedly communicate much more frequently now than when she lived in Denver. On the last day of orientation, they were given their assignment and she shipped out in a bus to the town of Cheorwon about 70km north of Seoul and practically on the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone with the North).

As you might expect the first week or so she began thinking she'd made a big mistake. There are only 4 caucasions in this small town of 8,000 and English speakers are rare. Fortunately her 2 years of teaching in Montessori School in Denver really gave her a leg up. Few of the Western English teachers have any teaching credentials or experience!

As the weeks and months went by we could see very visible and positive changes in our daughter and received glowing reports about loving it there and her extreme happiness, which wasn't always so evident in her life. Talk about new confidence and self-assurance. Even her speech and communication had become fluid and flawless. Within the surrounding region the other ESL teachers meet once a week to share stories, successes, suggestions, study Korea and the culture...........and of course share food and lots of Soju (equivilent of Sake)

Jan and I left Boston 5 Jan and landed in Seoul the next day. Our son DJ who works for Vail Marriott secured a beautiful room in Times Square Seoul for a family discount. We had a rather rocky beginning when we got off the bus about a mile short of the Marriott. Dragging our suitcases over ice and snow covered sidewalks we straggled up to the building to discover it wasn't a hotel but Marriot executive apartments. The concierge was so nice and called us a cab for the 10 minute drive to the right Marriott. Our room was beautiful and we immediately collapsed, got up in a couple hours and found a restaurant in the next door Mall. Next day Jo met us and we spent a couple days touring Seoul and meeting several of her girl friends.

One day as we were visiting an old area of Seoul we were approached by a distinguished Korean gentleman with his granddaughter on his arm. In fair English he asked if he could show us around his neighborhood. We agreed and were delighted for about 3 hours with his charm and knowledge of Seoul. Mr. John Kim was his name and we learned he ran a large architectural firm and was educated at U. of Michigan and had a grown daughter studying at Julliard School of Music in NYC. He showed us placed we would have never have found on our own; antique shops, art galleries, Buddist temple and grand palace. Mr. Kim took us to a wonderful traditional Korean lunch where we shared some wonderful food.

He had a great Nikon camera and shot dozens of pictures which he emailed to us that night. This experience is truly the joy and wonder of travel and why we are so addicted to this special past time.

We headed off on a 2 hour bus to Cheorwon and checked into our interesting hotel. The sign gave prices by the hour which we quickly surmised was to accomodate illicit affairs. The room was actually very nice and had large 42" flat screen TV, computer with surround sound, huge jacuzzi and some other interesting accoutrements (for $45/night). We had 5 days here before heading to Palawan island in the Philippines. The town was clean and had all the shops needed. Walking through town many of the shop keepers would come out to greet her, she has her own personal banker and we were amazed at how modern her school was. Paul her Korean co-teacher spent a day showing the area which is beautiful and surrounded by mountains. The highlight was our tour of the DMZ.

Could actually see the North Korean soldiers performing drills in the distance. During the day you could hear rumblings of munitions exploding in the distance. Oh did I mention it's cold in Korea............I mean not Philadelphia or even Boston cold. How about Siberian cold....maybe -10 degrees or more.

The other two biggest problems I had with Korea was 1. sitting cross-legged on the floor at restaurants and 2. eating Kimchi most meals --fermented cabbage Ug!

Before we knew it the time had arrived to take the bus back to Seoul for the flight to Manila. Jo's good friend and teaching associate Claire (from the UK) joined us and the two of them were going to travel for several weeks after our departure. We spent the night in Incheon for an early flight next morning.

The flight of course was delayed for de-icing the plane and we barely made our connection in Guangzhou for the Southern China Air flight to Manila. Arrived in Manila about 6PM and got a shuttle to our hotel, an hour journey through the most chaotic traffic I ever saw. Luckily we were only staying overnight and flying out to the island of Palawan for a week. More or less serendipitously Johanna had met a Philippine woman in Columbia SA and they traveled together and developed a special bond. It turns out Juliet, or Jhet as she's known, owns a wonderful condo in the well know downtown Rockwell Center. We joined her, husband Ted, daughter and a nephew for a great dinner of American pizza. Turns out Jhet or Juliet Torcelino van Ruyven rose from an empoverished family of 12 in the small Philippino village to a succesful entreprenuer and author, with homes in Vancouver and Manila. Check her website out http://taleofjuliet.com/ and I highly recommend her inspirational book, "The Tale of Juliet".

We arrived in Palawan after a short flight, but had forgot to mention Johanna, Janice, Claire and my bags were waylaid back during our changeover in China. Our resort, Crystal Paradise, had sent a van (2 hour drive south)to the airport in Puerto Princessa, but first took us to a rather large department store as we had no idea when our bags would show up. We got the basics and headed south at a break-neck speed on a pot filled road jammed with walkers, motorized tricycles, oxen, dogs which were just hard to describe. I'd say half the time the driver had his arm on the horn and do you think he'd slow down for anything.....not in a heart beat. Finally arrived at the Crystal Paradise Resort Spa & Winery and greeting with the sweetest people in the world. We were now Mr. Jeff, Miss Janice and Miss Johanna....here we are with our flower necklaces and coconut drinks.

Our Villa was quite nice with a great outside eating terrace, pool with jet spa, waterfalls, master bedroom, small kitchen and great loft where Jo slept. It was directly looking out to the Sulu Sea

Johanna and I took off down the beach and the seashells were great. Not too far down we ran into a band of about 8 boys ranging from maybe 8 to 25 who were fishing and pulling in their nets. Of course the two older ones eyed Johanna and immediately began flirting with her in somewhat broken English.

He asked Johanna if she would like a coconut and lickety split he was up the palm tree with his machete and loped off a bunch of coconuts and took them to their dinner hut and chopped off the ends on several.

Long story short, these young boys were like castaways and had apparently left home and lived in several huts behind us on the beach. They fended for themselves mainly through fishing. You ask yourself "how could they be happy with nothing", well these guys were as content as eight peas in a pod! They loved talking to foreigners and we spent alot of time with them...in fact like a fool I challenged Romeo (that's what I called him) to arm wrestling contest and lost miserably. As I think back it may have been the beginning of my current shoulder problem and torn rotator cuff!

Well our 5 day stay unfortunately turned into the storm before Noah took off in the Ark! Rained ferociously off and on for the whole time. Jan And Jo spent 3-4 hours one day and did everything on the spa card for about $40 each.

The meals were quite good and dinner came with unending local wine from their own winery. I think it was pineapple, mango and guava. We became very close to several of the young workers and Filipino people have got to be some of the most kind and sweet people in the world and live under some very hard conditions due to the monsoon like weather. Our friends from the Vineyard, Janet and Rick Bailey, happened to be on Palawan the exact same time and came down for 2 days to check this part out.

Our luggage finally arrived the 3rd day after very frustrating time dealing with airline. Johanna decided to leave a day earlier and head back to Puerta Princessa to meet Claire and begin their 3 weeks travel together. Jan and I we up early to take the wild ride back to the airport. We had booked a room in the Manila Marriott and it was really upscale. Jo and Claire showed and instead of their leaving that night on an 8 hour bus north; they slept the other bed. We had a great dinner and the saw probably the greatest show I've ever seen "Kaos". It was a musical but had unbelievable circus style acts throughout; can you believe all for $22 each!!

We flew back through Narita Airport which was so overcrowded and flights overbooked. We ended up flying through Minneapolis to Boston. And finally here's one of the greatest pleasures of the trip. Many of the legs we fly first class thanks to my good high school buddy, retired Delta Captain George Fogwell and his lovely wife Maureen who is a senior flight attendant. We're spoiled forever and in eternal gratitude to the Fogwells.

Inspiration Weekend Two - June 4-8, 2010

We began planning for Inspiration Weekend Two in February. Jan was the chairperson of the volunteer corp of 100+ for the 2nd year, but this year was going to be 5 days instead of the 2 days in 2009. I was also a member of our Church's 8 person planning committee or as SQuire Rushnell calls us the "Tugboat Committee".

Let me begin with a very brief background on the genesis of this very special event. Our close friends and island buddies SQuire Rushnell, http://whengodwinks.com/, and Louise DuArt, http://louiseduart.com/, were the "brain children" for I.W. when they met Dr. Charles Stanley founder of InTouch Ministries in Atlanta (www.intouch.org) after performing at the organization's Christmas Party in 2008.

Long story, short--they invited Dr. Stanley to the Vineyard for a weekend of music and inspiration to be held at the Oak Bluffs Tabernacle. This is a very famous site on the old revival campgrounds of gingerbread cottages and the grand, old Tabernacle (http://www.mvcma.org/). Following months of planning and prayer the 2 day weekend came off despite cold and rain. With great entertainment of Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis of the 5th Dimension, who I excitedly was asked to escort around, the family musical group, The Annie Moses Band, and Louise's Comedy and Impersonation performance, the event was acclaimed a 'mild' success.

We were skeptical about whether Dr. Stanley would want to return, but in January he spoke to Louise and Squire and said "you know I don't think the Lord wants me to return to the Island this year for 2 days.............I believe he'd like me to return and preach for 5 days"!!! So our hard work and planning began. The talent and entertainment this year was Star Search winner Mara Getz, American Idol finalist Mandisa, Ricky Skaggs and the Kentucky Thunder, multi-Grammy artists Avalon, and Constitutional Historian David Barton.

And of course the wonderful biblical teachings of Dr. Stanley.

I should have mentioned before if you didn't know Dr. Stanley's weekly sermons are broadcast worldwide to over 50 million viewers in over 100 countries.

We were so happy with the weekend attracting over 3,000 people from 30+ states and as far as one person from Hong Kong who flew over just for the event. The weather was near perfect every day and our Sunday Family picnic on the Green was well attended beyond our expectations. There was unanimous agreement that IW2 was a phenomenal success!! What happens next year is anybody's guess!

Costa Ballena - Osa Peninsula April 5-15, 2010

As living part time internationally has always been a part of our retirement plan, the Southern zone of Costa Rica has recently come on our radar through International Living magazine. Our most serious international property searches to date have been in Southern France, Languedoc and Provence, and this is still high on our list. We also spent several weeks in Nicaragua in 2007, but found it without enough culture and things to do, a bit too Third World.

Costa Rica had become much too expensive in last 10 years so I hadn't even thought much about it until recently. The Southern zone had been undeveloped because of mainly of poor roads and infrastructure. The coastal highway has been completed (cutting the drive time from San Jose from 5 to 3 hours)and a new international airport was approved for Palmar; so development is on the rise. A major developer Ventanas del Pacifico www.ventanadelpacific.com
in Ojochal has built almost 100 homes and sold twice as many lots to be built on.

The mountains come right down to the coast and all the lots are into the mountain sides with either ocean and mountain views or both. At elevations of up 2,000 feet the vistas were stunning and homes could be built for $100/sq. ft.

Janice and I spent 3 days at the Ventanas guest house and spent about 2 full days visiting both completed homes and available lots in their 6+ phases.

SUV's are a must as the development roads are unpaved and quite steep.

The lots range in price from $40-150K depending on both size and views. We were primarily interested in full ocean view lots and found 2 that we really liked at $90k and $130K.

They unfortunately were about 12 km. south of Ojochal which required the drive whenever you want to shop or go to restaurants. Ojochal and the Uvita area was quite unique and each day the area grew on us. The expats have blended nicely into the "Tica" culture and lifestyle and the number of outstanding international gourmet restaurants was amazing. We are still considering buying a lot, but would want to make another trip. The weather was extremely humid and hot and if this was the norm we're not sure this is for us.

What a Start!

Jan and I flew to Tampa on Saturday 21 November and stayed with our friends Bill and Janet in Clearwater for a couple days. Picked up the rig on Monday and were blown away at the practically new condition of the 2005 King Ranch truck and 2006 Host camper. The truck had 5,000 miles and not a nick or blemish inside or out. The leather seats in a King Ranch are really special and the smell of new leather permeated the truck. The owner gave us a quick run through and we took off heading North to spend Thanksgiving with our family in Philadelphia.

Of course a couple hours up the road we stopped at a Wal-Mart to stock up on plates, silverware, sheets, pillows and all the other necessities. Our intention was to camp out 2 nights on the way up. As the rain began and darkness set in about 5:30, we were into southern Georgia when the truck lights started dimming and engine dying. Couldn't have been a worse spot to break down on I95 as there was significant construction and the shoulder was almost non-existent. After a couple of hours with countless tractor trailers whizzing by, a tow truck showed up. Turns out they needed a larger tow truck to haul our rig. That took another hour or so and then they needed to disconnect the differential to safely tow with out the engine running!! That old Southern boy was great! Had it disconnected and hooked up in about 45 minutes. Fortunately there was a Ford dealership at the exit we just passed a few miles back so we had to go up 7-8 miles to next exit and come back.

Jan and I were stuffed into the front seat with Billy Joe and he was a character and made the experience tolerable. We dropped the rig off at the dealership (it was about 10:30 by now) and checked into a motel near by. The whole ordeal took about 4 1/2 hours and boy did that bed feel great. It was a new motel and I think cost about $49.95 which was a deal. Probably cheaper than a camp site.

First thing in the morning I spoke to the service manager and he got the truck right in. Long story, short, the alternator went bad. You're probably thinking how could a truck with only 5,000 miles have the alternator go bad......... Well not using a vehicle is not always good and having it sit around, rather than using it, can believe or not, cause premature "death". This unexpected delay was even further costly as just across the street was a large Outlet Store shopping center which brought smiles to Janice!! Living on an island causes a form of shopping depravity the women have trouble dealing with. Now she was able to get her "fix".

While she was shopping I wandered into the dealership showroom and in no time was in the business manager's office buying an extended warrantly for the truck. It covered just about everything for 48 months/48,000 miles and cost about $2,200. Figured this would get us through our Celebration Retirement Tour beginning next year. We were back on the road by about 2:30 and had hoped to get to Northern Va. in 6-7 hours.

Smooth sailing for about 3 hours when traffic came to a stand still somewhere in North Carolina. We inched along for about 2 hours and finally came to the next exit where it seemed everyone was getting off. It was about 8:30 and we discovered that an overpass bridge had collapsed on 95. Quickly got a room for overnight.

On the road by 9:30 and proceeded smoothly until about 15 miles south of D.C. when I smelled something burning! Of course your defence system kicks in along with a bit of adrenaline. Yes it's got to be someone in front that causing the oder(we were now in bumper to bumper traffic as it the day before Thansgiving!) and within minutes I see the smoke coming from our left front wheel well!! Again the emergency lane was about 9 feet wide and I need about 8 feet. I was cruising fearlessly for about a mile when I finally exited looking for a place to pull over. The Lord was surely with us as within a 1/2 mile there was a great turnoff with plenty of room to park. Sure enough somthing in the wheel/brake system was smoking!! In the interim time since our last break down we learned that our AAA membership didn't cover our truck camper rig setup so we signed up along the road with the Good Sam Club which had roadside RV service. Our new Ford extended warranty also had roadside coverage. We were having trouble getting a tow service; Jan and I were working both our cell phones which were BOTH running out of power and we couldn't find our chargers. Before we knew it two tow trucks showed up almost at the same time. The first one hooked us up and towed to a closeby large Ford dealership. Again we were treated so great and they immediately got us in, within an hour diagnosed the brake calipher had frozen and burned lines out with some computer sensors and who knows what else. They couldn't fix for 2 days because of holiday. Again the Lord blessed us; there was an Enterprise Car rental in the dealership. We got a nice Ford SUV and headed out to Philly at about 5:30. Guess what--our warranty covered everything including the car rental.

I won't bore you with the trip to Philly since compared to everything else it was a cake walk. Had to drive back to pick up the rig on Monday and drive up to New England. It was fun taking it over on the ferry over to the Vineyard and finally getting it home.

Probably the only humorous thing about this debacle was we so so excited to use the camper overnight and we ended having to spend both nights in motels!!

If anyone can beat this "tale of woe", please let me know.

John Steinbach's Rocinante in "Travels with Charlie". Probably one of the very first truck campers ever!

Eureka!!

Well we finally did it. For the last 4-5 months have been following a wonderful used 2005 King Ranch F-350 Ford truck with a 2006 Host 11 1/2' dual slide Yellowstone camper offered originally on Ebay. The owner pulled it off Ebay and I talked to them back in June. Called back several weeks ago and it was still available; the owner hadn't been real agressive in selling it.

We had originally thought we'd buy a Class A RV of about 35', but after seeing the roominess and amenities of truck campers with slide out sides, we were sold. You get to a camping site and remove the campers and now have the convenience of using the truck without the encumbrance of the camper. Exactly what we wanted and the 2005 truck only had 5500 miles on it !!! Our good friend in Clearwater drove over last week to inspect it with his son. Their report was glowing. Long story short, I called and negotiated a good and fair price.

Jan and I will fly down to Tampa Thanksgiving week and drive it back to the Vineyard. Actually we'll stop over in Philadelphia to have T-Day with our 90 and 92 year old Moms, and my sister Janet and brother-in-law Tom. This is a huge step toward our dream.......much sooner than I thought just 2 weeks ago.



Here's some pictures.

Planning Stages

Janice and I are, 57 and 63 years young, living on Martha's Vineyard and planning the next stage of our lives together. This is just the first step by starting this blog so we can document our travels and stay in touch with our kids, Johanna and Donald, other family and friends. We've traveled extensively around the world and realized there is so much to the USA, the greatest country on the Earth, that we hadn't seen. The Grand Canyon, Old Faithful, Napa Valley and San Francisco, Alaska and so many fabulous National Parks. Not to mention South of the Border.

Our plan is to take off sometime around September 2011 for the JW Retirement Celebration Tour in a large and well-outfitted, self-sustainable truck camper to travel North America, Mexico and hopefully Central America. How long? I'm saying 6-12 months. Janice is not saying much to this question at this point. Hoping to buy our rig in the next 6 months to gain experience in RVing and boondocking.

We'll probably post occasionally to relate our progress and even our lives on this special island.