Overnight Train to Portland, OR

Above is Mumbi (Kenya) and I

This is Wallace (Brazil) checking his email on the train

Kayla finds Felipe's back (Brazil) is a comfortable pillow!

The chaperones go out to dinner with Melody's family in Portland, OR

Actually, sleeping on the train was not so bad. Maybe because I was just so tired and needed the rest. With the help of my ear plugs and mask, pillows and blankets, I slept OK. Chaperones tend to be the last ones down and first ones up, with the exception of a few REALLY chatty ones!

The kids have a great time on the train. They play card games, computer games, nap, and talk endlessly! They have been very well behaved and we even had some great compliments from the train staff, and that is wonderful for a group as large as we are. Our trip was 18 hours from San Francisco to Portland, OR.

At the train station we introduced the kids to their new weekend Rotarian family. The families will take the kids they chose to see the sites of Portland, OR. I look forward to the stories they will have to share when we get back together tomorrow; they will all have done different things. Kayla and Emilia are each with different families.

Meantime, the adults get to recharge our batteries. We are at a wonderful hotel with a beautiful river view. We went to a fantastic Cajun restaurant with Melody's sister, Kathy, Kathy's daughter, Nicky, and her best friend. It was so much fun! I really can't remember when I have laughed so much, really, it was fun beyond belief. It amazes me how people from different countries like Jan (pronounced Yohn), Jacqui, and Niko, and great leaders like Paul and Melody, and Rotarians like Mike and I were strangers a week ago, yet have come together to form an amazing group of leadership for these 50 exchange students!