Finally, back home in Hawaii

This trip ended suddenly for me, but all is well. I am back home in Hawaii; in my own bed, in my own home! I have privacy. That is what I misssed the most on this trip. Privacy. Traveling with 50 teen-agers was tough. You need a lot of patience, understanding, acceptance, patience, kindness, energy, and alot of patience (did I say that already?)! I saw so much of our wonderful United States of America. The last two stops were Washington D.C., which I have been to many times before, and then New Orleans, which I had spent two weeks in 2003. Most of the last week of the trip is spent on a train getting from the East Coast to the West Coast.

Here's what I learned; I am a country girl, or an island girl right now. The big cities like San Francisco, Chicago, and New York made me very nervous. So many people. Subways just aren't natural. Going underground like that just doesn't feel right. Human's aren't meant to be underground like that....On this Island of Oahu, I know where East is and West is. I know my directions because of the position of the sun, the mountains, and the ocean. In the big cities, the tall skyscrapers hid everything and I might as well have been lost in a jungle!

My favorite city was Boston. The history there is so rich and wonderful. The birthplace of our country. It was especially nice to be there on July 4th for the nation's birthday. My second favorite city was San Francisco, and riding bikes over the Golden Gate Bridge. My third favorite city was Seattle. I just love Seattle. My all-time favorite activity on the whole trip was the white-water rafting! Amazing!

Well tune in to my next adventure as I head off to Africa on October 2nd. I will be there for a month. The first two weeks is helping at an autism school in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the third week is the polio immunization with Rotary International, then the last week is doing service in Kalang, Uganda. I have raised funds to help install a grinding mill in a very remote village there. I look forward to the trip, but know that it will be long. I have learned that a month is a very long time to be on the road.