ARRIVAL HOME

     Upon arrival to Jackson in late April on a Friday afternoon, surprises were had by all. For me it was good to be back home visiting with family and friends.  The visa problem that I had for countries in the middle east were to be corrected in two weeks and then I would be back on the journey.  However, certain personal matters delayed my departure until now.  The results of the surprise arrival were predicted. 

     What was not predicted was my buying another Harley motorcycle (Firefighers special edition ultra classic) from Bill, doing legal work and actually making a little money out of it.  Taking my first civil case in representing the defense might surprise someone. Also, finding my credit card, bank, and hotel over charged me thousands of dollars that I would not have caught, had I not made this stop, was a pleasant surprise.  It enabled me to buy the Harley. The bad part about the Harley is it has cruise control and a CD player that causes one to fall a sleep.  The Damn thing is too smooth.  I like the vibrations.  I still think that Bill got the best of me. (kidding)

Some of the best times were watching Jaqe play in a piano concert, soccer,  baseball, and beating he and Shane in chess. MacKenzie growing up and crawling, hanging out with Rebecca and Shane, and watching Jackie and Cody grow up and learn about life.  Having a daughter like Rebecca can only be my heart throb. Shane is lucky and so is she to have him. 

     The Harley ride to Gatinlinburg, Tenn., with twelve friends was a great time. We cut up, told jokes ,ate, and told "war stories."   Each year someone does something out of the ordinary. This was my time.  Not bringing my bathing suit, I put on a leopard skin stripper`s thong (givien to me a couple years ago), and ran everybody out of the pool.  I`m still scratching my head on that one.  The ride over the mountains was as ususal -- fantastic.  Going over the Draon Run (Dills Gap) which consists of 318 curves in eleven miles is fun and taxing.  What great great memories to carry with me. The sad part was Connie Bush had a flat and crashed his bike resulting in very serious injuries. We got the remains of his bike home and hope to get him there soon. Our prays are with him and his family.

     At home, I was truly blessed  being surrounded by family and friends. When it came time to say good bye to all of them, it caused me to reflect on how lucky I am to have them all. Everyone offering to do what ever to take care of my things and matters while gone and just simply giving support and love.  I thank you all.

     Since being home, I changed my itinerary twice, as well as, bought different tickets with another airlines (Cathay Pacific) because of personal matters. Refusing to change again, I decided to stick with the latter changes.  Instead of South Africa, then the Middle East (Jordan, Lebanon, Iran, Egypt, and Isreal), I will go to the Far East, Australia, New Zealand and then work my way back to the U.S.  I will be in some beautiful countries and others with some civil unrest and ties to some groups that aren`t favorable to Americans.

DEPARTURE

     Arriving at Los Angeles at 7 pm Saturday and seeing Ed, my brother, was the start of a beautiful evening.  I had a 5 hour layover before I left for Hong Kong.  He didn`t know that I was also there to collect on a bet of a personal matter.  I settled for dinner in Santa Monica near the beach.  His giving me advice and commments on some of the places I willl be visiting in our discussion led to a great evening.  Walking along the beach is always a beautiful sight as it always brings back many memories of the past visits.  It was a beautiful night.

     Saying goodbye to Ed and walking toward the Cathay Pacific Business Lounge, confirmed that this adventure has commenced and I embrace it.