Paradise in flip flops

Hard to believe that we have been here a week. we are now in Koh Tao, an island paradise. The beach is lovely, the water perfect temp and all you need is a bikini and flip flops. we went scuba diving yesterday and saw Nemo and all his friends. The coral was lovely. The food is great everywhere. This is our 3rd day on the island and will be here a few more then move on to another one. The overnight train, ferry boat , cabs etc. to get here seemed long and tiring so I do not want to move on just yet. Rented an motorbike for a day and cruised the island. Al forgot to look at the gas gauge so of course....A very nice couple from Turkey came along and helped us out. We see very few Americans. Mostly Euro and Aussies travelling here at the moment. Night life on the beach is beautiful...spectacular sunsets.

Day 3

Great day so far. I have to admit that after the fantastic bike ride on our first day, I was feeling pretty smug about our quick adjustment to the new time zone and climate. Yesterday changed things. We were both pretty slow, lethargic and dizzy. A slow walk around the lake made me tired and swimming in the pool seemed hard. I kept feeling out of balance all day. We are both much better today however. We had an interesting dinner out last night at a local spot...spicy things and unrecognizable things in the curry! The fish cakes were very rubbery. Had a hard time with that. It is all a learning experince! Today Dale and the boys were off to school by 6:45 am so we were on our own. We just enjoyed a nice 4K run and splash in the pool. Noriko spoils us every morning with a lovely cappuccino (sp?). I won't be able to go back to regular coffee when I get back home, I'm afraid.
This afternoon we will go into Bangkok with Dale. It will be our first time in the daylight to see the main city.

First day....

We are starting our Thailand trip with a stay at the home of friend Dale Howe, his wife Noriko, and sons Tobi and Kai. They live in a lovely community connected with the International School of Bangkok where Dale teaches Psychology and History. We began the day with breakfast of delicious fruits and bread then a 24 mile bike ride around the area. Leaving the gated community, we crossed several busy highways then peddaled along paths through the market areas, along narrow raised concrete walkways over the water, hopped on a water taxi to cross the river then proceeded through the countryside. we tried to take pictures but there was so much to see that stopping every 2 seconds was impossible. We saw temples, rice fields and stray dogs, homes on stilts and high rise apts....all next to each other. Great way to see the sights. It was good the get the body moving too. After lunch we watched Tobi's soccer game...great player. He is in 3rd grade and Kai is in 6th. They really enjoy their school here and it looks like they both have lots of friends. Dale is very happy with his teaching job and Noriko loves teaching a Nia class (a form of Japanese dance...I will visit this class on Monday, hopefully).
Al wants me to join him in the pool!
Pictures to come later!

Time flies....

Long flight from Denver to Seattle to Tokyo to Bangkok! It was absolutely wonderful to be upgraded to business class (thanks so much, Mike!). The extra room, access to the Red carpet room and the great service, movies and food in-flight made things go very smoothly and comfortably. My mind got so confused with the long period of daylight...maybe 14 hours of it? not sure but definitely makes you dingy. Go forward in time to tokyo, then backward again to Bangkok...yikes.
anyway, dale and driver met us at the airport and welcomed us to his home at sometime after 1 am Thai time on Saturday morning. Slept wonderfully well in our nice room in their townhome. Great to be here! great flight!

It's time!

The bags are finally packed and all the loose ends are tied. We have endured the final hep shots, packed the sunscreen, bug spray and all the meds for the scary things that could happen. Now, it is time to have fun. Our sweet daughter, Erin is coming up to deliver some Thai food and say good bye. Our sweet daughter Devyn is here and will drive us to DIA in the morning.
This is great advice from a favorite, Mark Twain and sums up how I feel now: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Planning and prep...

Well, here it goes! As a first time blogger I will just take that baby step and see what happens. It was suggested to me to keep a journal of our first big trip and publish it as a blog so that friends and family can see how our travels to Thailand are going. Hopefully they will enjoy the news and pictures as we wander around the country experiencing the sights, sounds and tastes of this exotic place. We have been planning and preparing for this for what seems like an eternity. Basically, our (almost) full time occupation for the last several months has been reading the Lonely Planet guides, searching the internet, and grilling seasoned travellers for advice. We are on the count down now. 3 more days til lift off!

Let's see....immunizations/innoculations and prevenative meds and first aide stuff--check. Household stuff (the dog, the houseplants, water pipes, furnace and snow removal) all arranged--check. Mail and banking all arranged--check. Obtaining the right backpacks and luggage--check. Getting it all together and packed...well, not quite, but close!
Being gone for 6 weeks is a fairly long time but we wanted the flexibility to stay in one place longer if we were just having too much fun. Being under pressure to keep moving is not how we wanted to do this. There's a lot to see and do out there and it takes a bit of time to experience it fully!
So...off we go!