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Mojave PreserveSeason's greetings from the Porters! Time has really been moving along quickly for us and it's hard to believe that it has been a full year since our last update. I can't resist starting off with our biggest news of the year, which is that we are expecting a baby girl! She is due May 3 so we are starting to think about painting and getting a nursery ready. We can hardly wait and look forward to the new experiences to come. Since our last update we have been busy as usual. Brenda continues to thrive at her job as a school counselor and I have stayed very busy as a network engineer. In the past year at my work we have hired around 20 new employees and launched residential TV, internet and phone services in our community. At church Brenda has been le
Keenanading the deaconess ministry and I have continued to be involved with the webcast team and the personnel committee. We have also stayed busy with travel and other fun activities. In the first part of the year I had a work trip to Dallas, Texas and got to attend a hockey game while there. A couple weeks later I joined friends for some winter hiking on the Cumberland Trail and then we traveled to California for Brenda's spring break. Unfortunately Brenda came down with a second case of mono early in the year so she missed some work and then really had to take it easy on our trip. We enjoyed spending time with family in California though and also got to take an overnight trip to Catalina Island aboard a friend's sailboat. It was fun to introduce Brend
Independence Pass in Coloradoa to sailing and to be on a boat again, although most of us got rather seasick. For the second part of the trip we drove to Las Vegas with a side trip to the Mojave Preserve. The desert views and blooming flowers were a sharp contrast to the busy streets of Las Vegas, but we did have fun seeing many free sights and shows there while pushing Brenda around in a rented wheelchair. After our trip Brenda was able to return to work and gradually gained her strength back. In the spring we joined my parents for the weekend at Callaway Gardens in Georgia and then were treated to a visit from Brenda's brother and his family. They came back to the US from Cambodia for the summer to have their second baby. In June we celebrated our two year anniversary by spend
Esther Memorial Weekending a weekend away together at a bed & breakfast and then later in the month we went camping with friends. In July we traveled to Colorado for a memorial service for my great aunt Esther which turned into a family reunion with family coming in for the holiday weekend from all over the country. We really had a great time together visiting, hiking and remembering Esther. From Colorado Brenda traveled to New Mexico to meet her new nephew while I went back to work in Chattanooga for the week. I then flew back to New Mexico where we spent almost a week with Brenda's family. Our main focus was on meeting the new baby, but we also got to visit some cliff dwellings near Lo
Pewitt Familys Alamos and took the kids to the Albuquerque Zoo while there. In August we went camping at Whigg Meadow where we were able to pick nine pounds of wild blueberries while enjoying a panoramic view of the surrounding valleys. The first night we survived a powerful thunderstorm but then on the second night we were treated to an amazing view of the stars on a moonless night away from all the light pollution. Another activity for us this summer was boating on Lake Chickamauga on a friend's boat several weekends. I especially enjoyed the wakeboarding although tubing and just being on the water were fun too. We started off the fall season with a trip to the Northwest where we visited the Columbia Gorge with friends and then attended the annual Huckleberry weekend family gathering organized by Brenda's extended family. The weather was not ideal so we were glad to be camping in a dry van. In spite of the cold weather we were still able to bring a few quarts of berries home with us which I picked in the rain
Cliff Dwellings at Bandelier National Monument and sleet with a large group of Brenda's family. After the huckleberry weekend we visited my aunt Janette who lives on a boat for a couple of nights. By then the weather cleared up so we had a perfect day of cruising on the river. Later in the month my sister Sarah came to visit for a few weeks and then in October I got to go hang gliding for a delayed birthday present. It was an awesome experience to soar over the fall colors and to finally take advantage of the world class hang gliding school less than an hour from our house. In early November we spent a weekend at a mountain cabin with friends and then rode on a scenic railroad along the Hiwassee River where we caught the tail end of the fall colors. The holiday season got off to a good start fo
Whigg Meadowr us with a Thanksgiving visit from Brenda's parents. While they were in town we visited the International Towing and Recovery Museum which was entertaining. We also took a ride on the Tennessee River Gorge Explorer boat operated by the Chattanooga Aquarium. We then took an overnight trip to Asheville, NC. On the way there we took the scenic route and stopped for a picnic at Fort Mountain in Georgia and then toured the Biltmore House the next day. We especially enjoyed all of the Christmas decorations and several newly restored rooms in the huge house. We also made a stop at the farmers market which was much larger than we had expected. They have several large warehouses which you can drive through to purchase all kinds of fresh produce as well as two buildings full of arts, crafts and food. On the way home we took another scenic route since both of the regular routes were blocked by landslides. For Christmas we joined my dad's side of the family at my
Biltmoregrandparents' house where we had a good time playing games, eating good food and spending time together. As I write this we are on a plane headed to California for a few days with my mom's side of the family. We are looking forward to our first baby shower this week and some more down time. We hope that this holiday season finds you well and we wish you all the best in the new year! We plan to post updates here more often in the year ahead, but you can also see what we are up to between updates via Facebook. Until next time, Andrew & Brenda ]]> http://www.porterupdates.com/2009/12/baby-on-the-way-year-in-review.html http://www.porterupdates.com/2009/12/baby-on-the-way-year-in-review.html Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:59:32 -0500
Montevideo, UruguayGreetings from snowy Wenatchee, Washington, I had hoped to write about our trip to South America sooner, but things have been busy since we got back and it took some time to sort through all the pictures. Our trip started Thursday afternoon, October 9 when we left work a bit early to drive to the Atlanta airport. Our first flight from Atlanta to Miami was uneventful, although I left my belt somewhere in the Atlanta security line and it was gone when Brenda went back to look for it. I normally would have gone back myself, but I was nursing a sore foot which I had twisted while hiking the previous weekend. From Miami we caught a 9 hour overnight flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina where we met up with my dad before boarding the next flight on to Montevideo, Uruguay. My mom was already in Uruguay since she had gone early to spend time with her sisters. Upon arrival in Uruguay we were
Our rental vehicle and cabin in El Chaltenmet at the airport by my aunt Judy who lives and works in Montevideo. She took us to her apartment where we got settled and had a good lunch. We then walked around town a bit and visited Judy's office before heading back to her apartment. Some of us ended up taking a taxi back as Brenda was still getting over bronchitis and strep throat, and I was trying to take it easy on my foot. After resting a bit we went out for supper and then enjoyed a good nights sleep after our long night and day of traveling. The next day we went on a guided tour of the city which included stops at monuments, gardens and scenic overlooks. We had an excellent guide and really enjoyed seeing the different neighborhoods and learning about the city. After the tour we packed our bags and headed to Colonia, which is about 3 hours west of Montevideo. Upon arrival in Colonia we got settled in to our hotel and then did some expl
Mt. Fitzroy at sunriseoring and found a nice restaurant overlooking the water for supper. Colonia is an older town on a peninsula with cobblestone streets, small shops, historic buildings and lots of restaurants. Before heading to bed we visited a very good ice cream shop next door to our hotel. The ice cream was like the Gelato that we used to get in Cyprus so it was a real treat. Sunday morning we awoke to rain so we took our time getting up and eating our hotel breakfast. We then went to a craft market and walked around town for a couple of hours as the weather cleared up. Along the way we saw the old city gate and walls, climbed to the top of a lighthouse, played with a friendly cat and then found a restaurant for a late lunch. The menu sounded good at the place we chose, but it turned out that they were not serving a full menu until dinner time. We still found some things to order but it ended u
Hiking in the Andesp taking nearly 2 hours to get our food, and once the food came it was pretty bland. By the time we finished eating we had just enough time to get our bags and then head to the port to catch our ferry to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Before leaving on the ferry we said goodbye to my mom's sisters as they would not be joining Brenda, my parents and I for the trip south to Patagonia. The ferry only took about an hour and upon arrival in Buenos Aires we caught a taxi to our hotel with a quick stop at the ATM to get some Argentine pesos. After checking in to our hotel we found a local supermarket where we bought some cheese, crackers and mandarin oranges which we had for supper before heading to bed. We enjoyed another very good hotel breakfast Monday morning and then caught a taxi to the domestic airport for our flight south to El Calafate. The flight was around 3 hours long, and as we sta
Enjoying the view after hiking 7 milesrted our descent we caught our first glimpses of the Andes mountains. On our way in to land we flew over a beautiful lake with many "boats" on it. As we got closer we gradually realized that the "boats" were actually icebergs! The airport was quite small with just one baggage claim belt and a nice view of the lake. The one gate with a jet bridge was occupied by another plane when we landed, so we walked down a set of moveable stairs and across the tarmac to the terminal. After collecting our bags we met up with representatives from a car rental company we had made arrangements with. The Peugeot Partner we had reserved was ready to go and after completing some paperwork we were on our way. Instead of driving the 15 minutes in to the town of El Calafate, we headed in the opposite direction to the town of El Chalten about 3 hours away. Along the way we enjoyed excellent views of rivers, lakes and mountains and stopped several times to take pictures. At one of the stops we spotted a critter called a peludo which is a type of armadillo. The route was pretty desolate with no gas stations at all, and just a few buildings near the half way point, one of which was a small restaurant and hotel. We decided to stop at the restaurant for a snack, and learned that Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid and his wife Etta Place had actually stopped there around 1905 on their
Lago Torre & Cerro Torreway from Argentina to Chile. As we got closer to El Chalten the mountains seemed to keep getting bigger until finally we came over the last ridge and descended into the small town in a valley surrounded by mountains. The town of El Chalten is fairly new as it was only founded in 1985 and has a real frontier feel to it. Upon arrival we
Waterfall near El Chaltengot settled into our cabin and then did a little shopping at a basic grocery & hardware store within walking distance. For supper we enjoyed a nice home cooked meal in our cabin with views of the mountains before heading to bed. Tuesday morning we slept in a bit and then drove out of town on a dirt road towards Lago Del Desierto (a lake). Actually this was the only road out of town other than the one we arrived on and it ended at the lake. Along the way we stopped several times for pictures and then took a hike along Rio Electrico (a river). There was a sign at the start of the trail that mentioned a fee of some kind but we didn't understand all of the Spanish words, so decided to just follow the trail and turn around when we
Road to El Chaltenwere ready. We ended up hiking about 4 miles up the river to a private horse camp. It turned out there was an entrance fee to go on the lake and glacier trails beyond the camp, and we decided to turn around instead of paying the fee. We figured 8 miles roundtrip was probably enough hiking for our first day, plus we would be seeing many other glaciers later on. As we hiked back the clouds got darker and it even drizzled a bit, but we never really got wet. Once we got back to the car we drove a few more miles and then stopped at an overlook for a picnic. It was pretty cold and windy so we ate in the car, but enjoyed the view of a lake with several pink flamingoes and other birds in it. After we finished eating we continued on to the end of the road at Lago Del Desierto. Along the way we saw a very recently born baby cow, rabbits, ducks and many other birds. We then spent some time enjoying the view of the lake and a nearby glacier before heading back to town. By the time we got back to our cabin it was dark, which was pretty late since the early spring sunset time during our visit was around 9:20pm. The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast and then set out on the trail to Lago Torre. The trailhead was at the edge of town so we just started hiking from our cabin. We
Boat tour of the glaciers on Lago Argentinaweren't sure how far we would go, but decided to play it by ear since it was about 7 miles to the mountain lake. So far my foot was doing well and Brenda's energy was much better after getting several good nights of sleep. About 30 minutes into the hike we came over a ridge and were treated to an awesome panoramic view of the mountains with blue skies all around. The weather in Patagonia is often cloudy and we were very lucky to have such a perfect day for our hike. We kept following the trail for several hours and enjoyed seeing flowers, birds, waterfalls and more mountain views along the way. Eventually we made it all the way to the glacier fed lake where we dipped our feet in the icy water and took a few minutes to enjoy the
Moreno Glaciermagnificent views. We then started the hike back to our cabin and made it in good time. Although we were pretty tired after hiking 14 miles roundtrip, the amazing scenery was well worth it. We were definitely glad that we had packed a picnic lunch and that the stream water was safe to drink along the way too. Back at the cabin we enjoyed another home cooked supper
Horseback riding in the rainbefore heading to bed. Thursday we loaded up the car, checked out of our cabin and then spent some time exploring the craft shops in El Chalten. Next we drove to a nearby waterfall where my dad and I found our own route to the top of the falls. We then headed back south to the town of El Calafate with several stops along the way for scenic views. Upon arrival in El Calafate we got settled in to the Bed & Breakfast we had reserved and then headed to town for a nice pizza dinner. Friday morning we enjoyed a good breakfast and then drove about 20 minutes to a port area on Lago Argentina. We had made arrangement to take an all day boat tour of the glaciers which turned out to be a highlight of the trip. We got to see many icebergs and about 4 major glaciers including the most famous Moreno Glacier. At each stop we would spend time
Matadero market in Buenos Airesjust idling back and forth to give everyone plenty of time for pictures and to enjoy the breathtaking views. In between stops most people would go inside to get warm, but I spent much of the time outside watching the mountains go by and just enjoying the time on the lake. When we first arrived at Moreno Glacier it was raining and dark, but while we waited the weather cleared and we had blue skies for pictures. In the evening we did a little shopping and then for supper we had empanadas which are pretty common in Argentina. They are kind of like pizza pockets and come in many interesting varieties including sweet corn, spinach, onion and tomato basil. On Sabbath we decided to go exploring by car and ended up driving around on several dirt roads. Along the way we saw lots of sheep, flamingos and other birds and also enjoyed more good lake views. We ended up having our picnic in the
Enjoying the campfire car though since it started to rain a bit. After lunch we headed to the airport to drop off my parents as they were flying to Buenos Aires a day earlier than Brenda and I to connect with their flights home. From the airport Brenda and I headed to some horse stables where we had made arrangements to go on an evening horseback ride. Unfortunately the clouds rolled in and a steady rain started just as we started our ride. It was quite windy and cold but we still enjoyed riding the horses and had a good view of the town on our ride. Sunday morning we had a little confusion about when exactly our flight was leaving since there was a time change for daylight savings time in Buenos Aires. Apparently the province we were visiting decided not to participate in the time change, so all of the flights ended up leaving an hour earlier than the times printed on the tickets and boarding passes.
Fall colors in north Georgia Thankfully our bed and breakfast owner warned us about the problem so we returned our rental car and made it to the airport with plenty of time to catch our flight. We then had an 8 hour layover and airport change in Buenos Aires. Upon arrival we first dropped off our luggage at the hotel we had stayed at for our previous layover. We also changed into cooler clothes since the weather was in the 70s instead of the 40s and 50s we had come from in Patagonia. We then took a taxi to the Matadero Fair, which is a large outdoor Sunday market. They had stalls selling handicrafts, flea market type stuff and food from all over Argentina. There were also several stages with various musical performances going on and some groups doing traditional dances in the streets. We really enjoyed seeing an authentic side of Buenos Aires and also purchased a new belt for me and a hammock. For lunch we tried some food like corn bread and for dessert got a strawberry smoothie and a fruit kabob. The kabob consisted of sugar coated fruit chunks with pieces of popcorn stuck to them and the smoothie was very fresh since local strawberries were in season. From the fair we headed downtown and walked around a bit. We saw a memorial flame, several wide avenues, an old subway station and a number of government and historic buildings before picking up our luggage for the taxi ride to
Thanksgiving in McMinnvillethe international airport. Our flight back to the US left at nearly midnight and got in to Miami around 6am. From there we flew on to Atlanta and then drove to Chattanooga where Brenda dropped me off at work around 1pm. I got some sleep on the flight, but was still glad to get to bed Monday night after around 30 hours of travel and half a day of work. Overall we really enjoyed our trip to South America. It was especially fun to spend time with family while also getting to explore some new parts of the world. We started November off by attending a Sabbath afternoon potluck gathering for former Far Eastern Division missionaries. We had fun visiting with others who have been overseas in Asia and
Christmas dinner in Wenatchee enjoyed a wide variety of tasty Asian foods. We also went camping for a weekend in north Georgia to celebrate Brenda's birthday. We went at the peak of the fall colors and really enjoyed exploring forest service roads among the brilliant and varied shades of yellow, orange and red leaves. We also hiked to a mountain top fire lookout tower where we had an expansive view of the surrounding area. For Thanksgiving we joined my cousins at my grandparents house in McMinnville, TN. We enjoyed lots of good food, visiting, table games, croquet and ping pong over the long holiday weekend. It was really nice to spend time with family that we will not see for Christmas this year. In December we enjoyed several Christmas concerts including one organized by Casting Crowns in Birmingham, Alabama. Since my Uncle Steve and Aunt LeAnne live in Birmingham, we spent the weekend with them and attend
Hiking in snowy Wenatcheeed the concert on Saturday night. We also attended several Christmas parties before flying to Washington state on Christmas Eve to spend the holidays with Brenda's parents. We are thankful for a smooth, on time flight to Seattle since there were many weather related delays in the Northwest this year. We are also thankful for a safe drive over two snowy passes to Wenatchee where we are now enjoying time with Brenda's family. So far it has been great to just spend time relaxing, visiting and enjoying the snowy weather. This week we plan to see more of Brenda's family and also hope to get in some snow skiing before flying back to Tennessee in time for work next week. I hope this holiday season finds you doing well. Keep in touch and have a Happy New Year! Until next time, Andrew As usual there are more pictures online in the gallery.]]> http://www.porterupdates.com/2008/12/uruguay-argentina-fall-camping.html http://www.porterupdates.com/2008/12/uruguay-argentina-fall-camping.html South America Tennessee (Sep 2004 - present) Mon, 29 Dec 2008 14:00:18 -0500
Labor Day WeekendGreetings from Tennessee, Since my last update we enjoyed a very nice visit from family over Labor Day weekend. Our first guests to arrive were my sister Sarah who traveled all the way from Yemen, and my parents who came from California. Once they landed on Friday afternoon we all went to Sam's club and Walmart to finish up some food shopping. Sabbath morning we headed to church where Brenda was in charge of our Sabbath School study for the week. Before we got back from church Brooke, Jeffrey, Elise and Zion arrived from Nashville. They came a bit early to take advantage of our hot water for showers as theirs was not working. When we got back from church we had a good lunch together and then spent the rest of the day visiting and playing with the kids. On Sunday after breakfast my grandparents joined us from McMinnville for another day of visiting and playing with the kids. Sunday night we had 11 people in the house but managed just fine. Monday morning
Cherohala Skyway OverlookBrooke, Jeffrey, Elise and Zion headed back to Nashville after breakfast, and the rest of us went to an afternoon baseball game. It was the last game of the season for the AA Chattanooga Lookouts and we had fun visiting and watching them pull off a win against the Huntsville team. On Tuesday Brenda had to go back to work but the rest of us had another day of visiting and working on some travel details for our upcoming trip to South America. My grandparents headed home late in the day but my parents and Sarah stayed one more night before flying back to California bright and early Wednesday morning. Overall we had a great time just relaxing and spending time with family over the long weekend. The next weekend we stayed in town as Brenda was helping with the 7th year birthday party for our church. Although the church as a group has been around for 7 years, we have only been in the new building for a little over 1 year. After quite a string of busy weekends
Whigg Meadowat home we decided to get away for a break the second weekend in September. We were originally considering a camping trip, but Brenda was feeling a bit sick with what later turned out to be strep throat, so we decided to rent a cabin in the mountains instead. We found a nice log cabin with a small kitchen and it's own hot tub just off the Cherohala Skyway. The 36 mile skyway is named after the Cherokee and Nantahala national forests and climbs from about 900 feet in Tennessee to a summit of around 5400 feet in North Carolina. It is known as the most expensive road in North Carolina with a price tag of $100 million and was completed in 1996. After getting a good nights rest Friday, we headed out to do some exploring and to search for wild blueberries at Whigg Meadow on Sabbath. The meadow is located a couple of miles off the main skyway and is known for wild blueberries, good views and bird banding. The high elevation and abundance of berries make this area
Wild Blueberriesa popular stopping point for migratory birds. Enthusiasts gather to watch the birds and also to capture them so that tracking bands can be attached. I was more interested in the wild blueberries though, so spent a couple of hours picking after we ate our picnic. After berry picking we did some more exploring and ended up getting back to our cabin using mostly gravel forest service roads. We found some good campsites for future trips along the way and had a fun, relaxing day overall. On Sunday we had a nice breakfast of wild blueberry pancakes and then took another scenic route back to Chattanooga. The third weekend in September I had organized a group to attend a Casting Crowns concert but unfortunately the tickets sold out a few days before we went to get them so that didn't work out. We had a nice weekend anyway though and got together with friends to play games on Saturday night instead of attending the concert. Last weekend we went camping at Foster F
Bald River Fallsalls with our young adults group. The campground was just over an hour away near a waterfall and some good hiking trails. The waterfall didn't have much water flowing since it has been so dry here, but a couple of us still went swimming in the pool below the falls which was deep and quite cool. We also walked to the top of the falls but mostly spent time visiting and hanging out around the campfire. On Sunday we took a short hike and I twisted my foot badly enough that I couldn't put weight on it by the time we got home Sunday night. It has been healing quickly though and I'm doing much better now. This weekend we stayed in town and enjoyed potluck with our young adults group on Sabbath. We then attended a get together with some of my coworkers later in the day. Sunday morning I played sand volleyball and then spent the rest of the day working on projects at home and getting ready for our trip to South America. This coming Thursday we are scheduled to fly to Montevideo, Uruguay where my aunt lives. From there we will travel with my parents over to Buenos Aires and then fly south to El Calafate in the Patagonia region of Argentina. We are really looking forward to spending time with family and to seeing lots of mountains and glaciers on this trip. Until next time, Andrew]]> http://www.porterupdates.com/2008/10/family-cherohala-skyway-and-fo.html http://www.porterupdates.com/2008/10/family-cherohala-skyway-and-fo.html Tennessee (Sep 2004 - present) Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:00:15 -0500
Grove Park InnGreetings, Since I last wrote we have of course stayed busy. In April we drove to Asheville, North Carolina where we attended the Ambassadors of Hope weekend put on by The Quiet Hour. We enjoyed hearing the various mission reports and also got to spend some time with my parents. On Sabbath afternoon we visited the North Carolina Arboretum and on Sunday we had lunch at the historic Grove Park Inn. In May we had a visit from my cousin Brooke and her kids but missed seeing her husband as he was on call for the weekend. It was fun to play with the kids and visit with Brooke though. At the end of the month we flew out to California for the weekend to attend Ben & Marta's wedding. We stayed busy helping with wedding preparations but also got to visit with friends and family while we were there. After the wedding I flew back to Tennessee but Brenda stayed in California for the rest of the week. On Friday we both flew to Denver where we met up to celebrate our 1 year wedding anniversary. Unfortunately my flight was delayed several
Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Parkhours so it was after midnight by the time we got to our Bed & Breakfast near Rocky Mountain National Park. We stayed in a 75 year old log lodge in the country without any cell phone coverage and enjoyed good food and friendly conversation around the breakfast table. After breakfast on Sabbath we did some exploring by car with stops along the way for short hikes and to picnic by a rushing mountain stream. Back at the lodge we took a relaxing dip in the hot tub before heading to bed early to catch up on our sleep. Sunday morning after breakfast we went on a 6.1 mile hike to the top of Estes Cone. From the 11,006 foot summit we enjoyed panoramic views of the surrounding valleys and mountains. We didn't stay too long though since it was pretty cold and even snowed on us a li
Elkttle at the top. After the hike we did some more driving through Rocky Mountain National Park although Trail Ridge Road was closed due to snow so we weren't able to go as far as we had intended. In the evening we headed back to Denver and checked in to our hotel. I attended a work related class during the week and Brenda did some exploring around Denver and also took a day trip to Colorado Springs. We enjoyed spending time together in the evenings after my classes and even drove to the top of Mt. Evans one night. It was cold and very windy at the top though so Brenda stayed in the car while I hiked the short distance from the parking lot to the 14,264 summit. The views were excellent and on our way back to Denver we got to watch the sun set above an alpine lake. On Friday
Pasque Flower after my class finished we drove up to Buena Vista to visit Pat & Elvin. I always enjoy visiting them and this was no exception. We had fun hiking, spotting wildflowers, and visiting on Sabbath and then had to leave too soon on Sunday morning for our trip back to Tennessee. The next week we hosted a wedding shower for our friends Ray & Yormary and then went to their wedding in Georgia on the weekend. We were in charge of coordinating the ceremony so kept busy but had a fun time. For the 4th of July weekend we drove down to the Atlanta area to visit the Gallant family. We had fun playing with the four kids and also got to visit the new Atlanta Aquarium. It was fun to see the beluga whales and the whale sharks although it was very crowded due to the holiday. The next weekend I took Friday off from work and we drove up to Michigan on Thursday. We spent the next couple of days visiting with Johanna, Keenan, Michael and Amelia. We had fun hanging out, playing games, going to the beach and eating Michigan blueberries together. Brenda, Johanna and Keenan started driving west on Saturday night and arrived safely in Wenatchee, Washington Monday evening. I on the other hand spent Sunday morning picking raspberries and a few peaches with Michael and Amelia. I also purchased some more
Hiking with Pat & ElvinMichigan blueberries to put in the freezer at home and got a few cherries and apricots to enjoy fresh. While I was back in Chattanooga, Brenda had a nice visit with her family in Washington state. It would have been nice to join her, but unfortunately I had to be at work. I did drive up to McMinnville to pick blueberries after work on Friday and then spent Sabbath with my grandparents while Brenda was in Wenatchee. On Sunday I headed back to Chattanooga to go rafting on the Ocoee river with our young adults group. We had a good trip down the river with a group of nearly 25 people. After being gone for 7 out of 8 weekends in June & July we have been staying closer to home for the month of August. On the first
Georgia Aquariumweekend we hosted young adults potluck and then in the evening we had a surprise birthday party for me which Brenda had planned. My grandparents and the Colburns even came down and stayed the night after the party so I had a fun filled birthday weekend with family, friends and blueberry pie. Over the next couple of weeks I helped arrange some appointments for my Australian friend Ross who lives in Cambodia. Ross has been in Cambodia for 10 years and started Healthland there which includes a food industry. The industry employs disadvantaged young people so that they can earn enough money to attend school while also learning valuable job skills. If you want to learn more about Healthland you can watch a short video on their new web site at http://www.healthlandcambodia.com. Ross was sponsored to attend the ASI convention in Tampa this year so he came to stay with us for about a week after the convention and gave several presentations about his work in Cambodia. On Sunday while Ross was here we went up to the Hiwassee river with our young adults group. We were planning to go tubing down the river but when we arrived we found out that one of the hydro power
Blueberry Birthday Piegenerators was not running and therefore the river was only at about half of it's regular water level. We decided to hike to a swimming hole instead and had fun exploring and jumping off a 15 foot cliff into the water. On Monday of last week I took Ross on a driving tour around the Chattanooga area with stops at Point Park on Lookout Mountain and at the Chickamauga battle fields. Thursday morning I dropped Ross off at the airport and then on Friday I said goodbye to Brenda for the weekend as she and some friends went to Kentucky for a girls weekend. Sabbath after church I organized a river tubing trip with a couple of friends. The river turned out to be quite slow moving and we misjudged the distance so ended up walking the second
Elisa & Zionhalf of the trip. We still had fun though and I enjoyed exploring and being out in nature. Sunday I played sand volleyball for about 3 hours in the morning and then watched the closing ceremonies of the Olympics in the evening. This coming weekend Sarah will be visiting from Yemen and my parents will also be coming so I am looking forward to that. Well that's about all the news from here for now so I'll stop writing and start choosing some pictures to go with this update. Until next time, Andrew]]> http://www.porterupdates.com/2008/08/north-carolina-california-colo.html http://www.porterupdates.com/2008/08/north-carolina-california-colo.html Tennessee (Sep 2004 - present) Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:13:33 -0500
Joyce Kilmer Memorial ForestGreetings from Chattanooga, Well, it has been too long since my last update and we have been busy. Married life is good and we are getting settled in to our house and life together. It's hard to believe that we have already been married for over 10 months. Well, the last update concluded as we arrived back in Chattanooga from our honeymoon on July 1. After getting back I returned to work the following day. On my way to work though Brenda and I met Rich & Melissa from Maryland for breakfast. They were just passing through town but it was nice to see them briefly and meet their new son. Our first Sabbath after we got back our church met in our new building which we are really enjoying. Also in July My parents came for a long weekend visit over my dad's birthday. We celebrated by riding the incline railroad to the top of Lookout Mountain. My grandparents also joined us from McMinnville. The last weekend of the month we enjoyed a getaway to Cherokee, NC in the Smoky Mountains to celebrate my birthday. We stayed in a cabin and went to see Unto These Hills which is a dramatic performanc
Edwards Point View of Chattanoogae about the history of the Cherokee people. It is put on in an outdoor theater and was very well done. We got rained on a bit but it wasn't heavy enough to stop the show. We also explored the first few miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway and visited several Native American craft stores. On the way home we hiked in the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and then drove on the scenic Cherohala Skyway which winds through the hills of North Carolina and Tennessee. The route climbs to 5,390 feet and we were pleasantly surprised to find wild blueberries along the way. Most of what I picked did not make it into our gladware "bucket", but we still managed to bring home about a quart of berries to enjoy over the next week. In August we warmed our house by hosting our young adults group for potluck and then visited my grandparents on
Lake Michigan Beach another weekend. Brenda's brother and his family also arrived to stay several weeks with us while they kept a busy schedule meeting with people and doing presentations in the area about their mission work. Although they were busy, we still got to spend some quality time with them and enjoyed having them here. Over labor day weekend we drove up to Maryland for my cousin Summer's wedding. We had a fun but busy time hanging out with family and helping with the wedding. The ceremony was beautiful in an outdoor setting with a fun picnic reception afterwards. On the way home we met up with family again for a birthday celebration at a fun park. We played miniature golf and several other games before driving back to Chattanooga. After a couple of weekends at home we then drove down to Birmingham, AL to meet my cousins
Thanksgiving in Wenatchee at my uncle's house where we enjoyed visiting and playing games for the weekend. In October Brenda had a fall break which she spent in Michigan visiting her cousins and also her brother and his family who were there for training at the time. I was able to join her for two weekends although I had some flight troubles so ended up spending more time traveling than I actually got to spend there the second weekend. It was still worth it though and on the way home we were able to stock up on frozen berries for the winter. We also got to spend some time on the beach at Lake Michigan and had fun playing games a couple of evenings. Over the last weekend of the month we went camping at Fall Creek Falls with our young adults group and also did some hiking in the park. We stayed home for a couple of weekends in November and
Family Christmas Picturethen drove up to my grandparents house on a Friday after work. We spent Sabbath in Nashville with my cousins for Zion's baby dedication and a 2nd birthday party for Elise. The following Wednesday we flew out to Wenatchee, WA to spend Thanksgiving with Brenda's parents. We also got to see some of her other relatives in the area and on Sabbath we had a wedding reception during potluck. We showed pictures, visited with friends who couldn't make it to our wedding and even had flowers and a cake. We enjoyed our visit in Wenatchee although it seemed too short as always. We started off December by going to a local Christmas Parade and attending my work Christmas party which was held after the parade. We then visited my cousins in Nashville and watched their kids overnight while they celebrated their anniversary at a be
Smoky Mountain National Parkd and breakfast. We took the kids with us to the Spaghetti Factory where we met up with our young adults group. After supper we went to see the decorations at the Opryland Hotel before taking the kids home and getting them to bed. We had a fun time but also had some challenges with cold weather, rain and diaper issues. The following week my family arrived to spend the Christmas holidays with us. We had fun visiting with everyone and doing a few projects around the house while they were here. We all headed up to my grandparents house for several days as well, where we spent Christmas together with more family. In January Brenda and I spent the long weekend MLK holiday at a cozy cabin in Gatlinburg. We had fun relaxing and t
Portland Head Lighthouse in Mainehen got to enjoy some snow in Smoky Mountain National Park on the way home. We also came home via a scenic route which we later learned is known as the Tail of the Dragon. The road is extremely curvy and is a destination for motorcycle and sports car enthusiasts from all over. We were there in the winter late on a Monday though, so did not see many other vehicles. It was a scenic drive for sure, with good views of the river and several dams including the one filmed in Harrison Ford's movie The Fugitive. We traveled to Boston to visit Graham & Amber for a long weekend over Presidents Day in February. After spending a night with them in Boston and attending church together we drove up to Graham's parents house in Maine. The snow banks at their house were probably around 12 feet high and there were still several feet of snow on the ground as well. On Sunday we went cross country skiing for a couple of hours and enjoyed blue skies and sunshine. After skiing Graham and I then went sledding before joining our wives back at the house. On Monday we headed back to Boston with stops at the
Late Snow in Chattanooga 3/8/2008L. L. Bean factory store and a couple of lighthouses on the Maine coast. We had a fun time seeing everyone and also enjoyed getting a taste of real winter in Maine. The following weekend we had a visit from Brooke, Jeffrey & family and had fun visiting and playing with the kids. On Sunday we all went to the Chattanooga Aquarium where Elise especially enjoyed seeing all of the "fishies". In March Brenda's parents came to visit for a week during her spring break. I was also able to take some time off so we headed up to Gatlinburg for a couple of days. While there we had beautiful weather and enjoyed riding the Ober Gatlinburg tram and going down the alpine slide. We also visited Cades Cove where we enjoyed the views and saw lots of deer and some wild turkeys. On the way home we hiked on the Appalachian Trail and a
Cades Covelso stopped in Cherokee, NC to visit some craft stores. On Sabbath we attended our regular church and then went to the Sonrise Easter pageant put on by Southern Adventist University. The pageant is a large production complete with live animals, a Jerusalem market place and dramatizations depicting the last events of Jesus' life on earth. This month we have been at home so far but have been keeping busy. Brenda is in the midst of standardized testing at work which is always a busy time and I have been extra busy with several technical projects at our church. My work has also been busy as we are gearing up to offer residential phone, internet and TV service over a new fiber optic network. Currently we provide phone and internet services just to area businesses, so the additional residential services will be a big change. Well, I think that about covers what we've been up to for the past 10 months. Do keep in touch and look us up if you will be in the Chattanooga area. Bye for now, Andrew PS As usual, more pictures are in our gallery.]]> http://www.porterupdates.com/2008/04/busy-first-10-months-of-marria.html http://www.porterupdates.com/2008/04/busy-first-10-months-of-marria.html Tennessee (Sep 2004 - present) Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:20:22 -0500
The BrideGreetings, As most of you probably know Brenda and I are now married. A lot has happened since I last wrote and we were of course very busy getting ready for the big event. During the month leading up to the wedding we hosted a wedding shower in our new house (planned by Brenda's maid of honor), went over final details with our wedding photographers, arranged for the rental of platform decorations, finalized tuxedo rentals, set up delivery of 30 strawberry pies for the reception, finalized our flowers, purchased food for weekend events and took care of many other details. Through the whole time Brenda was still trying her best to rest to build up energy for the wedding and honeymoon as she was still under the weather.
Bride & GroomOur relatives started to arrive on the Tuesday before the wedding and continued to trickle in for the rest of the week. All 11 of our immediate family were able to stay in our new house while other relatives stayed with local friends and in area hotels. Meals at our house were fun with 25 or more people eating together most of the time. Fortunately we were able to get an additional refrigerator so we could stock up on food from Sam's club before the weekend. Brenda and I both really enjoyed seeing everyone and although it was busy we felt like we were still able to visit with our families quite a bit. On the Thursday before the wedding we mostly worked on projects at the house such as finalizing the wording on the programs and making up task lists. On Friday morning the girls all went to a local Tea House for brunch which they thoroughly enjoyed. Meanwhile Graham and I ran errands including picking up decorations, picking up tuxedos, and printing the
Wedding Partyprograms. We were all done with our errands by around 4pm so we had some time to relax before eating supper together at 5pm. We then headed to the church for the wedding rehearsal which went smoothly. On Sabbath we nearly doubled the size of our young adults group with all the relatives and then after church we had a haystacks lunch for around 50 people. We had rented a room at the Collegedale City Hall for the day which was very convenient with a kitchen and plenty of room for everyone. In the afternoon I led a walking tour of our new church which was still under construction and then in the evening we had our rehearsal dinner. For the dinner we had a
Combined Family PictureGreek theme with colorful decorations, authentic food and some fun activities. After the dinner I went with the guys to ride go carts and go bowling, both of which were lots of fun. Sunday morning we had so many people helping that when I got to the church there wasn't much left to do. I ended up making a run to the store to pick up a few things that had been forgotten and then ate a quiet lunch at the church. After lunch the guys and I got ready and then Brenda arrived and we
Cutting our Strawberry Pieshad a few minutes alone together before getting most of the pictures taken. The ceremony itself went very smoothly. We had two 1 and a half year olds in the ceremony and they both did very well. Probably the only mishap was that the Bible boy dropped the Bible before he made it very far but at least he kept going. After the ceremony we took a few more pictures and then enjoyed a nice reception with excellent food and strawberry pies for dessert. From the reception Brenda and I traveled to a Bed & Breakfast in the country where we spent the night before heading to my grandparents house for Monday morning brunch with about 35 of our family. After eating we opened our wedding gifts and then spent some time visiting before heading back to Chattanooga to our new house for the night. On Tuesday we headed to the Chattanooga airport to begin our honeymoon trip, but instead learned that our first flight had been delayed. After waiting for a while our flight changed from delayed to cancelled. We eventually heard that the plane had been damaged by a lightning strike on the way to Chattanooga. Everyone on the flight was fine and they landed without a problem but there were some systems which needed to be repaired before the plane could fly
Cruise Route Mapagain. The airline ended up rerouting us through Chicago where they put us up for the night. We were supposed to travel to London overnight but as it turned out it was nice to get a good nights sleep in Chicago instead. I actually got pretty sick with a cold after we left the reception and even had a fever during our night in Chicago. I felt much better in the morning though and continued to improve for the rest of the trip. Upon arrival in London we waited at the airline desk for a couple of hours as they were supposed to provide us with a hotel for our second overnight layover. After calling every hotel in the area and finding that all of them were fully booked, the airline staff finally gave up and told us that we were out of luck and would have to spend the night in the airport. This wasn't the first time for either of us to sleep in an airport so we found a quiet corner on the top floor where nothing was open and tried to get some sleep for a few hours.
Sleeping in the AirportEventually things in the airport started to open up and we used airline vouchers to get some breakfast at a restaurant. We then finally boarded our flight to Athens and pretty much slept through the whole flight since we were so tired. After collecting our bags and clearing customs we boarded the subway and rode about an hour into town. We both had a hard time staying awake on the train and were glad to finally get showers and naps upon arrival at our hotel. The hotel was situated right in the middle of the Plaka district which is the older part of town. We were just a short walk from the Acropolis and enjoyed some very nice views of it from the hotel restaurant on the roof. After our naps we enjoyed an excellent Greek dinner at an outdoor
First Greek Mealrestaurant near our hotel and then headed to bed early. Friday morning we slept in and then explored the old district on foot for a few hours. We found fresh apricots, fresh cherries, roasted almonds, filberts, raisins and some rice crackers for our lunch and then took the subway to the port to find our cruise ship. Unfortunately we didn't realize how far it was from the subway station to our ship and ended up walking over a mile and a half to get there. The weather was very warm with temperatures in the upper 90s that day so we were very glad to get to our air conditioned cabin on the ship. Shortly after we boarded we had a safety drill which consisted of putting on our life jackets and going to our designated
Our Shipemergency meeting points for roll call. We then enjoyed a nice dinner which was the first of many excellent meals aboard the ship. At our evening meals we usually sat at an assigned table so we were able to get acquainted with our table mates over the course of the cruise. The people at our table included a retired couple from Australia and a mother & daughter traveling together from Iceland. On Saturday we spent most of the day relaxing and exploring the ship. In the afternoon we took a nap and then went up on deck to enjoy our arrival into the port of Istanbul. From the water we had great views of the Bosporus Straits and the many mosques throughout the city. At about sundown we headed out on our first cruise
Dinner on the Shipexcursion. We were taken by bus to a dinner show where we enjoyed some good Turkish food while we were entertained by traditional Turkish dancers including belly dancers. After dinner our bus took us across a bridge over the Bosporus Straits to the Asian side of the city and then back to our ship which was docked on the European side of town. On Sunday we started the morning by visiting the Blue Mosque which was built in the early 1600s. We then visited Hagia Sofia which was originally built as a church between 532 and 537. It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years and was the religious focus point of the Orthodox Byzantine Empire until it was converted to a mosque in 1453. The
Food in Turkeybuilding is now a museum and is very impressive, especially considering how old it is. Now that the mosque has been converted to a museum they have uncovered some of the original Christian icons which include pictures of Jesus and Mary. The pictures had been covered over but were not destroyed. From Hagia Sofia we next went to a restaurant on the grounds of Topkapi Palace where we had a nice lunch of stuffed grape leaves, hummus, vegetables and rice. We then spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the palace which was the government seat and primary residence of the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire from 1465 to 1853. Highlights of the palace included throne rooms, a large collection of jewels, an 86 carat diamond,
Hagia Sophialiving quarters, ancient kitchens and excellent views of the Bosporus Straits. On the way back to our ship we stopped at a carpet store where they demonstrated carpet weaving and then succeeded in selling us a nice hand woven aisle runner for our new home. By the time we got back to our ship and had some supper we were tired from a full day and were glad for a special treat at the on board spa. The massage therapists did an excellent job of relaxing our sore muscles before we headed to bed for a good night's rest. Monday morning we were still at sea so enjoyed sleeping in and then cooled off in one of the ship's two swimming pools. After lunch we arrived at the Greek island of Mykonos. The weather was quite hot for
Bosporus Straitsmost of our trip with temperatures reaching at least 118F (50C) on a couple of the days. Mykonos was no exception so after exploring the town on foot for a while in the heat of the day we decided to rent a scooter. Once we got on the scooter the breeze cooled us right off and we had a fun time exploring the island. We eventually found a less crowded beach and went for a refreshing swim before heading back to our ship for dinner. After dinner I returned the scooter in town while Brenda rested. I then had to walk a couple of miles back to the ship because I had forgotten to bring my shuttle bus ticket with me. It turned out alright though as I had plenty of time and was able to enjoy watching the sunset along the way. Once I made it back to the
Mykonosship we went to an onboard show featuring traditional Greek song and dance performances. They actually had different shows on the ship every night but most of the evenings we were too tired to stay up for them. Bright and early Tuesday morning we arrived at the island of Patmos which is where John wrote the book of Revelation. We opted out of the official cruise organized bus excursion but instead did the exact same trip by taxi. We first stopped at a cave which is the traditional site where people believe John did his writing. There is now a small chapel in the cave and it is a popular tourist site. We next visited the Monastery of St. John which is located at the highest point of the island.
Rented ScooterThe views from the monastery were excellent and we also enjoyed exploring the courtyards and passageways before heading back to our ship. During the middle part of the day we enjoyed lunch and some time to relax on board as we sailed for the Turkish port of Kusadasi. Upon arrival at the port we boarded a tour bus for the 30 minute drive to the archeological site of ancient Ephesus. The weather was very hot again but at least there was a breeze which helped to make it more bearable. It was really neat to walk on the same streets Paul walked and to visit the coliseum where he spoke to crowds of up to 25,000 people. The two story library building was also very impressive. According to our guide the library was in
Mykonos Sunsetcompetition with the library of Alexandria until the entire collection of books was destroyed by a fire started by a crazy person. From Ephesus our bus took us back to the port town of Kusadasi where we explored the Bazaar (Turkish market) before walking back to our ship. By the end of the day we were pretty worn out so it was nice to head to bed early again. On Wednesday we visited the island of Rhodes where we were hoping to rent a scooter again. We ended up walking several miles in the sweltering heat instead but did enjoy finding some souvenir placemats along the way. The shopping streets we explored were inside the walls of the fortified city which was built by the Knights of St. John as a safe stopping
Patmospoint along the route to the crusades. We also walked to a beach and enjoyed seeing some sailboats along the way. In the end we got too hot though and decided to retreat to our air conditioned room on the ship for the rest of the afternoon. After another good night's sleep we awoke to find ourselves docked at the island of Crete. We again opted out of the official bus tour and hired a taxi to take us to the ancient palace ruins at Knossos instead. Much of the palace ruins have been controversially reconstructed which of course makes it much easier to visualize what the palace may have been like. On the other hand there is much debate about whether or not the reconstructions have been done accurately. At any rate, we
Ancient Ephesus Libraryenjoyed exploring the palace which was built and inhabited by the Minoan Civilization between approximately 1700 and 1400 BC. For it's time the palace complex was incredible with sections up to five stories high, running water, a sewer system, air ventilation shafts and stairway light wells to allow daylight to reach lower levels of the buildings. We also saw some ruins from before the palace was built which dated back to at least 5000 BC. From Knossos we headed back into the port city of Heraklion where we bought some fresh fruit before heading back to the ship. We were again under way during the heat of the day which allowed us time to enjoy a good nap before going on deck to watch our arrival at the volcanic island of Santorini. This island forms part of a giant caldera which was originally a single island until it exploded in one of the largest volcanic eruptions ever. The island is probably the most likely site of the fabled "Lost City of Atlantis". It was a center of the Minoan Civilization until it was violently destroyed by the eruption around 3500 years ago. Today four separate islands remain including two around the edge of the caldera and two volcanic islands in the center. The larger of the two outer islands has several towns including the capital of Fira which is perched along the top of a cliff 1,000 feet
Knossos Palace Stairwellabove the deep water lagoon. Ours was one of many cruise ships in the lagoon and there is no place for the large ships to dock so everyone is transferred to smaller boats to go ashore. However, we had signed up to first visit the volcanic islands in the middle of the lagoon before heading to the town of Fira. Upon arrival in the lagoon we were transferred by a small boat to a sailboat for our excursion. Unfortunately we didn't actually use the sails, but it was still fun to be out on the ocean. Our first stop was the larger of the two volcanic islands where we hiked on the dark colored volcanic rock in the heat of the day. Part way up the mountain Brenda decided to stop and wait at a shade shelter while I continued on to the summit. All along the trail we enjoyed panoramic views of the lagoon and surrounding islands. The most recent volcanic activity had occurred in 1950 and we could see the different colors of rock from different eruptions along the trail to the summit. Back aboard the sailboat we headed to the other island in the middle of the lagoon where we anchored and then jumped into the ocean for a swim. The water was very refreshing after the hot hike although we also enjoyed swimming close to shore where the water was warmed by natural hot springs. After we finished swimming we then headed to the main island
Santorini Cruise Shipswhere we were taken by bus to the town of Fira. On the way to Fira we wound back and forth up the steep cliffs and enjoyed more panoramic views of the lagoon. We could also see the location where another cruise ship recently sank as it was still marked off by a floating boundary. After they dropped us off in town we walked around enjoying the incredible views and got some ice cream. We also debated between our two transportation options from the cliff top town down to the pier. One option was to ride donkeys and the other was to ride in the cable car. We ended up taking the cable car which provided more great views. The donkey ride would have been fun though so we'll have to try that option next time. Back on the ship we had
Santorini Viewour last dinner and then headed to bed to get some rest before our morning arrival in Athens. Upon arrival in Athens we ate a quick breakfast before disembarking and then caught a taxi to our hotel. It was still too early to check in to our room but we were able to leave our bags and head out to spend the morning visiting the Acropolis. Most of the buildings on the Acropolis hill were constructed in the 5th century BC and some of them still have portions of the original stonework today. Many of the buildings were undergoing repairs and restoration work during our visit though and a new museum was also under construction. We enjoyed some slightly cooler weather in Athens (under 100F) but
Athens from the Acropoliswe were still ready for a rest in our air conditioned room early in the afternoon. In the evening we enjoyed an excellent Greek dinner at a rooftop restaurant before taking a sightseeing trolley ride through the city at dusk. In the morning we had another delicious breakfast on the roof at our hotel and then headed to the airport. Our flight wasn't until evening time though so we had decided to rent a car. We wanted to get out of the city and explore the Greek coast on our own so had a nice relaxing day following whatever roads we came to. We found several secluded beaches and had snacks of apricots, apples, bread & fruit juice. We also visited the ruins of the Temple of Poseidon which was perched atop a cliff
Acropolis View Diningwith sweeping views of the sea. Back at the airport we boarded our flight and were just about to leave when the captain came on and announced that we would be delayed due to "weather problems" in London. As it turned out there had just been a car bomb at the Glasgow airport (not the airport we were flying to) so security levels had been increased which most likely was the real reason for our delay. Upon arrival in London the customs lines were very long due to the increased security and also due to all the delayed flights arriving at about the same time. Once we finally got through security we met up with our friends Daren & Sujoya who took us to their home for the night. With all the delays it was a pretty short night but we were glad to have a bed
Temple of Poseidonto sleep on instead of the airport floor. As an added bonus we also got to meet baby Sioned for the first time. The rest of our trip back to Chattanooga was fairly uneventful although we did ride the subway in to downtown Chicago during our 5 hour layover. We enjoyed a quick walk through Taste of Chicago which is a big food festival offering food from hundreds of area restaurants. The fun part is that you can get small portion sizes and sample all kinds of different foods. We tried Russian pierogis, Chinese egg rolls, Indian samosas, spinach pizza and chocolate covered bananas before we had to head back to the airport to catch our flight. Upon arrival back in Chattanooga we were glad to be home and enjoyed a good nights sleep in our own bed. Well, this update is already pretty long so I'll save what we've been up to since we got back until next time. Thanks to everyone who has sent cards, gifts & emails over the past few months and to everyone who came to our wedding. We couldn't have had such a great weekend without all the help from our family and friends. Until next time, Andrew PS There are lots more wedding and honeymoon pictures online in the gallery.]]> http://www.porterupdates.com/2007/08/wedding-weekend-honeymoon-1.html http://www.porterupdates.com/2007/08/wedding-weekend-honeymoon-1.html Greece & Turkey (Jun 2007) Tennessee (Sep 2004 - present) Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:43:22 -0500
Brenda's FamilyGreetings! Things have been very busy for Brenda and I since my last update. We have of course been working on our wedding plans, but we also completed the process of buying a house during the last couple of months. The new house is just a few minutes from my old apartment and is situated at the end of a cul-de-sac on a quiet street. The house has 3 bedrooms, a vaulted ceiling in the living room, a loft and a 2 car garage. There is also a very nice backyard with a fountain and woods on 2 sides. We feel very blessed to have found such a nice place and are excited about having our own home. After I wrote my last update we enjoyed a good holiday visit with Brenda's family in Wenatchee. We spent the first few days with her parents and then Braden, Johanna &
Brenda & AndrewKeenan joined us for the rest of our time together. We especially enjoyed opening Christmas presents with baby Keenan who had just had his first birthday. Since the holidays we have stayed in Chattanooga for most of the weekends since there have been plenty of things to keep us busy here. We did however take some time to visit my grandparents in McMinnville a couple of times. We also enjoyed a fun visit from Graham & Amber and Rich & Melissa over a long weekend in February. In March we enjoyed a relaxing weekend away visiting friends in northern Georgia at their log house in the country. On Sunday, April 1 we moved my things into the new house and then Brooke and Elise come down to visit for Easter the following weekend. My grandparents also joined us from McMinnville so there were guests in both of the extra bedrooms. It
New Housewas fun to entertain company and to have room for everyone. The following Wednesday the Ondap family who I knew in Guam came and spent the night. In total there were three adults and three kids in their family so I had fun entertaining again in the new house. The third week in April I traveled to Phoenix to attend a work related training class. I made my travel arrangements to Los Angeles instead though in order to spend both weekends with my family. I spent the first weekend at my parents house in Redlands before driving to Phoenix Sunday night. During the week I mostly just attended class and then relaxed at the hotel in the evenings although I did hike up Camelback Mountain one evening. After class on Friday I drove back to California with a stop at Pine Springs Ranch. I stopped at the camp to see where my sister Sarah is now living and working at her new job. I was surprised to find an inch or two of snow covering the ground and all of the trees at the camp. The snow was very beautiful and it was an unexpected treat to enjoy a little bit of cool weather on this trip. It was still snowing a little when we headed down out of the mountains to meet my parents in Fallbrook, but fortunately it didn't stick to the roads so the driving was fine. My parents were involved in a Quiet Hour retreat in
Easter Egg HuntFallbrook so I joined them for the weekend. I enjoyed learning more about the Quiet Hour and also got to spend some time visiting with my family between meetings. This past weekend Brenda and I flew out to Spokane, WA to attend her 10 year high school alumni weekend. Brenda's parents also joined us for the weekend so we had a fun time visiting with her old friends, seeing her school campus and spending time with her
Camelback Mountainparents. In the midst of all the busyness Brenda started getting sick and was eventually diagnosed with mononucleosis. Mono is a virus which drains your energy and it typically takes a month or longer to recover from. The only real treatment for mono is to get lots of rest. As you can imagine it's hard for Brenda to slow down and rest right now but she has been taking time off work and is gradually regaining her energy. We don't know how long it will take for her to fully get back to normal but she is doing much better already. Well, I think that's about all the news for now. As usual there are more pictures online including albums of our engagement, our new house and the church where we will be getting married. Until next time, Andrew]]> http://www.porterupdates.com/2007/05/new-house-wedding-planning-pho.html http://www.porterupdates.com/2007/05/new-house-wedding-planning-pho.html Tennessee (Sep 2004 - present) Mon, 07 May 2007 20:59:54 -0500
newly engagedGreetings from sunny California! Well, the biggest news is that Brenda and I are now engaged! I proposed on Monday, December 18 at the top of the Space Needle in Seattle and she said yes! We are very excited and look forward to figuring out the details of when & where we'll be getting married. Since it's been quite a while since my last update I'll write about what we've been up to since we got back from Cambodia back in July, and then fill in some more details about our engagement day at the end of this update. In August Brenda fixed me a nice meal on my birthday and then surprised me with lots of our friends and an ice cream cake after supper. I enjoyed the evening and got a new board game called Puerto Rico as one of my presents. Since we had a bunch of friends together for my birthday I got to play the game that same night too. Later in the month we enjoyed a Chattanooga Lookouts baseball game with friends and then spent a weekend with family at a lakefront cabin near Smoky Mountain National Park. We all chipped in to rent the cabin in celebration of my cousin Amber's graduation from Harvard Law School. We had a great time swimming in the lake, eating lots of good food and just visiting together with over 20 people.
family at the lakeIn September we drove up to Richmond, Virginia to spend Labor Day weekend with Brenda's cousins Michael & Amelia. We enjoyed relaxing and visiting together and on Sabbath afternoon we took a walk at Belle Island. We also made a couple of trips to a local Gelato parlor. The mint chocolate chip was very good but still came in second to my favorite brand in Cyprus. Later in September we enjoyed a number of activities with our young adults group including a baby dedication, some hiking, hosting potluck, a birthday party and a weekend camping trip. On the camping trip we went up to the Ocoee area with over 20 other young adults. On Sabbath four of us spent the afternoon floating down the Hiwassee River on
richmondinner tubes. It was fun to relax and watch the scenery pass by and we also enjoyed going through several small rapids along the way. Saturday night it rained pretty hard while we slept but we stayed dry and the rain stopped just when we were ready to get up in the morning. The last weekend of the month we visited my uncle Steve & aunt LeAnne in Birmingham, AL. While there we enjoyed a visit to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on Sabbath. We were surprised to find quite a few flowers in bloom and had a fun time exploring the various winding trails. We also stopped at a large statue of Vulcan that overlooks the city. The statue is symbolic of the Steel industry which has been strong in the Birmingham area in the past. Saturday night we played a board game called Carcassonne which is a bit like Settlers and quite fun. On Sunday we visited a civil rights memorial and museum. It was sobering to realize that just a few short years ago segregation
camping groupwas in full effect and the memorial helped show what it was like for people back then. Finally we watched Jane Goodall's Chimpanzee film at the IMAX dome theater before heading back to Chattanooga. In October we spent the first weekend in rural northeast Georgia celebrating a friend's birthday. We stayed with her good friends in their log cabin home bordering national forest. It was a fun weekend filled with visiting, games and some hiking. My dad came for a quick visit the second week in October on his way from Maryland to California. He was driving a truck loaded with our stuff which had been stored in Maryland and he dropped some boxes off at my house. Now for the first time in about 5 years I have all of my things in one place again. Later in the month we went to a Big Daddy Weave & Mark Schultz
tubing the hiwasee riverconcert with friends. We also went down to Steve & LeAnne's house again but this time my grandparents, my great uncle Elvin and his wife Pat were also there for the weekend. While there we enjoyed another visit to the Botanical Gardens in addition to lots of good food and visiting. The first weekend in November Brenda and I flew down to Orlando, Florida. I went to attend a week long computer security conference for work but Brenda came along just for the weekend as part of her birthday celebration this year. Sabbath afternoon we enjoyed a picnic with Mike, his wife Christine and our friend Kellie and then spent the rest of the afternoon visiting & hiking with them. In the evening we went out to eat at a little French restaurant with outdoor seating which was fun. Sunday Brenda and I went to
water lily in birminghamCape Canaveral and toured the Kennedy Space Center. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit but found there was so much to do and see that we couldn't make it to everything. We did get to see the launch pads, hangars, Apollo exhibit and the space station exhibit. It was fun to see some of the actual modules which will be taken up to the space station on future missions. From the visitors center we drove down to Cocoa Beach for a quick stop before heading to the airport so that Brenda could catch her flight back to TN. I then spent most of the week attending the conference, although I did have an afternoon off on Wednesday to visit the two Universal theme parks. I enjoyed going on pretty much all of the roller coaster and movie rides. The weekend after my conference we got to see Rich & Melissa briefly at the Acrofest event hosted by Southern. We enjoyed watching many different gymnastics teams perform and then went out to eat together afterwards. The gymnastics teams all came together for a several days of training and workshops leading up to the night of performances. We spent Thanksgiving at my grandparents house in McMinnville, TN along with several cousins, aunts & uncles. We had a very nice
each star in the flag is 6 feet acrosstime together with family for the holiday. To finish off the month and bring in the Christmas season we went on a gospel music river cruise aboard the Southern Belle riverboat. We had a nice evening of music and good food and it was fun to see the lights of Chattanooga from the river. We started December off by attending a Christmas Parade in downtown Chattanooga. After the parade we went to a Christmas open house at my work. Our company just moved into a brand new downtown building which is very nice so we enjoyed looking around and eating the supper they provided. My department didn't move though so we're still in the same older building with all of our network and telecom equipment a few miles from the downtown area. The next weekend we attended a Christmas concert at Southern and then enjoyed a young adults Christmas party Saturday night. We had a gift swap at the party and Brenda got two tickets to see a performance of It's a Wonderful Life the next day. On our way to the play we went out to eat at a Middle Eastern restaurant with another couple and then desserts were provided at the theater before the play started. We enjoyed the performance
saturn rocket engines used in apollo missionsand had a good time. The next Friday afternoon we drove up to Brooke & Jeffrey's house in Nashville, had a quick house tour and then Brooke drove us to the airport where we discovered that our flight to Chicago had been cancelled. It turned out that the earlier Chicago flight was delayed until our scheduled departure time though and they just put us on that flight instead. So, in the end we flew out at the time we had been planning on and made our connection to Seattle just fine. Since the Seattle airport had been having trouble earlier in the day most of the other flights to Seattle were delayed but thankfully ours was on time. We got into Seattle at around 1am and by the time we got to sleep it was 3am. Needless to say, we were very ready for bed. On Sabbath we spent time with Brenda's extended family and then enjoyed her cousin's wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. We spent all day Sunday preparing for and attending the wedding and then went out to eat with Brenda's cousins in the evening. I enjoyed getting better acquainted with everyone over the weekend and the wedding went very well. Now back to the engagement details. Monday morning we were up early again to take Braden, Johanna & Keenan to the Seattle airport. After dropping them off Brenda and I drove into Seattle and went to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at
thanksgiving mealthe Pacific Science Center. The exhibit was very well done and we spent over 2 hours going through it. They explained all kinds of background information about the discovery, dating and preservation of the scrolls. An audio tour was also included and several actual scroll fragments and their translations were on display at the end of the exhibit. It is truly amazing to know that some of the same verses we read in our Bibles today have been accurately preserved and passed down over the years. After we finished going through the exhibit we then got some lunch before checking out the rest of the museum. They had lots of fun exhibits including a hands on tide pool, a butterfly garden, animatronic dinosaurs, and a number of live snakes & bugs. Towards the end of the
posing after the wedding we attendedafternoon we watched the movie Happy Feet in one of the museum's IMAX theaters. I had only told Brenda that we would be going some place nice for supper but she didn't know where or what exactly we were doing. Brenda had commented earlier in the day that she had never eaten at the revolving Space Needle restaurant before and she thought it would be fun to do some day. I responded by talking about when I had eaten in a similar restaurant at the CN tower in Toronto which she says made her think that we probably weren't going to the Space Needle. After the movie let out we walked towards the Space Needle and when we turned into the entrance Brenda got really excited and got excited again when she heard that we had reservations for the restaurant. We had a very nice meal including grilled Portobello mushrooms, a spinach mushroom side dish, and a salad made with apples, leafy greens, blue cheese and huckleberry vinaigrette dressing. For dessert Brenda got blackberry, raspberry & mango sorbet which was served in a dish suspended over dry ice.
space needleThe waiter added water to the dry ice at our table which made for a very impressive smoking dessert dish. I enjoyed an apple cranberry crisp for my dessert. During our meal the restaurant revolved about 2 times and it was a clear night so we enjoyed an amazing view in all directions. After dinner we walked upstairs to the observation deck. We walked around outside some but it was pretty cold so we mostly stayed inside. After walking around for a while we stopped to admire the view and Brenda remarked that it was very romantic. I then said that I knew a way to make it more romantic, but then we walked around a bit more as I was hoping to find just the right moment without too many people around. Finally the time was right and I got down on one knee. Brenda got very excited and hurried to kneel down and join me (she says she wanted to be closer to me). After a minute she stood back up and I asked the question. She didn't say anything for a while (she says she forgot to answer) so I asked again and then she said yes. We don't have a date or place set yet but we're very excited! From Seattle we drove down to Olympia where we spent the night with friends. On the way we missed several turns and finally just had to stop for a few minutes as we were so distracted with calling our family to share our big news. In the morning we visited for a while and then drove up to Snoqualmie Pass for some snow skiing. Since we had already had such a busy weekend we decided
sorbet over dry iceto just ski a half day, which was fun. Unfortunately we had some freezing rain for the first part of the afternoon but we still had some good runs and enjoyed spending time in the mountains. After skiing we drove back down to the Seattle area where we spent the night with friends before flying to California early Wednesday morning. Our flight was into LAX with a commuter hop over to the Ontario airport which is closer to my parents new house in Redlands. While we were waiting for our Ontario flight they asked for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for free tickets anywhere in the US and we were first in line to get the free tickets. Instead of putting us on another flight though, they just gave us a voucher for a shuttle van which drove us the 45 minutes to the Ontario airport. We ended up getting there about 10 minutes after our original flight arrived and even saw some of the passengers who were on the flight in the baggage claim area. It definitely was the easiest time I've ever had volunteering to get bumped for free tickets.
view from the space needleNow we are enjoying a more relaxing week at my parents house along with my sister, my mom's two sisters and my grandma. My grandma recently moved from Portland, Oregon to a home about 10 minutes away from my parents. After this week we'll fly back to Seattle to spend nearly a week in Wenatchee with Brenda's family before heading back to TN. Well, that's what we've been up to for the last several months. Brenda is still enjoying her job as a middle school counselor and I'm still enjoying my work as well. In the next few months we're looking forward to several visits from friends and a couple of trips too. Merry Christmas! Andrew More pictures are in the gallery.]]> http://www.porterupdates.com/2006/12/engaged.html http://www.porterupdates.com/2006/12/engaged.html Tennessee (Sep 2004 - present) Fri, 22 Dec 2006 01:37:24 -0500
malaysian school children filing into the petronas towersGreetings, When I ended my last update Brenda, Sarah, Melinda and I had just found seats in the Phnom Penh, Cambodia airport departure lounge to wait for our flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Our departure was delayed somewhat but we did eventually board and we enjoyed a smooth flight. We flew on Air Asia which is a budget airline that recently started serving Phnom Penh. Our one way fare was $62.50 and the flight took about 2 hours and 15 minutes. We were surprised to learn that even though we were traveling west the time zone changed an hour forward which seemed backwards. Once we looked at a map a bit more closely we realized that even though Kuala Lumpur is west of Phnom Penh, much of Malaysia lies to the east which explains the time zone they use. Upon arrival at the Kuala Lumpur airport we collected our bags and proceeded through customs. We next exchanged money and then purchased bus tickets into town. The bus ride to town took a couple of hours so by the time we arrived at the central station it was getting pretty late. Upon arrival we went to the train ticket counter but it was closed for the night so we caught a taxi to a nearby hostel. We didn't have any reservations but the first place we tried (Pondok Lodge) had room for about $9 per person including breakfast so we checked in, took much needed showers and then went to sleep at about 1 am. Bright and early the next morning we got up, ate a quick breakfast and then walked to the Petronas Towers ticket office. The lines were long but Sarah waited for tickets while the rest of us browsed in the nearby gift shop and explored the large mall on the lower floors of the towers. The mall was very nice and quite large with all kinds of stores and even a Cinnabon in the food court. Once we finally got our tower tickets we headed to the train station to purchase tickets for our overnight trip north. The train fare for the 12 hour journey was about $10 per person for very comfortable second class sleeper berths. After securing our train tickets we headed out to explore the city. Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country so we first visited the national mosque. The grounds and
lunch at kuala lumpur central marketworship area are quite impressive with multiple fountains and good views of the surrounding city. I believe the main building can easily accommodate 500 people while the surrounding courtyards can hold at least 8000 worshipers. We were told that on big holidays the facility is often filled to overflowing. From the mosque we headed to the central market for some lunch and shopping. The market had lots of stalls selling boutiques, carvings and many other souvenirs. For lunch we enjoyed a nice variety of vegetarian Malaysian food, all of which was very good. We next walked through part of Chinatown including Petaling Street which is lined with shops selling everything from clothes to sunglasses to DVD movies. We also saw several Chinese temples before we caught the light rail back over to the Petronas Towers. The twin towers were the tallest buildings in the world until a taller building was completed in Taiwan in 2004. The towers are very unique however since there are two of them and they are connected by a two story sky bridge about half
rambutans, longans, mangos and dragonfruitway up on floors 41 & 42. The observation deck which is open to visitors is located on the sky bridge where we enjoyed excellent views of the city. After our visit to the towers we hurried to our hostel to retrieve our bags before heading back to the train station. We were a little worried about catching our train since we hadn't taken into account rush hour traffic in our planning but in the end we made it with time to spare. We were even able to purchase some supper and a few snacks to take on the train before boarding at about 6 pm. On the train we ate supper, watched the scenery go by for a couple of hours and then climbed into our bunks to sleep for the rest of the night. Before dawn and before my alarm went off I awoke to the sound of the conductor announcing our stop over the PA system. We were running about 15 minutes ahead of schedule so I quickly made sure everyone else was awake and we all climbed out of bed and grabbed our bags just as we were pulling in to the station. We were worried about
kuala lumpur lightrailleaving things behind on the train since we got off in such a hurry but the only thing we ended up forgetting was a bottle of water. Upon arrival at the train station we hired a taxi to take us to a jetty where we could catch a ferry to the Perhentian Islands. The taxi ride took over an hour but we enjoyed watching the sunrise and napping on the way. At the Jetty we spent some time negotiating our ferry fare and then found a local restaurant for a traditional Malaysian breakfast of roti (similar to crepes) with eggs for about 25 cents per crepe. Just as we finished breakfast our ferry was ready to depart so we grabbed our bags and climbed aboard. The boat driver didn't seem to know anything about Bubbles Dive Center where we wanted to be dropped off so we settled on a second choice instead. The speed boat ride took about 45 minutes at the end of
petronas towers skybridgewhich we were dropped off on a stretch of sand lined by several guesthouses and restaurants. The place we had originally wanted to stay was on it's own beach and cove with no other establishments nearby but we decided that this would do instead. After checking prices and looking at a room or two we were surprised to see a small boat from Bubbles Dive Center pull up to the beach just as we were trying to decide where to stay. After a quick conversation with the boat driver we loaded up our bags for a 10-15 minute boat ride around the island to the smaller, quieter beach that we had read about before our trip. The beach we went to is several kilometers away from any other establishments and is only accessibly by boat. We were told later that they don't even have any foot paths through the jungle from this beach. Luckily for us they still had room so we dropped off our bags and then changed into swimsuits and were swimming in the aqua blue water by about 11 am. We were very thankful to have made it to our first choice place. We especially enjoyed the secluded beach and excellent snorkeling right off the beach. Over the course of our stay we saw a black tip reef shark, a turtle, a stingray and many colorful fish and coral. Besides snorkeling and swimming in the aqua blue water we pretty much just relaxed and enjoyed some down time on the beach. We ate all of our meals at Bubbles restaurant since that was our only choice. The food was very good though and we were able to try a variety of Malaysia dishes in addition to some more familiar western dishes. We also enjoyed ice based chocolate milkshakes fairly often
our private beach in the perhentian islands which really hit the spot in the warm, humid weather. Our total cost per person on the island worked out to be about $14 per day including food and lodging. After two days and two nights at the beach we got up early (before 8 am) on Friday morning to catch our boat back to the mainland. Upon arrival at the jetty we arranged for a taxi to the Thai border and ate some snacks for our breakfast on the way. Our taxi dropped us off at the border where we walked through the immigration and customs checkpoints and then walked about 15 minutes to the train station. Unfortunately the sleeper car tickets to Bangkok were all sold so we ended up sitting in the one air
clownfishconditioned non-sleeper car on the train. Before we boarded the train I went to a nearby market and purchased some water, fruit, cookies and other snacks for our trip. The train left at 11:30 am and was scheduled to arrive in Bangkok just after 8 am the next day. The cool air on the train felt very good after walking from the border with our bags in the heat but we soon found that the straight backed seats were not the most comfortable for sleeping. At least we were able to spread out as we had nearly the entire train car to ourselves. We spent the afternoon and evening reading and watching the scenery go by and then tried to get some sleep in various uncomfortable positions overnight. In the morning we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise and then finally arrived in Bangkok only about 40 minutes behind schedule. We then took the subway part of the way towards the church headquarters office and got a taxi for the second half of the trip. Upon arrival we weren't sure if Sarah & Melinda would have a place to stay or not since we had sent in a request by email but had not heard back yet. It turned out that the guestrooms were all full and the person we had emailed was on vacation. One of the church workers helped us find a guesthouse next door to the church office though where we were able to take much needed showers. We tried to make it in time for church but got there just as they were singing the closing song.
riding the train in thailandBrenda and I were scheduled to fly out late that night so we decided to spend the afternoon exploring Bangkok a bit. First we ate some lunch and then we decided to try and get a boat tour of the floating markets. After asking for directions a time or two we ended up on a local water taxi which took us downtown. The water taxi is a high powered speed boat with wooden bench seats full of people plus more people standing. They also have tarps along the sides to block the spray of muddy water which made it difficult to really see out much. The taxi ride was an interesting experience though as they would just barely stop long enough for people to jump on and off the boat at each little jetty along the canal. At the end of the line we hired a tuk-tuk to take us the rest of the way to the palace area where we finally found a boat to take us on a scenic tour of the canals and "floating markets". As it turned out the real floating markets are outside the city but we did see some floating food stalls and a few vendors selling their wares from boats. The boat ride was lots of fun though as we got to see a unique side of Bangkok from the water. Along the way we saw people fishing, washing dishes and swimming in the dirty brown canal water. There were also some very nice houses and shops along the water. After our canal tour we caught a taxi back to our guesthouse where Brenda and I picked up our bags, said goodbye to Sarah and Melinda and then headed for the
arrival in bangkokairport. On the way we stopped to pick up some Pad Thai (noodles), waffles and fresh pineapple from street vendors to eat for our supper. At the airport we checked in our luggage and then walked across the street to get a Thai massage. Unfortunately the massage place only had one person working but Brenda and I were still able to each get a 30 minute massage before heading back to the airport to catch our flight. The massage really helped to relax our muscles after spending the night on the uncomfortable train seats. After sleeping through most of the flight we landed bright and early Sunday morning in
enjoying our canal tour in bangkokTokyo, Japan and made our way out through immigration & customs. Our layover was for several hours so we decided to use the time to explore the town of Narita which is just one stop by train from the airport. It was still pretty early when we got to Narita so not much was open yet. We ended up walking to a large department store where we bought some food for breakfast in the grocery section. It was fun to check out the different and interesting foods in the grocery store although we mostly got more familiar foods like cereal, milk, peaches, and yoghurt. We also got a sweet corn pastry which was quite good and some "almond butter" which turned out to be too oily for our tastes. After breakfast we walked to a large Buddhist temple complex. The weather was quite warm so we opted out of hiking on the trails through the woods but we did enjoy seeing a number of traditional gardens and buildings. It was also interesting to watch the worshipers going through their various rituals trying to gain good fortune. From the temple we headed back towards the train station. Along the way we stopped at a local pharmacy where we tried to find some medicine for Brenda's upset stomach which she probably got from the street food we had eaten the
temple entrance in narita night before. After talking with a couple of nice ladies and explaining what we were looking for (charcoal) they produced an envelope of small beads. They explained in broken English that the beads are made there in their shop and contain a number of natural ingredients including charcoal and that they are most often prescribed to help when people have had too much to drink. We weren't sure what all the ingredients were but decided to give the beads a shot. One of the ladies provided a glass of water right there in the shop so that Brenda could take her first dose of 10 or so beads. We then paid for our purchase and caught the train back to the airport. The beads seemed to help as Brenda felt better for the flight on to Atlanta. Since we crossed the dateline on the way we actually made it back to our apartments in Chattanooga before dark on Sunday night. We sure slept well in our own beds after spending the previous 46 or so hours traveling on 4 boats, 4 trains, 4 taxis, 1 bus, 1 tuk-tuk, 1 car and 2 planes. It was a very good trip though and we had lots of fun along the way. The next morning we both went back to work and it took a couple more nights to really get caught up on our sleep. On the plus side we didn't really have any trouble with jet lag since we were so tired that it was easy to sleep right through the night when we got home. Well, I think I'll close for now and write more later about what we've been up to since we got back. Bye for now, Andrew]]> http://www.porterupdates.com/2006/10/malaysia-thailand.html http://www.porterupdates.com/2006/10/malaysia-thailand.html Cambodia, Malaysia & Thailand (Jul 2006) Thu, 05 Oct 2006 21:04:57 -0500
rice farmers taking a breakGreetings, The Wednesday night before leaving for Cambodia I kept busy working on my web page, packing and getting all of the last minute details ready for traveling. It kept getting later and by the time 3am rolled around I decided to just stay up the whole night. I don't usually start 38 hour trips by skipping a night of sleep although it did help me start off on the right time zone since Cambodia is 13 hours ahead of Chattanooga. I finally got a little sleep on the shuttle van which I caught to the Atlanta airport at 6am and then slept several more hours on the planes. After a layover and terminal change in Tokyo I got through customs in Bangkok around 11pm local time and found a quiet corner of the airport to sleep a few more hours before catching my early morning flight to Phnom Penh.
road to mondulkiriUpon arrival in Phnom Penh Sabbath morning I picked up my luggage and then caught a tuk-tuk to the ADRA office where my sister has an apartment. Sarah wasn't due to arrive until the next day though so she had arranged for one of the guards to let me in to her apartment. I enjoyed a refreshing shower and then caught a moto (scooter taxi) over to Cambodia Adventist School where the Sabbath Graduation service was underway. After the service I visited with several friends who I knew from when I lived in Cambodia and then a bunch of us went to visit Ross & Kamrang in their room at a local maternity clinic. Everyone brought along their potluck food so we enjoyed a good meal while meeting the newly arrived baby Pollika. After visiting with people for much of the afternoon I headed back to Sarah's apartment to repack a bit and check my email. I think most everyone else took naps but I somehow stayed awake, mainly because I wanted to be ready to sleep that night. In the evening a few of us got together back at the clinic and played a game of settlers. I did finally doze off while waiting for the other players to arrive and then slept straight through the night, waking up bright and early Sunday morning to take a tuk-tuk to the Mondulkiri taxi stand.
freshly grated coconut & avacado sandwichI decided to ride on the back of the 4 wheel drive pickup taxi since the view is better and the price of $5 is lower than if you ride in the cab. Another bonus of riding on the back is that you avoid listening to the Khmer (Cambodian) music which typically is blasted from the tape deck for the length of the trip. The first part of the drive was along the route which I often traveled for work when I lived in Cambodia so it was fun to see the familiar roadside landmarks along the way. Even after we departed from my familiar route I still recognized quite a bit since this was actually my third visit to the Mondulkiri province. The biggest change since my last visit was in the road conditions as much of the section that used to be a rough, potholed mess has now been paved. The last part of the road was
avacados growing in the back yardstill dirt with plenty of potholes but it had been improved greatly. As we got closer to the provincial capital we started to climb the hills and the rain started coming as well. Those of us in the back had ponchos to help us stay dry although the rain turned the red clay roads into a muddy mess. At one point we took a section of the old road as a detour around a particularly steep and slippery section of the new route. The old road is much narrower and was also very slippery. For a few particularly challenging sections all of the passengers got out and walked, and we also helped push the truck a couple of times when it was spinning out in four wheel drive trying to get up a particularly slippery section. I did finally make it to Braden and Johanna's house where Brenda was waiting for me after about 12 hours on the back of the pickup. It was of course very good to see Brenda again after having been apart for over two weeks. After a good home cooked supper of vegetable soup and some fresh avocados I took a much needed shower. At Braden and Johanna's house they do have running water but only for the bathroom sink, toilets and for filling up a large holding tank to use for scoop showers. To get hot water for a shower you have to fill a large kettle and then heat it on the stove. Showers are then taken
fruit & vegetable vendor using a smaller scoop to pour water over yourself to get wet, soaping and shampooing and then using the scoop to pour more water over yourself to rinse. I got pretty used to this kind of shower when I lived in Cambodia but I had forgotten how much I take for granted our showers here in the States with practically unlimited running hot water. Anyway, the shower felt great and I was glad to be clean again after a long dusty day on the road. Before heading to bed we spent a little more time visiting and I unpacked the goodies which I had brought from the US for Braden, Johanna and baby Keenan. On Monday Brenda and I went to the market where we bought lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. I especially had fun picking out some tropical fruit, most of which
4th of July picnic I hadn't had since I left Cambodia. During our stay we enjoyed several kilos of mangosteens, rambutans, lychees, dragon fruit, pineapple, coconuts, custard apples, pomegranates, longans, pomelo and a couple of other fruits that I don't know the names for. We also bought and carried back to the house carrots, potatoes, onions and tomatoes. The produce availability in Mondulkiri is pretty unpredictable and varies from day to day as almost everything is hauled by truck from Phnom Penh, Vietnam or Thailand. Although we found a good variety on Monday, when we went back a couple of days later to get more fruit the selection was not nearly as good. We still got whatever we could find each time we went to the market and thoroughly enjoyed all the tropical fruit. We pretty much spent the rest of Monday visiting, playing with Keenan and getting a few things ready for a fourth of July picnic which we were planning for Tuesday.
sparklers On Tuesday we watched a movie on Braden & Johanna's laptop and then loaded up their truck and drove to a nearby pine forest for our picnic. The menu included potato salad, veggie pigs in the blanket, Pringles potato chips and homemade chocolate chip cookies. In the evening we lit off some sparklers and a few small fireworks which we were able to purchase in the local market. Wednesday Braden, Brenda and I rode out to a Pnong village on two motorbikes to make arrangements for Brenda and I to ride an elephant on Thursday. We had a beautiful ride out to the village over the rolling green hills as the sun shined down through the scattered clouds. In the village we sat around while Braden visited with some of the villagers and made arrangements for our elephant ride. After a while we went to a nearby field hut where we watched some of Braden's friends doing blacksmith work. They used a hand
working the bellowsoperated bellows device to heat the coals so that they could slowly shape and sharpen the tool they were making. While visiting the field hut we also watched as an older lady shaved her freshly harvested tobacco leaves into small pieces before setting them out to dry in the sun. We also enjoyed watching puppies, chickens and a cat play and politely turned down a chance to sample some dried water buffalo meat. While we were visiting it started to rain and continued raining off and on. We kept hoping it would stop and finally headed back to our bikes when it did let up briefly. Unfortunately for us it had rained enough to turn the red dirt roads into a slippery mess. The type of dirt on the roads is kind of like clay so when it gets wet it is very much like trying to drive in the snow. The initial hill on the road leaving the village was probably the worst part of the road and we dropped the bikes several times. Brenda was riding behind me at first but she walked up the worst parts of the hill. Shortly after we made it up the initial hill it started to rain. It rained for pretty much the rest of our ride back making the roads very slippery. We fell a couple more times and the last time my leg came in contact with the hot exhaust pipe and I got a pretty bad burn. At the time it hurt a little but I didn't realize how
making a toolbad it was until later. Meanwhile Brenda was getting lots of bruises from the falls so we decided to have her ride with Braden instead to see if it would be any better. Unfortunately Braden & Brenda then fell before long so we finally decided to let Brenda ride the smaller bike on her own. She still fell several more times but when you are the one driving you can usually avoid getting banged up as much, especially when traveling slowly like we were. I continued driving the larger bike with Braden riding on the back and thankfully we didn't fall down again although we came very close many times. By the time we finally got back to the house we were all glad to get cleaned up and eat the delicious supper that Johanna had prepared. Part of the cleanup process was the painful task of scrubbing and disinfecting my burned leg. It wasn't any fun at all but I was thankful for some good medical advice from a doctor and a nurse via cell
shaving tobacco leavesphone. Braden & Johanna were also a very big help. Braden rode his bike across town to pick up some medicine and supplies and then Johanna helped bandage and wrap my leg. At first we weren't sure about our plans to ride elephants the next day although we knew that there was no way to cancel the arrangements we had made since we had no way of contacting the people in the village. I decided to get a good nights sleep and see how my leg felt in the morning. By morning I was feeling rested and ready to go so we loaded our day packs and headed out to the village after breakfast. This time we decided to take the truck though which also slides around when the road gets bad, but at least you can't fall over and you don't get wet and muddy when it rains. We parked the truck at the top of the hill above the village since the last steep hill can become impassible even for the truck when it rains. After we walked down into the village we waited for a bit and then the elephant arrived. Our guides for the day strapped our seat onto the elephant and then provided a bamboo ladder for us to climb up onto the elephant. I found the weakest rung on my way up and it snapped, although I didn't fall so just climbed the rest of the way up onto the elephant. Brenda and I had both
pnong widow and her children been on elephant rides in this village before so we asked them to take us to some new places instead of the main waterfall that we had been to before. Braden had been planning to spend the day in the village but when he realized that one of our two guides was going to walk along behind the elephant he decided to come with us on foot. Our first stop was a waterfall surrounded by deep jungle and on the way to it I spotted a snake coiled up on top of the foliage. As soon as I tried to point it out though it dropped down to the ground and out of sight. This was of course great news to Braden who was walking along behind us, but I guess the snake went the other way because he didn't see it. I didn't see the snake's head so I'm not sure what type it was. At
riding motorbikes in the rainthe waterfall our guide gave the command and our elephant layed down on her side so that we could climb out of our seat and onto the ground. We explored the area below the waterfall some although it was hard to get a good view of the top since the jungle was so thick. It was still fun to climb around on the rocks below the falls. We then got back on the elephant and rode out to a second waterfall. On the way out I spotted the same snake again in the same spot but it again disappeared into the jungle before the others saw it. As we neared the second waterfall we climbed a steep hill covered in bright green grass and enjoyed a view of the entire valley and surrounding area on our way up. Our elephant just walked right up or down whatever route our guide chose without any trouble. At the next waterfall stop we first had our picnic lunch and then climbed down a steep bank through the jungle to the waterfall. The waterfall was pretty small but the main attraction at this site was a cave
first waterfallright next to the waterfall. It was really more of a large overhang but it was fun to explore inside and we even saw some bats. The damp jungle around the cave and waterfall made for an ideal leech habitat but we were able to pick most of them off of feet and legs before they latched on. On the way back to the village we again enjoyed sweeping views of the rolling green hills. We also followed an overgrown trail part of the way and in one section our guide instructed the elephant to pull down some bamboo and tree branches that were in our way. He would give the elephant a command to go forward another step or two and then have her stop and pull down more branches and brambles that were in our way. We also forded a small river which was fun since the elephant could just walk right down the middle of it while we stayed dry on her back. It really is amazing how such a large animal can be so sure footed. They can easily go places that would be impassible for any four wheel drive jeep. Back in the village we visited with a few of Braden's friends on our way back up to the truck. The drive back into town was uneventful. I guess we got our days backwards because we rode motorbikes on the wet and slippery day and then
riding the elephanttook the truck when it didn't rain much. It was nice though to have a relatively dry elephant ride. Friday evening several other foreigner families came over and we visited, sang some songs and just enjoyed fellowshipping together. It's nice that Braden and Johanna have some good friends in their area. Sabbath morning we went to church at the global mission worker's house. The church group is pretty small as they are just getting started. It was even small enough that they talked me into "telling the story" for church service. Braden translated while I read a mission story from the Middle East and that was our sermon for the day. The 7 adults and 3 children (counting all of us) seemed to enjoy the story. After church we had a potluck lunch where the Khmer people got to try
exploring the cave American food and we got to try Khmer food. It was fun and I helped by making some vegetable patties using a recipe that I mostly made up as I went. I used several local vegetables that we grated including carrots, potatoes, onions and cabbage. We also put in some chopped cashews, peanut butter, spices, egg and a little flour. After forming and frying the patties we put about half of them in a casserole dish and topped them with mushroom soup. The rest of the patties we served plain and put some ketchup out for people to use. After lunch we visited a while and then in the evening we got packed up for our trip back to Phnom Penh the next day. We really enjoyed a good visit with Braden, Johanna and Keenan and it was hard to leave. It was great to spend time with them and especially to get out to a village where they have been working. We also got to meet some of their closest Pnong friends who they often write about in their letters home.
coming out of the river Bright and early Sunday morning Braden and I went out to the back yard and picked enough avocados to fill one small box and one larger box to take to our friends in Phnom Penh. Although avocados are plentiful in Mondulkiri they are hard to find in Phnom Penh. Our taxi was right on time to pick us up and we loaded our stuff into the back of the pickup and then climbed into the cab for the long ride to Phnom Penh. We had arranged to share the entire cab with one other foreigner friend who was also going to Phnom Penh for $20 per person. It was still pretty cramped in the back of the cab for Brenda and I. The seats just had straight vertical backs and there wasn't much floor space for our legs but we managed to rotate through several different sitting positions along the way. The AC didn't work so by the time we got out of the truck in Phnom Penh around 9 hours later we were quite hot and dusty. At least the roads were relatively good and we didn't get rained on. Upon arrival in Phnom Penh we caught a
mangosteen fruit (you eat the white part)tuk-tuk to Sarah's apartment at the ADRA office where we cooled off and got cleaned up. In the evening we went out to eat at Kiwi Bakery & Restaurant where most of us had pizza. In case you were wondering, the word kiwi in the business name refers to the founders who came from New Zealand, not to what is on the menu. A bunch of my friends from when I was in Cambodia came along so it was fun to catch up with everyone. Monday I went to morning worship at the ADRA office where I saw more friends and then we went shopping at Central Market. We were a bit short on time but I was able to find a backpack, some pants and a couple of hammocks while Brenda found some nice clothes and a few souvenirs. After shopping we headed back to Sarah's apartment and then Sarah and I went to the fruit market where we got some fruit to share with the ADRA staff. By the time we got back to the office it was time to leave for the airport so we said goodbye to everyone and headed to the airport in a tuk-tuk to catch our flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sarah and her friend Melinda joined us for the rest of the trip so it was a pretty tight squeeze with the four of us and all of our backpacks in the tuk-tuk. We made it though and got checked in for our flight with time to spare. Sarah and Melinda stopped by the only Dairy Queen in Cambodia before we went through security and found seats near our gate to wait for our flight. Well, this update is getting pretty long so I think I'll stop for now and get this posted. I'll write about the rest of our trip through Malaysia and Thailand in the next update. Bye for now, Andrew More pictures are in the gallery. To learn more about Braden & Johanna and their work visit their AFM Page and their Collegedale Church page.]]> http://www.porterupdates.com/2006/08/cambodia-visit.html http://www.porterupdates.com/2006/08/cambodia-visit.html Cambodia, Malaysia & Thailand (Jul 2006) Fri, 25 Aug 2006 17:53:07 -0500
air force museum in daytonGreetings from Tennessee, As usual I have been keeping busy since I last wrote. In the beginning of March Brenda and I joined our young adults group for a camping trip to Cades Cove in Smoky Mountain National Park. Friday night we had a good supper of chili followed by a nice vespers. On Sabbath morning several people from our group got up early to ride bikes around the 11 mile Cades Cove loop road. They were expecting the road to be closed to vehicles but it turns out that it only closes during the summer months. I don't own a bike so I decided to try the loop road on rollerblades instead while Brenda rode her bike. I had a pretty good skate although the road was rough in several places. The scenery was gorgeous and we saw plenty of deer and a large group of wild turkeys along the way. Just as we were coming back into the campground a friendly ranger informed me that skates are not allowed in the park so I agreed to skate directly back to my campsite to take them off. Back at camp we had a good church service and then some people went hiking in the afternoon while the rest of us enjoyed some lay activities involving
butterflies up closehammocks. On Sunday most of the group headed home early but a few of us took our time exploring a creek near our campsite before hitting the road. On the way back to Chattanooga Brenda and I stopped at the Lost Sea which is a roadside attraction promoted as "America's largest underground lake". The tour was a little pricey but we had fun following our guide through several large caverns to the underground lake. On the lake they have glass bottom boats although you can't really see anything other than an occasional fish through the glass bottom. The boat ride was fun though and it was interesting to hear about the discovery and development of the caverns and lake. The next weekend marked the start of spring break so Brenda had a week off from work. I took a couple days off from my work at the start and end of the week so we were able to take two long weekend trips. On the first weekend we drove up to Lynchburg, VA to visit our friends Jonathan & Arianne who used to live here in Chattanooga. We had a
trees & flowers in bloomnice time catching up and enjoyed a waterfall hike on Sabbath afternoon. On Sunday the guys played computer games while the girls went shopping and then in the evening we all got together and played some volleyball. The exercise we got playing volleyball was pretty much cancelled out though by our visit to Cold Stone Creamery after we finished playing. On Monday morning Brenda and I got up early and drove to Snowshoe, WV for a day on the ski slopes. It took a bit longer than expected to get through the rental lines but once we did we enjoyed some decent skiing. It was rather late in the season so the only snow was on the ski runs. It just doesn't feel right to be skiing down a slope with bare ground on either side of the trail, but we still had lots of fun. After the lift lines closed and we returned the rentals we loaded up the car for the long drive back to Chattanooga. It actually snowed on the way back but not enough to cause any problems on the roads. We got back pretty late so I had a short sleep before going in to work the next morning.
fresh strawberriesThursday after work we loaded up the car and hit the road again, this time bound for Dayton, Ohio for a visit with Brooke, Jeffrey & Elise. On Friday we visited the free Air Force museum where we rushed through all of the exhibits. The museum is very large so in some areas we were just walking without stopping to really look at anything. We did get to take the shuttle bus out to the experimental aircraft and presidential aircraft exhibits which were both fascinating. I could easily spend several days in the museum but at least we got a good overview tour. On Friday night I braved the snow flurries to pick Amber up from the airport just after Summer arrived from Maryland by car. We pretty much spent the rest of the weekend just visiting and hanging out together which was lots of fun. On Sunday we got on the road early in the afternoon so we made it back with enough time for a good nights sleep before going back to work on Monday. In April we slowed down a little bit and spent several weekends here in Chattanooga although we did find time to visit my Grandparents in McMinnville over Easter weekend.
we went boating for Jonathan's batchelor partyMy friend Matt who was in Guam with me also came for a visit in April and it was nice to spend some time catching up with him. The last weekend in April we drove up to Mt. Rogers State Park in Virginia and met Michael and Amelia for a weekend of camping. We stayed at a camp site right next to a stream so we got to drift off to sleep each night to the sound of running water. On Sabbath we explored the Grayson Highlands area where we hiked a short stretch of the Appalachian Trail and enjoyed watching the wild ponies. The pony herd was introduced years ago and is allowed to roam free in the park. In May we spent the first weekend here in Chattanooga. The next weekend we enjoyed a camping trip closer to Chattanooga and picked our own fresh strawberries on the way back. We spent the third weekend in Lynchburg, Virginia for Jonathan & Arianne's wedding. The wedding weekend was busy but we enjoyed spending time with friends and the outdoor ceremony turned out beautifully. Over Memorial Day weekend Brenda and I flew out to Seattle, Washington where her parents picked us up from the airport
sunset over the tennessee riverThursday night. From the airport we drove down to Portland, Oregon where we spent the weekend at my Grandmother's retirement center. My parents and my sister were there as well and we all stayed in guest rooms provided by the center. We enjoyed a good weekend of visiting, playing games, and doing puzzles. I also spent much of the time researching, buying and setting up a new computer and Internet connection for my Grandma. Her old computer and dialup ISP were both long overdo for an upgrade. On Sunday evening we got to meet up with Brenda's cousin and his family and then we were able to spend a little time with one of my good friends from high school and his family. We especially enjoyed playing with their two and half year old twins Arthur and Penelope. Bright and early Monday morning we headed back to the Seattle airport for the flight home. It was a pretty short trip, but the time with friends and family was definitely worth it. So far things have continued to be busy in June. The first weekend of the month Brenda hosted our young adults potluck and then the following week we enjoyed a visit to the
the crowd at riverbendChattanooga Aquarium. We also spent time getting everything ready to go for Brenda's trip to Cambodia. A couple of days before Brenda left for Cambodia we went downtown to the family faith night of the Chattanooga Riverbend Festival. The featured artists for the night included Aaron Shust, FFH and Audio Adrenaline so it was a fun evening with a good variety of Christian music. Since Brenda left two weeks ago I have still been keeping busy. The first weekend I stayed in town and helped with potluck at church, went hiking in the afternoon and then went to a young adults ice cream and game night. On Sunday I got up early and borrowed a bike for a 17 mile ride along the Chattanooga Riverwalk and then spent the rest of the day getting some things done around the house. This last weekend I attended Darlene & Steve's wedding on Friday after work and then had a nice visit with my grandparents in
the floating riverbend stageMcMinnville for the rest of the weekend. Brooke, Jeffrey & Elise recently moved to Nashville so they were also able to come up to McMinnville for the weekend. It's nice having them closer and I'm looking forward to seeing them more in the months to come. Sabbath after church we had some friends over including the new church school teacher Alicia and her husband Fred. Alicia was doing home study in Russia when we lived there so it was fun to catch up with her after many years. Saturday night we played volleyball with the local church group and then played dominos with my grandparents. Over the weekend we all enjoyed the fresh raspberries which are in full swing and on Sunday we made good use of them for breakfast. We had raspberry pancakes topped with fresh raspberries and raspberry syrup. Sunday afternoon I attended a welcome picnic for Alicia and Fred at the church school and played some more volleyball before driving back home. This coming Thursday I will be leaving for Cambodia where I will join Brenda for a couple of weeks. For the first part of our trip we will be visiting her brother in the Mondulkiri Province and then we will do some traveling in Malaysia and Thailand for the second part. I'm looking forward to the trip and I'll be sure to post an update about it when I get back. Until then, Andrew PS I finally got a new camera which I used to take the more recent pictures in this update. Also, I have upgraded my photo gallery software and moved it to a server with more disk space to make room for all the new pictures. Please let me know if there are any problems with the new gallery.]]> http://www.porterupdates.com/2006/06/spring-in-tennessee.html http://www.porterupdates.com/2006/06/spring-in-tennessee.html Tennessee (Sep 2004 - present) Thu, 29 Jun 2006 04:45:38 -0500
smoky mountain streamGreetings, Yet again several busy months have passed since my last update. Spring is in the air here in Tennessee, especially this week as the temperature climbed to 70 degrees and many trees and even some flowers have started blooming. It's hard to believe that it has already been a year since I started my current job at EPB Telecom. I am still enjoying my work where I've been learning more new things and keeping busy with plenty of interesting projects. Outside of work I've still been spending time with Brenda and enjoying lots of fun activities with our young adults group from church. A couple of weeks after I last wrote Brenda and I traveled up to Maryland to attend Jesse & Tara's wedding in West Virginia. We enjoyed a nice weekend of visiting with family and friends including a mini family reunion after the wedding ceremony. At the end of September both Brenda and I moved out of our old apartments. Brenda moved into a duplex with a new room mate and I moved into an apartment just down the road from her new place.
fall in the smokiesWe had a busy moving day getting everything loaded and unloaded for Brenda, her roommate and I. Thankfully we had lots of help from our young adults group and from my grandparents who brought their trailer down for the day. Brenda and I are each enjoying more space in our new places and we are both closer to our jobs now too. It's nice to be able to leave 15-20 minutes later and still make it to work on time. In October we enjoyed some fun weekends including a visit to my grandparents house and a young adults camping trip to Fall Creek Falls. While camping we also took a couple of hikes including one boulder hopping hike up a stream to a waterfall. Two of us swam in the large pool at the base of the waterfall but the cool water convinced the rest of our group to stay dry. We especially enjoyed seeing some nice fall colors but
harrierunfortunately I forgot my camera so didn't get any pictures that weekend. The last Sunday in October we went to the Chattanooga Air Show. At the air show we had fun checking out a pair of Harriers and many other planes up close before the show started. For the main show they had biplanes, helicopters, a jet engine powered truck, various historic and military aircraft and finally the blue angels for the grand finale. It was really fun to see such a wide variety of planes and watch their acrobatic performances. November started out with Trudy & Wesley's wedding and then Brenda's birthday. For Brenda's birthday I took her to the Melting Pot in Knoxville
stunt plane in a divewhere we had cheese & chocolate fondues. It was the first time for both of us to eat at the Melting Pot and we really enjoyed it. Later in the month we went to Gatlinburg with some friends from church. We all stayed in a nice log cabin and went hiking, played miniature golf, rode go carts and visited some outlet shops. On the way back Brenda & I took the long way through Smoky Mountain National Park where we saw some fall colors. We also stopped in Cherokee for supper on our way back. For Thanksgiving I went down to my uncle & aunt's house in Birmingham while Brenda flew out to Washington State to spend time with her family. To help get into the Christmas spirit we first attended a Christmas concert in Collegedale on the first of December. On the first weekend in December we went to an EPB open house Christmas party at the downtown office building on Saturday night. Later the same evening we met up with some friends and watched Polar Express 3D at our local IMAX theater. The next weekend on Saturday night we attended a formal EPB Telecom Christmas dinner which was held at a very nice ball room perched on the edge of Lookout Mountain. We enjoyed great food and excellent views of Chattanooga and the
blue angelssurrounding area from big picture windows. On Sunday we went to a free Michael Card Christmas concert and then visited Rock City's Garden of Lights the following Wednesday. I had never been to Rock City before so it was fun to follow the garden trail through the crevices and over various bridges. We also enjoyed seeing the waterfall and the views of Chattanooga from the overlook. The weather was pretty cold so we definitely got our money's worth with the free refills of hot chocolate. For those of you who aren't familiar with Rock City, it is a tourist trap that is advertised on "See Rock City" signs, bird houses and most famously barn roofs near highways across the US. Although it really is quite touristy it was fun to see all the pretty Christmas lights.
gingerbread house at rock cityAt the start of our Christmas vacation Brenda and I drove up to my grandparent's house where we had supper with my grandparents, sister, aunt and my other grandmother before heading to the airport to pick up my parents. The next day we all drove down to Birmingham, Alabama where we spent Christmas weekend with my aunt and uncle and a family of five who are living with them right now. The family is from New Orleans and they lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. After Christmas in Alabama we drove back to my grandparent's house just in time to meet more family arriving from Ohio. We then spent the week and New Year's weekend at my grandparent's house where we celebrated Christmas a second time. In between visiting and eating excellent food we got in several games of croquet, ping pong and dominoes. In January my parents, sister and Oregon grandma were still around for a while so they all came down and stayed with me in my new apartment for a few days. It was really
frozen white cedar swampnice to have enough extra space for company. My parents were still around on and off for most of January so we got to see them a couple more times before they headed back to Cyprus to start packing up their stuff. They are moving to southern California where they will be starting new jobs in April. The last week of January I went to Atlanta for some work related training and then on the weekend we got together with some friends to cook and play games. We took two main trips in February, the first of which was to visit my former neighbors Bryan, Penny & kids near Athens, Georgia. It was a short trip but it was fun to catch up with them a little bit and to play with the kids some. Our second February trip was to visit Graham & Amber in Boston. The original plan was to go snow skiing, but the weather didn't cooperate. For several days before we arrived and on the day we had planned to ski temperatures at the slopes were well above freezing. After much deliberation we ended up driving out to Cape Cod instead of skiing. Although the weather had been too warm for skiing, the temperature dropped rapidly while we were exploring the Cape and the wind was blowing at 30+ mph. We didn't take any long
cold picnicwalks on the beach, and it started snowing while we were there. We had a great time though exploring the Cape by car and braving the cold weather to briefly visit several beaches. It was interesting to watch the snow accumulate and paint the sand dunes white. Instead of taking an extended walk on the beach we took a hike along a boardwalk in a White Cedar swamp. Thanks to the trees the trail was sheltered from the wind and the frozen, snow covered swamp was very peaceful and white. On our way back to Boston we stopped at a nice picnic area which of course we had to ourselves due to the cold weather. We sat close together as we ate our sandwiches and we were all glad to get back in the warm car at the end of our meal. It was below freezing and still very windy for our picnic and some of the veggies actually froze while we were preparing and eating our lunch. For the rest of the weekend we spent some time exploring Boston and visiting with Graham & Amber. In Boston we went on a tour of the USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") which is the oldest commissioned warship afloat, walked part of the Freedom Trail, watched ice skaters on the Boston Commons and
old ironsidesenjoyed a panoramic view of the city from the observation deck on the 50th floor of the Prudential Tower. Unfortunately our flight was delayed Sunday evening so we didn't get back to Chattanooga until after 3am. We both had to go to work on just a few hours of sleep and it took several days to feel rested again. Overall it was a great trip though and we really enjoyed spending time with Graham & Amber. Last Sabbath after church I went on a hike while Brenda rested and then on Sunday we attended Lawrence & Mildred's wedding. Yesterday after church we had a young adults potluck, went on a hike to a quarry and then spent the evening hanging out with some friends who came to visit from Virginia. Well, I think that's about it for now. The rest of this month will be pretty busy as we are planning to go camping next weekend and then take a couple of long weekend trips after that. I will try to do better and have a new update posted before 6 months have passed again. Until next time, Andrew]]> http://www.porterupdates.com/2006/03/maryland-moving-christmas-bost.html http://www.porterupdates.com/2006/03/maryland-moving-christmas-bost.html Tennessee (Sep 2004 - present) Mon, 06 Mar 2006 20:27:11 -0500
we got to fly my stunt kite on ocracoke islandGreetings from Tennessee! It's been several months since my last update and I've been busy. I'm still enjoying my new job where I have been learning a lot about a wide variety of things, most of them computer related. I've spent time working on network monitoring tools, router configuration, email/web server administration, troubleshooting various Internet problems and many other things during the past months. I enjoy the variety and certainly don't have to worry about getting bored at work since there are so many things going on. On the weekends I've been keeping busy with fun activities and events, many of which are organized by the active young adults group at the church I have been attending. I've especially enjoyed playing sand court volleyball on Sundays and going hiking and/or exploring on Sabbath afternoons. I've also enjoyed several weekend visits to my Grandparents house which is less than 2 hours
debbie, devaunt, me and brenda at the beach from where I live. Other fun weekend activities have included back packing, bonfires, water fights and potlucks. I have also enjoyed getting to know one Sabbath school member in particular. Her name is Brenda and we have been dating now for more than 3 months. Brenda recently graduated with her Masters degree in counseling and she works in a public middle school as a guidance counselor. In May I took an extra day off from work over Memorial Day weekend and we drove to North Carolina to visit Devaunt & Debbie who I went to college with. Devaunt is stationed in North Carolina where he is learning to fly Harrier jets in the Marine Corps. In addition to just relaxing and visiting together we also enjoyed some time at the beach. One of our days there we took a ferry to the outer banks where we got to drive on the beach, swim in the ocean and fly kites. The car ferry took over 2 hours each way but it was a relaxing way to spend the day. In June we attended a wedding in Collegedale and enjoyed an outdoor Newsboys concert in downtown Chattanooga. The concert was part of a week long festival called Riverbend. They had all kinds of booths, activities and performances throughout the week but we just went to the Family Faith night. The main stage was on a river barge so the audience sat along the riverfront to watch the various performers. Also during June we enjoyed seeing Braden & Johanna who I first got to know in Cambodia where I had a couple of fun visits
on the rafting busto their home in one of the more remote provinces. Since Braden also happens to be Brenda's brother, we got to see him and Johanna quite a bit during their time in the US this summer. I enjoyed catching up on news from Cambodia and getting to know Braden & Johanna better. The first weekend in July we stayed around Collegedale but managed to stay quite busy. On Friday evening we went on a hike to a waterfall where we enjoyed a picnic supper before watching the sunset from an overlook above Chattanooga. On Sabbath we had a relaxing afternoon and evening after church and then on Sunday went whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River. The rafting area is about an hour from Collegedale and they have some very good rapids. In fact, the 1996 Olympic whitewater events were held on this river. I think the most unique thing about rafting on the Ocoee is that there are very few calm sections of the river. Nearly the entire trip is spent in rapids and that makes for a very fun ride.
st. louis archOn the way back from rafting we stopped and got a few bottle rockets, sparklers and other fireworks which we had fun lighting off with the neighbor kids. Later that night we drove in to Collegedale just in time to watch the fireworks show which was very good. On Monday the 4th we enjoyed a day at the Six Flags water park in Atlanta. The park was not very crowded, probably because most people were having a traditional 4th of July picnic or barbecue. We decided to have our lunch at a picnic table by the parking lot and had a good meal complete with grilled big frank hot dogs, potato salad, chips and cookies. We ended up staying until the park closed at 8pm and enjoyed going down all of the bigger waterslides at least once. Needless to say, by the time I crawled into bed Monday night I was definitely ready for some rest. The following Thursday Brenda and I left directly from my office to drive up to St. Louis for the last weekend of the GC Session. Since my parents were attending the session we were able to stay with them for the weekend. On Friday we joined my Grandma from Oregon and my mom's sister for a trip to the top of the St. Louis Arch. It was fun to ride the unique elevator that keeps passengers level as they ride all the way to the top of the arch and the view from the top was superb. One of my favorite things about going to a GC Session is seeing so many friends from all over the world. I enjoyed reconnecting with friends from Guam, Sri Lanka, Russia, Cambodia, Cyprus, Maryland and many other places over the weekend.
mt. rainier from the planeIt was also fun to wander through the various booths in the exhibit hall. There were booths sponsored by a wide variety of organizations ranging from health food companies to musical groups to universities to television and radio ministries. On Sabbath it was an amazing experience to attend church with somewhere around 50,000 other Adventists in a full sized football stadium and on Sabbath evening the same number of people gathered again for the parade of nations. During the parade of nations representatives from every country of the world took turns marching across the platform and then around the stadium dressed in their national costumes and carrying their country's flag. It was quite a sight to see people from all over the world united together in their beliefs. Finally, to close the session Wintley Phipps gave a powerful rendition of Amazing Grace. On Sunday morning we drove back down to my grandparents house in Tennessee where we enjoyed some
lake above leavenworth in washington statefamily time with my parents before going back to work on Tuesday. The following Sunday we attended a wedding shower and helped my neighbors Bryan, Penny & family move down to their new home in Georgia which is about 3 hours from here. It has been nice having them next door, especially since I knew them already from when I was in Cambodia. I'll miss having them next door but the time was right for them to move on. After work on Friday, July 22 we flew out to Seattle, Washington to spend ten days with Brenda's family. We had a very full trip with lots of fun activities and plenty of visiting with Brenda's friends and relatives. Since we got in late on Friday we spent the night with some of Brenda's relatives who live near Seattle. Incidentally, I already knew one of Brenda's cousins who we stayed with since he is a school teacher in Guam and had arrived there a few weeks before I left. On Sabbath we enjoyed church and lunch together and then headed into the mountains for a hike. It was really nice to hike in real mountains and we especially enjoyed the excellent view of Mt. Rainier from the fire spotting station on Red Top Mountain. After our hike we drove on to Wenatchee where Brenda's parents live. On Sunday we ran some errands and visited several fruit stands where we loaded up on the wonderful local peaches, nectarines, cherries and apricots. We even got to pick several pounds of cherries ourselves, which was especially fun.
rainier cherries that we pickedMonday afternoon we drove down to Walla Walla where we met Braden & Johanna and spent the night at Braden & Brenda's grandma's house. In between spending time with Brenda's family we also got to visit with my relatives Gary & Tami over lunch on Tuesday. It was fun to catch up with everyone and it was hard to get on the road again Tuesday night for the drive back to Wenatchee. On Wednesday we spent some time in Leavenworth, Washington which is a picturesque mountain town with lots of touristy shops and restaurants. In the evening we visited with some of Brenda's relatives. Thursday we got together with Matthew and Kathryn who I know very well from Guam. It was especially fun to meet the newest member of their family who is named Micah. On the way back we stopped at a fruit stand and replenished our fruit supply with more excellent cherries, plums and watermelons. In the evening we got together for supper with more of Brenda's relatives. On Friday morning we got up bright and early and started our weekend trip to the Olympic Peninsula. The route we took involved two car ferries and the wait to get on the ferries was rather long. By the time we made it to our hotel in Forks, Washington it was pretty late but we enjoyed a
blackberry pie for my birthday / olympic national park rain forestclear day and some very nice views of Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier along the way. Sabbath morning we visited the Hoh rainforest which gets an average of at least 140 inches of rain per year. Luckily for us we were there during the driest time of the year and were blessed with blue skies. After exploring one of the trails that winds its way through the forest we headed back to our hotel for lunch. We spent the evening walking and relaxing on the nearby beach. Since the Pacific is quite cold on the Washington coast, we opted to stay out of the water on this trip but it was still fun to spend time at the beach. Sunday we loaded up the cars and headed back to Seattle with several stops along the way to walk on the beach. We also
washington coastenjoyed a picnic lunch by a scenic mountain lake before returning to civilization. We spent the night at an airport hotel and then caught our early morning flight back to Chattanooga. After a short week at work I loaded up my car and drove down to Hilton Head, SC. Brenda wasn't able to come since she had a work conflict, but I met up with some of my friends at their house on the Atlantic coast. On Sabbath after church we enjoyed a good meal together and then spent some time at the beach. In the evening we went on a bike ride and then went out to eat at a Greek restaurant. Sunday morning we enjoyed the beach and pool some more before driving back to Tennessee. On the way back there was a bad accident that closed the interstate so I got in a bit later than expected but still got some sleep before going to work Monday morning. During the next week we enjoyed some peaches which I picked up in Georgia on the way back from South
check out this ohio fungus (mushroom?) / picnic in olympic national parkCarolina. We were even able to put a couple gallons of peaches in the freezer to enjoy during the winter months. The next weekend we took a short trip up to my grandparents' house to pick blueberries and eat blueberry pie. We were able to freeze some of the blueberries and earlier in the summer we picked and
waiting for the fireworks to startfroze strawberries so now my freezer is well stocked with fruit. For Labor Day we drove up to Dayton, OH where we enjoyed spending time with some of my cousins and friends from college. On Sabbath we went on a hike by a river and then visited a dairy farm where we pet the goats and cows before eating some fresh ice cream. On Sunday we played a couple rounds of miniature golf and then headed into Cincinnati to watch the Labor Day fireworks. Before the fireworks show they had a couple of military jets fly over the river. The best part was that a Harrier jet flew by a couple of times at high speed but then it came in more slowly and gradually slowed down and finally hovered over the water near one of the bridges a few hundred feet from where we were sitting. While hovering the pilot gradually rotated the jet around in a circle and then stopped completely for a few seconds before turning and
fireworks in cincinnatiflying up and away at about a 45 degree angle. We thought the show might be over but the pilot then brought his jet back once more and repeated the same maneuvers a second time before flying back to his base. It was very loud and impressive to watch such an amazing airplane perform at such close range. The fireworks show lasted about 30 minutes and they had six barges loaded with fireworks. They also launched some fireworks including two waterfalls of fire from two bridges. The grand finale was very impressive with an almost constant barrage of light and noise. After the fireworks show we got some ice cream to help pass the time before traffic thinned out a bit so we could more easily drive back to Dayton. Monday morning we slept in some and then got together with my cousins to eat breakfast and play games before we headed back home. Well, I think I've covered the highlights of what I've been up to for the last several months now. As you can see I've been keeping busy since I last wrote. I've been having fun though making new friends and getting settled into my job. I'm looking forward to more fun trips and activities in the coming months including a quick trip to Maryland in a couple of weeks. Until next time, Andrew As usual there are more pictures in the gallery.]]> http://www.porterupdates.com/2005/09/pacific-atlantic-st-louis-wash.html http://www.porterupdates.com/2005/09/pacific-atlantic-st-louis-wash.html Tennessee (Sep 2004 - present) Fri, 09 Sep 2005 09:00:18 -0500