*PROJECT QUETZAL* - Connecticut Contingent

We have been attending and subsequently supporting this program for about 5 years now. But, last night's entertainment and fundraiser to support this Woman's Shelter and Orphanage in Guatemala was a real laughing matter. Two comedians from the Boston area were there to share some of their funny stuff with us. They did and it was. We literally laughed so hard that our jaws hurt (Megan's more than the rest of us - still dealing with the fall out from the accident).

The food was good but the Company was the best:

Steve Smith and I had an awesome time eating, drinking, laughing and sharing jokes and side comments of our own (this is what I have come to love and count on when ever we are together)

Mom and Dad Paglia (Chris and Don) were there laughing and sharing stories. They also shared their (and our) long time friends with us.

Steve and Cathy Burns from Portland, Maine were in town as the key note speakers at a nearby conference. They were staying over for the night and were able to join us for the fun. We hadn't seen them for over eight years when we stayed at their home on the way up to a distant vacation on a lake in Maine (through the generosity of our friends, Jeff and Sandy). It was a real treat to see them again.

John and Miriam Murphy were also there fresh back from their journey to Ghana, Africa. They shared enthusiastically and passionately of their experience. It is clear that they will be returning to continue to support the people there who live in utter poverty compared to our abundance. They went as individuals hooked up through John's connection and ongoing involvement with the Rotary Club in Guilford. For as long as I have known John (some 14 years) he has been involved in doing what he felt is right for others and sharing himself that way. It is inspiring to see their marriage and friendship shared in this exciting format. We are moved and touched to see how easy it is to make a difference in someones life, almost instantly, partially around the globe and that they are doing it. The one comment they made last night that struck me was that when they were making ready to leave to return home,

They gave away all that they had with them.

Their clothes, luggage, toiletries, shoes.. Everything but the clothes on their backs, 50$ and their passports. Our hearts expands just knowing them.

Jasper also came with us last night and brought along his ripstick. One of the highlights for him was the gift of a hackisack from Grandma Chris.

One of the highlights for US was him being noticed and played with by one of the comedians. He joked with us about not being able to afford a baby sitter or the possibility that Jazz had ruined all the babysitters so that he didn't have to stay home any more. (The truth lies somewhere in between) He toyed with Jazz about the skateboard and asked if he brought it everywhere and if he ever got off of it. At one point during his act Jasper road his Rip from our table, through the crowd up to and in front of the stage where the guy was doing his act and the crowd applauded the action. It was a hoot and the guy was fun and generous in the fooling about.

We also found out that the Project had finally raised the funds and just purchased a piece of land next to the standing shelter where they intend to build a new building. There is a distinct possibility that Megan, Jasper and I will have the opportunity to be involved in the construction of this new building. This, living in a Spanish speaking country and doing this kind of work, is something that we have talked about and intended for quite a few years. We always hoped that it would be for this project since we have come to know it and know the founder, peripherally, through her brother, John Cassertano and his wife Jill.

We will let you know how this progresses. Keep your fingers crossed for us as this would be a real treat for us to participate in this way and fulfill our dream of having all of us become bilingual in the process of doing what we love to do.

"The CAR" continued...

Well, I had the distinct pleasure of picking the Prius up yesterday afternoon, by myself, just me.
I was very excited to actually own this car for the previously mentioned reasons and it feels real good to drive it. Like we are actualizing those reasons.
The Prius happens to be one of those cars that you want to start off easy from any stopped position to see how long you can keep under the power of the electric motor rather than have the gas motor kick in. It is just a little disappointing when the gas motor kicks in ;-} but I get over it rather quickly when I look at the monitor that shows I am still getting 42+ mpg average for that particular trip.
I only had it in my possession for a matter of minutes before I put a container of electrical supplies and my tool pouch in it and headed off to East Haven to help a friend by wiring his new room in his house for him. (Somethings never change??)

I have had a good scare from last night and through the day today but I am getting a little better now.

As I read through the owners manual yesterday I found that it had varying and mixed messages regarding towing the Prius. Varying from, "you should never tow this car with any wheels in touch with the ground" (Geeeessss! I didn't buy a friggin' hovercraft, how the hell am I supposed to tow this behind the RV) to an enlightening, somehow hopeful, picture of the car being towed by a tow truck with the front wheels off the ground and the rear ones on the ground. This what I intended to do via a car dolly. (Which I put off going to buy this morning because I just didn't know if it was OK or would cause any damage to the car) That would be quite the pisser to have bought the car we wanted and not be able to take it. Say a little Prayer! I guess the worse case scene is that we will have to buy a flat car hauling trailer to put the car on, we'll see.

So... with the seeming infinite availability of info on the web I got on and signed onto and into a couple of large forums (one on the Prius and one for RV"S) and started searching for whether any one has done towing successfully or not. Once I figured out how to register and navigate the sites, a little frustrating yet obviously manageable, I found an array of info that ranged from "don't do it to do it this way and there's not much chance for any issues". I guess I had hoped that there was some Prius Guru out there waiting for my question that would offer the "FINAL WORD" on the subject. Rather, it is more like detective work or puzzle making, if you will, heading down the road collecting data that will eventually lead me to the answer. (Please!)

So intent was I, that I tracked down one "poster" on a forum who lives in Madison and called him to talk about it. (It wasn't bad at all, it seems there are only 3 Bob West's in Madison "Wisconsin" and the last one happened to be my guy) Exhilarated to find him and even more that he was willing to talk to some nut in CT, We had a great 30 minute conversation and exchanged emails while on the phone so we could keep in touch. (For me this is part of the excitement of the web - anonymous and spontaneous acquaintances out of the ether) I found out that he had only towed his Prius 20 miles so far but... he had not had any issues or reported damage. He, like us, will be towing his for an extended distance this coming December. Perhaps we'll find out together how it tows.

I am becoming very smart in the ways of RV'ing and towing this week. My education will continue next week as we head out to Grand Blanc, Michigan on Friday to pick up our RV and drive it back home for a short period before we head off for the journey. We will be taking Jasper and our granddaughter, Michaela, who by the way is trying desperately to be part of the year long journey.
Remember there is supposed to be an element of contemplation on this trip!!!

THE RIGHT CAR?

This is the 08' Hybrid Toyota Prius

This is what we just bought to take with us on our trip and to have as our next vehicle for the extended future. The color is metallic grey. Although we went in to buy the Silver Pine we found that it comes with a light tan interior. As soon as I got into the car and put my shoe on the mat there was a mark on the floor. We then chose the dark grey car with the grey interior so that it might stand a chance of looking decent and clean past the first week of our use. Most important to us about this car though is that it gets well into and over 45 mpg.

We have previously rented the Prius on several trips to the mid-west to see if it was the car for us and to see if the car performed as they said it would. I have to say that it did and was more than we expected in mileage and comfort. And that is why after looking at, test driving and even putting a deal together on an Altima Hybrid (which we felt remorse about before we walk out of the dealership and then canceled as soon as we woke the next morning) we came back to and purchased the Prius. We are very satisfied and emotionally moved that we were able to purchase this car. We feel like we have to have a car at this point and place in our lives and this to us is by far the best choice that we can make, all things considered, now.

When I told my Dad that we were renting this car the first time he scoffed that they all lie about the mileage and that people had told him that they were only getting 30 mpg in the Prius. We left on the trip from Middletown and stopped for gas in Pennsylvania just over 500 miles away and had just put in 10.5 gallons. Averaging approximately 50 mpg, I called my Dad with the excitement of a teenager with his first car. At that time gas was right around $2.00 per gallon and I had just filled up for about $22 for the 500 miles traveled. I was ecstatic. The coolest part about the whole deal is that it is rated a Partial Zero Emissions car in California (a state with some of the most stringent emissions ratings) If we must have a car, this one seems a great one for us to have. We said almost 4 years ago that we wanted to own a hybrid as our next vehicle and have once again fulfilled on making our intention our reality. I love when this happens and it happens a lot, (thankfully).

I know it seems like a strange choice when we are driving a motor home around the country

but maybe when we are all averaged out we will have gotten 25 miles to the gallon. We intend to park the RV and use the car to site see, visit and get to the playgrounds of this majestic country.

Actually, when you look at these two pictures, they kind of look like the same size vehicles. Not as big of a discrepancy as I had originally thought.

The Process and its Rewards

To date, the most daunting, yet oddly rewarding, aspect of making ready to go on this trip has been exactly that, "MAKING READY TO GO"

Perceiving the task of getting ready to split at the end of this November as too big for us to handle while still having our life go on daily, we hired a life coach back in July.(http://www.strategiclifeplans.com/). The goal was to have assistance in the process of organizing all of the aspects of our life so that we could leave in a managed manner. So that all of the facets of our created existence (like our house, mortgage, insurance policies, tenants, kid at college, youngest sons education, etc.) would not crumple by the first week in December. And also to prevent our families and the rest of the people we know, love and interact with, both socially and in business or who count on us for something from finding a phone number that no one answered upon our departure. As often as I just want to chuck it all and leave now, this is what felt right for us to do.
The coaching consisted of meeting for approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours once every other week. We used the coaching time as the structure to list and review all of the items of our lives that we determined were important or necessary to review, manage or modify in someway prior to leaving. We have gone on our extended trips, as previously mentioned, and forgotten more than once that something that was supposed to have been done or paid and wasn't. Only to find it desperately waiting for us or worse yet canceled or over drafting when we returned. Sort of takes the fun out of what we had experienced. We intentionally decided that this time we would take a full assessment of all areas and manage them, as best we can, prior to our leaving. Avoiding getting blind sided or smacked in the back of the head by something once we began our journey.
We did some fun stuff too, like discussing and planning our itinerary. It is amazing to me how just taking the dedicated time to discuss an item brought things to light that may have been un-thought or un-said. We changed what we thought was a set initial path for the outset of our trip because after saying it aloud to the coach and living with it for a while we realized that it wasn't really what we wanted to do or were excited about. We also created the criteria for the motor home that we wanted and had some fun figuring out what it should have in it that would make it work for us. This list was invaluable as I headed into conversations with folks who had them for sale because I didn't know squat about them before these conversations. As a matter of fact I had not ever been in one.
We created budgets for our home life and for our trip life
We looked at all of our expenses and came up with a plan for being debt free prior to leaving with the exception of our mortgage and another investment property we own,
We created a price we were willing to pay for the motor home and I'll be damned if it didn't allow us to shop well over our intended budget and get the RV for exactly our budget number.
We also decided that we would finance the RV for the year trip instead of buying it outright. This allowed us to keep more available cash on hand verses spending the purchase price amount up front.
We reviewed our life insurance policies for what was appropriate for the now verses 4 years ago and adjusted them to fit our current needs.
We reviewed our health insurance and reworked our plan to better fit what would serve us on the road and Sara in college in the City.
We had to find a house/property manager for the main house and the rental units and decide how the rents would get paid. Who would mow the lawn, shovel the snow take the trash and recycling to the curb and how we would get our mail all seems so trivial on a daily basis living here but had to be hamdled for living on the road.
We had to decide about getting a new bank account that we could use nationwide without charges and that we could also manage online.
In the process of shopping for RV financing and Insurance on line I discovered a way to save a bunch of money on both rather than doing business geographically locally or through our normal everyday companies.
I also discovered a legal way to establish our Limited Liability Company in Montana and to have the company purchase and register the RV there saving thousands of dollars in taxes.
We will also be registering our auto there (Montana) that we intend to tow behind the RV. More about the car in the next Blah, Blah, Blah...
The picture below is Two Medicine Lake in Glacier National Park in Montana

Photo is courtesy of http://bigskyfishing.com/ go there to see more photos of this beautiful country. I can't wait to go there and take some of these photos for myself!

The Process of Getting Ready to GO!!

Most of you, who will ever look at this, know that we are embarking (Nov. 26th, 2007) on a self designed year long + adventure that we have nicknamed "A Miraculous Oddessy". I am amazed a little each time I find out, when talking to friends, that I have not told them yet or that they didn't know we were leaving. We have been intensely planning, for what seems like, so long now that it is hard to imagine that someone who knows us doesn't know we are leaving. We had been thinking about this and world traveling, more specifically, for quite some time and in a variety of different formats.

The urge to travel, see the world and meet it's people, has been strong and has motivated us to GO when ever we felt like we could afford it, before and since we began our life journey together. In the beginning of our relationship, prior to marriage, we traveled to Grand Cayman and the way pre-Katrina New Orleans and often to places in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Often we would take off for long weekend car trips, just the two of us. Once we did a long car journey to Maine, a pilgrimage of sorts, to find the latest place where Scott and Helen Nearing lived, in the middle of January. Only to find that she, who survived Scott, died the previous October, in a head on auto collision accident returning to her home from a public radio interview about their lives. (Scott and Helen were the livers and the authors of "The Good Life" a book about social justice and living simply on this planet. They and there model continue to inspire us http://www.goodlife.org/http://www.amazon.com/Good-Life-Scott-Nearing/dp/0805209700 )

Later, we started going to and working on our own land in southern Vermont each weekend and building a place there that we thought we would eventually move to but let go of for the sake of the kids education. Mostly we would travel in the northeast on the other weekends. But as time went on we have traveled extensively. We have gone to Florida many times, to Iowa several times to visit our very close friends (Jeff, Kara & Kai), We have been to Chicago, Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Northern Mexico, the California wine country, Muir Woods and the Sequoia National Forest, to name a few.


One very memorable trip took us all the way to Jasper, Alberta, Canada and back by car towing a utility trailer with our camping gear and bikes in it. We went about 5000 miles on that trip and had the pleasure of meeting our good friends Dan and Laurie there and seeing Rani, Scott and the band play at the Calgary folk festival and watching Quinn for them, whilst on stage, when he was so young that he would never remember it. This trip was for a little more than 3 weeks in duration and was one of the best experiences of our lives. We have been very fortunate (intentional about creating) one other phenomenal month long trip in the fall of 1999 when we (Jasper, Megan and Bill) went to Western Europe.


Jazz was just a bit over age one and he made the trip with ease. We landed in Madrid, Spain and rented a car there and headed immediately to northern Spain, into the Basque Country and spent an absolutely wonderful week there, with a previous exchange student we had hosted and her family (in Beasain and San Sebastian - click on the link below to see Beautiful San Sebastian http://www.travelphoto.net/photos/pictures/spanien/i19.jpg)
before heading off into the Pyrenees Mountains, on the border between France and Spain, on our way to Italy. In France, .... Once in Italy, we stayed and visited in Florence twice on separate occasions, visited Roma and Venice and then headed off to find distant relatives of Megan's family (who did not know we were coming to town) in Caserta and then on to Caiazzo (where we had the best Pizza to date)

I remember that we used to talk about traveling the world and thought often that we could or should just pick up and do it. But being sensible parents (I know this is debatable) of these five children the one agreement that we made with each other way back in 2000 that sticks in my mind...
We would not leave Middletown to do any extensive traveling until Sara was out of high school.
Well, she very well established in her sophomore year at LIM in Manhattan and we are now making our first attempt at extended travel.

EXTRA, EXTRA, Read all about it.

Saturday - October 13, 2007 Scooter Tryout - Take Two

Inset in the main picture for our blog (to the right) you will see Jazzman screaming along at a breaknecking speed of 0 mph in the front yard of our favorite scooter store www.scootercentrale.com in Plainville, CT. If you have any scooter owning desire or fantasy please go see these folks. You will find the most available and willing people who are dedicated to the ultimate in customer service. They have allowed us all of the time and multiples of test drives that we have needed to choose which scooters we will purchase. You will experience great satisfaction working with them.
After Meg's September 25th auto accident that totaled the Rav 4 (she was hit from behind at 45+ mph) we wondered if we should purchase another to take with us on the trip or not. (Of, course, this wondering occurred after we got her to the hospital and several doctors to make sure she was getting the correct treatment for her injuries) What we came up with was to purchase two scooters (Meg has wanted to have a scooter for the last two years to ride around town on) instead of getting another car.
Now, the reason we have been back to the scooter store three times is that there a lot of choices in scooters for a lot of different purposes. We want to be able to park the RV at various campsites or friends houses along the path of our trip and use the scooters for the local traveling and site seeing instead of taking the RV everywhere. Plus we will then get 70 miles per gallon verses 7. (Meg, the mathmetician reminds me that the real equation total is 35 mpg since we are taking two of them. Still more fun then we would have in a car - unless its raining) Oh well, this is an adventure.
We also want to be able to go good/long distances away from our parking locations so we need to have the right size and comfortable scooter to allow us to do that and we also need enough power and stability in case we need to be on the highway. Right now we are looking at the Piaggio MP3 (This is me on the MP3)
We'll let you know what we end up with, next week!!! Caio, till then.