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September, 2005:

Goin’ to California…

So, it’s been 3 mostly tough weeks in Daytona. While it was good to see my oldest and best friends, it was also tough seeing Chris’ mom pass on after a long, arduous struggle with her health. Chris was taxed to a breaking point. But he held his own, and made it through. I’m proud of him for having been such a good and dedicated son through the process. Not only for his mom, but for his dad before him, who died of cancer last November. Now it’s time for him to live, I hope he does. The funeral was full of good friends and family. Even Mahi showed up. It was tougher for me than I thought it would be. The last funeral I was at was for Chris’ father back in November. My father and his mother were both there. But now they’re gone, and that hit me in a way I didn’t quite expect.

The funeral was followed by a rather lively party back at Chris’ house. Some other friends, Robin and Debbie, made an incredible spread of food, and made sure that there was plenty of beer and other refreshments. I’m sure that Chris’ mom would have loved the fact that we partied on into the wee hours on the night after her funeral. She always loved a good party. There was even some dancing.

I’m now on my way to LA for about a week. Well, I’d already be there if my original American Airlines flight made it off the ground. No, instead they let us sit on the tarmac for about 3+ hours, and now I’m on my way via another flight. So I’ll just get there about oh, 7 hours later than I was supposed to be there.

Looking forward to spending some time in LA though, visiting Judy, Craig and the kids before heading back to Florida. Then it’s onward to Guatemala and once again be reunited with Andiamo. Boy, do I miss my boat!

On a side note, still getting caught up on pics and my last big update re: London. Didn’t have such good access and there was just too much going on, while I was in Daytona, so I couldn’t get too much done.

UGGGGGGH!!! (previously titled “All Good Things…”)

I was just in the process of wrapping up my latest entry when my browser crashed before I can save it. So my whole update went bye-bye. Hate it when that happens.

I’ll get as much up with meaty details as soon as I can. More pics to come as well.

Here’s the condensed version of events to get caught up:

Spent a few days in Belgium, said goodbye to Mietsie, Raf, Teresa, and everyone else. Got to see Roos, one of my former crew from when Andiamo left Isla Mujeres to Belize, one quick time on my last night before heading on to Brussels. I took a Eurolines bus to London on the night of Sept. 4th, met up with Steffenie, who was putting me up during my London stay. I managed to meet up with Rosie, Scott and Claire as well, and we had many merry times over the next few days. Also managed to meet up with Sheila, one of the two Singaporean nurses I met in Budapest during the pub crawl for dinner and crazy dancing. Berina was in Italy during that time so we couldn’t meet up.

I left London on the 7th of September, and flew back to Florida. Drove to Daytona, and met up with my best friend Chris who’s going through a god-awful time with his mother’s illness. She’s pretty much terminal and this has been pretty tough. I was going to fly out to California for a few days today, but decided to stick around a few more days because of what is happening. In the meantime, I’ve been shopping for boat stuff and supplies that I’ll be taking back with me when I do finally head back to Andiamo sometime at the end of this month.

So that’s the story so far, I’ll add details to this post as I go along, because I sure as hell ain’t starting that big post all over again.

Sometimes, technology can suck. :P

Comment from: Bonnie.Thompson [Visitor]

Hello stranger! You have had quite the adventures this summer! We sold our house in Pella and bought a NEW one in Ankeny Iowa, 15 minutes from work instead of an hour. A young lady I know would like your mailing address. So I am down 33 pounds and counting the days to Hawaii in November. Take care, Bonnie.

2005-09-16 @ 22:25

Comment from: mietsie [Visitor]

Hey traveller,

I’m killing time in Brussels cause the server is down at the company where I am now,
I hope u and Chris are doing ok after recent events,

love
mietsie

2005-09-19 @ 04:08

Comment from: MIchael Greaney [Visitor]

Tony,
Tell Chris I’m wishing him the best. I can only imagine what he is going through.
Hope all is well with him and you. I didn’t have near the time in Daytona that I wanted/needed to visit everyone. I saw Martin, John and Maria Groeschner and of course, Anne-Marie (Lil) Hughes.
Keep putting one foot in front of the other!

2005-09-19 @ 08:32

Catchin’ up on photos…

I’m finally able to start getting some more pics posted. I’m only behind by the whole summer!! Just got the last of my Guatemala pics up, and I’ll be getting the photos up as quickly as possible. For the sake of chronology, I’ll be backdating the postings. So be sure to browse through the “photos” section for any new updates, because the updates will backdate as far back as June. You can go to the photos section via THIS LINK!