Wow!! Hobnobbing Huh?
Noah looks so handsome. I'm wondering if he's going to move into politics someday. With his looks and charisma...why not? I'd be one proud aunt for sure.
More Murray News from Ecuador!! Earthquake
From: Little Wet Noses - Murray [mailto:murray@littlewetnoses.com]
Subject: Things are going well!
Hi everyone,
Things are going just fine down here. Taking in the sights, working out and preparing myself as best I can for the journey ahead. I meet my guide tomorrow and we head to base camp at 3200m (10,500') where I'll spend the next 4 nights acclimitizing and climbing progressively higher volcanos during those days. Then, move up to 4600m (15,100') for the last night before the midnight ascent attempt, weather permitting of course. Excited and scared silly, but that's all part of the fun and i'm taking it in stride.
There was an earthquake this morning in southern Columbia that rocked our world down here! So glad it didn't happen while climbing! It really zcared me - a dropping feeling followed by moderate rolling for 45-60 seconds. Enough of that, thank you very much.
Love to you all, MTM
Little Wet Noses Pet Sitting
__Sent from my mobile phone__
Subject: Things are going well!
Hi everyone,
Things are going just fine down here. Taking in the sights, working out and preparing myself as best I can for the journey ahead. I meet my guide tomorrow and we head to base camp at 3200m (10,500') where I'll spend the next 4 nights acclimitizing and climbing progressively higher volcanos during those days. Then, move up to 4600m (15,100') for the last night before the midnight ascent attempt, weather permitting of course. Excited and scared silly, but that's all part of the fun and i'm taking it in stride.
There was an earthquake this morning in southern Columbia that rocked our world down here! So glad it didn't happen while climbing! It really zcared me - a dropping feeling followed by moderate rolling for 45-60 seconds. Enough of that, thank you very much.
Love to you all, MTM
Little Wet Noses Pet Sitting
__Sent from my mobile phone__
Thanks for Posting Dee
That was my favorite picture of Robert and Tory. Fun to see it on the blog so others can see -- and no doubt agree with me!!!
Actual Note from Murray
From: Little Wet Noses - Murray [mailto:murray@littlewetnoses.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2013 9:20 AM
To: Diana Thompson; Glenn Golcher & KC Thompson
Cc: Nikole Krause-Thompson
Subject: Arrived, safe & sound
Hi Mom & Tom & Tory,
I'm in Quito! Long, long flight, and uneventful. Airport was crazy, but managed to get a taxi without being ripped off - very happy about that. Hostal is nice and clean but people are friendly, at least by the tone of their voices cause they speak about as much English as I do Spanish. At a Juan Valdez coffee shop now sipping espresso and breathing bus fumes. Off to explore!
Love Murray
Little Wet Noses Pet Sitting
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2013 9:20 AM
To: Diana Thompson; Glenn Golcher & KC Thompson
Cc: Nikole Krause-Thompson
Subject: Arrived, safe & sound
Hi Mom & Tom & Tory,
I'm in Quito! Long, long flight, and uneventful. Airport was crazy, but managed to get a taxi without being ripped off - very happy about that. Hostal is nice and clean but people are friendly, at least by the tone of their voices cause they speak about as much English as I do Spanish. At a Juan Valdez coffee shop now sipping espresso and breathing bus fumes. Off to explore!
Love Murray
Little Wet Noses Pet Sitting
Birthdays
What a lovely looking party for Bill and Kay!! I hope you all know I was there in spirit!!!! I'm keeping Kay's birthday present by my side during her birthday--that way she'll know it is safe and sound in MY hands rather than those of the mailman. (Sorry Kay -- miscalculated so it'll be late). BTW, I'm glad you introduced Max. I was wondering who that moustashed stranger was--and I agree, he clearly looks concerned about potential for colateral damage from the huffing and puffing going on along side him!! Sending love. KC
Merry Christmas!!!
With so many people in the world, do you think Santa may begin using Kay's Delk rather than reindeer to pull that heavy sleigh?
It warms to cockles of our Zoiboyz hearts to think that you all are staying warm and sipping delicious coffee at the farm house. Just think Dee and Bill - that means every trip down to the farm will seem like Christmas again! Tom, Melissa, and I will be having a Christmas eve dinner. Tory's Robert sent us some Omaha steaks (we are getting quite spoiled--Tory, Murray, and Nikole indulged us with the same last year). We will be grilling them I think, presuming dear sweet Tom can stay cozy over the coals. Temps will be close to zero according to the weather man with an 80% chance of a white Christmas. Snow flakes covering Tom's hair might be worth a picture or two. Melissa and I will be cozy inside, looking at our stack of presents, and sipping adult beverages of some sort. Christmas eve is SO much fun.
Merry Christmas to all.
Love Tom and KC
It warms to cockles of our Zoiboyz hearts to think that you all are staying warm and sipping delicious coffee at the farm house. Just think Dee and Bill - that means every trip down to the farm will seem like Christmas again! Tom, Melissa, and I will be having a Christmas eve dinner. Tory's Robert sent us some Omaha steaks (we are getting quite spoiled--Tory, Murray, and Nikole indulged us with the same last year). We will be grilling them I think, presuming dear sweet Tom can stay cozy over the coals. Temps will be close to zero according to the weather man with an 80% chance of a white Christmas. Snow flakes covering Tom's hair might be worth a picture or two. Melissa and I will be cozy inside, looking at our stack of presents, and sipping adult beverages of some sort. Christmas eve is SO much fun.
Merry Christmas to all.
Love Tom and KC
Gratifying Images
You know--it warms the cockles of my heart to see Dee and Bill working like dogs. They are excellent at digging cactus too. And they aren't the only ones either -- my entire family has a work ethic that just doesn't quit.
Badgers make holes like the one in your photo. Not sure they go after honey though. I always though it was bears that could brave the ire of angry honey bees. Interesting stuff in the woods.
Tom is safely back from NM with some blue ribbons. I go to AZ next weekend to try and get more of the same. The Ford Windstar now has just over 275,000 miles on it. When/if it goes over 300K I'm going to send Ford a note, complimenting them on building such wonderful cars.
Badgers make holes like the one in your photo. Not sure they go after honey though. I always though it was bears that could brave the ire of angry honey bees. Interesting stuff in the woods.
Tom is safely back from NM with some blue ribbons. I go to AZ next weekend to try and get more of the same. The Ford Windstar now has just over 275,000 miles on it. When/if it goes over 300K I'm going to send Ford a note, complimenting them on building such wonderful cars.
Fabulous Pictures
Wow Dee. The farm is like an incredible rain forest. The pictures are spectacular. The creek is really high. When the logs get put across, will the water come over the fields.
I tried to find Jessica and Gavin's website -- and succeeded sort of: I found picture of a couple that claimed they were Jessica and Gavin but definitely not MY Jessica and Gavin. My internet check turned up nothing. Could you please repost the link?
We spent TG at a friend's place. There was enough food to feed our entire family plus theirs. Lots of delicious leftovers to munch on the next week or so. Sending love to all.
I tried to find Jessica and Gavin's website -- and succeeded sort of: I found picture of a couple that claimed they were Jessica and Gavin but definitely not MY Jessica and Gavin. My internet check turned up nothing. Could you please repost the link?
We spent TG at a friend's place. There was enough food to feed our entire family plus theirs. Lots of delicious leftovers to munch on the next week or so. Sending love to all.
Not Bad at All
From the size of the bandage, I thought you could end up with a humougous scar---I guess not!!! But...your poor face has taken a beating. I'm thinking of those bruises you had from the fall.
YahooOOOO Dee!!
...and it's amazing how lovely you look even with a honking big bandage on your face. What a gorgeous sister I have.
Frankenstorm vs Sid and Sandra
Have you noticed? Frankenstorm Sandy's eye is aimed at Philadelphia. Sid and Sandra say they are prepared and promise to keep us all updated--the best that they can anyway. I'm more nervous on their behalf than they are (or I should say, Sid is).
Tory and Nikole Enroute Home!!!
From: Diana V Thompson [mailto:diana.thompson103@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2012 10:33 PM
To: kc@zoiboyz.com; Tom Golcher; Robert Crooks; Aunt Diana; Nikole Krause-Thompson; Maurice Thompson; Judith Myers; Kay Daniels; Sid Picht; mountainpk73048@gmail.com; d1030krause@gmail.com
Subject: Saying goodbye to China
Good afternoon friends and family!
Nikole and I are all packed to go and have just 15 minutes before our taxi arrives to take us to the airport. Nikole is busy snapping last minute pics of the huge Buddha in the lobby of our hotel, and I am already hungry for lunch....
Two days ago, we left Beijing on a private bus for our long drive through Beijing traffic to the section of the Great Wall we were to call our own. We lunched along the way on wheat bread, cheese, apples, ham slices (for me), and crackers, filling the floor of the bus with crumbs. And then suddenly there it was in the distance -- long and imposing, snaking around the mountains in a continuous, unbroken line, the Great Wall of China! Stashing our overnight bags in the bus, we loaded our daypacks with plenty of water and snacks and were launched onto the wall itself for a 5 kilometer trek atop the wall. There were steep steps up and even steeper steps down, up and down, and through the old guard towers and signal towers (which also served as convenient places to catch our breath). Nikole and I were accompanied by Chinese ladies who "guided" us (took our pics and held our hands on the steep bits), in exchange for the "opportunity" to buy souvenirs from them at the end, for which we were somewhat happy to comply. It was an incredible experience for us both, and we got crazy good pics!!
That night our group stayed at a farmer's family's house (large house -- we had a room to ourselves) and dinner prepared by the farmer wife and grandmother. We agreed it as the best meal we'd had on the trip so far!! At dawn, Nikole and I joined a small group to climb to the top of the nearby hill for a view of the sunrise over the mountains and the wall in the distance. It was just amazing! Unfortunately, because our ambitious group nearly raced to the top of the hill, we arrived a friggin 45 minutes early, well before the sun actually crested the hills. Gosh, it was freezing up there!! We got great pics of ourselves as we slowly turned into popsicles.
Returning to Beijing, we stopped by the Olympic sites to see the Birds Nest and the Water Cube, though everyone in the group was just transfixed by the street vendors selling childrens toys which we bought in abundance!
Nikole and I settled for our last night next to a pedestrian area in the old part of Beijing, and relaxed ourselves with retail therapy and massage to ensure our muscles and bones were in exceptionally good shape for the long flight back home.
And speaking of home, we miss it so much!! Nikole and I are craving western food, soft beds, normal traffic, free toilet paper, regular showers, and sane traffic like you cannot imagine. And we miss each of you, though we've carried you in our hearts every step of the way!
Next email, hopefully we will be back home, safe and sound in your arms and on the phone to order local takeout -- just NO Chinese food (for a while at least)
Love T
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2012 10:33 PM
To: kc@zoiboyz.com; Tom Golcher; Robert Crooks; Aunt Diana; Nikole Krause-Thompson; Maurice Thompson; Judith Myers; Kay Daniels; Sid Picht; mountainpk73048@gmail.com; d1030krause@gmail.com
Subject: Saying goodbye to China
Good afternoon friends and family!
Nikole and I are all packed to go and have just 15 minutes before our taxi arrives to take us to the airport. Nikole is busy snapping last minute pics of the huge Buddha in the lobby of our hotel, and I am already hungry for lunch....
Two days ago, we left Beijing on a private bus for our long drive through Beijing traffic to the section of the Great Wall we were to call our own. We lunched along the way on wheat bread, cheese, apples, ham slices (for me), and crackers, filling the floor of the bus with crumbs. And then suddenly there it was in the distance -- long and imposing, snaking around the mountains in a continuous, unbroken line, the Great Wall of China! Stashing our overnight bags in the bus, we loaded our daypacks with plenty of water and snacks and were launched onto the wall itself for a 5 kilometer trek atop the wall. There were steep steps up and even steeper steps down, up and down, and through the old guard towers and signal towers (which also served as convenient places to catch our breath). Nikole and I were accompanied by Chinese ladies who "guided" us (took our pics and held our hands on the steep bits), in exchange for the "opportunity" to buy souvenirs from them at the end, for which we were somewhat happy to comply. It was an incredible experience for us both, and we got crazy good pics!!
That night our group stayed at a farmer's family's house (large house -- we had a room to ourselves) and dinner prepared by the farmer wife and grandmother. We agreed it as the best meal we'd had on the trip so far!! At dawn, Nikole and I joined a small group to climb to the top of the nearby hill for a view of the sunrise over the mountains and the wall in the distance. It was just amazing! Unfortunately, because our ambitious group nearly raced to the top of the hill, we arrived a friggin 45 minutes early, well before the sun actually crested the hills. Gosh, it was freezing up there!! We got great pics of ourselves as we slowly turned into popsicles.
Returning to Beijing, we stopped by the Olympic sites to see the Birds Nest and the Water Cube, though everyone in the group was just transfixed by the street vendors selling childrens toys which we bought in abundance!
Nikole and I settled for our last night next to a pedestrian area in the old part of Beijing, and relaxed ourselves with retail therapy and massage to ensure our muscles and bones were in exceptionally good shape for the long flight back home.
And speaking of home, we miss it so much!! Nikole and I are craving western food, soft beds, normal traffic, free toilet paper, regular showers, and sane traffic like you cannot imagine. And we miss each of you, though we've carried you in our hearts every step of the way!
Next email, hopefully we will be back home, safe and sound in your arms and on the phone to order local takeout -- just NO Chinese food (for a while at least)
Love T
Photo Credits!!
You should bonk me on the noggin Sandra!!! My post sounded as though it was only to Sid--no doubt because he was the one who posted the pictures. And...like you, we have reserved the entire month of August 2013 in our minds, knowing that there will be a special week in there that Jess and Gavin will choose to have us around.
Sending love to both you and Sid for being such great sports, spending a total weekend getting your borzoi fix.
Sending love to both you and Sid for being such great sports, spending a total weekend getting your borzoi fix.
LOVE the Pictures Sid
I even forgive you for the comment about the little girl kicking my 'boyz butt(s). Meanwhile--her owners are looking at Eclipse as a possible mate, so coming in second may still have its rewards.
Cool looking sunglasses by the way. Hope the eyeball is doing good. Will you have 20/20 like Aunt Martha ended up with?
Dee - when's the wedding date??? Anxious aunts need to know.
Cool looking sunglasses by the way. Hope the eyeball is doing good. Will you have 20/20 like Aunt Martha ended up with?
Dee - when's the wedding date??? Anxious aunts need to know.
Somewhat Relieved I Am to have been Left Behind
From: Diana V Thompson [mailto:diana.thompson103@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 6:08 PM
To: kc@zoiboyz.com; Tom Golcher; Robert Crooks; Aunt Diana; Nikole Krause-Thompson; Maurice Thompson; Judith Myers; Kay Daniels; Sid Picht; mountainpk73048@gmail.com; d1030krause@gmail.com
Subject: Greetings from Beijing!
Good morning friends and family!
Nikole and I are safe and sound, and happily settled into a small hostel in central Beijing! Sorry it's been so long since my last note -- we've had a busy itinerary (and internet is really hard to get here!!) Here's what we've been doing:
We took the overnight train from Xi'an to the small walled town of Pingyao. The train was a lot more "authentic" than our last train, and we began to appreciate the wisdom of squat toilets, as little would have motivated us to put our lily bums on any public surface (if you get my meaning). Sleep was fitful, particularly for Nikole who was coming down with the cold that has been going around our group. My own immune system was not far behind, but I think we were both mostly suffering from the pollution -- their only source of heat was burning coal, and everyone had home coal burners, including the owners of our hostel. The air was thick with ash and soot
The hostel itself was quite charming, but Nikole and I are soft westerners, and were a little dismayed that the beds were wooden planks covered by a layer of felt and a blanket, and that there was limited hot water, and it was only available for 2 hours a day. Meh. At least the food was good (they served pizza in a restaurant down the street -- yumm!!). The next morning we took in the sights of the small walled town, admired some temples and bargained hard for treasures from the street vendors. We've been venturing to try more and more street food as we've had very good luck with the gastrointestinal region of our bodies so far -- but we hedge our bets by sticking to vegetarian, and mostly fried. Seriously good potatoes in this country!
Both of us were pretty happy to leave the dusty Pingyao behind and board another overnight train (seriously, we're grimy dirty at this point) for Beijing. There were real Tibetans on this train! It was so cool! The train was nicer than the previous "local" but felt like heaven compared to our hostel in Pingyao so we caught just enough zzz's to arrive successfully in Beijing! And thank goodness for that because our day was nonstop from there! Our first stop was Tienanmen square -- just amazing, and so HUGE you can't imagine. There's a big poster of Mao over the gate, just like in pictures we've seen. Crossing the massive square, we went through the gate into the Forbidden City. Again, the buildings were so big (I think there's a total of 9999 rooms throughout) Nikole and I were dumbfounded. After a while though they all kind of blended together... Friggin tourists are so hard to impress!
In the evening we hit a local supermarket for a treasure hunt of ingredients we can use for a lunch on the bus this morning (4 hour ride to the Great Wall!), and made it back in time to our room to change into spiffy duds for a Kung Fu show, and a stroll along the food market famous for its deep fried scorpions. All in all, not a bad day,though we were so tired by the end of it, we could barely move our pinky toes. This morning we're hoping we have enough adrenaline to keep us going -- we'll need it for this last little push!
I'm sending my love!
Love T
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 6:08 PM
To: kc@zoiboyz.com; Tom Golcher; Robert Crooks; Aunt Diana; Nikole Krause-Thompson; Maurice Thompson; Judith Myers; Kay Daniels; Sid Picht; mountainpk73048@gmail.com; d1030krause@gmail.com
Subject: Greetings from Beijing!
Good morning friends and family!
Nikole and I are safe and sound, and happily settled into a small hostel in central Beijing! Sorry it's been so long since my last note -- we've had a busy itinerary (and internet is really hard to get here!!) Here's what we've been doing:
We took the overnight train from Xi'an to the small walled town of Pingyao. The train was a lot more "authentic" than our last train, and we began to appreciate the wisdom of squat toilets, as little would have motivated us to put our lily bums on any public surface (if you get my meaning). Sleep was fitful, particularly for Nikole who was coming down with the cold that has been going around our group. My own immune system was not far behind, but I think we were both mostly suffering from the pollution -- their only source of heat was burning coal, and everyone had home coal burners, including the owners of our hostel. The air was thick with ash and soot
The hostel itself was quite charming, but Nikole and I are soft westerners, and were a little dismayed that the beds were wooden planks covered by a layer of felt and a blanket, and that there was limited hot water, and it was only available for 2 hours a day. Meh. At least the food was good (they served pizza in a restaurant down the street -- yumm!!). The next morning we took in the sights of the small walled town, admired some temples and bargained hard for treasures from the street vendors. We've been venturing to try more and more street food as we've had very good luck with the gastrointestinal region of our bodies so far -- but we hedge our bets by sticking to vegetarian, and mostly fried. Seriously good potatoes in this country!
Both of us were pretty happy to leave the dusty Pingyao behind and board another overnight train (seriously, we're grimy dirty at this point) for Beijing. There were real Tibetans on this train! It was so cool! The train was nicer than the previous "local" but felt like heaven compared to our hostel in Pingyao so we caught just enough zzz's to arrive successfully in Beijing! And thank goodness for that because our day was nonstop from there! Our first stop was Tienanmen square -- just amazing, and so HUGE you can't imagine. There's a big poster of Mao over the gate, just like in pictures we've seen. Crossing the massive square, we went through the gate into the Forbidden City. Again, the buildings were so big (I think there's a total of 9999 rooms throughout) Nikole and I were dumbfounded. After a while though they all kind of blended together... Friggin tourists are so hard to impress!
In the evening we hit a local supermarket for a treasure hunt of ingredients we can use for a lunch on the bus this morning (4 hour ride to the Great Wall!), and made it back in time to our room to change into spiffy duds for a Kung Fu show, and a stroll along the food market famous for its deep fried scorpions. All in all, not a bad day,though we were so tired by the end of it, we could barely move our pinky toes. This morning we're hoping we have enough adrenaline to keep us going -- we'll need it for this last little push!
I'm sending my love!
Love T