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2005-2008

When I returned to Thailand from my last big journey, Nee was at the airport waiting for me.  We returned Udon Thani and I took up my teaching job at Rajabhat University in Udon Thani.  My friend Clem had accepted a job at Thammasat University in Bangkok so I took over his apartment and we set up housekeeping.  Nee opened a beauty shop and her son Top lived with us. 

In November of 2005 we were married in a village ceremony in Ban Yang Um (Nee's village).  And I happily settled into domesticity.  After a while, we decided to buy property in Udon and build a house.  Click here for details

In March of 2007 we went to America.  Nee was very excited.  We arrived in LA and spent a few days with my friend Avram.  We went to Disneyland and the beach in Santa Monica.  We visited the La Brea Tar Pits and went to a game show taping.  We visited my Aunt and Uncle.

Then we hit the road in a rental car.  We headed for Las Vegas and there we were married for official purposes.  This avoided the hassle of registering our marriage in Thailand which can be bureaucratically difficult.   After Vegas we saw Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon and lots of nothing.  Nee was amazed at the open spaces with so few people.

In Dallas we visited my dad and Joy.  My cousins Ruth and Aynn and my Aunt Jean flew in to visit.  I showed Nee around Dallas and we visited my oldest friends David and Carol.  Then we stopped off for a night with my cousin John in Little Rock and spent another night with my niece Alli and her husband Dave.

After a few days of luxury accommodations with my sister and John we turned west.  Driving through a spring blizzard we stopped in Limon, Colorado for the night.  The next day we visited Buffalo Bill's grave and then stayed the night in Glenwood Springs.  We enjoyed our swim in the large thermal pool and had a great dinner.

West by way of Idaho we headed for Corvallis.  I visited friends and family.  I spent one day with my son Brentley and a day with my daughter Heather.  My ex-wife Diana had graciously agreed to store my stuff and since we were building a home in Udon, I decided to ship the goods to Udon.  We stayed at Diana's house while I sorted and packed my stuff.  This would prove to be a big mistake.  Nee became very upset during our visit.  Apparently, in Thailand, it is very unusual for divorced people to be on good terms. 

After leaving Oregon we travelled south along the Pacific Coast Highway.  We took the usual souvenir photos at the Golden Gate.  And, after a few days with Avram we returned to Udon.

About two months after we returned, Nee left me.  She said she was jealous of my first wife.  I kept hoping she would return but after several months I gave up and made plans to hit the road again.  At the end of the school term in March, I sold most of my stuff, put a dab in storage, dusted off my back pack and bought my airline tickets.

Who knows what adventures await me.

1-7OCT2004 I´ve always wanted to visit Greece.  I studied ancient Greek and history at the University of Texas and wanted to see the ancient ruins.  

In Thessolonaika I began my online arrangements for airline reservations back to the US and on to Thailand.  It was quite an adventure because I had to fax an agreement and my main passport page to purchase the ticket.  I succeded in finding a hotel with a fax machine and then headed out of town.  The traffic was impressive.

I decided to see the palace and tomb of Phillip of Macedonia in Virgines.  I arrived looking for a campground and spotted a caravan parked on a nice spot near the parking lot.  I asked Ine and Ton (Holland) if I could put my tent nearby.  They kindly fed me some wine, bread, cheese, and peanuts and the next morning I explored the ruins.  It was a very good museum.  The burial mound had been turned into a museum and the relics were displayed on site.  I hate it when the good stuff is sent to the national museum and only copies are displayed at the actual site.  I saw the amphitheater where Phillip was killed and enjoyed the palace (basically just a pile of stones).

It was getting dark as I approached Athens and there were no campground or hotel signs to be seen.  I checked with several places before I found a service station that would let me pitch my tent.  I proved to be a loud choice.  I was between two roads and the traffic never stopped but I just plugged in my earphones and slept well.

After an exhaustive search in Athens traffic, I found the Parthenon and paid my fee to see the ruins.  Of course, all the good stuff had been carted away by the British so I feel like I saw the Parthenon in installments.  Nevertheless it was pretty cool.

On the way down the hill I dumped TBGS for the first time.  The way down was by very narrow and very steep cobblestone streets.  At one corner I stopped to figure out the way to go and my foot slipped on some dust and down I went.  It caused me no damage (except my pride) and gave the brake lever a jaunty new shape.  

I couldn´t wait to get out of Athens traffic.  On to Delphi...along some great mountain roads.  There I found a nice hotel and secured the ¨motorcycle discount¨.  The hotel had raised its prices since the Lonely Planet review but the proprietor was a motorcycle person and gave me the old price.  Delphi was in a stunning setting and the view was tremendous.  The ruins were ok.  I looked but didn´t pay to go in. 

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