Nancy on vacation - near Bali

After flying to Kuala Lumpur on March 24th, Nancy and the family flew on the next Sunday morning for a spring break vacation-trip to a small island (Gili Air) near Bali, Indonesia. There are no cars on the small island and the only way to get around is on foot, or by horse-drawn cart (the method used to haul luggage from the boat to the house!)

Doug, Tracy and Reeve planned to spend lots of time scuba diving while Gabi was taking lessons to be certified. Nancy and Rania are spending lots of time snorkeling (Rania pictured).

Nancy has reported that it is hot on the island and that the air-con in the bedroom where she and Reeve are sleeping barely cools things off (Gabi and Rania's bedroom becomes the coolest place in the house). Pictured below is the restaurant where lunch was served. - rw

A day among the tulips ...

On Friday, March 27th, I took friends from Newberg to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Fields near Woodburn. It was a glorious Spring day, and since it was spring break for Oregon schools, there were a lot of people and scads of cars in the parking lot. We took a tram around the tulip fields that gave us lots of great views. - rw

A Springtime hike in Oregon

On a TV station in Portland, there is a regular feature called "Grant's Getaways," describing scenic places to visit in our beautiful state. So, when Ron saw "The Blue Pool" featured, he decided that the two of us needed to visit the place! It was about a 4.5 mile hike (round trip), that involved a 2-hour drive to the trailhead. Temperature was only about 37 degrees when we started the hike, but it was bright and sunny, and the temperature climbed to about 60 when we got back to the car.

After arriving back at the car following the hike to the Blue Pool, we drove back up Highway 126 a few miles to the Sahalie Falls parking area. It was only a short walk to the viewing platform where we saw the falls in all their splendor + the rainbow off to the right of the smaller stream of water.

In our drive home we ended-up at Skippers' seafood restaurant in Salem where we used a 2-for-1 Entertainment Book coupon for a fish and chips dinner! A good day ... - rw

Our Last Day

We gathered for a delicious Indian dinner for our farewell after we arrived back in Kigali on Tuesday night. (Paul Almquist took the picture.) We all enjoyed the chance to eat a fare other than rice, beans, and potatoes. Wedneday morning we did last minute shopping, ate lunch at the African Bagel Company which is next door to the Thomas house. It employs widows so they can support their families. Gene, Kelli and I helped finish pack in the six bags we are taking to Portland for the Thomas family. It was a welcome sight to see the KLM plane and head home. - Nancy

Tuesday- the drive to Kigali

Today we packed up and left Musanze. We left with good memories.

Seeing how goods and people are transported was quite intriguing. We got one view of one of the volcanoes without the clouds covering part of it, and RFTC sent us off with gifts. The entire class gathered in the library as a farewell for us. David Thomas drove all of us in the mission's Toyota land cruiser with all of our luggage piled on the top in the luggage carrier. Kelli and I rode in the back -- not in the small seats -- and had good views out of the back. We arrived safely in Kigali after almost 3 hours in the car. - Nancy

Monday, Part 2

After exploring the region we stopped at the La Paillotte Restaurant in Musanze for a Western style lunch.

I was so pleased to have a mango smoothie. All in the group ended up ordering pizza which was very good. We are back to the Rwandan cuisine of rice, beans, and potatoes until we leave on Wednesday night the 18th for the US. - Nancy

Exploring in Rwanda

This morning David Thomas took us around the region of Musanze. We saw fields carved among the volcanic rock.

The corn field certainly didn't look like corn fields in Iowa. We went to the headquarters of the Volcano National Park which is the place that monitors the mountain gorillas. There are now 10 families and they allow 10 groups of 8 people in each group to trek to see the gorillas each day. The price is now 750 USD per day to go see the gorillas. Our family all went to see the gorillas about 24 years ago. It was fun to remember that day.

The Rwandan government gives 15% of all the revenue from the park to the local communities for schools and health services. There was a lovely gift shop at he park headquarters and each item had the number of the person who made the item and the profit goes to the person who made it. Our last stop was to Virunga Lodge which is a 5 star resort. The views of the lakes and the volcanoes were wonderful even though the day was overcast and hazy. The manager let us see one of the rooms and I would sure enjoy a night there. The only problem is the cost is between $750 and $1000 per night.

Rwanda is trying to get more tourists to boost the economy. With high class resorts I think they are on their way. - Nancy