Hey! I'm guessing you already saw Audrey's Portland update from yesterday. However, I would like to tell you about my perspective on all of this (and oh by the way, this is Mackenzie speaking). First off, I would like to give all our viewers a little bit about where I am at this very moment. I am sitting at the Butzer-Pelster's dining room table in Portland, Oregon.
On Monday, we take off at 7:30 for Hawaii! Aloha! But you already know all about that! After Hawaii, we are heading towards Southeast Asia (more specifically, Thailand). Our family will be meeting up with the Butzer-Pelster's (again! :D) and going to an island called Koh Tao and spending like 9 days there.
When we part with Uncle Tim, Aunt Martha, Sally, and Mary, we will continuing through Southeast Asia. After that segment of the trip we will be going down to Africa! Then, we will go to Europe, then to South America!
When we finally get home, I will be sooooooo happy! However, my father just pointed out that the previous statement makes it sound like I do not want to go. I do!
Anyways, I am really excited for this trip and hope that I don't get stolen from, because that would not be very good. Thanks for listening! See you in 9 months.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Rigging for Rescue
I must give a ‘shout out’ to the entire staff of Rigging for
Rescue who will be pulling the plow in our absence this next year:
Chris, our office manager, will be working his magic on the
admin side of the business. He will be supported by our exceptionally capable
cadre of instructors -Mark, Kevin, Leo, Brandon, Craig, and Dave.
Everyone on the staff has been really supportive of our
endeavor and willing to put in the extra work that our absence will inevitably
create. We sincerely appreciate their
collective efforts.
We have been very fortunate to have the opportunity to own
and operate Rigging for Rescue for going on 11 years now. We have an amazing clientele base that are as
passionate about technical rope rescue as we are. Thank you for your continued patronage.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Portland update from Audrey
It is getting very close to leaving rainy Portland, Oregon, and entering our tropical visits! I personally am extremely psyched to visit Hawaii! We recently held an elk party with our cousins living in Portland. The elk was delicious! It was pleasant to be around our cousins after about three and a half months since our last visit. Grandma Butzer made delectable German chocolate cake AND grasshopper pie, which is my brother Rock's favorite!
I cannot wait until we get to go to Hawaii! I love snorkeling with my Nana and Grandpa. We will be staying in a condo that is walking distance from the beach. Hawaii's beaches are much warmer than Oregon's cold waters.
Sally and Mary, our cousins, have school so we have some time to get our packs ready. Today Rock, me, my mom and my dad went to the Overlook Park to get some exercise. Mackenzie went to Cathedral School for lunch. On Saturday, the Gibbs family, the Butzer-Pelster family, and the Butzer family are going to a Chinese restaurant. It is going to be good. Monday December 3rd, we leave to the Portland airport at 6:00 am because our plane leaves at 7:30 am! I am enjoying this trip so far and I am sure to post more writings on the blog to keep you updated on our trip!
Passports
Our passports arrived on the front porch at our house in Ouray on Monday (4 days after we left town). Lori scooped them up and Chris got them heading our way to an address in Portland, OR. FedEx delivered yesterday.
The Burma visas were approved and we now have our travel documents in order. A big relief.
The Burma visas were approved and we now have our travel documents in order. A big relief.
Monday, November 26, 2012
On the Road
We left Ouray at 0630 on Friday, November 23. Day one was a big day of driving. We made Jeff and Maria's place in Butte, MT in just under 14 hours. 825 miles.
It felt like a monumental achievement just to transition our collective world into a vehicle. Getting the house prepped for our departure was a big job. The punch list seemed endless a few weeks ago.
It didn't help that every day this autumn was pretty well just like the day we left - flawless weather! We managed to get in our climbing, elk hunting, trail runs, and bike rides despite being distracted by the huge task at hand.
Below is an image of our home in Ouray as well as the spectacular Amphitheater that forms the backdrop to our east.
It felt like a monumental achievement just to transition our collective world into a vehicle. Getting the house prepped for our departure was a big job. The punch list seemed endless a few weeks ago.
It didn't help that every day this autumn was pretty well just like the day we left - flawless weather! We managed to get in our climbing, elk hunting, trail runs, and bike rides despite being distracted by the huge task at hand.
Below is an image of our home in Ouray as well as the spectacular Amphitheater that forms the backdrop to our east.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Departure Eve
Wow. This is it. Tomorrow AM we depart Ouray for the first leg of our Round the World journey. All international travel of any significance begins in Butte, Montana and we would be loathe to deviate from that time honored tradition.
We have a 14-hour drive to get to my brother Jeff's place in Butte. Jeff and his wife Maria are going to be Nanda's caregivers over the next 9 months. She will be in good hands.
We are likely not the first, but we are the next group of international travelers to begin their journey without passports. Ugh! Our passports are in visa application purgatory at the Burma embassy in Washington DC. The only visa that we had to get in advance and it is not going swimmingly, to say the least. We have the neighborhood watch program alerted to our front door step to watch out for a Fedex parcel in the next few days. Hopefully the passports catch up to us before we leave Portland on Dec 3. Plan B is duplicate passports in Honolulu at the regional office the day prior to our flight to Bangkok.
10+ years in the making and the day has finally arrived. Pretty surreal. Had a great Turkey Day celebration with the Jackson's that included Don and Jan from Avon. A nice send off from Ouray.
We have a 14-hour drive to get to my brother Jeff's place in Butte. Jeff and his wife Maria are going to be Nanda's caregivers over the next 9 months. She will be in good hands.
We are likely not the first, but we are the next group of international travelers to begin their journey without passports. Ugh! Our passports are in visa application purgatory at the Burma embassy in Washington DC. The only visa that we had to get in advance and it is not going swimmingly, to say the least. We have the neighborhood watch program alerted to our front door step to watch out for a Fedex parcel in the next few days. Hopefully the passports catch up to us before we leave Portland on Dec 3. Plan B is duplicate passports in Honolulu at the regional office the day prior to our flight to Bangkok.
10+ years in the making and the day has finally arrived. Pretty surreal. Had a great Turkey Day celebration with the Jackson's that included Don and Jan from Avon. A nice send off from Ouray.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Bon Voyage Party
Our friends Jenny and Lindsay organized a going away Bon Voyage party in our honor. Thank you! We had a great time visiting with our Ouray extended family. We will miss you all and wish you a prosperous and healthy 2013. See you in August!
 |
| Audrey is psyched! |
Friday, November 9, 2012
2 weeks out
Wow. Two weeks to go. Time marches on. After years of planning, discussing, and dreaming of this trip we are truly on the door step.
Yesterday was spent in front of the computer doing prep work for next years tax return. Lots of stuff like that to consider when you are going to be absent for many months. Next week is the kids last week of school.
We met our winter tenants yesterday. They wanted to pay a visit to the house. They will be occupying the house starting December 1. Our property manager arranged the meeting. When I answered the door I found my friend Andres and his girlfriend Annie. What a nice surprise to know that we will have friends occupying our home for the winter.
Ethan finished processing our elk yesterday. It was a wonderful distraction to spend an hour packing it away in the deep freezer. We were down to two pounds of sausage from the 2011 elk and it was great to close the door seeing all of those wonderful white butcher paper packages! Food for when we get home. We may (will?) be broke.
We Fedexed our passports and visa applications to the Myanmar embassy in Washington DC, yesterday. I didn't like saying goodbye to our passports only two weeks out from departure. However, the visa is only valid for 90 days from date of issue so we had to wait until November 7 to ship. It'll work out fine, no doubt. Myanmar is the only country we are visiting that requires a visa in advance. All other visas we can get at the border.
That is a significant benefit to traveling on a USA passport. Many countries are not afforded the same type of reciprocity and accumulating visas is a time consuming ordeal (and expensive!).
Every day we knock out tasks on the punch list. It is fun to watch the list diminish. Not long now.
Mike
Yesterday was spent in front of the computer doing prep work for next years tax return. Lots of stuff like that to consider when you are going to be absent for many months. Next week is the kids last week of school.
We met our winter tenants yesterday. They wanted to pay a visit to the house. They will be occupying the house starting December 1. Our property manager arranged the meeting. When I answered the door I found my friend Andres and his girlfriend Annie. What a nice surprise to know that we will have friends occupying our home for the winter.
Ethan finished processing our elk yesterday. It was a wonderful distraction to spend an hour packing it away in the deep freezer. We were down to two pounds of sausage from the 2011 elk and it was great to close the door seeing all of those wonderful white butcher paper packages! Food for when we get home. We may (will?) be broke.
We Fedexed our passports and visa applications to the Myanmar embassy in Washington DC, yesterday. I didn't like saying goodbye to our passports only two weeks out from departure. However, the visa is only valid for 90 days from date of issue so we had to wait until November 7 to ship. It'll work out fine, no doubt. Myanmar is the only country we are visiting that requires a visa in advance. All other visas we can get at the border.
That is a significant benefit to traveling on a USA passport. Many countries are not afforded the same type of reciprocity and accumulating visas is a time consuming ordeal (and expensive!).
Every day we knock out tasks on the punch list. It is fun to watch the list diminish. Not long now.
Mike
Monday, November 5, 2012
Mackenzie's expectations
Hi! My name is Mackenzie Gibbs. I am thirteen years old. For
those of you who don’t know, my family and I are going on a HUGE world trip. I
am really excited for this trip; however, I am going to miss a lot of things
about Ouray.
First off, I will really miss my friends. Although we will
be able to email and Skype, they will still be thousands of miles away from me.
Second of all, I will miss a life of luxury. When we are travelling, there will
be a lot of situations where we will not be comfortable at all. Some examples
are overnight flights, jet lag, temperature struggles (too hot or cold), and
uncomfortable trains. One of the last major things that I will miss is American
food. I know it sounds stupid but I grew up eating that kind of food. Ya, we
have other types such as Mexican and Chinese, but it was still made in the good
ol’ USA .
When you have to part with that kind of sentimental attachment to something (13
years of sentimental build-up), it can be very sad. I mean, you gotta love
mac-n’-cheese, hamburgers, and potato chips?!?! They are American heritage! So
I conclude that American food is very important to our culture.
Along with the longing for friends, luxury, and American
food, I also have some expectations. One of the main things I expect to happen
on this trip is to meet new people. One can always use more friends, right!?! I
would looove to have a new friend from each country we go to. Would that be
cool or what?!?! By the time I get back, I’ll have so many friends, I won’t
remember my peeps back home. Just Kidding! Anyways. Oh right.
Anyways, another expectation that should happen in order to
make this a fine trip is awesome food (I know, a tiny bit obsessed with it)! I
already love all the different foods we have at home; but it will taste even
better at the place it started from. The final extreme hope for this wonderful
experience is the fun of it. If we spent nine months travelling around the
world and didn’t have any fun, what would be the point!?! If we don’t have a
ton of fun on this trip, I think I’ll live the rest of my life regretting it. I
feel like I should put some sort of conclusion here, but I can’t think of one
so... be sure to follow the Gibbs family:D!
Rock's expectations
The first thing I think of about this trip is that I will miss my friends. And I am hopeful to not die. We saw a movie on Myanmar and a little girl had TB and it scared me. I really don't want that. I would like to see the gold Buddhas in Myanmar. I want to see a car being trampled by elephants............ but NOT ours!!! I want to see rhinos fighting. I am curious if there will be noodles anywhere, because noodles are my favorite food!
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