Road Trip!

So, we're back from our very long, but beautiful trip across the country. We flew to West Virginia and met up with Reed's parents and nieces there. We stayed with a very nice couple (my mother-in-law's cousins) for several days. They had such a nice home and lived in a fabulous neighborhood. I was starting to look at real-estate ads. WV is so green and lush. I loved it! After our stay, we began our voyage across the US. We drove through 13 states and eventually ended up in California. We were supposed to end in Utah for the Seamons family reunion, but this ended up being cancelled due to a family member passing away. The family packed up and headed over to California for the funeral. The funeral was very nice and this woman was loved by all. I wish I could have met her. It gives the phrase "never too late" a completely different meaning. This trip allowed me and Reed to meet family we had never seen before, and we are glad to know them. Below are some of our pictures from the excursion. The rest can be found here.

An awesome waterfall just hangin' out by the side of the road. Much more tolerable than stupid, ugly cacti!

WV countryside.

Some of the family...Reed's mom's side.

The state capitol.

Here are some pictures for my mom's viewing pleasure...

Maybe it's a good thing I was born without a butt. These are of my pregnant glory at 5 1/2 months.

Oh, What a Wonderful World

Well...we're back! We had such a great time. The West Indies are beautiful and the culture is welcoming and friendly especially when your husband thinks he's a West Indian...they seemed to like that. I was telling my cousin how important/humbling an experience this was for me. Guyana (located on the north coast of South America) is one of the poorest countries in the world. They don't have much, but they will give to others-no questions asked. I find most countries I've been to are the same way. America needs to follow suit a bit more.

Okay, we visited 2 countries (Trinidad and Guyana) in one week and I still managed to take over 200 pictures. We are so tired, but glad to have such an unforgettable experience under our belts. My eyes have seen some amazing things that I will brag about forever...until our next unforgettable trip. We hope to make this a yearly tradition while we have the time and money.

Here are some interesting facts I came up with about the W.E.:

1. Everything looks, feels and operates like Europe-probably because it was once run by the British for many years (at least Trinidad was).
2. Vendors/vagrants walk the middle of the highway selling their goods.
3. Although they speak English, it sounds like a foreign language to me-a cross between a Jamaican and East Indian accent.
4. People leave their trash bags full of trash on the streets (no trash bins I guess) for the city to pick up.
5. The government subsidizes travel, and food happens to be really inexpensive (not at the grocery store-a box of Cheerios was $7 U.S.)...yay for us!
6. Security guards patrol the grocery store aisles...should we have been concerned?
7. The people either look straight from Africa or India, or are a nice mix between the 2.
8. Stray dogs are like the pigeons in New York. What is that about?
9. Exchange rates: $6 Trinidad/Tabago to $1 American. $206 Guyana to $1 American.

Here are a few of my pictures. The rest can be found in this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/jseamons81/WestIndies2008.

Trinidad's Savannah. It was cloudy a lot, but isn't it beautiful?

Some kiddos at the zoo in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
On the way through the jungle to Maracas Bay, Trinidad.
Maracas Bay: this was a shocking realization for Reed that he needs a more thorough tan.
Beauty all around...loved the fogginess.

What a wonderful world we live in.

"The Bird Dance" by the ex-Queen of an Amerindian tribe called the Arawak's. We took a boat ride through the Kamuni creek off the Demarara river in Guyana to visit their village. Sorry for the obnoxious weed-eater noise in the background, but if you succeed in blocking that out you can hear her explain what she is doing and catch her cool accent.