Personal Stuff

Russia - 1999

In October of 1999 I was asked by UNI's Office of International Programs and ITS to travel to Russia as part of an on-going exchange program involving ITS and two Russian universities. Thanks to ITS and International Studies for this fantastic opportunity!

Redeemer Lutheran Church

I am the webmaster for my church, another "continually changing" site!

Photo Album (scroll down)

This is from a trip to Glacier National Park in 1996. You can see that this photo album has been building slowly for a long time.

In 1998 we had two weddings. No trips that summer!

Summer 1999 Marge & I spent a short time with friends at their cabin near Ely, MN. What a neat place! Thanks, Mike and Ann!!

 I met Anna in 1999; she was our guide in Moscow then and again in 2001. We became "pen pals" and good friends. She graduated from Moscow State Linguistics University in 2001. Her English, of course,  is excellent and she also speaks German. Anna's married now, to Maxim, and has a daughter, Alla.

When he's not working, Vitaliy sings and plays the guitar. Marina teaches English at a university. They have a lovely home and were so hospitable to us. What a neat family!

In 2002 Marge and I visited England, Wales, and Amsterdam. We picked up a car at Gatwick, semi-circled the airport several times trying to figure out where we were and how to get somewhere else, then headed southwest. Most nights we stayed in B & Bs after wandering the countryside and stopping when we felt like it. We spent a few days on a narrow boat, cruising the canals around Northhampton. This link will take you to YouTube for a Rick Steves video describing Bath and narrowboating--both of which we enjoyed. Don't forget to come back!

We met some really great people everywhere we went! Two B&Bs-- the Lawns Farm in Grosmont, Wales, and  Brownsover Hall in Rugby, England, and two pubs, the Angel in Grosmont and the Nags Head near Milton Keynes, England (we found it while on the narrow boat)-- really stand out. Then a train from Northhampton to Dover (don't stay in the hotel right by the train station!), the ferry to Ostende, Belgium, another train to Amsterdam and three days there. Then back to England and three days in London. What a time we had! 

More pictures to come?

We had such a good time in GB in 2002 that we went back in 2003! This time we started from Heathrow, and drove and drove and drove north, heading for Scotland. We spent a couple of days in the Lake District, and found out why it is such a popular vacation area.

Scotland was fantastic! We spent about a week there, staying in really neat B & Bs all the way. We skirted Glasgow, drove up the west side past Loch Lomond to Fort William, up along Loch Ness to Inverness, to Nairn and across the Northern area, then down the east side through Edinburgh and back to London for a few days.

On the left is a private castle we happened on to--still lived in!

On the right is a sign describing Hadrian's Wall. I know you can't read the sign, but if you do a Google search for Hadrian's Wall you'll find a lot of information about this amazing construction feat!

This is the harbor at Johnshaven.

I'll try to get a description of the rest of these up soon!

We stayed at a couple of different hotels and B & Bs. The Hotel Realis Certosa was the neatest!

On the left is the monastary outside Florence where we attended Palm Sunday services.

On the right is a distant view of our hotel from the monastary.

Marge had been to Florence a few years earlier, so she was anxious to show me her favorite sights!

On the left is the Ponte Vechio bridge as seen from the Uffisi Gallery in Florence.

On the right is the church in Milan where DaVinci's "Last Supper" is displayed.

On the left is the cathedral in Milan where we experienced Maundy Thursday services.

The Alps and clouds from our window coming home.

Here are the kids. Good lookin' bunch, huh!?!?

This is Baillie--about 6 weeks old here. Black dogs are really hard to photograph!
She's a Westie/Cairn cross. She is really a sweetie!