my first geocaching experience

When I was in the Dominican Republic, Breck introduced me to the world of geocaching. I kind of had some curiosity towards the hobby but never pursued it. I was able to toggle around with a gps unit by Garmin and get a feel for what I was looking for. When I got home I found a local cache and was excited to see what was within the mysterious case. At the time I didn't have anything to add into the case so I just logged in my time into the book and placed the box back into the nook where it was before. Since then I have been using google maps to coordinate the locations of cache's in my area. This is just like a treasure hunt and it also involves the outdoors which will get me off my computer during those warm summer evenings. I know I am thinking ahead...winter will surely be here for several months before the snow melts away where I will be able to see the covered cache's.
The photo was taken on 11/18/07 - cache name was "Feeling Moody" in Maine.
Please share our stories with me about your lucky finds with geocaching.

Missions Trip - part 2

I think my stomach is not back to normal yet...I have my days where I avoid eating and cramping. I don't think I am toxic, I think it was all the cheese in my food. I now have collected from others over 700 Dominican Republic photos. I am organizing them before we have a luncheon on Sunday and have a get together. I look back at the photos and laugh at a few that had a hidden "Dora the Explorer" doll. I thought it would be funny to have a "wheres waldo" theme to a few pictures. Leah had 500 of her own photos that she had taken throughout the week. I am now going to pick up where i had left off last week.

Day#3 - Wednesday was a slower day. We finished the cement demolition and flattened out the play area and prepared for the cement pour for the end of the week. Billy had a few girls interested in him. Later that afternoon the girls had taken Billy up to a classroom and questioned him on his dating status. I went up and watched these girls go nuts over Billy, they decided to sing and dance for him. It was the highlight of my trip...I laughed for a solid hour. What a stress release. Later that night after dinner we hung out and did devotions and we all noticed that the 19 year old neighbor was jealous over the attention the othe girls made of Billy. From that point on Marcelis was hanging around the rest of the week, she was at work, at home and at meal times. She is a really great girl (and speaks great english). We had company over for dinner.

Day#4 - Thursday was a little frustrating. We are in "wait mode" for most of the morning. I felt guilty just sitting and waiting for greater than 10 minutes at a time. The morning was a wash. After lunch we ended up taking an afternoon trip into the city and going the the tourist trap "Mercado", I made a few purchases such as cigars, machete, stuffed spider in a display case. Just a few things for the kiddies. I also was able to have flowers delivered as a suprise for my wife. Breck H. intoduced me to geocaching. He brought his gps handheld with him and described the fun and adventure involved in this large hobby. I am now hooked (that is for a future post).

Day#5 - Busy, Busy, Busy - the cement truck arrived mid morning and we poured the cement in several batches. This took up most of the morning and went straight through lunch and into the evening (7pm). We are all tired and ready for some hearty food.

Day#6 - Our fun day! This is the day we travel the resort oriented areas for some fun in the sun. We traveled to Juan Dolio and went to Barcelo Capella and enjoyed a huge buffett of Italian, American and island foods. Along with the food as all the drinks you could consume. Since it is very hot and the sun is brutal to the skin, I had a few drinks and avoided getting sick from the sun and alcohol. Later we went across the city and went to Burger King...this place are hopping, really! There was a party going on with clowns, music on loud speakers and they also serve beer. We all grabbed a bite and headed over to watch some Caribbean League Baseball, we watched the Licey Tigers take on ??? , I forgot the other team. We ended up getting home and then it was bedtime.

Day#7 - we all went to church and said our goodbyes, exchanged hugs and tears. And then it was off to the airport for our trek home. We ended up getting into Portland at 10:30pm and eventually home at midnight.

I need to learn spanish - this is my 5th year and still my spanish is limited.

What a week....part1

Woke up at 2:30 am after having 3 hours of sleep. I was packed and ready to start my journey towards the Dominican Republic. Several of us boarded the bus and headed to the Portland Airport. We went on Delta 207 flight to JFK in NYC. We had no delays or issues while getting through customs. We (Grant, Jim, Reggie, Leah, Jeff, Billy, Breck and myself) located Pastor Jose Lopez and loaded up the luggage and got on the bus and headed to the Barrio of Hainamosa. We all unloaded our stuff and set up our beds and changed into some cooler clothes since it was 90 degrees or close to it. We met Clive who was from Ontario, Canada, who was there before us and was helping deliver stuff to the flooded areas. Sunday we all went to church and hugged and greeted all the kids and adults who we see each year. Later that afternoon we all went to visit the Columbus Monument in Santo Domingo. I was there 5 years prior and this time I was able to walk around and take photos. I was able to take the photo which is posted - A dark storm was coming in and clouds black with heavy rain. All of a sudden a beam of sunlight bursts through the sky...all of us in total awe. Later, we headed over the La Sirena to pick up some last minute items (shaving cream, bathing suit, water).

Work Day 1 - beautiful weather...cooler than previous years, more clouds in the sky which held off the heat. We all grabbed several shovels, pickaxe's and wheel barrels to start moving the main level of the playground. Our main objective was to level off and flatten the playground. The main problem was that there was several inches of cement already there to remove. This hard and heavy task lasted for a few days and we all rotated through different jobs in order avoid using the same muscles. What a work out!

Work Day 2 - What a strange day. I noticed while working that several 9th grade girls looking and staring at Billy who is 16 years old. I eventually made my way over to the girls and told them Billy was single, which started a near riot. Later, a teacher approached me and wanted to know if I was available....I told her I was happily married and have 2 kids. She didn't seem to care, I made sure I limited my affection towards her for the rest of the week in order to prevent any hard feelings. Billy on the other hand was swarmed by a large group of girls for the rest of the week. Billy is shy and didn't know how to deal with language barrier and all the attention. It was so funny and innocent at the same time.

I will add more to this soon. More funny stuff to add!

HOLA....Im back

I have just returned back from my missions trip to the Dominican Republic and now it is time to rest and get back to work.

I am almost on my way!

I am just hours away from starting my adventure. My wife is hosting a book club dinner, so that means I have to get lost for several hours this evening. I am almost 100% packed up and ready to go. There are a few minor items that I plan to bring for the kids in the Dominican Republic that I cannot wait to give out. I support a girl in the Dominican and pay for her schooling. I found a few neat items that I think will be fun to give her. I found a Winn-Dixie book in Spanish that might be a good read for her. My wife and I have been so busy this week and it seems that we have had no time to relax and make of each other before I actually leave....I guess that builds up for some fun time when I return home a week later. I will need heavy prayer during this week and focus on getting home without any illnesses that you can get in the D.R. without knowing your infected. This week should be a busy week with several projects to do, we have things such as improving the playground and fixing up the classrooms with air conditioning and maybe some fresh paint. We also are going to re-connect the plumbing and make to toilets have running water for the first time. I am packing light and making sure to have many changes of under clothes and socks. I will update this blog again once I have return and have some new photos to show in flickr.