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DESCRIPTION OF PREVIOUS WEEK:
Alice: Whew! Meeting with inspiring overland travelers, visiting magical sites, teaching the kids about geology, the truck coming together, great food, my birthday in style – what more can I ask!?!?

Jay: I'm really thankful that the family is happy with all the activities, it's been a bit of a slow start but feels like we're really hitting our groove now. Arizona and New Mexico are definitely states we'll come back to.

DESCRIPTION OF PREVIOUS WEEK:
Alice:a people oriented week, driving up to Prescott visiting with folks we met at last year's Overland Expo, rock climbing with the kids, some great breakfasts & a jazz evening out.
Jay: Cough, cough, cough. Ahhh – Finally those antibiotics are kicking in. Had a great time meeting people and sharing travel and “doing good as you go” ideas.
Kurt: Everyone we visit with has such cool cars and trucks; wow, what nice views and sunsets up in Prescott.

Greetings from sunny Arizona! Apparently there is a bubble over the general Phoenix area of Arizona that always keeps the area warm and blue-skyed no matter what is happening in the rest of the country. I have heard from many of you about how cold it is everywhere, including California, Florida, Texas and of course NYC, New Jersey and Connecticut. My brother had to leave us yesterday and return to the cold, harsh Northeast. Now onto a review of our activities in the past week...

I'm happy to report that the truck is up and running, we're sleeping in it now in Big Sur almost on top of the river at Riverside Campgrounds. It's a nice spot in the redwoods with a little walkway bedecked with lights crossing over the river, no trouble to get our rig into camping spot #2.
Planning on going for a hike in the morning with the kids in the backpacks.

We've had an exciting last few days, in summary:

Well, it is finally official. Today, we start our multi-year global expedition, Jay and I exploring the globe one dirt road at a time. Fulfilling our lifelong dream of traveling the world in our custom designed and built EcoRoamer, meeting people, seeing our amazing planet and hopefully doing some good along the way with our foundation (www.themuskokafoundation.org).

Well, I was supposed to be posting this entry from San Francisco. I was supposed to be warm. I was supposed to catch Delta Airlines flight 721 from JFK today. But alas, we got a light sprinkling of snow (ok, 9 inches actually) and they shut the bloody airports down.

Now, I am still in New Jersey. I am still cold. And I am no closer to getting in the EcoRoamer and enjoying the holidays. In fact quite the opposite. Instead of flying out today (Dec 20) they're now saying the earliest they can get us on a plane is Dec 24th. That's some delay!

We're on our way! ...again

After leaving the truck for 3 months in San Francisco after BurningMan, we are on our way this weekend to go pick it up and start heading east!

Here is the planned route:

Below are some of my favorite, old blog postings from my trips in Indonesia and Nepal. They're ancient, but still fun to read. Enjoy! -Jay.

Well, this time yesterday I didn't think I would be sitting here having a cup ofTeh-Oh (clear tea) on Batam island in Indonesia. Yet another last minute 'impulse-adventure'. Faced with a week off, and the looming probability that I will be leaving Asia in 8 weeks, I decided that I couldn't go home a second time never having been to Singapore's direct neighbor Indonesia. For that matter so long as I was going to go, might as well go all the way and cross into the southern hemisphere which at the ancient age of26 I've never been to! (I think this is the late 20thcentury

Island number two on the journey: Bintan. The boat ride ITomSekupang was gorgeous. It
would up leaving late (even by Indonesian standards) so we went during the sunset. The light was incredible, I think I'm falling in love with the Contax camera that Johann loaned me.

Of course leaving late, means arriving late. The ticket office for my boat to Singkep was closed, so I have to spend the night. I decided that ''Pinang'' looked a little rough to camp anywhere within 200kilometers of, so I came here to ''Bong's Homestay"-Lonely Planet p254.