Returning to Norm?

Just escaped from the trunk of that nice man's car...5 weeks later.
Note to self...if they promise candy, that means kidnapping.

Ok, better not go further with that one or Grandma's going to believe it, call the police, and strain those 9 decade old arterial walls.
Catching up in a nutshell:
Nepal= colorfully pleasant chaos. 7 days galloping around the Annapurna range. My biggest head scratcher--why do they call it "trekking." Every other place I've been its walking, hiking, or just plain stumbling about. But oh no, not in Nepal. In Nepal it’s trekking! It does sound cooler but it feels just like walking to me. I kept asking people if they liked walking or trekking better. The response was always muddled. One kid even threw rocks at me screaming, "trek this!" That’s what I liked about Nepal...their warm hearts (i.e. their bad aim).

Thailand= banana pancake'n, elephant ride'n, lagoon swim'n, and monkee hump'n, and ping pong dodg'n. First night in Bangkok I’m trekking downtown when a man approaches me. Eyes on the sidewalk, he mumbles, "ping pong." I reply, "ping pong! I love ping-pong! Lets go play us some ping pong!" The man looks at me as if I'd just run over his dog. Apparently this ping-pong isn’t as much of a game as it's more entertainment. The man proceeds to explain to me what a ping pong show is. The description, vague as it wasn't, entailed a woman, legs spread, popping ping-pong balls out from her baby makin hole. He then produced a list of various other talents that this skilled performer practiced. To keep this from going pg-13, it entailed razorblades, pens, goldfish, darts, balloons, and 20 meters of streamer.... basically all the necessary items for a 12 year olds birthday party. Yikes.
And that was Thailand...and no I never got to play ping-pong.

And now I’m back stateside. Changes I've noticed since being gone?
- a gallon of gas is approaching the rate of minimum wage
- Fashion: sunglasses have become as big as car windshields
- Bush's ears have grown while his public support shrinks (finally!)
- when I left everyone loved Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson...now only their mothers.

So now in 5 days be and my brotha from another motha will begin our 6-week trip down the west coast on bicycles. Canada to Mexico. Canuck to Cuervo. Molson to Margaritas. Crackers to, ummmm...wheat crackers? I'm an idiot. If you'd like to join us for any section, drop us a line. We'd love the company.
Until next time...happy trekking.

-Chubby Thumbs (i.e. DT willy).