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Showing posts from April 1, 2012

100 and Done! (Countries that is...)

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We are back! This last trip brought the total countries visited to 100! It is a crazy milestone. It is difficult, time-consuming and can be (IS) expensive. After I got back from Antarctica in 2007, I started thinking about it. After 2010 I was thinking about it more (as I moved from NY to Georgia) and in 2014 it had become a real goal. Between Angie and I we have been to 109 Countries. We are tied at 100 countries each. We have 9 countries different in our lists. For example, I have been to San Marino. She has not. She has been to Israel. I have not, yet. There has been some fun competition in this area. That's why we had to establish rules. 1.) Must be listed (as a country) with the US State Department 2.) Being in an airport doesn't count. You have to get through immigration somehow and not in a DMZ or a no-mans-land 3.) A passport stamp is not required. I have been to Canada, Paraguay, and Uruguay without getting my passport stamped. There are friendly borders in many places...
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I tried to do a solo cross country today. But, the weather degraded unexpectedly and I ran into a low ceiling. I ended up going into a cloud. That got my attention pretty good. I diverted to a nearby airport, landed, did a bit of a read on the situation, and got my confidence back. I figured I would try it again at a lower altitude. When I was about 20 miles out from my destination the weather at the destination called for "Clear to 1200" (not enough). I decided to do a 180 and go back to LZU. Clouds can be very difficult to see when you are ascending into a haze. The density of the haze is especially difficult to distinguish when you are looking up. I still got some hours and some practical experience in "aeronautical decision making" (ADM) and used some good judgement (GJ) which is the opposite of poor judgement (PJ). I still had time to take the self portrait. It is a special place alone in a plane. I got to try out my new iPad app that has charts with an overlai...
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This has been a long stretch in Duluth GA, 4 weeks, it will be 5 weeks before I leave for South America this weekend. I am looking for houses again/still. It is a bit overwhelming. But, I am closer to zeroing in on exactly what I want and what makes sense. Here are two pics about one of the most talked about characteristics in the Atlanta area, traffic. The new roundabout is really a revolution near downtown Duluth. It is very anti-Atlanta thinking. Roundabouts or what we used to call "traffic circles" years ago are a great way to keep traffic moving. The car in the pic is somewhat typical. You see Georgia plates with a Dorschel dealer sticker from Rochester NY and a SUNY Geneseo, NY license plate frame. NY State isn't bad, really even in the winter (well that is a stretch some days), but bring your own job. Atlanta is nice. There is a lot to do. You can get anything here and you are close to the country if not in it.
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