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...

Around Town Gwinnett County, Georgia

We decided not to travel over the labor day weekend this year, not even to NY and the farm and even when I had two holiday days available from work. The thinking was that I have lots of stuff to do around here. It seems the more work you do to a house the more work is required. I suppose it makes sense. When you take care of the major stuff the remaining items will then become major items, needing attention.

I was originally planning on repairing the deck labor day weekend. When I bought the house 12 years ago I figure it needed to be replaced. I have fixed it a number of times, but I think now it appears I need to replace it or at least most of it. The structure and footings are not appropriate and joists have been doubled and tripled up. So much for just replacing a few more deck boards. Of course, since I am in this deep now I will be adding an outdoor kitchen with an outdoor sink. Oh well.

Fellow Aeroventures Club member Daryl Hudec won the Grand Champion Kitbuilt at EAA Oshkosh this year (Aug 2023). He gave a presentation to our local EAA chapter. In the past with our conversations he described that he had commonly built items on the plane two or three times to get it right. It really is a masterpiece. F1 Rocket

John and I did some saw-milling. These artisan cherry logs really have some nice heartwood.

I am working on a book regarding international travel. I feel like I am making decent progress, but I have to be on guard to not fall into complacency and not finish it.

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