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Showing posts from July 2, 2023

Summer in Duluth GA

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Angie and I took the sports car to one of the many parks in Gwinnett county to walk. We saw signs for "free food / Comida". Being that I am always up for a snack, I decided to see if I could get some. Sure enough, they are handing out Breakfast and Lunch kits. We got a "lunch" and ate it in the park. I was pleased that there was no political literature in the bag only the normal commercial stuff for the products and the company that assesmbled the kits. It was a weird expereince. I have no idea of who these meals were intended for. I entered the Humvee in the Duluth car show. That was fun. It actually won second place in the "pickup" category. Car shows are like that.. somewhat self-congratulating. We signed up for drone home delivery. Although it is very unlikely we will ever use it. This squirrel was particularly tenacious on the feeder. I am sure the birds saw it as a spectacle. The bobcat came in quite handy this week, both for some str...

The Balkans 2023

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Dowdell's 2023 Balkan trip Wow! What a trip! 10 New Countries (based on what the US state dept considers countries) Romania Bulgaria Moldova Serbia Bosnia and Herzegovina Kosovo North Macedonia Montenegro Albania Greece 3 Different Alphabets (many different languages, sometimes with multiple alphabets) 10 Currencies 14 Taxi or Uber Rides 3 Rental Cars 15 Border Crossings 9 Flight Segments 4 Bus Trips All that in 14 days. I am only now convinced that we could complete a trip with those stats, because it is over. It was a complex trip. We tried to take a version of this trip in 2020 but were thwarted by Covid. This time we pulled it off. The Balkan peninsula countries are fascinating because of the deep history, unique cultures, but also with current events and intercountry relationships. We learned a lot about the region and relationships with other countries. Since it was such a travel intensive trip we l...