GOING HOME!!!

Hello Blogettes! It has been awhile. Actually it has been nearly 9 months since I updated the blog. (It even took me a while to remember my sign on password). A lot has happened over the last 9 months. We took a trip to Capetown, South Africa and it was fantastic. Capetown is unbelievably beautiful with its shoreline mountains and pristine beaches. The water was a little cold but it didn't stop me or Trevor from catching a few waves. Beth will attest that the shopping was comparative to anything available in the US and the people were friendly. We did not run into any trouble although I understand that street crime is pretty high. We also ventured out to wine country (Stellenbach, SA). South Africa produces some excellent wines and after three tours, beth had to take over the driving. Thereafter we drove down the coast to do some whale and great white shark watching.
After our Capetown trip we stayed close to home for the Christmas holidays enjoying the weather and utilizing our swimming pool and sauna. The beginning of the year brought a lot of work as I organized several training programs and was fortunate enough to bring a couple of my cohorts from the USA's office in Denver out to put on some training. It was good to see them and I think they had a blast going on safari and boating down the mighty Zambezi.
My last month here I actually spent most of it in the US trucking around a delegation of high level Zambians to visit our criminal justice system. We visited our national training center in South Carolina and the US Supreme Court in Washington DC.
Finally, we just watched the packers pulling out of our driveway with all our possessions heading out for the long journey back home. We are looking forward to returning back to our home in Durango and seeing our old friends and acquaintances.
As I look back, I realize that we have had the experience of a lifetime and seen and done things that I could not have imagined. I have met so many good people and further enhanced my appreciation for how incredibly lucky we are to be Americans. I don't care what anybody says, America has its problems but it is 100 times better than the alternatives. And anyone who doesn't believe that is either not American, has never lived in America, or has never lived anywhere other than America and incredibly and ignorantly thinks they have it bad.