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Current to August 28, 2008 .
FIRE: One forest Don grew up in Cody, in NW Wyoming, and during our travels, we spent one summer at Wapiti, just south of the east end of this fire. The east-west distance of this map is 28 miles. BURMA: We continue to receive horrifying news of brutality in Burma. The Free Burma Rangers, an international group of volunteers reports that the Army is using relief supplies from the recent cyclone to fortify their efforts against rural vi “The Army beat me continuously. They told me ‘we cannot stop beating you because you are a stubborn man’, then they beat me again. “They accused me of supporting the armed group who attacked their outpost. I told them I do not support any armed group and they told me that Karen people tell too many lies, and then they beat me again. I asked them to kill me but they did not kill me. They covered my head with a plastic bag and beat me continuously. They beat me till my back was broken and my chest was pain. They sent me to militia's quarter guard and detain me 3 days. There were five rods with which the Burmese Army beat me. They covered my head with a plastic bag eight times, one hour each time till I couldn't breathe; when I tried to breathe they would take off the plastic bag and then cover me again.” They covered my eyes, poured water on me and covered my head with plastic so I was unconscious one time. Five soldiers rotated to beat me and the commander interrogated me. They sliced my back then they pour with salty water, it's very hot, but I cannot do anything only suffer with it." Map: Burma. Red dots are Army posts. For more information, see www.freeburmarangers.org. We are actively planning our next This map of northern Laos is not clear, but demonstrates Laos’ relationship with its neighbors. (Myanmar=Burma) We will enter from Thailand, travel north and exit into China. To return to Thailand, we’ll hop a shallow-draft freighter on the Mekong River. More details coming. The afternoon of July 20, Becky got out of the Headquarters’ hot tub and saw a bear, ten feet away. Before he crossed a creek and r Summer at Expedition Headquarters in Red Lodge, Montana means it’s rodeo time. See picture below. Don continues to recover from his third major spinal operation in three years, an Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion. He’s s For those asking about “The Book,” Don (with Becky’s research and proofing assistance) has completed a clean 698 page draft of the life story of U.S. Senator Al Simpson. He has been working on this project nearly three years. Late this year, we will commence a new expedition in Asia. Our temporary headquarters will be in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Meanwhile, things are never dull here at Expedition headquarters! See a new video of our friend Ken Boggio playing his trumpet nine notes a sec This spring, we returned from a month in amazing PERU, in South America. NEW: Peru Photo Gallery Also, see new photos in Favorite Phones 8. This photo: the world’s largest flying bird (11-foot wingspan) the Andean Condor, flying in Colca, the world’s deepest canyon. See video of Condors in flight on our videos page. Our friends at the Free Burma Rangers are continuing to help innocent villagers being attacked by their own Army in Burma. Please check out their incredible website: www.freeburmarangers.org. The actions of the Burmese Army thugs are even more apparent in the wake of the cyclone disaster. In our Mind and Heart section, we posted photos of Don’s emotional visit to an Indonesian refugee camp many years ago. Read the story here. A while back, the Billings Gazette in Montana ran a nice piece on us in their Sunday magazine. Here is a link: http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/05/20/features/magazine/10-ethiopia_g.txt Or, read the text in our Essays section. Earlier, in Kathmandu, Nepal, we were interviewed by the editor of a monthly English language magazine, Alfresco. Editor Shyam Krishna Shrestha asked about our peripatetic lifestyle and the blind students whose education and housing we support there. It was an interesting exchange, coming as it did in a country that continues to face significant challenges in daily life. The text encourages people to seek their dreams, no matter the obstacles. We have come to know many Nepalis and continue to marvel at their optimism and spirit. On March 8, 2007 we concluded our last major expedition to Asia, a 47-day, 26,471 mile exploration of four nations. We returned with 1,600 high resolution photos and took this one of the highest point in the world, 29,035 foot Mount Everest, from the window of an airplane flying at 25,000 feet (below). After our last Asia adventure, we created four new logs, and four new photo galleries. The galleries contain higher resolution photos than we have posted previously. Links to the corresponding logs: Links to our the new photo galleries: Thailand 2007 No sooner had we returned than we packed up and drove to California, where Becky’s parents were gathering their family to help them celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. It seems that everywhere we go, things just happen. This time we ran into a U.S. Navy Commander at a social event. As he is in charge of the fleet of nuclear submarines in San Diego, it wasn’t long before he was showing us around the the USS Jefferson City. It has fuel for 33 years without refueling and carries 24 torpedoes and 12 Tomahawk missiles -- the latter of which can be fired while submerged (where the sub can remain for Together, we have been in more than seventy countries and U.S. protectorates, and of our many highlights was a brief appearance on THE TONIGHT SHOW. Becky spoke on the air with Jay Leno about our visit to descendants of Borneo's infamous Headhunters (she dropped the Chief’s favorite head, breaking off its jaw). See it for yourself on our videos page. Leno asked, “Headhunters in Summary of our travels since our Expedition began in December, 1999: Washington, DC; Rocky Mountains; SW USA; western Mexico; western USA; Canada to Arctic Circle; Alaska; western USA; Portugal; USA; Thailand; USA; Thailand; USA; Thailand; around America; Indonesia; Thailand, USA; California to Florida to buy sailboat; around America; sailing eastern USA and Bahamas; across America; Thailand; Nepal, Thailand, Laos, Thailand, Cam Here is a list of the countries, principalities, commonwealths, territories and protectorates we have visited. Thanks for following along. |
fire in the region of Expedition Headquarters has grown to nearly 60,000 acres. (Map courtesy Weather Underground),
llagers. The Rangers sent the following statement from one villager.
expedition to SE Asia and will receive updates from the Free Burma Rangers before traveling throughout the region.
an into thick woods, we got this picture.
till wearing a brace, but will recover fully.
ond. It’s on our 
months). Here, Becky checks out a torpedo tube. We drove 1,325 miles nonstop to get back to headquarters before a major storm hit.
vited you to dinner -- and you WENT?”
bodia; Thailand, USA; then via sailboat to the Caribbean and back to the eastern USA, then the Mountain West, the southwestern U.S. desert and the Rocky Mountain West. We returned to our favorite haunts in Asia, and are now heading for Peru, in South America.