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Hang’n out in the Midwest

July 22, 2010 Category: Albino Bowler No Comments »

Over the 4^th of July weekend my husband Terry and three children, Max, Emmy and Maggie made the drive to my hometown of Columbia, Missouri for a surprise visit to my mother. I have 4 sisters, and they all made the trip as well, making it the first time we’ve all been at home together in a couple of years. Of course, when Dan mentioned that the Albino Bowler had yet to visit the Midwest, I thought this would be the perfect introduction to people with fine values, unmatched hospitality, and unblemished spoken English.

As we were driving from St. Louis to Columbia, I was trying desperately to think of somewhere that the Albino Bowler could be photographed to represent Missouri. All I could see for miles was corn and soybean fields, as one of Missouri’s main industries is agriculture. So we stopped to snap a shot of Emmy with the Albino Bowler and soy crops as far as the eye can see. Then something occurred to me as I was snapping a photo of vegetation–this could be a really boring trip for the AB. The destination was not an exciting place, at least not on the level of China or Greece or Nicaragua, so we were going to have to improvise with activities and people.

The first activity was horseback riding. While the Clydesdales in St. Louis were off filming a beer commercial, My Little Pony was a cheerful alternative. The AB was secure in his masculinity riding his pink mare with yellow hair and big, pretty eyes. I even overheard him exclaim “I’m on a horse” once or twice while trying to remove his green bowling jersey.

Needing a little more action, the Albino Bowler dialed the X-factor up a notch when he discovered Max’s sweet Kawasaki Ninja ride. After ripping around the soy fields and then through the streets of Columbia, nearly missing a brush with the law, his ride was cut short. The Bowler was using the only toy Max brought with him on the journey from Tennessee. Max doesn’t like to share.

I mentioned earlier that the purpose of the trip was to spend time with family, namely my sisters. The Albino Bowler had the opportunity to meet my four younger sisters, their children, my aunts, uncles, cousins, mother, grandfather and Grannie Lavonne, who all converged on my mother’s home for an impromptu family reunion. He really enjoyed how close we all are, though he was glad that all of the kids riding in his car back to Tennessee are above the age of 3.

The 4^th of July wouldn’t be complete without fireworks. We went to the Mizzou football stadium, home of the Tigers, to watch a great display. We thought the Bowler was with us and that we could get a fantastic photograph, but being the cool guy that he is, the Albino Bowler was back at home making his own fireworks. He used his social media networking skills to meet up with other plastics in town, namely Barbie and her friends.

Since this was a family trip, we will end the story there. While the location may not have been a travel hot-spot, it was great quality time with the Barnett (maiden name) family in Missouri. Happy Travels!

– Becky Finnegan

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Tags: Albino Bowler, Columbia, Missouri, Soybean Fields

Kathmandu and beyond: Bob Seger was crazy!

July 1, 2010 Category: Albino Bowler No Comments »

After leaving China (click here), Holly, the Albino Bowler, and I headed over the Himalayan mountains to the Kathmandu valley in Nepal. It is fairly safe to say that I’ve been to and stayed in some pretty dirty places… but I’m pretty sure that Kathmandu takes the cake. Bob Seger was apparently crazy… Kathmandu, while it sounds neat, is not really a place you want to go. I am glad I can say that I’ve been there, but I don’t know that it is real high on my list of places to go back to! We did make the most of our time there however. We stopped by two durbar squares as well as several temples and monasteries, including the Swayamhunath temple complex… yeah… good luck pronouncing that one right. The tourists have nicknamed it the “monkey temple” because it is easier to pronounce and because there are monkeys running around everywhere. This particular place was the most interesting to me because it was set up on top of a mountain overlooking the Kathmandu valley, and it had a giant stuppa with the ‘all seeing eyes’ of Buddha on it (don’t ask… I just thought it looked neat).

Lucky for us, Kathmandu was not the reason we wanted to go to Nepal. We actually came to Nepal to go on a safari and I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Mount Everest; both of which we were able to accomplish. Safaris in Nepal, specifically in the Royal Chitwan National Park, are a bit unique from your typical safari… if there is such a thing. Safaris are done here, not in a jeep (although you can do that if you want), but on the ultimate offroad vehicle… an elephant. Yes… we rode on the back of an elephant through the jungles of Nepal. I still laugh every time I say that because it seems so preposterous.

Chitwan National Park is known for its diverse wildlife; including several types of deer, monkeys, crocodiles, elephants, one horned black rhinos, and the ever elusive Bengal tiger. The two national parks in Nepal are actually supposed to be your best chance at seeing a Bengal tiger in the wild, however according to our guide, they have become very scarce in the past couple of years in Chitwan… we didn’t see any. We did however get to see all the other animals I mentioned with the exception of the wild elephants, and from what the guides were saying, a wild elephant is not something you really want to run into while you’re riding another elephant. I’m kind of glad we didn’t see one. The rhinos on the other hand, were quite the spectacle; and one of the nice things about being on the back of an elephant when you encounter one, is that they’re not scare of you. We literally rode right up to them! THAT was an amazing experience. Also while in the park, we had the opportunity to ride in a handmade canoe down a river as well as a few walks through the jungle looking for wildlife… one such outing had us within 50 yards of a rhino. While I was in a tree snapping pictures of the rhino, a mongoose unknowingly walked right up to Holly and our guide Brahma! Once it realized what it had done it quickly changed course, but it was a neat thing to see.

While not out on safari, Holly and I had the opportunity to do a couple of really neat things. In the mid morning to early afternoon hours, it is extremely hot and muggy there. By this time, all the wildlife has found a nice cool place to hide, which makes viewing them very difficult. Since there isn’t anything else to do, the owners of the elephants take them to the river to splash around… and yes, you can go join them. This is something else that makes me laugh when I tell people; you can go swimming with the elephants. Definitely the experience of a life time. The handlers will bring the elephants over to a mud bank so you can climb up… bareback.. onto the elephant. They then walk the elephant down to the river and let them splash themselves off, while you’re on their backs… so of course you get drenched. They also will lay over sideways into the river, tossing you in, unless of course you’re fast enough to move around on him… I of course was not. I could go on for hours, this was absolutely amazing.

We also stopped by the elephant breeding center; this is where it all starts for the working animals. The elephants are bread here and trained here. It was quite the entertaining thing to watch the baby elephants play around, they are quite mischievous! One actually smacked Holly with its trunk! I guess he wanted some more grass from us. Funny stuff (well, funny because it didn’t hurt).

Till next time, happy travels!

– Dan Thompson