January

We spend January in Washington DC getting more and more sure that we want to settle here permanently. We spend time with new friends and old and re-establish contact with Gerry's two cousins and one or two relatives of the younger generation. Oh, yes, and we buy a car.

February

We should be en route to Florida by now but problems in registering our new car keep us in the DC area another month so we enjoy another northeastern snowstorm, visit more museums, attend more Capitol Hill briefings and political discussion groups while waiting for the wheels of bureaucracy to turn. Would you believe a U.S. passport will not get you a driver's licence in the State of Virginia?

March

We finally make it out of Washington, head north for a last minute hello to friends in New York and New Jersey and then head south hoping for some warmer weather. We visit Revolutionary War and Civil War battlefields. Get to know Richmond, the capital of the State of Virginia. And once again make a visit to our friends the Eddy's in South Carolina. It's a bit damp, but we have left the frost and snows of the north behind. And it's on to Georgia and finally Florida for some reunions with the Rosenzweigs and members of the Kazer family, relatives on Gerry's mother's side.

After two weeks in Sunny Florida, we work our way around the gulf coast, visiting the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee. Then it's on to Biloxi, Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama.

April

April finds us in Louisiana where we spend a few days in New Orleans and fall in love with the Garden District. Next stop is Houston, Texas, to say hello to Gerry's cousin Fred with whom we've been exchanging email for many a year. We get acquainted with Fred's partner Virginia Lee and they introduce us to BBQ Texan-style.

From Houston we drive to San Antonio where we get acquainted for the first time with the Missions of Padre Kino, visiting three different ones not including the famous Alamo. From San Antonio, we head further south and cross the border into Mexico at Nuevo Laredo. We spend a wonderful two weeks getting to know the northern desert towns of Monterrey, Saltillo, and Chichuahua. We also get an introduction to ancient Indian archeological sites in Cuarenta Casas and Paquime before heading north again and crossing the border into Arizona.

May

Arizona is another outpost of various parts of the extended Chandler family, so we stay with Gerry's brother Allen and his wife Barbara and say hello to cousins from the Kazen family before heading further west into California to say hello to Gerry's nephew Mark and his bride-to-be Donna. Then it's north to Los Angeles to spend some time with Gerry's paternal aunt Zelda, a sprightly 89 year old. Last but not least we attend Gerry's 40th reunion at Caltech for a brief jolt of intellectual stimulus. We continue heading north, this time to San Francisco, to say hello again to Gerry's cousin Bob Goldsmith and his friend Linda Lyons whom we had seen a few months earlier in NYC.

June

We begin June with a trip to Yosemite valley for a week of camping, hiking, and admiring the valleys stupendous waterfalls, all at their peak because of Sierra snow melt. We rate this as one of the most enjoyable weeks of the year and perhaps of the entire trip.

From Yosemite we drive over the mountains to Bishop and Lone Pine where we visit Elmer and Leonora, aunt and uncle of our Brazilian friend Cris. Then it's on through Death Valley at a mere 120F to Las Vegas for a couple of weeks by the pool. Then it's back to Arizona via Flagstaff and Sedona where we revisit with Allen and Barbara.

July

July is Arizona month. We begin with a trip up to Indian country and do some more camping. We see Canyon de Chelly for the first time, literally bake in Monument Valley, and find the perfect campsite at Navajo National Monument where we enjoy a half-day hike to Betatakin. Then it's back to Phoenix for some more family visits before we drag ourselves away and head down to Tucson for the rest of the month. Highlight is sunset in Saguaro National Park East, a hike up Wasson Peak for Jan's birthday, and a drenching downpour in Sabino Canyon.

August

It's finally time to head south of the border again. We enter via Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and spend the month tootling around in Sonora and getting back to our Spanish language studies. We follow the trail of Padre Kino, visiting four more of his missions and try cooling off at the beach at San Carlos to no avail. We make a brief trip to the old silver mining town of Alamos and have our first encounter with a scorpion. Then, just when we're good and tired of desert, we head up into the mountains and spend two weeks in the Copper Canyon area where it's cool and clear and clean. We finish the month at Sinforosa Canyon, spending the day with Yvonne and Sandro, a Swiss couple who are cycling from San Francisco to Chile.

September

We leave the pine trees and cool air of Copper Canyon behind to explore the high mountain valleys of Chihuahua and Durango States. Driving through the mountains is an enduring pleasure. We get comfortable in Durango and celebrate Mexican Independence Day there. Then it's on to Mazatlan and the coast for a great room at a great price in a hotel under restoration. Our balcony was the perfect place to watch the waves kicked up by a nearby hurricane. From Mazatlan we drove further down the coast to Puerto Vallarta and one of Jan's favorite beachfront swimming pools. We ended the month and completed our triple with four days at our favorite Mexican beach place: San Patricio de Melaque.

October

Our next goal was Guadalajara, second city of Mexico, but en route we stopped on the shores of Lake Chapala in the ex-pat hangout called Ajijic. Most notable here was the small restaurant on the main square that served gourmet food at fast-food prices. Then it was on to the big city with its noise and pollution and bookstores and museums and culture galore. Here we participated in the Romeria (procession) of the Virgen de Zapopan, an unforgettable experience. Next we drove north to Zacatecas, stopping in the little town of Jerez, one of the friendliest towns we visited in Mexico. Zacatecas was a revelation: a historical city with its colonial heart intact, a cool climate, and lots of culture. From Zacatecas we headed for the U.S. border, stopping in Saltillo en route to say hello to Drs Ibarra and Sanchez. We crossed the border on October 25th at Reynosa and McAllen.

November

We spent the next month in McAllen, shopping for a new digital still/video camera for Gerry and a new notebook for Jan. In the meantime we gorged ourselves on familiar food, newspapers, and TV. and took advantage of the small pool in our motel. We also updated our website and increased our usable space from 100MB to 500MB. We expected to spend a week and ended up spending five. But eventually, our Mexican visa clock ticking, we re-entered Mexico and headed for Real de Catorce another old mining town.

December

With only two months left on our visa, we tried to pick up the pace a little, but still managed to get to know all of the altiplano colonial cities, notably San Luis Potosi, San Miguel de Allende, Queretaro, and Guanajuato, falling in love with Mexican baroque churches on the way. We worked our way around the west side of Mexico City stopping in Cuernavaca and Toluca, to get to Uruapan then making our way across to Taxco, the biggest silver shop in the world. Before almost completing our circle of Mexico City at Puebla where we spent the last days of the year.