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| 22 Oct 2001 | This is Heather's News story that she wrote as an assignment at school. It's not really in a news paper or anything, it's just supposed to look like a news story. It's very cute. You can read it if you want to... :-) We did not help her with this, other than answer question and help her fix things that she had already written. I do think that she cut-and-pasted just a little bit, however! :-) please hit "back" to return here |
| 1 Oct 01 | Was Sept a month or what. Living on an island and being 10 minutes from the Pacific Ocean certainly makes for different weather than we had in Illinois! We've had Tropical Storms and Typhoons. We've had Earthquakes. We've had a record low for the month (40F on 25 Sep) and the 24 hour record rainfall for the month (4.5 inches 5 Sep) Other than the weather, always a fun topic, we're doing well. Everyone is in school and we've gotten into that work/school/study/go to bed daily routine. Scott is preparing to go to Alabama for 6 weeks, from Nov. through mid Dec. Nicholas is in Cub Scouts this year and both girls are in Girl Scouts. Tira is a Girl Scout leader again. Talk to you soon. |
| 12 Sep 2001 | We are deeply saddened by the loss of our fellow Americans in the 11 September 2001 terrorist bombings of the Pentagon building in Washington DC, and the World Trade Center towers of New York City. We hope that you share our sincere prayer that the government of the United States of America find as many of the people as possible responsible for this act, and kill the bastards. |
| 4 Jul 2001 | We arrived in Japan on this day. The flight was long, but not unbearable. We went through Tokyo, then Iwakuni on our way to Misawa. The kids were really good and travelled will, but I think they were as glad to get here as we were. We moved into temporary housing right away and stayed there for 6 weeks or so until we moved into our permanent home. We'll have pictures up soon. We bought a 1990 Toyota van. This is a really cool car. It's 4WD, has A/C, a gas motor and is an automatic. There are vent windows on the roof (like flip up sun roofs) and the side windows all open. The seats are cool inside, they fold up or down and turn side ways and backwards. The van is taller than american vehicles, at least 5 or 6 inches higher than Tira's old Dodge van, for example, but they're more narrow. Anyway, check the pictures when I get them up. My motorcycle was shipped in but I should have sold it back home. The boat ride over here combined with two months of high humidity has caused the once proud and shining beauty to start showing her age. There are rust spots showing up where there never were before. The kids are enrolled in school and like their teachers and their new friends. Tira is enrolled in school again, and is taking a Japanese culture class and a history class. They do short 8 week semesters/period here so two classes at a time is considered full time. School is also pretty expensive here. Unlike IL which gave us state grants to help pay for classes, we're paying full price here and no grant. I think between Tira and myself school is costing us a little over $300.00 a month, averaged out for the school year. It will cost us about $3,000 or so for tuition and books for the year. |
| 1 June 2001 | HOWDY!! If you are reading this then you probably already know that we are on our way to Japan!! Can you tell I'm excited??? This is our new mailing address in Japan:
scott @ alvars.net tira @ alvars.net (without the spaces of course) These are not 'private' email addresses. They go to the same place, but we figure it's just easier for people to use one name or the other. Besides, most of my friends (ok, both of 'em) don't know Tira's real name. They probably think it's sweetie or something... :-) We begin (or began depending upon when you read this) our cross-country odyssey on 4 June. We plan to hit 12 or 13 states and to visit about that many friends and family. We're travelling in style in Dads motorhome (thanks dad) and will arrive in Tacoma about 27 June. We'll be there until 3 July when we fly out to Misawa AB, Japan. Check back, there will be pictures to follow... :-) |
| And So The Journey Begins... | |
| 6 May 2001 | Phase I -- Get camper Hey! I figured if I had to move I was gonna' have a good time, right? :-} Our plan was to tow a camper all around the western US mooching free meals and entertainment from people we knew, if only a little. Dad decided we needed to cruise in style so naturally we took him up on his offer to take his beautiful 1990 motorhome instead of our old pickup and a beater camper. Nice guy, huh? Well then. This was all well and good but it would require a coordination effort the size of the one where they built that big damn. You know the one... Well anyway, a coordination effort. So the first week or so of May Nicholas and I (scott) took off in our old pickup truck to meet dad (Larry) in the wilds of western Nebraska to swap vehicles. Now, don't laugh about the Nebraska quip. While most of the state is busy growing corn and big farm boys, this corner of the state was busy preserving our american heritage. Scott's Bluff Nebraska was right on the path that the wagon trains took as they crossed the praries of middle America and was an important point to settlers and explorers as they headed west. Ok, enough. See the pictures, you'll be amazed at the varied landscapes of Nebraska. |
| 28 May 2001 | Phase II -- Move out of 1500 sq ft. house and move into 21 sq ft. MotorHome Not much else to say about this. We spent many many hours over labor day weekend cleaning up and getting ready for the movers. At the same time as we planned our move to Japan we also had to plan for 30 days in the camper. Oh, and since they are packing all of my gear and tools on Tuesday (tomorrow!!) we had to do all the yard work right now! Boy am I beat. See the pictures. |
| 8 June 2001 | Phase III -- Pack and prepare for trip It took a couple of loads and a few days to pack up and carry away all of our belongings but they did. Once all of our stuff was gone we moved into temporary quarters for a few days, breathed a short sigh of relief, and packed the camper and made final preparations. Only a pic or two but you can see the pictures. |
| A day by day account of our travels. | |
| 4 June 5 June 6 June 7 June 8 June 9 June 10 June 11 June 12 June 13 June 14 June 15 June 16 June 17 June 18 June 19 June 20 June 21 June 22 June 23 June 24 June 25 June 26 June 27 June 28 June 29 June 30 June 1 July 2 July 3 July 4 July |
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