Matt Rant on Foreign Travel - Oct 09 2007

Welcome Back Sir! Glad to hear you Postin' and that you enjoyed yourself . . .

Have Fun @ work ;)

Nice Work by the Berkeley Crews . . . Thanks

Lots of fun on left side driving. My first was in 1954 when two buddies and I went to England to visit distant relatives. They managed a sheep and cattle stud farm. Mostly to send good breeding buls/rams to other places in the far flung empire.

Take a ferry to Dover or a coastal boat at least once to see the really (at least then) white chalk cliffs. Signs on exti from ferry landing in every continental language reminds akk drivers to drive left. As you found out the roundabouts are bacward, and right rurns are no fun when there is congested traffic.

That was before school and marriage and since then we have been there by air four times, renting a car after short stays in London.

Never been to NZ, but rode our bikes from Melbourne to Sidney on Caltex 200th aniversary of the first selelers in 1788. We broke a drought, and from my understanding they could use a lot of rain now as well.

They would really like to have all the liquid/solids from the sky you saw.

Glad you had good time. Obviously you located the southern cross as well.

I think you may have stirred a thought of another treck down under for us! Being retired and all time there would not be limited. This time we probably would see both NZ and Oz.

duke welcomes your safe return

.....Still haven't been to Alaska or North Dakota. I'll make it there someday.

Okay back to work.

- Matt

.....Still haven't been to Alaska or North Dakota. I'll make it there someday.

Okay back to work.

- Matt

North Dakota looks like a very nice place. I'd like to see all of those northern states someday. In Dakota it's so cold, even thoughts freeze. Average winter temp is around 25. Now that's cold.

I spent first seven years in Minnesota, three just east of Fargo, ND. No electricity in the farm. Coal oil lamps illuminated the place. This was during the depression. Power came several years later. Remaining time in Minneapolis. Location very close to the north end of the bridge (No it wasn't there then) that fell in the Mississippi. The school I went to still exists, but with new building. At that age I had no reference to temperature, just that it was nice to get to the warm buildings at each end of the trip to and from school. A few times my mother went with me. I presume those were the really cold days in the city. In those days Minnesota had kindergarten. One of the payoffs of iron ore tax, I presume.

My mother taught school at International Falls before marriage. Winter there is really cold. A few football players of the twenties were toughened up by the weather and work in the pulp mills.

BTW -40 C = -40 F!

duke