May 9 - NASA My next adventure

I'm at a NASA/JPL Educator seminar in Riverside, CA. Learning ways to present planned techniques for exploring Mars. I bet some will be transferable to Earth exploration and learning too. Mars will not just be for test pilots. 

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March 26 - Journey's End

Home again! Dinner with family. A nice homecoming. This journey has ended

March 26 - Last Leg

This Hotel, 4 Points Sheridan, has a Pokéstop, this mural. We collected on it many times in our short stay. Also, there were a lot of Pokémon we could collect from our room and the restaurant.

Now to pack up, catch the hotel shuttle to the airport, then catch the RobertQ bus shuttle to Detroit Metro where Suzie should be picking me up about 5 p.m. A family dinner, and home to my very own bed! That will mark the journey's end. It has been quite and adventure.

March 25 - The Journey Home begins.

At a relatively liesurely 7 a.m. My group taxied to Gatwick Airport. With Saturday's low traffic it only took an hour and a half. It really made me appreciate the US Interstates and belt ways!

The flight is supposed to take 7.5 hours. Marjorie is glad she has audio books to listen to, and had mixed feelings about finishing the knitting of her trip long project. It will have to be finished at home.

Am I glad to settle down for a good night's sleep! Tomorrow night my own bed at home!

March 24 - Last day, All about sailing

We joined Estha and went exploring the Cutty Sark, the fastest clipper ship. You can see some of the rigging and the metal plated hull. The living space was on the deck. There was some cabin space there, but it would make a freshman dorm room look spacious! The beds might fit me, but Marjorie would have to curl up like a snail to fit in them.

After that we checked out the Royal Naval College, and went to the Royal Observatory. I'm lying on the Prime Meridian. Much to my surprise, it is the third Prime Meridian at the observatory. Apparently as instruments improved and Royal Astronomers changed, it was moved 3 times. The one I am on is the current International Prime Meridian established in the 1884 by treaty. Since 70% of the nautical maps used it, it was a logical choice.

Tomorrow the taxi comes at 7 a.m. To take some of us to Gatwick Airport. Others leave later and are going through Heathrow Airport to western Canada. So our merry band is breaking up as our journey ends.

March 23 pt 2 - Closing Ceremony at Pax Lodge

We had our closing ceremony at Pax and said goodbye to Jes from the USA and Tadjea from Slovenia. Andrea was there for the singing part. We received our center pins, and and Challenges we had earned and a certificate for being here.

We then moved on to our "Campfire". They did the best they could not being able to have one outside, nor have a fireplace. We could do this at the school.

A group of Guides from Norway is here for the weekend. They joined us in our "campfire" song fest. They had a great song with lots of parts and motions. They had to keep good time or they would have banged each other. You can see arms flying and people bobbing up and down. They did it wonderfully and we all had a happy laugh and clapping after it was done. So we shared songs, and sang together. Fortunately their English is vastly better than my Norwegian.

March 23 - British Museum

Today is our unscheduled day. We went to the British Museum. They have a bit of everything, from every when!

I compared notes with a British Bear.

The hunk of stone is called the Rosetta Stone. It was the key to understanding Egyptian hieroglyphs. It has the same text in three languages, which scholars were able to break the "code" of the lost language of the Egyptians.

The Rosetta Stone was really old technology, and driving along the street was a Google street view camera car. How is that for old and new technologies?

Tonight is our event closing ceremony. Tomorrow is sort of a bonus day on our own. Saturday the journey home begins.

March 22- cold & rainy Tower of London

Today the camera stayed pretty much undercover. We went to the Tower of London & saw the Crown Jewels. There was more to see but the weather made it unappealing.

We had dinner at The Albert Pub. There were lots of flashing lights and police sirens in the area. Tonight we went and saw the musical Wicked.

March 21 - Natural History Museum and London on our own

After morning flag raising we took the Tube to the Natural History Museum. There was LOTS to see. Because of the lighting and not using a flash in a museum, many pictures did not turn out. Of the ones that did, I like this of the DoDo.

There were many dinosaurs. Mary Anning was/is a big figure in discovering dinosaurs in Great Britain.

We ended our explorations by going to Evensong at Westminster Cathedral. It was a lovely service with the songs of the choir weaving their tones beautifully. That is the Cathedral behind us.

March 20 - Touring London

Today was our introduction to London. We had a guided bus tour of parts of London.

We rode the London Eye. I am looking out at Big Ben. The next picture is of Buckingham Palace. The Queen in not in residence since the Union flag is flying. If she were there, it would be the Royal Standard flying.

We stoped on the Headquarters for the Girl Guides, showed in their store, and had a break in their lunch room.

MARCH 19 CON'D - PAX LODGE

We received a warm welcome from our program staff. On the right is Tanya from Slovenia, staff; Center is Jessica a volunteer from the USA; and Andrea (Andy) from Mexico.

We started with an English Cream Tea, also know as High Tea, or Afternoon Tea. A very pleasant and civilized mid-afternoon snack time to get to know people. In the evening we all shared about Girl Scouts and Girl Guiding in our countries. Andy likes to sing, and knocked our socks off with a Mexican song.

March 19 - Travel to Pax Lodge

We left Our Chalet at 5 a.m. Zurich time in a van taxi and drove over 2 hrs to the Zurich airport. There we wait about 3 hours for our Swiss Air flight to London's Heathrow Airport, mere 1.5 hr flight. Then another hired small coach took us to Pax Lodge.

March 18 - Bern, geocaching, Closing

Our last day at Our Chalet, we bussed to the capital of Switzerland and explored Bern.

I tagged along with the dedicated geocachers. We met another group from the French speaking side of Switzerland and teamed up to find a really big cache.

Later I immersed myself is Swiss Chocolate.

In the evening we had our closing ceremony, where the 3 that had earned the Our Chalet Challenge received their patches. We then had a campfire and songfest.

Tomorrow, at 5 a.m. the bus picks us up for the airport so we can move on the our last World Center, Pax Lodge in London.

March 17 - Lunch out and explored the Alp

We hiked to the 2nd highest waterfall in Switzerland. Even those who walked from the Chalet, and those who taxied found the last leg challenging. Some decided not to risk their bones and turned back to our lunch stop. We made it with the help of our friends and enjoyed the waterfall. When we got back to the lunch spot, we really enjoyed our food.

Next we went to the top of the Alp. (I can't remember the spelling, it began with E.) I tried to go the way Gandalf traveled in Lord of the Rings, on a eagles back, but had to settle for the more ordinary ride up in a cable car. Up there some played in various ways, all explored. We had a brilliant afternoon the snow and sun.

In the evening there was a special cheese tasting with all sorts of cheeses made within 5 kilometers of Adelboden. Most were cows milk cheeses, but some were made with goat's milk, and other's with sheep's milk. We enjoyed them all.

March 16 - Free day

This is our free day to explore on our own. Unfortunately, Marjorie has a cold and has been sleeping all day. We have managed to get outside to sit and let her knit. I'm cozy in her knitting and am trying to sneak a snack.

The view from our bench is spectacular. This is Lohner (loaner) mountain. It has several peaks and 2 horns. The parts that jut up on their own are "horns". You might see one in this picture.

March 15 - Exploring the picturesque town of Thun

Today, we bused to Thun. It is a city on a lake. There is a castle built in the 12th century.

The water channels have several kind of ducks and some swans. I like this picture of a swan taking off.

My group were dedicated geocachers. We found 4 geocaches during our exploration. I figured out one that was stumping the others. 😀

I was able to play a little Pokémon Go, but my power was soon exhausted. 😞

The last picture is of a lenticular cloud. I've heard of them, but I don't remember seeing one before.

Now to shake this cold!

March 14 - First full day at Our Chalet

This morning after flag raising we took a group picture. We were in uniform under our coats. The log with the flags is an Our Chalet tradition. Each nationality that is present at the Chalet that day has their flag on display in the log. After flag raising it is placed in the dinning room.

We went to the legendary woodcarver and explored Adelboden by foot. They have a scavenger hunt that helped us explore the town and asked us to do some silly things, like wet our noses in the fountain.

The rest of the day is free. Many of us are just resting and trying to shake jet lag. Then there is doing laundry. 😏

March 13 The scenery!

After we arrived, we started to explore. Wow! The views. An unexpected view was the para-gliders.

In the evening, we had orientation and a tour. We all folded about 8:00 p.m. and headed to bed as soon as the tour ended. We were bushed with the all night flight and the time shift.

March 12-13. Delhi to Switzerland

We left the hotel at 10 p.m. For our 2 a.m. flight to Zurich Switzerland. Here I am resting and waiting at the airport. The carry-on bag made a nice cozy place.

We arrived in Zurich at dawn, about 6:30 local time. Then we waited 3 hrs for our bus and were driven several hours to Adelboden and Our Chalet. We made it! This is my friend and roommate from Croatia.