Oh Baby, 3 for the Price of 2

After talking about biochemistry, we went on, by mutual consent, to topographical anatomy. I hope I didn't get as far as embryology.
- Alberto Granado

Leaving elephants behind, Nadine and I left the belly of Thailand and entered the northern shoulder region with all of its wats (temples).

As we departed from Surin where all of the elephants outnumbered people, we jumped on a bus headed back to Bangkok. What made the bus trip back interesting was the fact that it was completely full as we had to stand over an hour wedged between tiny Thai people until we reached a point to switch buses. We did however survive and lived to tell the tale.

Now is the fee more than the price for one night?

From the capital of Bangkok, we headed west to the town of Kanchanaburi. From the beaches and elephants, we were ready for something a little more serious. Kanchanaburi was made famous, or infamous, by the forced labor of Australian, English, Canadian, Dutch and American soldiers, as well as Malaysians and Burmese to build the Thailand-Burma Railroad for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. In the span of one year, these prisoners of war built a railroad spanning from Nong Pladuk, Thailand all the way to Thanbuyuzayat, Burma. Over this time, tens of thousands of soldiers were malnourished, tortured, and died. It was a dark testimate of what people are capable of doing to each other at times.

Bridge AND Nadine over the River Kwai

We spent a couple of hours rummaging through the very thorough and interesting museum commerating the railway as well as the Bridge over the River Kwai. From there, we walked over to the actual bridge as they were prepping for a light and sound show. How the times have changed over 60 years for this little bridge.

Nadine is up to some elephant business in Sukhothai

Not wasting any time, we were again on the road heading north to Phitsanlouk, a great place to spend Thanksgiving in addition to its proximity to the historical Sukhothai. Thanksgiving morning, we jumped on a bus with the more than generous help of locals and headed west to Sukhothai. Our reason for visiting the World Heritage site were the ruins sprawling all over the historical park. We hired (rented) two bikes styled like those from the 50's and began peddaling around. Everywhere we looked, we were riding under a set of stupas. In addition to all of the great sites, we ran into two Texans, sorry, no New Mexicans, I think they are trying to exit all those arroyos, running around Wat Mahathat.

What's that? Wat Si Sawai

A busy day of riding bikes around 700 year old stupas, wats, and left us hungry. Instead of our regular cuisine of Thai food, we ventured out for some steak, something ressembling turkey day food. This meat feast proved elusive to our growling stomachs as we couldn't find the steak restaurant. We walked around downtown Phitsanlouk an hour trying to find this specific place. Once we found it, and yes we had passed it twice already, we settled in to our Thai Thanksgiving. We ordered up steak, pork, garlic bread, blueberry shake (turkey day staple), soup, salad, and veggies. The meal was abundant and filling, but the steak on the other hand was pancake thin and not the taste sensation one would expect from a steak. It was actually a tenth the size of a regular steak back home in the States. Thais defintiely know how to do rice, veggies, curries, chicken, and awesome pork, however with the lack of practice on cow meats, they have a bit to learn. Finishing our Thai Thanksgiving with ice cream sundaes, we waddled back to our place happy.

Who knew that Bubbha had been to Thailand, much less have a statue made of him?

From Sukhathai, we continued north to the city of Chiang Mai. It was here where we stayed with my cousin Jeannie's husband, Tim. Before the trip, we never knew that we had family in Thailand. We had the pleasure to meet up with Tim, while Jeannie was back in the States with her kids. Tim and Jeannie are doing some great work in Chiang Mai. They are working with local tribes to grow, produce, and sell bio-diesel. This is something that is great for the tribes in that they earn an honest wage, support themselves, and helps the environment with clean fuel at the same time. They are also dabbling in organic coffee and education.

Can you find the moon?

Another big day we celebrated here in Thailand was our third anniversary and (regular joke) I have to say it has felt like 6. To celebrate, we moved from Tim and Jeannie's factory to the four star Duangtawan Hotel. Without a doubt, this was the nicest hotel we've stayed in the entire trip and all for only $40. We could have stayed in our hotel the entire day, but we had some very important things to do. Following a great lunch, we wandered around the night bazaar to pick up two more seasons of the official t.v. show of our around the world trip, Scrubs. And we are absolutely sure that they are genuine copies since we only paid $10 for both of them. Yeah, definitely genuine copies.

What's that ringing in our ears? Me ringing all 91 bells.

Following our shopping, we laid down for another Thai massage, but this time, it was an oil Thai relaxation massage. Not the "make-you-tense-and-grimace massage" that we had on Koh Lanta. After this hour massage, I had to admit that I was pretty relaxed as I ran into several people and signs back out on the street.

To complete the evening, we sat down to a nice dinner at Giorgio's Italian Restaurant. It was a great dinner talking about what was to come in the next year. But the first thing to come after dinner was ice cream. No celebratory meal is complete until you finish it up with a little ice cream. The rest of the night, we layed on our bed in the hotel like beached whales with bloated bellies of Italian pasta and creamy ice cream.

Wat Chedi Luang. Only one of those elephants is the original.

We are currently here in Chiang Rai, even further north from Chiang Mai. We have taken the time to walk the massive night bazaar and hit golf balls at the driving range here. We've also taken the time to revise our planned travel itinerary.

During our trip, Nadine and I have been filtering water anywhere the water may be a little suspicious. When we reached the areas of Koh Tao and Bangkok, we stopped filtering and began buying regular bottled water, and that is where everthing changed. There must have been something in the water that we were drinking. Nadine started feeling that she was a little more fatigued and sore than usual. We had been wondering what it could have be that was causing her to feel this way. We began to wonder if we could be pregnant.

After an early morning pregnancy test the morning before our anniversary in Chiang Mai, we learned the results. I wasn't pregnant. What a relief and waste of a particulary good pregnancy test that was. After purchasing another one for Nadine, two purple lines appeared within 3 minutes which changed everything. I wasn't pregnant, but the glowing Nadine was! We have been excited since that moment. As soon as we could get to a phone, we called both of our folks. Both of our mothers were extremely estatic, giggling, smiling, and yelling. Life is good.

Millions of thoughts have been running through our heads. Can this really be true? Does Nadine know the father? Are we going to have to cut this trip short? What will we name the children? The one thing we do know is that our children are going to be intelligent, athletic, popular in school, nice to their grandparents, and Noble prize winners. Truly, we want to have a healthy kid with only two legs and arms. No more, no less. Depending on the sex of the baby, the baby will either be named Cletus or Dolly Parton. We were thinking of He-Man, but kids at school might make fun of him. Not with the other two names though.

Concerning plans for our trip. They have now changed with our little addition. We are now only going to visit the capital of Laos, Vientianne, instead of the entire country. The rest of the country happens to be malaria endemic, so no risking the little bambino. As a result, we are going to see a little more of Thailand than expected. Following a visit to northeast Thailand, we will return to Bangkok so that Nadine can get her necessary check ups. From Bangkok, I will fly to Cambodia, another malaria endemic area, to visit Ankor Wat, and then fly or bus it to Ho Chi Mihn City in Vietnam. The same day, December 19th, that I am traveling to Vietnam, Nadine will fly over the malaria to Ho Chi Mihn City. Thanksgiving was in Thailand, Christmas and New Year's will be in Vietnam.

Life is good. We had planned on having kids after the trip, but being pregnant in the middle of the trip is still a gift and we are thankful.

This is another non-wikipedia question, but all are encouraged to participate. You will know if you are the winner in 8 months time. (Jack Johnson White has already been vetoed by Nadine.)

Question: If you became pregnant during an around the world trip, what would you name your kid?

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Make sure that you root for the Tulsa Hurricane in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Peace and love from Chiang Rai
JW, NW, and/or Cletus