Saturday, January 7, 2012 (A week before we leave)

We are excited and not ready to go in just 7 days.  This year, it's me (Terry), Sandy, and Maureen Lopes making the journey to Kenya together.  Sandy and I will pack 1 carry-on bag each for the month we'll be gone.  Maureen has shown us that she can pack light too, with only 1 carry-on for her full 3-week trip.  The three of us will have from 6 to 9 checked bags (depending on an baggage allowance waver we have asked for from Turkish Airlines) - hurry up please!

Nine checked bags are already packed with items donated by so many folks we can't keep track - over 100 blankets, 200 pairs of eye glasses, toys, books, 50 soccer uniforms, 4 soccer balls, 100 pens, and other stuff too. We hope we can take all 9 bags, but we have them prioritized if we can't.  Two are already in NJ awaiting the final leg of their journey to JFK next Saturday.

I sent out a test email to many who I thought might be interested in this year's adventure.  Maureen has her list too.  I'm not sure if I will use email or this blog.  We'll see.

If you have not already done so and are interested, you can see how we got started with all of this back in 2005 and 2006 by reading http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/12/18/race-to-dignity-bringing-hope-to-kasavai-kenya/.