August 6, 2003
This week's Bulletin was written by Caroline Chen
This Week’s Meeting
Song: Mary, Linda and Jim lead the group and sang “My Bonnie”
Pledge of Allegiance: Jose Hernandez
Invocation: Christopher Blin
Christopher paraphrased an inspiration quote from the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (p128):
“When another (person) asserted something I thought to
be in error, I denied myself the pleasure of contradicting him abruptly, and of
immediately pointing out some absurdity in his proposition.
I began by seeing that at certain times his opinion
would be correct, however at the present there seemed to be some difference.
I soon found the advantages of this change in my
manner. I was less mortified when
found to be in the wrong, and more easily persuaded others to give up their
mistakes and join with me with I happened to be in the right. I was a bad speaker, yet I generally
carried my points.”
Announcements:
Ø 8/11/03 - Board meeting on Monday night at Frank De Francesco’s office.
Ø 8/12/03 – District Council meeting (a red badge requirement) at Escondido Art Center
Ø 9/6/03 – Salk Institute Rotary Foundation Meeting (am only), Rick King will be the speaker.
Ø Thunder Bolt Regatta is coming up soon.
Ø Next year is Rotary’s bicentennial celebration; we need a volunteer to represent our club at the planning committee.
Ø Keith French resigned from the club, due to various personal and family reasons.
Ø The Ball Park tour was a success—we (women) found the locker room to be most interesting.
Ø Brent Carlson from Rotaract is asking the Downtown breakfast club members to join Lisa Norwell’s presentation at the Kansas City BBO on 8/19/03.
Ø Mike Sisson is asking for club members to participate in the membership committee.
Guest Speaker – Phil Babcock
Topic: Around The World Tour On Bicycles With His Spouse.
|
Phil Babcock with Susan Bleicher |
Phil Babcock a long time cycling and skiing enthusiast gave an entertaining talk on his bicycling tour around the world with wife Ann. The trip lasted 40 months and they trekked 28,848 miles and suffered 25 broken bicycle spokes.
On the average, Phil carried about 125 to 135 lbs on his bike while Ann carried about 65 lbs on her bike on this tour. Most interestingly, Phil and Ann did not plan to bicycle the world at the beginning of their trip. With their willingness for adventure, their flexible traveling plan grew overtime and after nearly 3.5 years they covered the globe.
Below is a summary of their itinerary:
Ø Started from Broader Park in San Diego to Friendship Park in Canada,
Ø Flew to Frankfurt and skied at the Heidelberg, Germany
Ø Bicycled to England, Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Poland, Austria, Hungary, then
Ø Spent the winter skiing in Austria (100 days of downhill skiing and 50 days of cross country skiing in total), then headed to Switzerland to meet a friend
Ø Bicycled through Italy, Turkey, and the Mediterranean where you can take a co-ed shower
Ø Long inspired by Richard Hellerman’s book about flying magic carpet, decided to extend their travel to even more exotic locations
Ø Went to Israel, Egypt, Jordon and snorkeled in the Red Sea
Ø Traveled to India, Singapore, Hong Kong, then Alaska
Ø Finally, arrived in San Diego and completed the circle by ending up at the Broader Park
Here are lessons learned from Phil’s story:
Ø When you see a fork in the road, take it (especially if it may mean skiing in the Alps for the winter)
Ø Travel with the regular people, you will learn more about the culture (when you see a Hyatt Hotel in India, collect toilet papers, you never know when you might need it)
Ø Share a meal with a bug, you will live through it
Ø You don’t need to have maps to travel the world, however, a sense of world geography and common sense will go a long way
Ø Be flexible, traveling in the third world countries can be most exciting.
Ø It is good to have a spouse who can tend to important details of daily life.
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