Back in Oz!
In 2008, before we visited Australia for the first time, Dana announced that we had better make the most of the opportunity because she had no interest in making that long trip again. Then we visited Oz for the first time and realized how much we enjoy life on this side of the globe. The weather is generally quite a agreeable, the people are gracious, and the scenery is sublime. The year after that first experience we were in New Zealand and a year later in China. Now the only obstacle to visiting is finding the time.
Now it is 2016 and we have arrived in Oz again, ostensibly for the Australian Open, but honestly, that is mostly just entertainment. The common factor in each of our trips has been our friendship with Celia Campbell, our Australian exchange student from 2004, and her family, Ross and Alison. Team Campbell has been with us on all these adventures and made the trips even better.
We arrived late in the morning and went the Campbell's house to take a quick rest. They planned a dinner for that evening with their group of friends. We set the table and cooked dinner together. They have a wonderful group of friends with political views across the map. The one question we kept getting was, "What is the deal with Trump? Can he possibly win?" We of course told them that he was a joke and that he didn't stand a chance. Even if by some fluke he could win the Republican nomination, he didn't stand a chance in the general election against Hilary Clinton.
