The next adventure!

It is admittedly difficult to sum up in writing the significance our trip, so I won't try. We will allow the pictures and descriptions to do the talking.

What's next, you ask? Well, Sean will spend the summer in the North Cascades of Washington State, leading a pair of mountaineering courses for NOLS. Meanwhile, Nancy will use May and June to focus on her academic writing . Then she's off to Leadville, CO to head up one of HMI's Leading Edge backpacking courses.

But the big change comes in August, when we will pack up our belongings, bid farewell to Oregon, and head for Syracuse, NY. It is there -- at The Maxwell School of Syracuse University -- that we will both begin graduate school. Sean will be pursuing an MA in international affairs with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa and public radio journalism, while Nancy will be working on a PhD. in cultural geography with a continued focus on immigration issues. We are sad to be leaving our beloved home in the West, but excited by the prospect of change and continued learning.

And with that, another chapter begins... (cue the song "Wind of Change" by The Scorpions; fade to empty highway and accompanying sunset.)

Macedonia, April 22-29

On our way home, we "swung" through Macedonia, the new home of Sean's folks. It was a wonderful way to end our 4-month journey! Our visit coincided with the Eastern Orthodox observance of Easter -- a busy holiday weekend, indeed! We explored the capital of Skopje, drank coffee and Skopsko beer along the Vardar River, spent two incredibly relaxing days in the lakeside town of Ohrid, and visited several old forts and churches built during the Roman to Ottoman Empires. Macedonia is an incredibly beautiful and engaging country. It was such a treat to explore a new region of the world and to visit with my parents!

Volta Region, April 11-17

Our final week in Ghana was spent touring the temperate (well, sort of...) and picturesque Volta Region. We hiked through dense forests, sat at the base of the country's highest waterfall, sipped organic Ghanaian coffee, visited the Akosombo Dam, took a tro-tro to an Ewe kente village, and enjoyed the cool evening temps!