Friday, July 27, 2012

Hi from Minnesota

On July 1st we flew to Minneapolis/St. Paul via Tokyo (Narita) and San Francisco.  We’ve been spending the majority of our time way “Up North” in Virginia, Minnesota.  We have enjoyed several family gatherings, a couple of polka dance outings, nice walks, and relaxing.  So far, most daytime weather has been a lot like Corregidor, hot and humid.  Unlike the Rock, however, most nights it cools down much more, with temperatures sometimes approaching 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius).  We plan to spend the first two weeks of August in Michigan, visiting with two of our sons, our daughter-in-law, our grandchildren, and a number of our friends.  We will also attend the Great Lakes Folk Festival in East Lansing, a fun and interesting weekend-long event that presents music from around the world as well as featuring foods and arts and crafts from many cultural heritages.

We brought 60 copies of our recently published book with us from Manila, and wish we had brought more.  Readers have told us that they are really enjoying it.  One of our former tour guests wrote us saying, “It arrived two days ago and it is as advertised.  It will be one of my most valued books.  Thank you very much.  Chuck”  We are still hoping that we will be able to direct folks in the States to an American internet site that will sell the book here without overseas shipping charges, which are costly.  We are expecting the eBook soon.

Our friend, coastal defense expert and author Glen Williford, purchased a photo collection of pre-war batteries on Corregidor and the other neighboring islands.  He is making them available for purchase.  We bought a set of the photos when he was on Corregidor this winter, and found them very interesting.  If you might be interested, please contact us.  We include one sample from Glen's collection.
We have received word that a 93-year-old veteran of the Corregidor liberation, John J. Teffenhart, WWll 503rd Paratrooper (Co H), plans to return to the Rock on August 20.  We are sorry that we will not yet be back from our travels, but want to extend our welcome to him and his family.
Steve and Marcia on the Rock