Thomas Moore--Thur Night

Thomas--Begin.

Today has been a busy day. Gone are the days of yore where we all relaxed under the calming Taiwanese sun all morning, drinking cool plum juice and munching on fresh pineapple and cherries. No sir or ma'am. Today was busy.

I kid, of course. All of our days have been jam-packed with activities and each minute brings something new and exciting.

Today we toured the Taroko National Park. We walked along the side of an amazing gorge; the top towering above us, trees and bushes clinging desperately to the sides, all ending in the cool and clear water flowing along the bottom. In the space between swam swallows, freed in flight from their nesting sites in the naturally formed caves that pocked the mountain side here and there.

Then we moved to the Awesome Part of the day. We touched the water. Not only did we touch it, but we flung our shoes and socks off and waded over rocks small and large to our hearts' content. We posed for an album or magazine cover, we (tried to) skip rocks, we (and I mean me here) sometimes slipped and got our shorts wet. The water was cool, the rocks were hot and our laughter and calls echoed off the gorge walls that stood tall on either side of us.

Finally, we drove to the Pacific Ocean where, against our betters, we again shed our clothing from the ankle down and did some wading. We found, however, that an ocean moves in a lot different ways than a slow and calming river. So, we enjoyed the water, the waves, the skipping stones and the cool breeze brought from the endless horizon. Then we squished and squashed our way back to the bus and made our way to dinner.

There we ate some beef cooked right there on our table, had some rice and seaweed, plenty of orange and guava juice, and, for some of us, various portions of a a cow that generally don't find their way to our plates.

Now, we are here at our hotel, enjoying the company of one another, saying goodbye to new friends and relaxing before another big day tomorrow. --KMR

Thomas--End.