Bestyears - You are so welcome. I must confess that I am thankful that I'm finally out of the college search process. All 3 of mine have finished college, one added an MBA, one went to law school and the third went Ivy League and is now an apprentice in stage production in Philly. If your DD ends up there I'm only about 20 minutes away - I'll met you in Center City for lunch! I've always liked Drexel although none of mine went there. My kids drew a circle around Philly and then looked for schools outside that area. Part of that is because their high school was fairly small - they had about 150 in their graduating classes and they wanted a broader life experience. But many of their classmates did graduate from Drexel and most of them enrolled in the co-op program. And for trips back to Texas - it's an easy commute to the airport. My brother lives in Houston and he used to fly up to visit our parents often. Even though I grew up on the other side of Penna. after living here for 30 years I've become an unabashed supporter of Philly. It's just so darned convenient. The Jersey shore is 60 miles away, New York City is 90 and there are several ski areas within a 2 hour drive. When my DD was at Columbia I'd hop the train and in 90 minutes I'd be in Manhattan and we'd met up for a day of shopping or a Broadway matinee or just lunch. I'm not sure where you are in Texas but we do get snow here!

Wow....what an amazing list of people.... too many of them no longer with us or active here. It is nice to remember some of their names and their struggles that we shared. Thanks for the memories.

Hi Jules, We ended up using Amber Tours, based in Delhi, and they were excellent. I basically planned the itinerary, and the hotels, but they had someone with us every moment we were in India. A local guide, our driver and his assistant. It was better than 5 star service. Exceeded my expectations (as did the entire trip). I don't usually like or want my hand held, but India may not be a good DIY destination especially with a family and if one likes creature comforts. You of course balance creature comforts against "authentic" experiences, but I felt pleased with the balance for us. I chose them over Greaves because they are based in India. The pricing was very similar (no bargains anywhere for sure). We flew into and out of Mumbai, but only to get free flights (for five people in flat beds over spring break, not easy). The only way I could use my frequent flyer miles was by taking that route, so that was pretty compelling (the seats would have cost 10-12k each). I would not suggest Mumbai otherwise. I didn't go to Delhi because I had been on business before and I generally didn't want big cities. But at least Delhi makes sense geographically if you want to see Agra and Rajasthan. Once I get over the jet lag, I am tempted to go back. We didn't see the Himalayas, or the South at all (many recommend river cruises in Kerala). We were not interested in any safari-type destinations, BTDT, but many seem to like those too. Our itinerary within India was: Mumbai, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaiselmer, Jaipur, Alwar, Agra, Varanasi We stayed at a the Oberoi Mumbai, Oberoi, Udaivilas, Umaid Bhiwan Palace, The Serai, Oberoi Rajvilas, Amanbagh, Oberoi Amarvial and the Nadesar Palace. As far as itineraries go, Mumbai is interesting but I wouldn't have gone there if we hadn't landed there. I would also take Jaiselmer and Varanasi off the itinerary, and maybe even Alwar (where the Aman is). The rest of the cities are musts, and we loved visiting them. India is such a beautiful place. Mumbai is mostly just a big modern city. There were some interesting temples, the market, the laundry, a house where Ghandi lived, but .. ehh. Jaiselmer had intrigued me for the sand dune camel rides and the 14th century fort, near the Pakistan border. The fort was kind of honky tonk, plus you will see soooo many forts. The camel rides were fun, but you can do those elsewhere, and people say the dunes are even better outside Jodhpur. The best thing about it was the hotel, where we stayed in luxury tents that were fab. we had never done the luxe tent before and I thought the kids would love it; they did. But it is a long way to go! We rented a plane to get us from Jaisemler because otherwise it was 10hr on the road. Not worth it. Alwar is where the Aman is. And not a whole lot else. There is a fort and a temple, like just about everywhere, and the property is gorgeous, just a show stopper ... but TBVH I don't think it is worth a detour in the context of a once-in-a-lifetime trip to India. We had a wonderful stay at the Aman (big fan of the brand) but the Oberois "-vilas" brand is every bit as good as Aman, if not better (heresy!). I do not think it is hyperbole to declare Oberoi -vilas the best hotel brand in the world. Since the Aman is out of the way, I would take it off the list, if that allowed me to visit say, the Himalayas, or Kerala. We knew Varanasi was a "challenging" place to take a family. I'm glad I went but not sure I would recommend it, esp, since, like Jaiselmer, it is out of the way. It is a crazy circus of a place, like Time Sq New Years eve and Coney Island, times ten, with lots of cows, bulls, dogs, incessant horns, rickshaws, tuks tuks, and motorcycles thrown in, and incredible layers of dirt and stench and the infrastructure of a war zone. It was important to me to visit the Ganges, even if it would probably be a Superfund site here at home. I think we will always remember it, I will say that. Some people think it is the most important site in India. Maybe if you are very spiritual (certainly if one is devout Hindu). I thought the Aarti ceremony with fire was interesting but not worth the trip itself. The cremations are interesting but I didn't feel it was a terribly moving expereince, YMMV. The holy men, covered in white ash and dredlocks and wearing loincloths, seemed like something out of a NatGeo film. As far as hotels, they were superb. I would make only one change. In Jodhpur, everyone favors the Umaid Palace. Look at the room photos online. For some reason it makes me think of 70s Moscow. I found it depressing. The common areas are TDF and it is cool that the Mararaja lives there, but I would choose the hip Raas downtown. We lunched there. In Varanasi, another former palace, the Nadesar was cool (Reza Pahlavi slept in our room once -- sp?) but a tad rundown. That said, it is the best in Varanasi. The service and food (both Western and Indian) at all of these hotels was more than 5 star. But, as you know, the prices are Western. I was told even domestic travellers pay those prices, and I can believe it; there is tremendous wealth there alongside the poverty. Eye-popping wealth. We took Ciproflaxin with us and ate everything, including foods offered to us by locals in a few cases. Three of us got sick over out trip but within hours the Cipro cured it, and we all just took one each day from then on. I was very surprised at the quality and hipness of the Western fare, we also tried a lot of Indian dishes, did a cooking demo, and gained new favorites. The people are very warm, and it seemed, genuine. They truly seem to have a light, as corny as that sounds. We drove for hours through many small towns, deserts and farms and saw shepherds and farmers and women in saris carrying things on their head. They wave and smile and say hello. We saw very very little begging, and at no time did we ever see anyone who appeared malnourished, to my great surprise. I was told that Rajasthan, where most of our touring was, is one of the wealthier states. Flights within India were fine (usually only one class of service), but Air India is just ok where as Indigo is a great airline (seems identical to Jetblue). HTH! I will post pictures soon but I still have a laptop issue with Iphoto and it is a long saga to fix.

Eddie Rickenbacker Quotes American - Aviator October 8, 1890 - July 27, 1973 Aviation is proof that given, the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible. Eddie Rickenbacker When I look up and see the sun shining on the patch of white clouds up in the blue, I begin to think how it would feel to be up somewhere above it winging swiftly thought the clear air, watching the earth below, and the men on it, no bigger than ants. Eddie Rickenbacker The four cornerstones of character on which the structure of this nation was built are: Initiative, Imagination, Individuality and Independence. Eddie Rickenbacker I can give you a six-word formula for success: Think things through - then follow through. Eddie Rickenbacker The obviously inexperienced pilot is the game the scientific air-fighter goes after, and the majority of victories are won that way. But, on the other hand, it is the novice usually who gets the famous ace by doing at some moment the unexpected thing. Eddie Rickenbacker There is a peculiar gratification in receiving congratulations from one's squadron for a victory in the air. It is worth more to a pilot than the applause of the whole outside world. Eddie Rickenbacker I would rather have a million friends than a million dollars. Eddie Rickenbacker Fighting in the air is not a sport. It is scientific murder. Eddie Rickenbacker I'll fight like a wildcat until they nail the lid of my pine box down on me. Eddie Rickenbacker It is the easiest thing in the world to die. The hardest is to live. Eddie Rickenbacker The sensation of dying is sweet, sensuous, placid. Eddie Rickenbacker Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you are scared. Eddie Rickenbacker Never count on the crowd to take care of you. Eddie Rickenbacker I've cheated the Grim Reaper more times than anyone I know. Eddie Rickenbacker The experienced fighting pilot does not take unnecessary risks. His business is to shoot down enemy planes, not to get shot down. Eddie Rickenbacker Flying is one of the safest jobs in the Army as long as you don't drop out. If you do drop out, you are a dead man, and dropping out means, usually, that you have made a mistake or let go of your grip. Eddie Rickenbacker Long practise in driving a racing car at a hundred miles an hour or so gives first-class training in control and judging distances at high speed and helps tremendously in getting motor sense, which is rather the feel of your engine than the sound of it, a thing you get through your bones and nerves rather than simply your ears. Eddie Rickenbacker I shall never ask any pilot to go on a mission that I won't go on. Eddie Rickenbacker When I was racing, I had learned that you can't set stock in public adoration or your press clippings. By the time I was 26, I'd heard crowds of 100,000 scream my name, but a week later they couldn't remember who I was. You're a hero today and a bum tomorrow - hero to zero, I sometimes say. Eddie Rickenbacker I am not a labor hater. Eddie Rickenbacker Some friends are better shots than are casual enemies. Eddie Rickenbacker Sports of every sort had always appealed to me. Eddie Rickenbacker The excitement of automobile racing did not compare with what I knew must come with aeroplane fighting in France. Eddie Rickenbacker John W. Gardner Quotes American - Educator October 8, 1912 - February 16, 2002 Life is the art of drawing without an eraser. John W. Gardner Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well. John W. Gardner Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world's ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all. John W. Gardner True happiness involves the full use of one's power and talents. John W. Gardner The ultimate goal of the educational system is to shift to the individual the burden of pursing his own education. This will not be a widely shared pursuit until we get over our odd conviction that education is what goes on in school buildings and nowhere else. John W. Gardner Whoever I am, or whatever I am doing, some kind of excellence is within my reach. John W. Gardner Men of integrity, by their very existence, rekindle the belief that as a people we can live above the level of moral squalor. We need that belief; a cynical community is a corrupt community. John W. Gardner Our problem is not to find better values but to be faithful to those we profess. John W. Gardner The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water. John W. Gardner Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants. John W. Gardner All laws are an attempt to domesticate the natural ferocity of the species. John W. Gardner We are all faced with a series of great opportunities - brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems. John W. Gardner Some people strengthen the society just by being the kind of people they are. John W. Gardner Some people have greatness thrust upon them. Very few have excellence thrust upon them. John W. Gardner It is hard to feel individually responsible with respect to the invisible processes of a huge and distant government. John W. Gardner If you don't give your kid freedom to make choices with money, including stupid choices, he'll make plenty when he gets to college. John W. Gardner One of the reasons people stop learning is that they become less and less willing to risk failure. John W. Gardner The idea for which this nation stands will not survive if the highest goal free man can set themselves is an amiable mediocrity. Excellence implies striving for the highest standards in every phase of life. John W. Gardner History never looks like history when you are living through it. John W. Gardner For every talent that poverty has stimulated it has blighted a hundred. John W. Gardner The cynic says, 'One man can't do anything.' I say, 'Only one man can do anything.' John W. Gardner The creative individual has the capacity to free himself from the web of social pressures in which the rest of us are caught. He is capable of questioning the assumptions that the rest of us accept. John W. Gardner If you have some respect for people as they are, you can be more effective in helping them to become better than they are. John W. Gardner It's a staggering transition for high school students that found they could study five hours a week and make As and Bs. John W. Gardner When one may pay out over two million dollars to presidential and Congressional campaigns, the U.S. government is virtually up for sale. John W. Gardner America's greatness has been the greatness of a free people who shared certain moral commitments. Freedom without moral commitment is aimless and promptly self-destructive. John W. Gardner I am entirely certain that twenty years from now we will look back at education as it is practiced in most schools today and wonder that we could have tolerated anything so primitive. John W. Gardner Leaders come in many forms, with many styles and diverse qualities. There are quiet leaders and leaders one can hear in the next county. Some find strength in eloquence, some in judgment, some in courage. John W. Gardner The hallmark of our age is the tension between aspirations and sluggish institutions. John W. Gardner Bill Vaughan Quotes American - Journalist October 8, 1915 - February 25, 1977 Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them. Bill Vaughan Money won't buy happiness, but it will pay the salaries of a large research staff to study the problem. Bill Vaughan The tax collector must love poor people, he's creating so many of them. Bill Vaughan We hope that, when the insects take over the world, they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics. Bill Vaughan Economists report that a college education adds many thousands of dollars to a man's lifetime income - which he then spends sending his son to college. Bill Vaughan An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. Bill Vaughan Muscles come and go; flab lasts. Bill Vaughan A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works. Bill Vaughan In the game of life, it's a good idea to have a few early losses, which relieves you of the pressure of trying to maintain an undefeated season. Bill Vaughan By the time you're eighty years old you've learned everything. You only have to remember it. Bill Vaughan The groundhog is like most other prophets; it delivers its prediction and then disappears. Bill Vaughan The whale is endangered, while the ant continues to do just fine. Bill Vaughan I'm an actor. And I guess I've done so many movies I've achieved some high visibility. But a star? I guess I still think of myself as kind of a worker ant. Bill Vaughan It would be nice if the poor were to get even half of the money that is spent in studying them. Bill Vaughan A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won't cross the street to vote in a national election. Bill Vaughan People learn something every day, and a lot of times it's that what they learned the day before was wrong. Bill Vaughan The Vice-Presidency is sort of like the last cookie on the plate. Everybody insists he won't take it, but somebody always does. Bill Vaughan Youth is when you're allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you're forced to. Bill Vaughan A three year old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it does out of finding a small green worm. Bill Vaughan Man is the animal that intends to shoot himself out into interplanetary space, after having given up on the problem of an efficient way to get himself five miles to work and back each day. Bill Vaughan Maybe the answer to Selective Service is to start everyone off in the army and draft them for civilian life as needed. Bill Vaughan If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist, it's another nonconformist who doesn't conform to the prevailing standard of nonconformity. Bill Vaughan Now that women are jockeys, baseball umpires, atomic scientists, and business executives, maybe someday they can master parallel parking. Bill Vaughan To God, thy country, and thy friend be true. Bill Vaughan The wonderful world of home appliances now makes it possible to cook indoors with charcoal and outdoors with gas. Bill Vaughan Walter Lord Quotes American - Author October 8, 1917 - May 19, 2002 It's a funny thing, but today the Titanic is probably much more - that is people are much more aware of it than they were in 1954, when I was doing my research. Walter Lord Brilliantly lit from stem to stern, she looked like a sagging birthday cake. Walter Lord Events alone rarely provide much guide to the future. Walter Lord You have to study the people and the ones that measure up are not always the ones you expect. Walter Lord I never earned a dollar that was not somehow through writing. Walter Lord I look for something that is highly unusual, involving ordinary people caught in extraordinary situations. Walter Lord Someone once told me the one thread that runs through them all is a premium on personal courage - not intellectual courage, but just plain physical courage. Walter Lord It would be nice to say the rich people, the fancy people, all behaved like bastards and the poor slobs all came through like heroes. But as a matter of fact, sometimes the poor slobs behave like slobs and the great, noble, privileged characters come off very well, indeed. Walter Lord There were exceptions, a couple of families that just plain didn't want to even think about it, although forty years had passed but mostly the people were very interested in talking about it. Walter Lord Frank Herbert Quotes American - Writer October 8, 1920 - February 11, 1986 Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty. - Frank Herbert Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty. Frank Herbert Respect for the truth comes close to being the basis for all morality. Frank Herbert I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain. Frank Herbert If you think of yourselves as helpless and ineffectual, it is certain that you will create a despotic government to be your master. The wise despot, therefore, maintains among his subjects a popular sense that they are helpless and ineffectual. Frank Herbert To suspect your own mortality is to know the beginning of terror, to learn irrefutably that you are mortal is to know the end of terror. Frank Herbert The people I distrust most are those who want to improve our lives but have only one course of action. Frank Herbert The difference between sentiment and being sentimental is the following: Sentiment is when a driver swerves out of the way to avoid hitting a rabbit on the road. Being sentimental is when the same driver, when swerving away from the rabbit, hits a pedestrian. Frank Herbert One of the best things to come out of the home computer revolution could be the general and widespread understanding of how severely limited logic really is. Frank Herbert The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand. Frank Herbert The proximity of a desirable thing tempts one to overindulgence. On that path lies danger. Frank Herbert Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken. Frank Herbert Truth suffers from too much analysis. Frank Herbert Kindness is the beginning of cruelty. Frank Herbert There is no escape - we pay for the violence of our ancestors. Frank Herbert Think you of the fact that a deaf person cannot hear. Then, what deafness may we not all possess? What senses do we lack that we cannot see and cannot hear another world all around us? Frank Herbert Enemies make you stronger, allies make you weaker. Frank Herbert He who can destroy a thing, can control a thing. Frank Herbert It is a wise man that does know the contented man is never poor, whilst the discontented man is never rich. Frank Herbert How often it is that the angry man rages denial of what his inner self is telling him. Frank Herbert Religion often partakes of the myth of progress that shields us from the terrors of an uncertain future. Frank Herbert Something cannot emerge from nothing. Frank Herbert The stakes in conflict do not change. Battle determines who will control the wealth or its equivalent. Frank Herbert To attempt seeing Truth without knowing Falsehood. It is the attempt to see the Light without knowing the Darkness. It cannot be. Frank Herbert Wealth is a tool of freedom, but the pursuit of wealth is the way to slavery. Frank Herbert When law and duty are one, united by religion, you never become fully conscious, fully aware of yourself. You are always a little less than an individual. Frank Herbert What do you despise? By this are you truly known. Frank Herbert Any road followed precisely to its end leads precisely nowhere. Climb the mountain just a little bit to test it's a mountain. From the top of the mountain, you cannot see the mountain. Frank Herbert