Quest for the 50/50 club

One of my main motivations for going overseas to coach was to see more of Europe and experience it from a perspective of living here rather than just staying for a few weeks on a vacation and then going back home. The experience has been very enriching for me and my family and we are surely blessed to have had this time here together in Finland. I miss home and our family and friends back in the states, but this experience has surely changed our lives in a profound way. I hope to continue traveling and teaching my children the importance of opening their minds up to other cultures and new experiences. On top of this, I am on a mission to be a part of the 50/50 club. It is a goal of mine to visit the 5o U.S. states and 50 foreign countries in my lifetime. I visited all 50 U.S. states by the time I was 28, and now I am working on countries. I have visited over 30 countries to date including 5 of the 7 continents and numerous other islands and territories. I still have about 20 countries left to visit, so there will be many more miles to conquer before I am through. Estalita has also visited all 50 states with me and she is only a few countries behind me. I look forward to many more travels with her and the kids.
I have included some pics from the game last Saturday in Tampere, Finland as well as a few from my round of golf at the Green Zone Course. This course lies on the border between Sweden and Finland. The first few holes are in Finland, but on the 3rd hole you hit the ball from a tee in Finland to a fairway in Sweden. If you hook the ball badly on a drive, it will stay in Finland. If you slice it badly it will end up in a cove in Sweden. Most of the rest of the course is like this. There are certain holes that are entirely in one country, but then others like the 6th where both countries come into play. On the 6th hole, you tee off on the par 3 from Sweden and the front half of the green is also in Sweden. However, the back half of the green lies in Finland. Are you confused yet? Anyway, playing this course was a lot of fun. There was a ton of water on the course, and I managed to find it on several occasions. One other interesting aspect to this course is that you can literally play here 24 hours a day in the summer because of the midnight sun. This also means that you can play the front nine late at night and complete the 9th hole just before the new day starts. Assuming that it is around midnight, you could proceed to hole number 10 and literally jump back into yesterday as you hit the ball from Finland into Sweden where they are one hour behind!!

Getting the bus loaded up for the road trip to Tampere

A short break to stretch the legs and skip some stones

Pre-game stretch--- I won't say what our tight end Riku is doing in this picture--- Ok, I will. He was recruited by our 3 year old Kaylin to change the diaper on her doll.

The Crocs take the field

Kodie snuck onto the bench late in the game for some game strategy talk

The weather changed multiple times during the game and we were prepared

Cost of meal 33 euros or about $45 U.S. --- Celebrating post-game victory with family PRICELESS

Has anybody spotted SpongeBob?

Heading to the park with baby in tow

One course--- Two countries

Hole # 3-- Tee box in Finland and Fairways in Sweden

Water is in the way on #3 as you look towards Sweden

Kamryn took this shot of me on # 1

Picture of our sauna at our log cabin in Lapland last week

Full English Breakfast compliments of my favorite middle linebacker from the UK-- Dale Powell and his mom (mum)
His mom sent the bacon along with his girlfriend who is visiting Finland--- English bacon is our favorite and this was a great surprise
The full menu included fried eggs, baked beans, mushrooms, grilled tomato, toast, bacon, and of course the best sauce in the monarchy-- HP Sauce
The only thing missing from the menu is a cup of tea and some bangers (that means sausages for all us Yankees)
Lights out.