Shannon Warren.com

From Chicago I took an eight hour Amtrak train ride (pictures) to Minneapolis. Here I am taking a few days to relax and visit family.

These pictures are from an afternoon in downtown Minneapolis with my cousin & a few of his friends. We visited the Minneapolis Sculpture Gardens as well as city center.

I like Minneapolis. Generally, I would say it is somewhat like Houston; i.e. it is not the biggest or oldest city around, but does provide its residents with a vibrant life & ample opportunities. But the real treat for me has been the ability to experience “Minnie” through the eyes of my family living here.

BTW - On Sunday my uncle gave a really moving presentation in support of Lifeline of Hope (LLH), a ministry to the orphans of the developing world. I’d like to make a quick plug for that organization & his work with it. If you or your church would like to support a worthy cause, please prayerfully consider LLH.

Here are a few pictures from my recent visit to downtown Chicago. I think they turned out pretty great.

Becky told me that I needed to spend an afternoon in Millennium Park and I’m glad she did, it was awesome! Most of my pictures are of the interesting things & people in it. Take a look.

Generally, Chicago was very impressive. The people were exceptionally friendly, the public spaces & museums were above average, and the weather wasn’t too terrible in mid-August. The Cubs fans are less obnoxious in Chicago than in Houston… but they were still obnoxious! Much like Aggie fans, they stand by their team for famine and feast. Very admirable!

The one disappointing part of my trip was my accommodations. The youth hostel I stayed in (Arlington House) was the worst, dirtiest, poorest-run hostel Iâ??d ever stayed in. And Iâ??ve stayed in plenty. Whatever you do, do not stay there!

Nonetheless, Chicago isnâ??t to blame for one crummy youth hostel, and all-in-all I look forward to another visit to The Windy City.

I had the good fortune of travelling with Tim, Jon, Tom & Ryan during thier vacation time this year (Tim & Jon last year also).

Owing to my father’s unused international buddy-passes we had the opportunity to make a grand trip on a shoestring. Flight availability & our low boarding priority led us to to Japan.

The group never lacked for conversation. Between us we had one medical doctor, one Ph.D. in Anthropology, one Masters in Architecture, one Masters from M.I.T., and my relatively insignificant year of law school. As a result, our discussions were always stimulating, sometimes heated, and managed to cover life, the universe, and everything.

Our trip, however, was not entirely academic. We did manage to have quite a lot of fun.

Tokyo represents the center of modern Japan & the seat of Japanese power. There we explored the Imperial Gardens, saw the heart of the video arcade universe, and witnessed the orderly anarchy that is the Tokyo Metro.

The Photos
For the most part I really like how these pictures turned out. Note that my camera was largely shared, so attribute the good pictures to Tim, Tom & Ryan, and the rest to me. Finally, Tom is an Architect with a trained eye for design. I’ve placed many of the pictures he took of buildings in this sperate album.

Hey everybody, here are my favorites of the pictures I took while at the Grand Canyon. I think I took ~300 photos and have narrowed those down to about 25.

I hope to someday add some text and stories to this post; however, in the meantime I would summarize my visit with the words “life changing”. Otherwise I would note that the most frequently heard conversation is that of a mother to her child, “Kimberly you get back from that edge!” And, even though my mom wasn’t with me, her voice rang in my ears the whole time.

Here are the pictures:

Here are a few pictures from my visit to my Uncle’s Ranch in the Texas Pan-Handle.

Summer 2001. A good friend, Rob Vincent, and I backpacked through Germany & Austria.

When people ask the beautiful place I’ve ever been, I usually answer the Austrian Alps. The pictures come pretty close to capturing my experiences.

Summer 2001, with my good buddy Rob Vincent in Samara, Russia I arranged a quick mission/discovery trip to see this formerly Soviet dominated part of the world & the church therein.

My time in Russia was only 2 weeks, preceded by 1 week in Germany & followed by about 5 days in the Austrian Alps. Russia was broken up between Moscow & Samara.

Note, Samara is about 500 Miles from Moscow.