A personal account of the Qi Gung, Shaolin Kung Fu, & Taoist Meditation Workshop held at the Omega Institute with David Carradine from October 1-3, 1999

I am on my way. I had my doubts earlier in the week when my morning sickness kicked in Saturday and stayed with me until about Tuesday. As it passed on Wednesday, I still had doubts about traveling. Morning sickness is akin to motion sickness. But by Thursday, the adreniline kicked in and was to stay with me all that weekened until that Monday after I returned home.

Traveling was easy and my timing excellent. I got to Washington National airport with plenty of time to spare and I was soon boarding my plane to New York. The flight was only an hour and after I landed at La Guardia, I hailed a cab and was off to Penn Station. Without realizing it, Penn Station is under Madison Square Garden. With the denseness of New York, it makes sense. It makes you wonder what else has been built below that we do not know about. Thoughts of the TV show Beauty and the Beast came to mind. Could the world of Vincent actually exist?

After arriving at Penn Station, it would not be long before my train would be leaving. I was reluctant to get lunch, not sure as to where I might acquire it. I did not want to miss my train. Luckily, I saved back a bagel from the plain and had that so I would not be starving. Getting to the train was easy when my number was called. I found a seat where I did not have to try to lift my luggage to the rack and we were soon on our way. The ride to Rhinecliff was pleasant and I wished I could travel by rail more often. I got lucky and I sat on the side where the Hudson River flowed so I could see the scenery pass me by. The water was quite high from the recent hurricane. At one portion, it looked like the water would have covered the tracks.

Two hours later, I was stopping in Rhinecliff and not long after, I got a cab and was heading for Rhinebeck where I was to meet Helen at the Beckman Arms.

The Beckman Arms Inn

The Beckman Arms is the oldest Inn in America. The restaurant was named The 1766 Tavern and Restaurant. Next door is one of the oldest post offices.

The Post Office

The Beckman Arms was the favorite eating place of FDR and his wife. Their home and library are just 3 miles outside of town. There is a website http://www.innbrook.com with information on it.

I arrived at the Inn about 3:30-4:00 that afternoon and Helen was waiting. We talked a great deal about just how exciting it was and how we could not believe we were actually doing this. She gave me a wonderful T-shirt of Peter and Caine. it is an image from one of the fanzines. VERY NICE. It was done by the person who created the image. After a time we went out to dinner at a Chinese Restaurant that looked more like it had been some other family restaurant at one time. The place was called Mill House Panda. The food was great and then afterward, we walked around the town. We stopped at the pharmacy to grab a few snacks for later and stopped in a wonderful shop filled with items from China and India. They had these paper umbrellas and Helen bought one. We went back to the hotel and talked more. We soon were settling down for the night, though truth be told, I could have stayed up all night and talked. But tomorow would be a busy day and we needed rest.