 Regina meets me in the airport, at about 4a.m.! All my possible flights to and from Tbilisi were at such strange hours. |
 Reilly and I at a restaurant that overlooks Tbilisi |
 This car was LOADED UP with stuff! |
 People let their cows (and goats, and pigs) graze everywhere. We saw plenty near, and on, the street. |
 Bill plays with Juan Carlos and Reilly behind our hotel in Kobuleti, which was on the beach at the Black Sea. |
 Baby Keti, asleep in her carrier |
 We stayed at a hotel that also fed us breakfast and dinner. Here we're with Juan Carlos and Patricia and their kids, who Reilly LOVED to play with. |
 I hang out with Keti |
 More playing with Keti, this time at Ureki beach |
 Cows on the beach! Reilly, Keti, Juan Carlos, and I investigate (and Regina, holding the camera!) |
 Regina, Bill, Reilly, Patricia, Maria Jose, Me, Juan Carlos with little Juan Carlos, and Griselda |
 Until a few weeks before our visit, this was an active -- and well-maintained -- customs building. Then the local government was ousted, Kobuleti returned to Georgian control, and locals gutted the building, taking everything they could possibly use -- including windows, panes and all |
 When the local government was ousted, the outgoing leader bombed all bridges into and out of Kobuleti. This is a temporary bridge, replacing one of the bombed bridges. |
 Reilly is going through a cowboy phase - he has his cowboy shirt, hat, belt, boots, and more! |
 I go to the U. S. Embassy's Fourth of July party with the Hawkins family |
 This merry-go-round got pretty wild! LOTS of kids, pushing faster and faster... |
 Reilly did OK though, gaining this prime seat |
 I got to play too! Notice the matching t-shirts. Regina had lent me a holiday shirt, and we didn't notice the match till we were leaving for the party. One plan: tell everyone we're twins! |
 Regina and Reilly relax, waiting for the fireworks |
 Later in the evening, I relax with Keti back at the house |
 We went to a park in Tbilisi, which included ponds and botanical gardens |
 See the frog on the middle lily pad? Brian took a similar photo in Germany while we traveled separately! |
 Reilly loves to see the baby, especially to kiss her and talk to her |
 Another overlook of Tbilisi |
 Me by Mother Georgia, one of many huge statues left from Soviet days |
 I stand at the base of Mother Georgia with Regina and Reilly |
 Looking UP at the statue |
 Nearby, a tree with many strips of cloth tied to it. Each tie represents a wish |
 A view of Old Tbilisi, with a church at center. Georgia's churches have this distinctive shape, especially in the roof |
 The Hawkins family at the base of Mother Georgia |
 The Hawkins family again, overlooking the botanical gardens area |
 The Museum of Pork! Actually, of Folk, but the font was fun |
 Neat walls of a fortress |
 More walls, and a lookout tower |
 Looking higher up on the fortress |
 The Blue Bath in Tbilisi, one of many places to experience the area's natural hot sulfur springs |
 Mother Georgia, from far below |
 The founder of Georgia, King Vakhtang Gorgasali |
 Bill and Regina, with the fortress -- and another church -- in the distance behind them |
 I stand with Regina by the statue of King Gorgasali |
 Regina's favorite statue, based on the Georgian epic "The Knight in the Panther Skin" (taken from a moving car!) |
 Reilly at dinner - cheers! |
 Regina peers down at us from the upstairs balcony |
 Playing with Keti - my last night in Georgia! |
 A big hug from Reilly |
 Petting Congo, the world-traveling Hawkins family dog |
 Piggyback with Reilly |