An Outing at Cao Tun

In the beginning of October (or was it end of September?) Jo invited me along to a World Vision (Central Taiwan chapter) outing to a pretty and scenic place called Cao Tun (T'sao Ch'uen for all you non PinYin people out there....). It was a really nice spot. There were a total of about 40 of us and we had a tour of the area, a picnic and just a relaxing time on the refurbrished grounds (this was a place almost smack dab in the epi-center of the Sept 21 earthquake a few years ago....). They did a great job in landscaping it and making it have a 'park-like' feeling.

Unfortunately, I was in charge of the camera and neglected my duty (I was enjoying the scenery too much....). Thus, there are not many pics, but here are some to give you a taste:

This is a shot from the grounds there. The mountains in the background
are so beautiful! (Sidenote: many people forget how damn beautiful
Taiwan really is...holy cow....just get OUT of the city!)

A little lazy bridge leading to a wildlife refuge for birds and other smaller animals

Here is our picnic grounds. How many people do you see?
Hint: even though most Chinese are super skinny (NOT naming names..Jo)
they are NOT grey colored....

Ok fine, I am sucking in my stomach....but you don't understand...
I had a picnic with skinny trees and I felt Rhino-fat.....
Anyway, it is a nice picture of some vibrant flowers....

Here are some Word Vision volunteers (what a great organization!)
The young man on the right helped initiate Jo into WV and they have been
good friends ever since.
Note: that is NOT underwear she is holding, it is cotton/silk from a nearby tree....
Geez...

Taiwan is full of surprises. You walk along a street expecting to see common things when the unexpected hits you. That is a blog in itself...

Anyway, one of the cool surprises here was that the park basically takes in unwanted dogs and lets them go around the area in a free manner. I was both so happy about this, but also saddened by the terrible fact that too many Taiwanese love "cute" puppies, but dislike dogs when they become an adult - so they literally discard them. I will save my wrath in another post or sometime else, but needless to say, I was happy that these dogs found not a good - but a great home. They are in cages now, but that is because we are on a tour and most Taiwanese are scared of big dogs (since if the dog stands up, they are almost as tall as some Taiwanese! - Heck, I would be a little put off by a dog large enough to best me while standing up...). The owners of the park really love dogs and do their best to take care of them. Many of the dogs bite and are nasty when they arrive - from years of abuse - but the owner said that after a few weeks here, they all change and mellow out.
So cool....

"Le Le" (Happy Happy) is trying to bite me in fun...
(Damn, forgot to suck in.....haha)

Soooooooooo Cute....This is the kind of Jo and I would probably get soon....
It was hard to continue the tour after seeing these guys....
I stayed much longer than the others....

A little tongue for the camera....

This actually looked like a larger version of the dog my ex-girfriend had.
Such a beautiful fuzzy friend!

This is another cute dog....OH! Sorry! I mean it is Jo trying to look
casual on a Hammock...I mean, come on....I don't think you are fat enough to break
the damn thing, right? What are you nervous for??? Me, on the other hand.....

One last attempt of trying to take a "Nature" photo....

So overall a great day and outing.

If you are ever in the area, stop on by!

Jeff & Jo