I ordered my ticket to Japan; I finally committed to flying in the middle of October. I also got a ticket for New York in the middle of August, and yesterday, Linda and I drove to India in West Virginia. Amazing what you can see here in the US.

We went to New Vrindaban, a religious community set in the hills about two hours from Pittsburgh. After driving almost an hour on winding two lane roads we came to another world. First, you see the Palace of Gold, a monument to the founder of the Hare Krishna movement, Sri Prabhupada.  We took a tour of the temple and walked around the rose garden. Then we got back in the car and drove a short distance, past a lake, to the temple.
We were encouraged to walk around even though prayers were in progress. Many people seemed to come and go, and many spoke to us and helped us to understand the prayers and symbols in the temple. But I suspect it would take the rest of my life to fully understand. One altar particularly fascinated me:
Jaganath_Baladev_Subadhra. I have not been able to find anything about these images. See a picture here. Maybe I have to go back there.

A vegetarian lunch was served at the conclusion of the activities in the temple. I could eat like that every day. Linda and I went back to the Palace of Gold for another look around. I took pictures I will put in a New Vrindaban album.