It was delicious, and we had lots of fun. Sometimes, I remember those dinners as something I would do with friends of my age or probably not. Just with friends. I have lots of friends who are ten years older than I am. We laughed so much! Of course Maria had to ask about the role of the women in the Church. I guess she made that her mission in life! But we spoke about all. I mean: they spoke about all. I just listened and from time to time would … [Read more...]
Under the Cobalt
Africa greets you with immediate attention. You just barely exit the boat ramp before many men, who we kindly call hustlers, but who call themselves "guides," greet you, offering you their local expertise for a price. I ignored all eyes and comments as a way to say I was uninterested, but it was more difficult than that. We managed to make our way to the more honest taxi stands and request a ride to the bus station. We had decided to go directly … [Read more...]
Mt. Kilimanjaro Climb
9/1/2000 - Friday After traveling for three days and undergoing quite an ordeal getting from San Luis Obispo to Nairobi, Kenya, I finally arrive in the Nairobi airport at 7:50 pm. After going through Customs and gratefully retrieving my backpack and suitcase from the baggage claim area, I was overjoyed to see John Bragg there to greet me. We had some very long big hugs of relief to have made it to Nairobi safely and in time before the rest of … [Read more...]
The Safari
Marangu, Tanzania 9/9/2000 - Saturday At 9 am Bill, Carole and I left the Kibo Hotel in Marangu in a green Land Rover with our driver Fred to start our photo safari in the Tanzanian bush. We drove to a bank in Moshi where I obtained a VISA advance to buy a tanzanite gem and then to a jewelry store for ring sizing and setting. The stone I've selected is to be set into a ring while I'm on safari and will be delivered to me later. Then we … [Read more...]
Five Days in Vegas
Our plane touches down at eleven o'clock pm after a five hour flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. My wife and I start our five day vacation in-famous Las Vegas. For fifty-nine years I have been meaning to pay a visit to the city where anything goes and finally I have made it thanks to a little incentive from Hurricane Ivan. We jump into a taxi and right away the happy-go-lucky driver wants to know if we want to take the freeway or the strip … [Read more...]
Las Vegas
One of the most exciting tours I have ever taken in my life was one of my Las Vegas grand canyon tours. Imagine floating in the air over the grand canyon, one of the wonders of the world. As we arranged for the champagne lunch tour, the helicopter company sent a limo to pick us up at the hotel. The ride lasted about five minutes then we were dropped off at the helicopter launch. Fellow passengers from all over the world chatted and waited for … [Read more...]
Peru Expedition Part 1 6/20/01 – 7/15/01
Wed. 6/20/01 My sister Patty drove me to the San Luis Obispo airport, as she has done on many previous trips; and I left SLO at 10:36 am, arriving in LAX at 11:45 am. There I joined several other fellow climbers and trekkers (including my son Kevin and his friend Deborah) who had arrived from other cities. Leaving LAX at 2:10 pm, we arrived in Lima, Peru at 12:40 am on 6/21 after an 8.5 hour flight and adjusted our watches for the 2-hour time … [Read more...]
Bangkok, Thailand – Shopping
Major shopping districts in Bangkok include parts of the Suhumvit and Silom areas of Bangkok. Shopping here can be a serious affair for some people - with a number of patrons getting decked out in their finest. And of course there are always a number of dressed down phone toting tourists (looking for the ideal selfie spot), expats and those people watching. It is not hard to shop till you drop in this town - although you won't be dropping from … [Read more...]
Bangkok, Thailand – Food
Thai food is incredible in it's flavors and diversity. Street vendors are everywhere in Bangkok. Depending where you are in this city, you can eat at most any hour of the day or night. Most of these food vendors setup shop on a street sidewalk - they have a small glass container for displaying the food, maybe a few plastic chairs/tables and they will have a small stall for cooking the actual food - which is done by using a stove hooked into a … [Read more...]
Bangkok, Thailand – Restaurants
In Bangkok, some of the street food can be as good as any of the sit down restaurants and certainly much cheaper. In addition, Thai's pride themselves on cleanliness. Compared to our street food experiences in other countries where we have often gotten sick, we do not get sick from street food in Bangkok. In many parts of Bangkok street food vendors are seemingly everywhere and in certain districts they stay open very late. For example if you … [Read more...]