Why Owe Ming

We drove through Wyoming very quickly. Well, actually it took a long time or felt like it did because it was a pretty hot day for us. We have been spoiled by this beautiful weather. I will tell you the best part about Wyoming later. First, haven't you been wondering what I've been reading??

Lots. But let me tell about three. One was Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten Twentieth Century. This was written by Tony Judt. Isn't it funny how his name is bigger than anything? That's because he wrote a highly regarded book called Postwar. I've read that. It tells what happened in Europe after WWII. Nominated for a Pulitzer. This one was good, but not as good. This is a compilation of articles that he wrote for various magazines. He goes back to review what some have written in the past and does an appraisal of the author and the thoughts. Some of these guys I knew. A few I'd never heard of before. I remember Arthur Koestler and Henry Kissinger. But there are a few that I was hearing about for the first time.

As I said, I enjoyed listening to this book. The reader was very erudite sounding. I listened to the end of it with Eric in the car. Then the next book came on. That was Silent in the Grave. I don't know why I bought this book. I just checked on Audible and it looks like a mystery. What I missed when checking on the book is that it is from Harlequin Publishers. Yep, bodice-tearing, heart-throbbing Harlequin. So, we finish with the erudite Brit and start the breathy lady. Not much of a mystery. Will the dark and handsome guy who is slightly strange turn out to be the man of her dreams? Guess.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, I read The Painted Veil. Yes, same as the movie that Edward Norton starred in. But this was the book written by Somerset Maughm. I've had this in my library for a while. It seemed like it might be a little soap opera-ish. All I know is, I could not put it down. It was very involving. I wanted to find out what happened to that incredibly spoiled girl and her sweet, sincere husband. I have a few of these classics on my wish list. After my good experience with this, I am even more eager to go back for a little visit.

And back to that little visit to Wyoming. Two things stood out. One was the Devil's Tower National Monument. This is the pile of rocks that Richard Dreyfuss kept making out of mashed potatoes in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It was also the first National Monument in the US. We decided not to go because it had been a long drive already and we'd already made a few long detours. The great thing is that we could see it from miles away while on the highway. It just juts out of the horizon, it's so big. So, we saw it, even though we didn't touch it.

Finally, please look at these gas prices. We have found them all across the Dakotas as well. It can be confusing. I've been buying 85 octane gas since this station because it appears to be cheaper. But sometimes the 88 octane with 10% ethanol is cheapest. It does keep me in my toes because cheaper is definitely better at this point.

If you can't see, the price per gallon is $3.80. Neat.

The Ramblers

Custer's Last Stand

We left Bozeman very early. It was going to be a busy day. We got our hotel in Billings and headed out to the Little Big Horn. Yet another beautiful day in Montana. I got tickets for a bus tour lead by young Indian guides. But before that, we listened to this Crow park ranger speak about the battle and all it entailed. She was great. Karen learned that all who work at the visitor's center must have college degrees. Although this young lady has always spoken Crow, she didn't learn how to read and write it until she went to college. Now, in her spare time, she teaches grade school students how to do just that. Nice.

Then it was time for our tour. The tour vehicle was broken. All they had was a van with no step to help lame folks get on board. I had someone on a bus at the Festival of Books reach down from the bus and grab my ass to help me on board. Sorry. There is no other way to tell how shocked I was. So when I saw that step I said no way. I'd bought a tape tour anyway, so Karen and I donated our seats to the Indians. Our tour was perfect for us. We saw a lot more of the grounds than we would have on that tour.

There were gravestones all over the place. They marked the fallen soldiers. There were other markers that showed where the Indians had fallen. Speaking of fallen Indians, Sitting Bull didn't fare too well after winning this battle. He fled to Canada and then returned to the US in 1881, only to be killed by soldiers in 1890. 1881 stuck in my mind because that's when the Los Angeles Times started publishing. Then it was killed by a light-weight from Chicago in 2009. Let's talk about Last Stands.

After Custer, we drove to Pompey's Pillar. This is a rock that William Clark signed on his trip East with Sacagawea, her family and his followers. They found this huge rock jutting out of the ground. Clark climbed it and signed his name in the rock as many Indians had done previously. They etched in petroglyphs. He was so impressed by the rock that he named it after Sacagawea's son, who he called Pomp. I can't remember what his real name was.

All in all, a very fine day. We were glad that we already had beds in Billings to fall into at the end of the day. We were, as always. . .

The Ramblers

Welcome to Montana

We spent our first night in Missoula. This is a town with a university (University of Montana, Missoula), dozens of bars, and pizza parlors. We saw little else. It was open and pretty and pretty darn boring. Sorry, Missoula. If you ever meet someone who went to college there, take him out for a beer and pizza. I know he will feel right at home.

The next day we went to Butte. I wasn't sure about this. It seemed pretty close to Missoula and aren't we moving East? Shouldn't that be done more quickly? But Karen had our day planned. It was a great day.

We started in Butte with a ride on Old Number 1. That's the trolley on the left. Our driver and guide used to work in the copper mines in Butte until some boards fell on his legs. Now he gimps around pretty much like me. He may talk more than me. He was filled with great information.

We stopped at the Berkeley pit on the right. They are no longer mining there so it is filled with water. The miners would work on the sides or underground. They used to pump the water out of the underground pits and down a stream bed which is now eternally copper- colored. When it got to be too dangerous, they closed the mine and cleaned up the stream a little. They later found out that the water in the pit was filled with copper. Whoa! So now the little twin towers that you see in the picture on the left is pulling water out and removing the copper. Miner Mike (our name for the guide) told us that they use our disgarded aluminum cans for the copper to attach to. We didn't get to see one of those.

Miner Mike is a big fan of the mine owners. They were paying him $1300 per week back in the 70's. There was also a high probability that he would be killed or injured. Rough life. But probably easier than it was when the mines were young.

The town is fascinating. It was loaded with brothels, slums, opium dens and mine owners' mansions. Just what you would imagine. There were three mine owners who hated each other. One built the house on the corner that you see on the right. Very ritzy for its day. One of the others had the tower of apartments next to it built to block his view. Petty, petty, petty, boys. One, Daly, was well considered by the community. They put a statue of him at the entrance of the old Montana School of the Mines (now called Montana Tech.) That was our university for that day.

We then got in the car and drove to Bozeman. They have the best museum there. It is the Museum of the Rockies and it is fabulous. Click on that name and you will go to their website. Amazing. I learned so much about palentology in the area. It was full of dinosaurs at one time and an ocean before that. The museum has much more than that, but I got stuck with the dinosaurs. If it weren't half a world away from everything, this might be one of the top museums on my all time list. As it is, you need to be willing to drive forever to get here.

I've got to say, it was gorgeous all the way across Montana. It might not be such a bad idea to visit here. The sky is not just big, it is very blue and filled with fluffy clouds. The food is hit and miss, but if you like barbecue, Famous Dave's was very good. Hey, I just found a Famous Dave's in Long Beach!

Our Private Idaho

We drove into Idaho and visited with Karen's old grad school friend, Sharon. What a nice woman. They live in a little town called Moscow. We've been hitting college towns all along the way. Across the border in Pullman, Washington is a branch of Washington State University. The University of Idaho is in Moscow. Just wait to hear about all the college towns we've been visiting in Montana. I feel like one of those parents taking her kid from college to college over the summer.

Anyway, Sharon was very nice. Had a huge old dog named Bear. Looked like a bear in chenille jammies. But he was very nice. She seems happy in this quiet little town and I can understand why. It was cute, even though it was a bit isolated. I bet it has really cold winters.

We drove through Idaho the next day. We seemed to follow rivers all day. The one on the left is the Snake River. The town is Lewiston, named after Meriweather Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame. The river on the right is the Clearwater. The Lewis and Clark group traveled down this river on the way to Oregon and the Pacific Ocean. We have been crossing their path all along this trip.

The Clearwater was beautiful. We stopped for lunch near it at a place that provides river rafting tours. The food was wonderful, salad on a pita. Healthiest meal of the trip. It was a very peaceful drive. This trip is making me adjust to lots of changes in plans and ways of doing things. I've decided that I'm becoming a different person.

The Rambler. That's how I'm going to sign all my posts from now on.

Washington, Again

Cindy, Eric and I drove down to Seattle so they could pick up a car for the second part of their vacation. They got to experience my world. Many years ago I left my passport in a bank in the South of France. I didn't notice until we were outside Avignon. So I reported it in Paris. My friends and I enjoyed an evening with the Gendarmes while I completed some paper work. The friends went on to tour Paris while I went to the American Embassy. There I sat with Roman Polanske and his new child girl friend waiting to get a replacement passport. Since then, I have had to explain my life to every official guy who looks at my passport. Eric and Cindy got to join me this time as we crossed the American border into Washington. Cool.

I spent a few days with Maureen again while I had repairs done to my car. I found a place by Googling. It was great. The man even fixed my car door that has been closing on my shins for years. We experienced our first sunny days since this trip started. Maureen and I went to a small body of water to feed the ducks. Stephanie was home as well. It was a pleasure to see her again. She was very young when I spent this much time with her. Stephanie is finishing her last term in college. Hurray! She wants to teach, so it isn't over yet. But the worst is probably over.

Karen arrived on Sunday and we headed out to Moscow, Idaho the next day. The Cascade Mountains are between Seattle and Idaho. They were beautiful and green. There had been snow there before I went on my Alaska trip. Luckily, the road was clear while we were driving. We drove through the Palouse. This is a wheat growing region to the East of the Cascades. They grow a lot of different grains. Peter has said that all of Dijon's mustard seed is grown in Montana. That isn't exactly true. We saw a lot of mustard in the Palouse. Beautiful.

Why It's Called Snail Mail

I have always found it difficult to get all the components together when sending a card to someone. Or an invitation. Or a bill payment. There are just too many components. Let's take the card I wanted to send to a new friend. First I needed the card. Maureen had some, but we kept forgetting to look at them. And we were never in a store that had any. But finally, I got the card.

Then you need a stamp. This time I was prepared. And when I was at home, Adrian and I had the problem licked. No pun intended because I would never buy a stamp I had to lick. But this has been a big problem in the past. And sometimes it's hard to find the right size envelope if you weren't sent a return envelope or if one doesn't come with the card. That applies more to letters, though, and I think letters might be way too difficult for me.

Address? Well, if it's on a post-it in your purse, you're okay. If you have it in your contacts in Gmail, you might have a problem. Adrian sent a package to me at Maureen's address, but I had the wrong address in my contacts. Oops. That package was supposed to be a hare, but it turned into a snail really quickly.

The thing that really turned me into Andy Rooney today was trying to find a mailbox in these little towns in Idaho. We have them on every street in Southern California. Or does it just seem that way. I don't know if Marge will ever get her card. Karen left the card in the information center on the Nez Perce trail.

Call me an anti-Luddite. Call me a pre-Raphaelite. Just call me. Or better yet, send me an email. Or hey, what about chatting on Gchat for an hour or two. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

Cruising Alaska

We did make it to Vancouver in time to board the Ryndam, ship of the Holland American Line. Cindy's plane landed in Vancouver just as we were passing the airport. How coincidental. We sailed from Vancouver to Juneau, then back to Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan and Vancouver.

As I mentioned previously, I spent a good deal of time in the spa. This was not a ship, it was a floating spa. I had 3 seaweed wraps and massages, a facial and had my hair done twice. Oh, it was wonderful. But that still left plenty of time for other cruise favorites. Like

Eating

This is our group at the special restaurant. We are Cindy, Eric, me, Ed, Marge, and Ed. The food wasn't always great, but the company was. You never knew who you would be dining with, but whoever you were with, the conversation was good.

We also saw some sights. As I said, I was in the spa a lot, so I didn't go on any excursions. But Alaska some how comes to you. My new friend, Ed, took some wonderful pictures. He became the official "Staff Photographer" for the Miller-Lundstrom-Norman group. Here are just a couple. I really couldn't pick among all the beautiful pictures he took. Some a quite breath-taking. It helped that the scenary was breath-taking. And a good camera. And a good eye. And was very persistent. Here are some of the pictures he took. Some day I'll put captions on these and put them in some order. But you must see how beautiful these pictures are.

Some of us got off the boat from time to time. Eric and I strolled around Juneau a little and did the same at Ketchikan. The Miller-Lundstroms also got off at Skagway and toured that town. It is really touristy and if you don't want to buy furs or jewelry, you are out of luck. Cindy went on a couple of excursions - a hike and kayaking. Ed and Marge went whale watching and viewed a glacier in Juneau.

One of the things that I liked best about the cruise was my state room. It was an inside cabin. Very quiet and peaceful. And it was a good size for one person. The guy who took care of the cabin, who I always called my house boy, but never to his face, was from Bali and the star of the staff night production of the Ramayana. They did it way past my bed time, so I didn't see him, but I'm sure he was great. They fold towels for you every night and leave them with chocolates on your bed. I sat with him on the next to the last night and watched him fold a bull dog. Cute. He folded an elephant for the final night. Cindy said she got the book on how to do these.

Something new to learn when I'm in Arlington!

Auntie Mo

Maureen is a world-champion hostess. We were not world-champion guests. Eric's wife, Cindy, was caught in a bind, trying to get out of Virginia with thunderstorms threatening. Would she make it to the Seattle airport in time? Should we camp out at the airport hotel? Should we stay at Maureen's? Eric was a bundle of worries. I don't respond well to worrying about things that you have no control over. And Maureen was in the middle of this storm.

I wasn't enjoying the angst, how could she? But she is a good friend and a world class hostess. She took us on a drive so we could see ALL of Seattle. It was fun and may have calmed a few nerves. We went to Pike's Market and saw the world's first Starbucks. We also had the world's worst salmon and fries. I still can't get that taste out of my mouth and it has been over a week. Everything world rated, but, as I said, our senses were on alert.

It all worked out - sort of. Cindy ended up flying to Vancouver, where the cruise started. Eric and I stayed at Maureen's so we could get an early start in the morning of the cruise launch. We both lost the price of the hotel by the airport. Cindy had to pay a kagillion dollars extra to switch flights. But that was nothing. Eric and I arrived at the airport just as Cindy's plane landed. We waited in a Walmart parking lot until she said she was ready to be picked up. Eric was so happy to see her. We got to the boat okay, but that is a different story, for a different state.

Next stop, Alaska.

Hippie Heaven

When you step into Eugene, Oregon, you step into another world. Not in a geographic or ecological sense, but in a Rocky Horror Picture Show sense. No transvestites, but please, “Let’s Do the Time Warp Again.” You are immediately back in the 60’s. As one who came of age in the late 60’s, this is great. It has a very laid-back look.

Eric and I spent 3 days in Eugene so we could see our niece, Julie, and her 3 men. As always, I got pictures of everyone but her husband, Adam. Believe me, he is a good-looking guy. I’m not sure how he is missed by the camera. We went to bookstores and the library, before having this lunch with Julie and Torin, her youngest. He is a high energy cutie. Eric was gob-smacked by him. That’s good because he has a bit too much energy for me, I need to observe him from afar. They played and Eric read books to him.

Palmer and I cooked breakfast one morning. Actually, Palmer cooked it. I just helped. He has a very precise and unique way of cooking. He explains every step and poses to make sure I get a good picture. I’ve never seen anyone crack an egg with a fork. That must be something learned in this house. He made his world renowned French Toast. It was very good. He puts cinnamon in it and usually adds vanilla, but there was none that day.

Later in the day, he and Julie worked an experiment. Julie’s patience is amazing. Wow. Wow. Wow. She was fantastic. Not just patient. She let Palmer do everything. The experiment was to purify old coffee to make clean water through evaporation and condensation. Palmer set everything up, Julie just helped when needed. She let him strike the match to light the little alcohol burner. He was no more successful at that than I would have been at his age if I had been allowed to light a match. But he did everything else, including lighting the burner. Bravo, Julie, I know he will appreciate this when he looks back on what helped him to become a great scientist.

All-in-all, we enjoyed our trip back to the future. The boys are happy, Julie is doing well at University of Oregon, and Adam works hard. As I love to say when chatting to my friends, LIG. Life is Good, especially in Oregon.

A Day of Pampering

Karen and Peter had treated me to a massage as my birthday present last August. It took me until June to finally get the massage. Karen joined me on the Wednesday before our departure. We had body scrubs, wraps, massages and facials. Not all of those, but we each had some. My masseuse must have hated me. She used her little medgley knuckles over every inch of my body. I hurt for days after.

Then we had lunch at the Claremont’s fancy restaurant. The room overlooks the San Francisco Bay. Here is Karen after her facial and wrap, being a little silly because I didn’t want to take a posed picture. The picture of the bay does not show the bay. I’m sure I’m not doing something right when taking these pictures because the view was stunning.

The reception for Eric’s first marriage was held in this hotel. Neither Eric nor Karen remembered that. You can imagine that neither, therefore, remembered where the wedding took place. Only one person probably remembers and it may be some time before I have an opportunity to ask her.

The next day, Eric and I drove north to Eugene to visit with our niece, Julie and her family. It’s a beautiful drive. We passed Mount Shasta. It looked so pretty for so long. Then when we got to the spot where you can take pictures, clouds decided to shroud the peak. Next stop, Oregon

I Live

I have certainly been in the land of limited Internet access. I am now on the Alaskan Cruise segment of my journey. I have internet access at $.40 / minute. And it is slow. Am I spoiled? Yep. So I will write about all the books I've read, people I've seen, and places I've been as soon as I can get a more reliable Internet connection.

But let me say this: The Holland American Cruise Line is very comfortable. Lots of places to sit and look out at the beautiful scenery. A fantastic library. Food is okay and plentiful. I have quibbles about some of it, but on the main, it is varied and interesting. The spa is fabulous. I was wrapped and warmed then massaged without the knuckles the woman used at the Clairmont in Berkeley (more later.) We will see Juneau later today.

Cindy's brother is taking fantastic pictures. I'll put them on my laptop and share those. Take care, my friends.

Dinner at Eight, or Was that Five

Karen asked our niece and all the nephews over to the house for dinner on Sunday. We decided to cook a few appetizers and not have a dinner. That way it would be more casual.

We had no idea just how casual it was going to be. Tara came over early to help us cook. Our brilliant lawyer is totally unsure of her cooking ability. She is capable of doing anything she sets her mind to, but I like her company and enjoyed the time cooking together so we can pretend that cooking is hard.

The menu we selected was huge. Look, 12 items. What were we thinking?

• Proscuitto Wraps (I failed wrapping proscuitto around arugula, gruyere and apple. Gabriella took over and they were beautiful.)
• White Bean and Aritchoke Dip (Tara and Karen made this)
• Roquefort Dip (Tara and Karen made this, too. Late add and the easiest thing of the evening.)
• Cheddar - Cayenne Coins (I made these. Karen said they were too salty, but I liked them. The Cayenne was good.)
• Crudities - (Tara helped with the prep on these vegetables.)
• Savory Palmiers - (Tara made these. They use puff pastry. If you can cook with puff pastry, you can do anything, right?)
• Mini-Clafoutis - (like little quiches. You could add any herbs, cheeses or stuff to the batter when it's in the pan. We added MANY different things, thereby complicating this menu even more. But they were all good.)
• Stuffed Mushrooms - (Karen and Tara made this. Stuffed with pancetta and sage. I was so happy everyone doesn't eat mushrooms so I could snag one of these.)
• Tri-color Polenta Cups - (what a fiasco. Trina got stuck with cutting up the sheet of polenta. Not worth all that effort, and we have a ton left.)
• Chicken Satays - (Great. Karen made the peanut butter dipping sauce and broiled these at the last minute. That was the 7:00 finale.)
• Spicy Mediterranean Meatballs - (lots of interesting spices in a tomato/vinegar sauce. Good.)
• Bite-sized Ginger Cupcakes - (wonderful ginger flavor. They went well with the lemon ice.)
• Lemon Ice - (Fabulous)

Then Karen had invited half the people for 5:00 and the other half for 6:00. It didn't matter, because we were cooking until 7:00. Everyone ate as it came out of the oven. These are a great group of people. It didn't matter and all the women helped. We had a lot of fun talking and tasting. I'd emptied my wine cooler when I left Pasadena. We drank some of it with dinner. They were kind enough to leave one bottle for us to consume later in the week.

Peter, on the left of the picture above, made the best lemon ice with Karen's new ice cream maker. Gabriella is a wonderful woman who is dating my nephew, Chris. They make a great couple.

Eric has been going for walks every day. We almost killed him yesterday. He went for a long walk and then we sent him out to get cake flour for the mini-cupcakes. Today he checked if we needed anything before going for his walk. He bought a puzzle. Karen finally settled down long enough to help work it with him. She is the movingest person I know. The puzzle should be done tonight.