Sunday to Wednesday, May 15-18, Baja to Copper Canyon

 

Greetings!

Anne Kain, Pat and I are off on an adventure in Baja and into the States of Sinaloa and Chihuahua, Mexico.  The route is a flight to Cabo San Lucas, another to Los Mochis, a train through Copper Canyon to El Divisidero, and a stay at a beautiful Hotel (Hotel Posado del Hidalgo) owned by one of the tour companies that are our hosts (Balderama Hotel Collection).  

We're currently sitting on our balcony on the second floor of the Mirador Hotel.  It overlooks the seven ziplines and Gondola which criss-cross the Canyon, and has spectacular views.   The Hotel's elevation is 7,397 feet, and you can see every foot of it to the river below,  Guests sip wine and prepare for dinner while the hotel provides entertainment and lectures.  Plans are made for excursions in the days ahead, and the many hotel staff finish assigning rooms and carrying luggage.

Over the next few days here, we'll join a few guests for trips across the canyon, into the canyon, and to towns and cities in the Chihuahua State.  After that, we'll re-board the new Express Train back to Los Mochis, and fly back to Cabo San Lucas.  Here's a link to the photos which we've taken over the past couple of days.  Depending on the wifi and MexTel communication, there may be another Post or two before we spend more time back in Baja.  

 

 

Beginnings and Endings

 Greetings!

Everyone who grew up in La Jolla in the 1950's can trace their origins to the La Jolla Cove.  My mother, aunt, and I all have deep memories of time spent in that hundred yard stretch of cherished rocky shore.  So much so that we've all chosen to end up there.

My mom was the first, and I successfully placed her ashes (after some trouble with the wind) into the water from the rocks on its edge.

But I recommend a different approach for my aunt and I.  I'd placed our ashes into feet flippers, and carry them down across the beach from the stairs like you're going swimming.  Wade into the water, and just attempt to put on the flippers (actual swimming is optional).

Here is a link to the album of photos I took yesterday at the Cove

Life Directions

 Greetings!

Seven large government/nonprofit initiatives have dominated the work of our lives: expanded early childcare in the early 1970s, environmental and coastal protection in the same period, domestic violence prevention in the late 1970’s, HIV-AIDS prevention in the 1980s, Children and Families Commissions (First Five) in the late 1990s, community citizen engagement after retirement, and homeless housing and services in the last three years.

Pat and I have been involved in these community-driven and legislatively-implemented program expansions, mostly carrying the hopes and dreams of those who defined the issues early on to the practicality of governmental funding and operations as reality revealed the tools and routes.  They have been  career-defining experiences, each providing and amplifying important skills and relationships.  

At the apogee of these experiences (and who knows exactly when that was/is), it would seem to us that patience was the virtue most useful.  Certainly, rebelliousness and creativity were close seconds.  But understanding that we needed to be in it for the long-run helped; that we needed to be committed.

Along the way, we took time off to travel.  We chose to give back to ourselves and to others who followed, by chasing our dream to explore and learn.  While there have been set-backs and barriers to a persistent pace of doing so lately, we will continue to look for ways to fill that need in us.

Travel Planning in 2021

Greetings!

We are planning next year's travels, resigned to just take the Airstream on a trip to somewhere in the Western United States or Canada later this year (no, we're not moving to Vancouver if Trump wins).  We're going to visit Bhutan and the surrounding areas for a week in late January (after President Biden is inaugurated) before heading to Northern India to complete what we missed this year.   After that, we'll fly to Nepal to complete the month away.

Six months later, we'll travel to northwestern Australia to enjoy the top half of that continent, and the the North Island of New Zealand for three and a half months.  We'll finish that adventure by joining Overseas Adventure Travel's "Galapagos of the Southern Ocean" cruise to visit some of the best birding islands in the world.  We'll be back well before Christmas.

For the following year, we're hoping that Biden normalizes relations again with Iran.  There are so many ruins and historic towns we want to visit there.  And then there's Madagascar and a return visit to East Africa.

Hobie Surfboard by Rodney Sumpter

Greetings!

Yesterday, while dreaming about what travels to plan when this virus is defeated, I decided to walk back in time to my surfing days along the San Diego coast in the early 1960's.  A young man I met last week brought me back there as it turns out his father (Dennis Murphy) was a surfboard shaper long after I left the area.  

As Youtube and Google will do, it led me to a news column in the Orange County Register by one of the shapers featured in the YouTube video (Corky Carroll).  Corky and I shared some of the same history in the waves in our early teens on the Southern California coast.  He going on to surfing greatness as the first professional surfer at 16, and I joining many others trying our best to follow his lead.

Walking down memory lane was fun, as I read the column by Corky recounting his time with a friend (Rodney Sumpter) as shapers for Hobie Surfboards in 1963-64.  As the owner of a late 1963 Hobie surfboard, shaped by Rodney, I chuckled that I might have a surfboard created during the time they spent together in that shack behind the Hobie factory in Dana Point.

To see a few more photos, click on "Hobie Surfboard by Rodney Sumpter"

Friday, March 20th, Santa Rosa, USA

Greetings!

A very long day. It's Friday just before 10pm, and we started this day in Mumbai, India. Flying from there to San Francisco just ahead of the world closing down consumed 20 hours of flying time, and 12 hours of time zones. Getting through customs, health screenings, and bus to home took four more hours (one bag is still in Singapore), and the last ten hours have been at home surrounded by the food and re-connecting virtual support from our friends. Two hours left. We're ready for this shelter in place and time.

Wednesday, Mar 18th, Mumbai, India

Greetings!

Today, we flew to Mumbai, Maharashtra from Baga, Goa.   The flight was only 90 minutes, but getting to and from the airports consumed the day.  We were impressed by the many large billboards in Mumbai on the way from the airport to the hotel which promoted Coronavirus protection techniques.  Our driver (Roy) said they had been up about ten days, and it's certainly a serious public health messaging.

So while we're talking about the virus, we have some news.  It has closed down virtually all of the places we have left to see on our tour, and is threatening to close the airports.  So we've decided to cut the trip short by nine days and go home.  There is one flight tomorrow night near midnight that will take us back through Singapore and on the San Francisco on Friday morning.  Assuming not too long a delay getting through the U.S. Customs and Immigration system, we should be home by 1pm.

I do want to throw one more photograph in for my friends at Coastwalk.  Mumbai is built on a series of islands that were connected via infill.  In order to protect access to the coast, the city is building a coastal road to insure a pedestrian trail.  It's just begun, but the locals are excited.

This evening, we went out to walk the neighborhood around the hotel.  We'll do it again tomorrow while we wait for the flight. There were quite a few locals sitting out on the waterfront near the Gates of India.  I suspect they, like us, may be enjoying what may be the last of the tourist days for a while.

To see the photos we took today, click on: Wednesday, Mar 18th, Mumbai, India.