Cienfuegos, Cuba

Cuba, Cienfuegos 2016 from flyingthree

HABANA, CUBA 2016

Cuba, Habana 2016 from flyingthree

After All These Years, How I finally Met Fidel Castro

What an Historic Time to Be In Cuba! A year ago, as the Obama Administration opened relations with our island neighbor, I made plans to travel to there in November 2016. It has been a dream of mine for years to see this country and I have had this fantasy that maybe, somehow, I would meet Fidel. I remember I was in college when he launched his revolution against the dictator, Battista. I rather admired his heroics at the time, not knowing he would become and oppressive and nasty dictator himself. The day I left Denver for Cuba via Miami, Shirley emailed me that Castro had died. I didn’t know what this might mean, perhaps even the cancellation of the People-to-People tour I was scheduled for. (The only changes that occurred were there was no liquor served or music played during the mourning period which included all but our last travel day). Since I had an extra day in Miami before the tour left, I caught a train and a bus to Little Havana to witness the celebration. There was literally dancing in the street. Little Havana, Miami, FL November 26, 2016 Finally in Cuba and on our 5th day, we were exploring the mid-island, southern port city, Cienfuegos, founded in 1745, with its UNESCO World Heritage town center, when word on the street was that Fidel’s ashes would be passing through. He was on a 4-day journey from Revolutionary Square in Havana to his final resting place in Santiago on the east end of the island. We had noticed people along our route sprucing things up, and the city square was beginning to show signs of people gathering. Rumor was he would be coming between 4 and 4:30. Some of us petitioned our tour leaders to let us watch the proceedings, and they agreed. I walked back to the square and gently elbowed a place to stand in the gathered crowd. The sunny afternoon had gradually turned into a cool evening and Castro remained a no-show. It wasn’t just I as the entire crowd became restless and the aligned military people were shifting their positions. The rest of my group had drifted away some time ago with plans to gather in our evening restaurant. I continued to stand, but after five and a half hours had passed and I was supposed to meet my group at 8:30, I walked through the crowd away from the square and arrived at my destination. I was very disappointed and rather despondent as I ate my dinner to be so close and not witness this moment in history. Our group spent a little over an hour with our meal and as we were about to leave, word came that Castro would be coming down the street in front of the establishment in approximately 20 minutes. We spilled out the door and joined the gathered hundreds, and in about 30 minutes, here he came. I was a witness to history, and after all these years, I finally met Fidel Castro. . .well, kind of. Cienfuegos, Cuba November 30,2016

The Desert in Bloom, March 2016

We took another trip to the desert, this time to see the blooms, check out the stars, cozy with the Saguaros, and see the border wall. We don't think we really need more border wall.

The Desert in Bloom, March 2016 from flyingthree

In Search of Intaglios, 2015

A couple of years ago, I read an article in High Country News (http://www.hcn.org/issues/46.4/the-geoglyph-guardian/print_view) about the Intaglios or Geoliths in the Mojave Desert in California. These are similar to the Nazca Lines in Peru and are sometimes called American Nazca Lines.

How come I had never heard of these before? So, I asked my wandering son about them. He had never heard of them either. So right then and there we planed on tracking them down and seeing them for ourselves. We were delayed a year because of our schedules, but finally, we made the trip.

You know the old story: it's the path you wander, not the destination that is important. No truer words were ever spoken, especially when you travel with my son, Greg. He is a born wanderer, and there is never a straight path to anything. So, of course, we wandered, we wandered, and we had a wonderful trip. Oh, and did I tell you about the stars? Oh, my, the stars! We hope you enjoy our trip too.

Searching for intaglios, 2015 from flyingthree

Ah, A Quick Road Trip to Beggs, Oklahoma

David

I knew when I started going through boxes stored in the garage that I might be surprised at what I would find. Family treasures, seas shells and rocks collected on trips, boyhood memories in items treasured, and memories. 

When I was a kid in junior high and high school in Wyoming, I worked ranches. Cowboy boots were a necessity and all the old cow pokes I worked with thought Blucher boots were the best.

Sometime in the fifties, I sent away for a catalog, as Blucher was a mail order company.                         You measured your foot, sent in your money, and in a month or two your custom made boots were delivered by mail. Only problem was, I didn’t make enough money to order a pair.

            Finding this old catalogue brought back a lot of memories and got me to wondering if the company was still in business. Thanks to the good old internet, I found that the company was still making boots. They had moved from Kansas to Beggs, Oklahoma, a small town just south of Tulsa.

            I dialed the number and a man answered and assured me that Blucher was still making boots. I said, “Maybe I’ll drive down and check it out,” and he replied, “Come on down. My name is Smitty and I am Blucher Boots.”

            It took me a few weeks to think about it, but when my daughter, Lisa, decided to join me, we took off for the 800 mile trip from Denver. We arrived and checked it out, a wonderful place smelling of leather and feeling of good spirits. Beautiful product, beautiful people. Blucher Boots.

                               

                 

Blucher boot company from flyingthree

                                                         

Pittsburgh, PA in Two Days

 We have often passed through Pittsburgh on the way to West Virginia, but had never explored the city. What was it like now that the steel mills are gone? We found a beautiful city with the three rivers floating through it: The Monongahela, the Allegheny, and the Ohio. The three river cruise is a must! We explored some of the many bridges crossing these rivers, rode the historic incline, and ate at some might good restaurants.