Volume XXVIII
Christmas 2015
Greetings! We are running late this year, for which we have a multitude of feeble excuses. Many thanks to the on-theball folks who have already sent greetings. We hope you all enjoyed an excellent holiday of your own choosing. We visited our families and a number of friends in October and November and decided to explore winter in Tucson. We enjoyed this area on previous RV trips and thought we’d see whether it remained on our short list of future homes. So far we like it a lot but know we need to spend a summer here before any commitment. We spent 10 months of 2015 in South America improving our lousy Spanish. We’re better than we were a year ago but still need what our last school director calls a “cooperative listener” – someone who WANTS to talk with us. This eliminates at least 90% of all Spanish speakers. South America is a beautiful continent with fabulous scenery, charming cities, exotic fruits, great wines, and wonderful people – all of whom speak excellent Spanish.
Torres del Paine, Chile – a huge national park in Patagonia with grand mountains, challenging hiking, unusual wildlife, and galeforce winds. It is not for wimps.
Come on in, boys! The water’s fine in the Straits of Magellan. The penguins were a highlight of a cruise that included a wet and blustery dinghy ride to Cape Horn at dawn.
Which figure doesn’t belong? Easter Island was thoughtprovoking and proof that man is his own worst enemy. For 700 years after the original Polynesians arrived, no one else visited the island. They felled all the trees to use to move the Moai statues, denuding the land. The slaves working in the “Moai factory” got stronger while the effete masters got weaker, leading to a revolution that changed cultures but not the downward trend. This was Mike’s favorite part of the trip.
Best. Wine. Tour. Ever. – with Gloria Delgadillo from Chile, who spent a year as an exchange student in Mike’s hometown of Clarinda, Iowa.
Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina – The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of 47 large and 200 small glaciers in the Andes. Due to climate change, it is one of only 3 growing glaciers in the world. A growing glacier is more active, which means that huge slabs break off the edge (known as calving). There’s a tremendous “crack” and everyone looks around to spot which chunk will plunge noisily into the water. This was Suzanne’s favorite part of the trip.
Iguazu Falls, Argentina – twice as tall as Niagara and 3 times as wide; and an Orca whale in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. The animals there are truly unique and have always been protected, so they have no fear of man and you can get quite close to them. Lake Titicaca / Uros Islands, Peru – crafted by the Uros, a pre-Incan people who used moveable reed islands to outlast not only the Incas but also the Spaniards. 200300 families live on these squishy home sites while 1000 more catch a daily shuttle from the mainland to await the tourists.
Condor Crossing over Colca Canyon, Peru – twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. But if we never again hear the Andean folk tune (considered Peru’s 2nd national anthem) which Simon & Garfunkel fashioned into “El Condor Pasa (If I Could),” we could die happy.
Obligatory Machu Picchu shot – yes, it was awesome, and yes, it was crowded.
Pyramid of the Sun, Mexico – 2nd largest pyramid in the world. On our way back to the US, we spent 3 weeks in Mexico City. We loved it and were surprised at how European it seemed and how safe we felt.
Inca Trail – Michael set a high bar for men of a certain age by hiking for 4 cold, rainy days during which his most common hiking companion was a longlegged 15-year-old from the UK. They explored non-crowded Inca ruins and saw spectacular scenery such as the llama at left. Suzanne arrived via the Vistadome train and both were happy with their choice of transportation. Here Mike offers a toast to all our friends with a 401-year-old scotch on the rocks. The rocks come from the Spegazzini Glacier and the scotch was estimated to have been made last week. Spegazzini (in Los Glaciares National Park) is accessible only by boat.
We mourned too many friends in 2015 who died young and unexpectedly. Their loss reminds us we should always see friends when we can, take advantage of the opportunities that come our way, and celebrate the joy that each day brings. With those thoughts in mind, we leave in February for Barcelona and will spend 7 months being nomads in Europe. We hope that 2016 is full of good news and great times for all.
Love, Suzanne & Mike
suzanne.shelton2@gmail.com
mikesump53@gmail.com