Veterans Day - Honoring Women in the Military



           Our town honored women's role in the military at a moving tribute in Punta Gorda's Veteran's Park.



Grace Chicken & Marie
 

A highlight of the ceremony was a speech by Grace Chicken (age 99) relating  her nursing experiences caring for the wounded. 

She was one of the first women trained to airlift soldiers from the battlefield aboard C130 and C141 planes. She served at many foreign posts had a distinguished military career. 

Not one to be left behind, my Mom enlisted in the Navy shortly after her brother was drafted.  She also contributed to her country's war effort by helping administratively with supply distribution.  We were so glad to attend this moving tribute.

IYC Admiral's Cruise and French Picnic

Low Tide at Pelican Bay - that was the challenge facing us as we headed out Friday for the Isles Yacht Club (IYC) Admiral's Cruise.  The weather was perfect for sailing down Charlotte Harbor!  Gorgeous sunny sky, low humidity, temps in the high 70's and a north wind pushing us along at a rapid clip.  We reduced sail as we approached the anchorage off Cayo Costa to enter on a rising tide. Two cruisers with five foot drafts wisely decided to anchor at Usseppa to wait for high tide.  But we slowly motored our way into the anchorage at dead low tide calling out depths along the way to the rest of the fleet: 5'8", 5'6", 5'2" ... just a few inches of water below our 4'6" draft boat, Eagle's Wings!  Southern Belle, a new member's boat, elected to follow us, failed to hug the beach and unfortunately went hard aground. Fortunately, a small power boat came along and pulled them off before the captain succumbed to that "I'm aground, the bottom have me in its clutches" feeling we all have experienced. If you haven't been aground, you haven't been around.

All the IYC boats began to arrive for the first fun event of the weekend - docktails on the catamaran, Chatty Cat.  Wow!  24 people crammed on the boat and we had a great time catching up and sampling the appetizers that everyone brought aboard.

Saturday morning we participated in a "Dinghy 101" Refresher Training arranged by Jane on Halcyon.  The highlight of the day was our 4th Annual "French Picnic," a gastronomical delight!   We dinghyed to shore with our food treasures and we hopped the Ranger's tram to take us over to the pristine shoreline picnic area.  We sampled the delicious cuisine and voted for the winners.  This year's top dish was Cranberry Chicken Salad Croissants prepared by Diane Ufer, 2nd runner up was Tom Weekes', Salade Nicoise, and Best Dessert was Lemon Tarte by Peg Vasu.

On the way back, we went over to Manatee Hole - check out the great pictures below!




Pictures

Going to PERU ! - Her Story

Peru...a dream destination that was on our heavily populated Bucket List ... that came into our reality last December when Joanne attended a talk by Magda Cooper at the Isles Yacht Club.  It was about one of the most spectacular settings on earth - that the great Inca ruler Pachacuti built - that is known at Machu Picchu! 

Magda grew up in Peru and volunteered to take interested people on a tour of her beautiful country.  We immediately signed up to go on this unique opportunity with her and her husband, Ford.  Magda met Ford in Lima, Peru.  They both worked in the American Embassy when Ford was a young foreign service officer.  As we got to know them better, we realized how fortunate we were to travel with this remarkable couple.  They have a world view since they served in many diplomatic posts throughout South and Central America with an extended stint in Finland.

Landing in Peru's Capital City, Lima, and Flying to Cusco

With Ford and Madga

Only five hours in the air from Miami, we landed in Lima!  Magda's nephew and wife welcomed us there with an authentic cowboy hat for Richard and a Peruvian purse and pin for Joanne!  They took us on an open-air bus tour of Miraflores, a beautiful area and treated us to lunch in a lovely place overlooking the blue Pacific Ocean.  We then headed back to our hotel for rest before flying the next day to Cusco, the ancient Inca Capital City that is 11,000 ft elevation.  The city is located below the equator, thus, their seasons are opposite than ours here in Florida. September is the best time to visit because it is the tail end of the dry season before the rains come and beginning of Spring.  We found the weather to be quite comfortable - in the high 50's and 60's, sweater weather for sure!

Since we live at sea level, we obtained RXs for altitude pills to help us adjust to the thin air and high altitude.  We also drank many cups of their coca tea, a local remedy to aid in our adjustment.  We never were sick although we did drink only bottled water and avoided raw vegetables that were not peeled, e.g., lettuce.

The cuisine was delicious ... many grilled meats (beef, chicken, pork, lamb), vegetables (multiple varieties of potatoes, rice, beets, cauliflower, etc.) and yummy desserts (flan, cookies, cakes). We loved the home-made soups made with chicken and quinoa (a high protein grain). 

We tried the national cocktail of Peru, Pisco Sour (something like a Whiskey Sour)!  Yum!  Also, we had Chicha Morada, a non-alcoholic drink made from purple maize with some cinnamon and/or cloves mixed into it.  We like Inca Kola, sort of like a Cream Soda, and also Chicha, a beer-like drink.

Train Trip to Machu Picchu

After spending 2 days touring Cusco and the Sacred Valley, we boarded Peruvian Rail for a pleasant five hour ride to Aguas Calintes, the closest railstop to Machu Picchu (MP).  The travel guides and pictures simply do not do MP justice.  It is meant to be experienced in person to see the scope of the buildings and the magnificent scenery.  We stayed in the InkaTerra Resort, a gorgeous place, with nature tours provided and excellent food and service. 

In the late morning, we hopped on a bus for the winding drive up to the the ancient site.  On cue, the weather cleared and the sun shone as we scaled the paths up, up to admire the perfectly cut stone buildings that were engineered in the 1500s by the remarkable Incans.  There is no mortar between the huge stonework.  It is grooved to fit perfectly and it is mindblowing that they could create such masterpieces without modern tools and machinery. 

It is thought that Machu Picchu was built for use by the Incan

royalty and the most beautiful buildings constructed to honor the gods.  There was a beautiful serenity there and I especially enjoyed hiking up to the highest point, the Intiwatana Stone, where I said prayers for family members.  Of course, Miluska, our guide, did a terrific job explaining and answering our many questions.

Onto Lake Titicaca and the Uros People

Next on the agenda was a 7-hour bus ride over the highest mountain peak (14,500 ft) to Lake Titicaca.  The lake is HUGE...the size of the country of Belgium...and is the largest navigable high mountain (glacier-fed) lake in the world!

After spending a lovely night in our new hotel, we awoke and boarded a small boat.  We traveled through a check point to visit an ancient people, the Uros, who in the 1500's in order to avoid the Spanish Rule, hid on their boats on the lake.  Eventually, they built over 70 floating islands make of reeds that grow on the edge of the water.   The islands are about the size of football fields; approximately, 20 members of extended families live on each of them in reed huts.  They paddle reed-built boats to catch fish and to travel around and even eat the reeds! 

This was the most amazing part of the entire trip!  These people live a primitive life that is unknown to us in the modern world.  They graciously invited us into their little huts and dressed us in their traditional costumes.  They sang songs in their language and took us for a ride on their reed boats.  We were so touched by their sincerity and kindness.

Full Circle back to Lima by Air

We flew back the next day to Lima for a lovely city tour of fabulous churches and museums.  The 8 days had flown by and we sadly bid goodbye to the other 8 members of our tour group.

Before we left, the group discussed some of their favorite moments.  Here are some of them...

• The  Uros People and their habitat on Lake Titicaca ..it was like being on a National Geographic Special of amazing ancient cultures!
• The awe inspiring site of Machu Picchu, a wonder of the world
• The friendly Peruvian People and guides
• The magnificent Andean vistas
• Lovely markets featuring silver, handwoven Alpaca sweaters and rugs   .... and last but NOT Least
• Magda and Ford Cooper, who educated and entertained us with their extensive knowledge of Peruvian and South American politics, customs and traditions.  Thanks so much!!

Into Peru - His Story

Transported by a five hour red-eye flight from Miami to Lima, we arrived in Peru before daylight for a taxi ride along the cold Pacific shore to our Lima hotel, the Casa Andina Select located in the Miraflores district of Lima. After a fine and free breakfast courtesy of the hotel, we relaxed in the top floor lobby while waiting for our rooms and the begining of our contribution to the Peru's growing tourism industry. 

Tourists from countries all over the world flooded the streets, airports, restaurants and archaeological sites. Tourism, growing at a staggering 25% annually, is the third largest industry in Peru.

Magda's nephew treated us to an afternoon bus tour of Miraflores followed by coffee at a shopping mall built into the cliff along the Pacific Ocean. The top of the mall is a public park!  Twenty years ago, Miraflores was a community of single family houses; now condos have replaced the houses. Signs of construction are everywhere. The streets are jammed with cars but the stoplights are ultra-modern featuring the countdown-timer displays.

Economic growth has averaged over seven percent annually for the last ten years lifting millions out of proverty but the slowing of the China boom threatens to impact Peru as it is a large exporter of raw materials such as copper and zinc. Also see Economic Growth  and  Middle Class.    

Check out more pictures by double-clicking on Miraflores Photos or see them scroll below...



Cusco

Up well before daylight, we flew to Cusco , once the capital of the Inca empire, but now the tourist hub for visiting archaeological sites like Machu Picchu and for mounting expeditions into the Andies and the Amazon. After checking into the beautiful Novotel hotel and eating lunch on the plaza, we toured the local area still slightly numb from the red-eye flight and early morning departure.  

Incas cut quarried huge boulders and then precision cut them to form the massive stone walls of Saksaywaman, a site of religious and military importance located in the heights above Cusco.  Here we met a local couple who were marrying after thirty-five years of cohabitation! People commonly live together for a few years before agreeing to marry.  They speak Quechua, one of the three official languages of Peru, and practice a blend of Catholicism and traditional beliefs including a reverence for Pachamama.


The Spanish built the Convent of Santo Domingo upon the foundations of Qurikancha, the sun temple of the Incas. After an earthquake damaged the convent leaving the Inca's stone walls intact, the convent was opened to tourists like us. Within the Cusco Cathedral, a painting of the last supper shows cuy (Guinea Pig) on the serving platter! We were not allowed to take photos inside the cathedral; here are two links to UTube videos I found on the Internet: just click Cathedral Video1   and/or  Cathedral Video2.  Here are more scrolling photos - or click Cusco Photos -




Into the Sacred Valley

Along the road from Cusco to Pisac, Alpacas and Llamas provided great photo ops as they welcomed us to the Awanacancha Weaving Center.  After the fun of feeding the animals, we learned about traditional dyes and weaving. Some of the three thousand varieties of potatoes that grow in Peru were on display along with many varieties of corn.  Some of us unburdened ourselves of lots of cash at the center's store for very fine sweaters made from baby alpaca wool.  See The Alpacas and Llamas of Awanacancha  and
Natural Dyes.

Stopping at a turnout high above Pisac and the Urubamba River provided an opportunity to photograph the Sacred Valley.  Locals sold vegetables to each other and souvenirs to tourists at the colorful Pisac market.  Along the road to Urubamba, villagers were roasting Cuy, a popular source of protein in the Andies. 
Wayra Restaurant at Sol y Luna provided an incredible lunch as we watched a fabulous display of Peruvian horsemanship and dance.   

Fire on the mountains closed the archaeological site at  Ollantaytambo just as we arrived.  Fire set by farmers to clear their fields had gotten out of control.  We also visited a local who was raising Guinea Pigs inside her house.  Of course, they were not pets!  

Our visit in Ollantaytambo cut short, we opted to visit another weaving center at  the village of Chinchero.  On the way a red flag stopped us for Chicha, a beer made from corn. The red flag marks a local bar. We learned how to make chicha and then tried some.  The weaving center in Chinchero closed before we arrived but a local dance celebrating spring planting was in full swing. Craig, one of our traveling companions, and Joanne jumped right in!

Check out our Sacred Valley Photos scrolling below...


Train to Machu Picchu

 We boarded Peruvian Rail for a pleasant five hour ride to Aguas Calintes, a little town along the river below Machu Picchu.  We took advantage of a rain delay to check into the IncaTerra Resort, a wonderful "eco oriented" resort hotel. 
  
The bus, packed with tourists, worked its way up a narrow unpaved road lined with tropical vegatation on one side andnothing but air on the other side. We stopped just outside the country estate that  
Pachacuti built for himself that is now known at Machu Picchu! 

Photos


Bus to Lake Titicaca

Why take a bus that takes all day when one could easily fly to almost there, there being Lake Titicaca?   To see the country, of course!  Soon after we rolled out of Cusco early in the morning, a quick stop in the village of Oropesa produced a large round loaf of delicious homemade bread that puts Oropesa on the map.

I missed the name of our next stop; just call it the Gate to the Middle of Nowhere!  It was important in Inca times. Not so important now, I guess. 

The Sistine Chapel of the Andes lies in the unlikely little farming village of Andahuaylillas. Inside photography is not allowed so look to the Internet for a peek: Smithsonian  Peru Travel   Some Photos
If you peeked, you know why it is the Sistine Chapel of the New World.  Just awesome!

Once a temple honoring the Wiracocha God, all that remains is the central wall but it is quite high composed of Inca stone work on the bottom and adobe bricks on the top.  It is called Raqchi. Besides viewing the temple, storage and residental buildings, one sees people hard at work in the fields. We managed a photo op with a bunch of school kids on a field trip.  Charming children!

We stopped at La Raya, the highest point on the road to Puno and Lake Titicaca at 14,150 ft, for another photo op.  To reach Puno we had to travel through, round and about Juliaca which is a mess of new construction about 35 km from Puno.  We reached our hotel, the Andina Private Collection, on Lake Titicaca's shore just in time for a fine dinner.


Check out our Photos scrolling below...



Lake Titicaca - Uros

Lake Titicaca , the size of Beligum, lies 12,500 feet above the oceans of the world. Upon this rooftop water live the  Uru People on floating islands they build from reeds. 

A long wooden dock reached out from our hotel over duck weed and through reeds to our little tour boat.  After a fifteen minute ride, we passed a Urus "checkpoint" and docked at one of the reed islands where an extended family group still lives much as they did hundreds and hundreds of years ago except for us, the tourists! 

The Urus moved onto the lake to escape unfriendly neighbors, avoided the Spanish invaders but now welcome tourists from all over the world to their floating homes.

The Presidente of our little island managed the props while our guide talked about the life style, past and present of the Urus people. After the presentation, the Presidente's wife invited Joanne and me into her tiny reed home. As we exchanged simple pleasantries, the Presidente tried to hand me a native shirt like the one he was wearing. I politely refused thinking he wanted me to buy a shirt. After a few minutes and several attempts later, we understood that they wanted us to dress in their native costumes for a photo op.

Although he Urus people may retain an ancient way of life, they have mastered modern marketing! How could we refuse to buy some souvenirs!  After we parted with some sols, the presidente's wife, pleased with her sales, kissed me on the cheek.

The women of the island lined up to sing to us in English as we left upon one of the reed boats for a ride to another island. See the Utube video. Two little girls climbed the boat and into ladies laps charming everyone.  
 
Photos   




Lima & the Larco Museum

 We returned to Lima for a fast paced tour of central Lima including the Lima Cathedral. Our trip ended at the impressive  Larco Museum where had dinner before a cab ride to our hotel for a short nap before our flight back to Miami early the next morning.


Shining Path Today  Shinning Path  Alberto Fujimori



Pictures

End of Summer at Useppa

We joined cruisers from Isles Yacht Club at Useppa Island for an "end of summer" celebration. Useppa provided a pig roast and music at the pool by "Jamacia Man."  With a favorable tide we motored down the harbor in record time on Friday and beat the heat two ways - either in the pool or stowed away in our air conditioned boat. Bleu Kitty walked the dock on his leash and visited with boat dogs early in the mornings.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Collier Inn Friday night and a sumptuous pot luck dinner on the deck of the Tarpon Bar Saturday night. 

On Sunday we actually sailed most of the way home.  While we enjoyed our pleasant sail home, we were instantly drenched in sweat as we tied up at our dock.  Summer hasn't ended here in Punta Gorda! 

Thanks to our friend, Carol Akerman, who snapped the photo of Eagle's Wings on on way home.

Touring Monterey & Big Sur

Please check out our SLIDE SHOW below showing our post wedding destinations!

We set our auto pilot on Monterey and Big Sur just a short hop down the California coast.  Along the way was the farming community of Salinas, home of the John Steinbeck Center and the best breakfast place imaginable, First Awakenings.  We thoroughly enjoyed the Steinbeck Center with its fascinating exhibits of the Steinbeck's works and historical accounts of the downtrodden laborers who grew the fruits and vegetables that fed our nation.


Next we checked into Monterrey's Jabberwock B&B.  Jabberwock is a poem in one of Lewis Carroll's books, Through the Looking Glass.  In Monterey it's a lovely B and B with gorgeous grounds overlooking Monterey Bay.  We loved the yummy appetizers, homemade cookies and delicious breakfasts. We walked to most everything in the town.  We particularly enjoyed the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Mass at the oldest church in America (built in 1770 founded by Father Junipero Serra), San Carlos Cathedral.
    
We traversed the gorgeous 17 Mile Drive  through Pebble Beach's pricey real estate and lovely scenic shores stopping along the way to snap photos of the crashing waves along the rock strewn shores.  Finally, we reached Big Sur and checked into Big Sur Lodge.   The name "Big Sur" is from Spanish meaning "the big country of the south" referring to it's location south on the Monterey Peninsula.  It offers stunning views and the windy roads are fun to drive since the mountains are so close to the coast.  We donned our 'serious tredded' shoes and hiked to Pfeiffer Falls a challenging one-mile treck from the lodge.

We enjoyed a lovely lunch at Nepenthe Cafe which is perched way up up there overlooking the gorgeous valley.  We hiked a ways to view the beautiful 80 ft. McWay Waterfalls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park - McWay Waterfalls- very rugged for us Floridians!

Have you ever stayed in a YURT?  We hadn't - - so we took this opportunity to stay at Treebones Resort.  Our yurt was a 23 ft. diameter tent complete with a comfy queen-sized bed - check out the picture below!  The tent was located close to the edge of a cliff and we could hear the seals barking in the distance.

We hiked down to Sand Dollar Beach, Redwood Gulch and to Salmon Creek Waterfall.  On the way back to the airport, we couldn't resist stopping to see the Elephant Seal Rookery .  The seals were endangered up to a few years ago  -  and now are coming back in many areas along the coast.  They are really fun to watch. 

On the way back, we had a connecting flight through John Wayne Airport where we snapped a photo with the Duke.  What a great trip!  Hope you get to go there, too!

See Richard's video of jelly fish and seahorses at the Monterey Aquarium by clicking:
Jelly Fish Video. 

Ben & Addie's Wedding Day, 8/1/13, Santa Cruz, Ca

My handsome nephew, Ben Spanbock, married beautiful Addie Ricketts at the Chaminade Resort, Santa Cruz, CA on 8/1/13.  What a wonderful blessed occasion!  Most of our family attended from all parts of the U.S.  - Mary & Al from Indiana, Paul & Diane from South Carolina, Kevin from California, and of course, us, from Punta Gorda, FL with Ben's 92 year-old Grandmother, Marie McDermott!  Three of Ben's cousins also came long distances - Michele & her "SO", Bryan, from Kona, HI, Holly & Andrew from New Jersey and Annie from South Carolina. My sister, Claire, was radiant in her blue lace dress and her & Howard's grandkids were just adorable as the ring bearer and flower girl.  Check out the photos by clicking  Wedding Photos.