Caribbean 2001

Miami, St. Thomas, San Juan

Miami

Saturday, April 7, 2001

For Spring Break, Danielle and I decided at the last minute to take a cruise aboard the newly-launched Explorer of the Seas. It’s the sister ship of the Voyager of the Seas, on which we sailed last year. Explorer sails the Easter Caribbean, while Voyager continues its Western Caribbean itinerary. We got a great last minute deal on an outside cabin. We even ended up on the port side of the ship, which proved to be the best view throughout the cruise.

Unfortunately Linda, swamped with six simultaneous projects, couldn’t get away. Never mind that Disney is laying people off right and left, she seems to be required to do the work of half a dozen of them.

So Friday Danielle and I packed up and headed down to Ft. Lauderdale for a night at the beach. That way it’s a relaxed drive to the port on Saturday.

We had a nice time at the beach at the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort. We invented a new game, “dueling towers”, where two identical towers made by inverting a plastic cup of sand must be defended against the encroaching surf by the respective players. Danielle found that a combination of walls and trenches worked best.

Saturday we headed down to the Port of Miami, stopping for lunch in a tiny Chinese restaurant on the way. It turns out you can get on the ship long before the advertised 2pm boarding time. Some people reported having lunch aboard. Still, we felt lucky to be settled in our cabin shortly after 2pm. Our luggage arrived soon thereafter.

Explorer of the Seas is extremely similar to Voyager of the Seas. As we wandered around the ship Danielle pointed out to me a wall covering here or a carpet there that is different, but on the whole it’s nearly a twin. Our cabin was about half the size of the suite we had last year, but was very nice, well-finished and comfortable.

After the obligatory lifeboat drill (which we spent mugging for the camera) we checked the seas for any signs of icebergs, and then returned our life preservers to the cabin.

Ain’t technology grand? Even halfway to the Bahamas, of course we could send and receive email in our cabin. Cybercabin turned out to be a modem connection through the phone at 45K. It worked almost 100% of the time, and cost $100 per cruise – maybe not as cheap as a few quick uses of the Internet terminals in the library at $0. 50/minute, but a whole lot more convenient.

Danielle was the social butterfly at dinner. We have people from Ft. Lauderdale, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Philadelphia at our table for 10. It’s actually one of the best tables on the ship, being in a quiet side room right next to a very large window. It’s so secluded that it even took the maitre d’ a while to find it. The food was about the same as the last cruise – good, but not great – but the service was much better.

Nassau

Sunday, April 8, 2001

Well, we survived snorkeling. Linda wouldn’t have liked it. There were a lot of very colorful fish that have learned the boats bring people with fish food. There were also a zillion itty bitty jellyfish (0. 5″ size), harmless, but they would have freaked Danielle out if she’d noticed that we were swimming through them. Fortunately she didn’t. The water was very warm, and fairly clear.

Linda would have liked the ride on the catamaran. We lay on the cargo mesh and sailed back while the crew and a few of the rum-plied women danced to some pretty good reggae CDs.

We managed to lock ourselves out of the safe in our cabin (my fault, I think). It took at least 5 seconds for one of the officers to open it with an electronic device that plugs in behind the handle.

We left port at 2pm today for the long trip to St. Thomas. Danielle went to her first Adventure Ocean Voyagers group. Afterwards there was the formal dinner (which Danielle also attended, since Adventure Ocean is closed at that time).

We got dressed in our best formalwear and went to the captain’s reception, where we had our portrait snapped about a dozen times. I hope Danielle doesn’t pressure me into buying every version. I managed to hold out against buying the stupid photo with the pirate in the background.

Our dining companions all did different things in Nassau. One group went on the pseudo-sub – a boat with portholes below the water – another group went to Atlantis, and the third went on the dolphin encounter. The boy who did this was very enthusiastic about it, but frankly both his descriptions and the printed materials sounded pretty lame. It’s not like you get to swim with them.

Our captain has quite a good sense of humor. He described our day at sea tomorrow as “cruising through the middle of the Bermuda Triangle”.

At Sea

Monday, April 09, 2001

The day started with room service on the balcony. The lochs were the best food I’ve had onboard.   Throughout the day I’ll wrestled with the vagaries of C++, while Danielle joined the Voyagers.

We had a “high Italian” meal at Portofino for dinner ($20 extra, and worth it). Danielle, to her surprise, found plenty of things she liked, including a nice cheese plate, filet mignon, and chocolate mousse.

Afterwards we headed for the main theater, where we saw an entertaining – if uneven – musical review called History Repeating, and watched small Spanish-speaking children attempt to commit suicide by leaning over the balcony railing.

St. Thomas, U. S. Virgin Islands

Tuesday, April 10, 2001

Today we had breakfast on the Balcony overlooking the harbor in St. Thomas – it always reminds me of the Greek islands. Then we headed for downtown Charlotte Amalie (pronounced “Am-all-yuh” aboard one of the 22-person “taxis” that take passengers – on the wrong side of the street – from the Pier, along the harbor to the shopping district. Danielle blew her wad on souvenirs, mostly from the “changes color in the sun” shop. We also checked out a few Jewelry stores and a liquor and cigar shop. They make an excellent rum here in the Virgin Islands, and it only costs about $5 a bottle, but I couldn’t be bothered trying to get it back intact. I looked briefly for Cuban cigars until it occurred to me that St. Thomas is technically part of the United States. It may be duty free, but it doesn’t appear to be free from politics. In fact our only non-U. S. -affiliated stop on this trip was Nassau, so I guess I’m out of luck.

After a snack in the ship’s Promenade Café, we caught the “Leeland Snead” oyster boat (or facsimile thereof) for the hour cruise to Trunk Bay on St. John. I never realized how many little islands, rocks and reefs there were around St. Thomas. You definitely have to know where you’re going.

The crew of the Snead proved to be quite personable, and provided a running commentary throughout the trip. They were mostly Maryland and Virginia expatriates, down for the season. The captain was from North Dakota, a place I don’t associate with seafaring. He must have spent time on the east coast, though, as he had a fuzzy little dog named Chesapeake.

The diving at Trunk Bay was good, not great, but better than Nassau. We snorkeled along the reef and right up to the beach. After some sand and surf play they hauled people back in small inflatable dinghies, but Danielle and I speed-snorkeled our way back to the boat. Some snacks and unlimited rum punch (hic) occupied the hour-long return trip.

After a much-needed shower we headed down to dinner to swap stories with our dining companions. There we watched the sun set on the Charlotte Amalie harbor as we pulled out of port. Since it is only about 80 miles from St. Thomas to Puerto Rico, once we were out to sea we “killed time”, as the captain put it, cruising at what we reckoned to be a mere three knots for most of the night. Oddly, the ship rolls much more at this speed. I sat on the balcony and smoked a (Dominican) Partagas and watched the glow of the lights of the Greater Antilles beyond the horizon.

The cabin stewardess made Danielle a sting ray out of wash clothes and hand towels.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Wednesday, April 11, 2001

As the ship pulled into through the headlands around 6am there was a spectacular sunrise over the fort that guards the entrance to San Juan harbor. In the distance I could see rain coming down over the tropical forest in the mountains.

At 8:30 the bus left for the hour drive to our horseback ride. Our bus driver was very skilled, navigating the traffic while wielding the horn as his chief weapon.

San Juan is a city of barred windows. Destruction sites outnumber construction sites by a wide margin. We were quickly out of the city, though, following the coast on a road lined with fast food stands and factory outlet malls. In about an hour we arrived at the 600-acre Caraballi ranch, a tropical plantation that rambles over several foothills adjacent to the rainforest.

There were about thirty of us on the outing. We were divided into experienced and inexperienced groups, with experienced being defined as “having been on a horse five times”. I was surprised to find myself in the experienced section, and to discover that far more than half of the group was in the “never been on a horse” category.

We were assigned horses individually, and each indeed seemed to match its rider’s personality. Danielle, probably the best rider in the group, mounted “Sensation” a horse that always wanted to be at the front. I found myself on Marquis, who was extremely dependable and loved to eat.

The ride went over rolling terrain, sometimes crossing open hillsides but more often under the trees. The trail was muddy from the morning’s rain, but the horses didn’t seem to mind. They were extremely responsive to direction, and I found myself successfully resting most of my weight on the stirrups, which made for a comfortable ride.

These are Pasafino horses, trained a bit differently than those Danielle normally rides. They have a very quick trotting gate that Danielle called a “jog”. It’s tough for an inexperienced rider to get the horse to do it, but during the brief moments I accomplished it, it was like gliding on ice.

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After an hour we stopped for a drink by the river. Normally this is an opportunity for a swim, but we were told that they were expecting flash floods. This didn’t give me a warm feeling as we sat by the bank sipping our drinks. Frankly, I think we were just running late.

Another half hour brought us back to the barn, surprisingly free from saddle sores and with only slightly tired legs. Danielle, of course, was unaffected.

Mr. Toad’s Wild Bus Ride back to the ship got us onboard shortly before our 2pm departure time. The afternoon was a good time to relax in our cabin and catch up on journals.

Danielle again accompanied me to a formal dinner (just between you and me, I think the social experience is growing on her) and then spent the evening and late night at the kid’s pajama party.

The towel animal of the day was a lamb. Or possibly a crab.

Labadee, Hispanola

Thursday, April 12, 2001

Today we awoke in Labadee, a private cove at the northern tip of Haiti (which Royal Caribbean calls Hispanola for marketing reasons). The southern two-thirds of Hispanola is the relatively prosperous Dominican Republic, which was primarily settled by the Spanish. Haiti, on the other hand, is a colony comprised 95% of the descendants of former slaves. Two hundred years of mismanagement and deforestation have reduced it to near-total poverty. On satellite photos you can actually see the demarcation between the two countries. Royal Caribbean’s private cove remains forested, however.

After a late breakfast on the balcony we caught a tender to shore. We stopped briefly at the native marketplace, where we received the Jamaica-like hard sell from dozens of vendors selling utterly worthless native “crafts”. Danielle was out of spending money, but I gave her $10 to let her try out her negotiating skills. In mere minutes she’d negotiated a $2 pair of maracas down to only $10.

We caught the dive boat Fire Dancer for the hour ride to Amiga Island, a tiny oasis surrounded by coral reefs. The water was the clearest we’ve seen on the trip. We started by exploring the 16th century canons, pottery and giant kettles that have been sunk here since our last visit. There was also an enormous anchor. The current was stronger than on our last visit, and I was concerned that Danielle would find it a struggle to make it back to the shore if we went all the way out to the reef, so we contented ourselves with beach play for the rest of our stay.

A strong wind blew up, and the Fire Dancer had quite a fight getting back to the ship. Shortly afterward we set sail, and Explorer also found it rough going. Still, Thursday night is lobster and filet mignon in the main dining room, so even if we have to weave, we make the trip.

Danielle wanted to go to the midnight buffet, and stayed up watching “Best of Show”, which was hilarious — a spinal-tap style fake documentary about a dog show. But in the end, the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak, and we both slept through it.

They’ve been replaying the video of some of their entertainment in the cabins. The best one was the “Not So Newlywed Game”. The couples ranged from one married 45 years to one married a week. When they asked the latter “What is the most unusual place you’ve made love?” I don’t think they were expecting the answer “In one of the ship’s glass elevators”.

Today’s towel animal: a swinging monkey.

At Sea

Friday, April 13, 2001

A leisurely day at sea, the best way to end a busy cruise. I spent some time in the cabin torturing myself with C++, then caught Danielle in the talent show, where she recited Shel Silverstein’s “Christmas Dog”. Later she went ice skating, which is a neat trick when you’re six miles east of Cuba.

After a bite at the Island Grill, which affords a 180 degree view of our no-wake zone, Danielle spent the afternoon at Ocean Adventure doing improv and redeeming her Ocean Dollars.

We made a quick stop to say goodbye to our dining companions (and tip the waiters) and then it was back to the Portofino for an elegant farewell dinner.

Miami

Saturday, April 14, 2001

Our lucky color was brown. After a leisurely breakfast in the Windjammer, we were called first for debarkation. There was the usual uncomfortable backup getting to the gangway, but then we quickly cleared customs and hit the road. It felt strange to be driving again. We found that we still had our sea legs when we stopped at a service plaza on the turnpike and felt the building swaying. Even with a break for lunch we were home in under four hours.

Things to remember for future cruises:

Book a port-side balcony cabin between the elevators.

Arrive early, perhaps by noon.

Don’t buy the unlimited soft drink sticker for the charge card. It’s a complete rip-off, since it’s only good in the bars, and they’re never open when you want a soft drink. I think I got two Diet Cokes for my $33.

Book the six-person sailboat snorkel trip on St. Thomas.

Buy cigars in Nassau.

Don’t even think of shopping in San Juan.

Make sure Danielle brings shoes that can actually be worn, and don’t bother packing panty hose, slips, or 75% of her other clothes.

Washington, DC 2000

Before going to Williamsburg for our annual year-end visit to my father, we flew up to Washington Dc so that Danielle could see the nation’s capital. 
Our room at the Hay Adams hotel, across the street from the White House. The night view from our room.

Outside the Hay Adams.
On the mall. It was cold.
The Ford Theater with the box where Lincoln was shot in the background.
World’s smallest snowman at Mt. Vernon.
Action shot of a snowball at Mt. Vernon.
Ice on the Kingsmill golf course.
Danielle with Patricia, Ginnie’s nurse and friend.
Colonial cell phone.
Carriage in the arbor.
A tub o’ ice.
Danielle’s first hand-fed squirrel.
Danielle’s Christmas present to Pop Pop: a twig-covered pencil holder.

Las Vegas 2000

In the Fall of 2000 most of The Wine Syndicate group went to Las Vegas, where we stayed at the Venetian. We had some great lunches, dinners and tastings, and also found time for Star Trek The Experience, a tour of Caesar’s Magical Empire, and “O’ at the Bellagio..

Attending:

The Alcorns, Crockets, Henlines, Robinsons and Siegels.

Itinerary:

Thursday, October 12th. Dinner in Red Square at Mandalay Bay.

Friday Dinner in Picasso at Bellagio. Yes, that’s an original behind the Henlines.

Saturday Lunch at Stratosphere’s Top of the World restaurant: Dining at 887 feet.

We capped off our trip with a grand tasting (and 4-1/2 hour dinner!) Saturday night at Delmonico Steakhouse, which graciously provided the appropriate glassware, plus and superb food and service.

Delmonico Tasting Wines:

79 Grands Echezeaux & DRC Echezaux
86 & 91 BV GDLTPR
Guenoc Cabernet Franc
Far Niente Cabernet
86 Ch. Mouton Rothschild
Lynch Bages
91 Dominus
81 Ch. d’Yquem

Canadian Capitals 2000

Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa, Toronto

Danielle gets ready for some serious touring… Latop? Check… DVD? Check… Seal? Check.

Montreal is back there, somewhere, I’m sure.

Monday

On August 21st, 2000 we set out for a tour of Canadian Capitals. We selected Tauck Tours, because of their reputation for a hassle-free experience, with deluxe accommodations and no restrictions on dining choices. Departing from Orlando around noon, we traveled through Cincinnati, and arrived in Montreal — unfortunately — during rush hour. The trip, almost due north, took only a little over four hours; but the cab ride from the airport took another hour. 

Monday was really the day before the tour officially started. We wanted time to relax at the hotel. The Hilton Bonaventure in Montreal is an interesting place. The building is seventeen stories tall, but the hotel occupies only the top two floors. It is built facing the interior to eliminate street noise. Most of the rooms surround the swimming pool and garden area in the middle. 

On Monday night we had a lovely dinner at the Castillon restaurant, where Danielle experienced the first of many multi-course French meals on this trip. She decided that the cheese course was probably her best bet at most of these French restaurants. 

Tuesday

We had most of the day free on Tuesday. After a short walk around the city near our hotel we had lunch at a deli in the underground city of Montreal. We thought about going to the planetarium, but it wasn’t open yet, so we wandered up to the visitor center, where I discovered that the Cuban cigars in the shop across the street were priced for tourists. $45 for Cohibas?! Admittedly that translates into about $30 US, but still…

We browsed brochures for a while, but nothing really captured our interest. I’d spent a month in Montreal one week in the early 90s, and I got the same feeling this time — that there’s no “there” there.

In the end, Linda took a nap, I smoked a delightful cigar called a Vegueros, and Danielle spent nearly four hours in the hotel swimming pool, where she made friends with a girl from the United States named Michelle. 

Julia Stewart, our guide, spells her name the “right way”. You can also see our driver, Andre, in the mirror.

At 6:00 we met with our tour group for a wine reception. Our tour director, Julia Stewart (“spelled the right way”, she says) is excellent: friendly, organized, knowledgeable, and helpful. She was able to learn everyone’s’ names almost before she’d met them! Her stories of her experiences make the tour much more personal and memorable. Julia is from Nova Scotia originally, but now lives in Vancouver. This is her second year as a Tauck tour director. 

Exterior of Notredame.
Interior.
Danielle lit a candle for GinGin.
The front of the chapel at Notredame. It’s the world’s largest bronze sculpture..
St. Joseph’s Basilica, where you can climb the 99 steps on your knees. We took a big pass on that.
The performers at the festival of the governors.

Danielle was a bit disappointed to discover that there was no one else her age on the tour; we later found out that she was the youngest guests our tour director had ever had! Nevertheless, she gets along well with older people, and is doing a great job of being a mature traveling companion. 

The average age of our fellow travelers is well into retirement, but that’s not surprising, since school has started almost everywhere. They’re a very nice group, and have proven to be friendly and punctual. 

After the wine reception we had a delightful dinner at the Castillon restaurant with a couple from North Carolina, Dick and June. We talked about Harry Potter and many other books, travel, and our hometowns. 

Wednesday

After a nice breakfast in the hotel coffee shop, we met our group for a tour of Montreal. Our motor coach is amazingly quiet. Even climbing a steep hill, there is virtually no engine noise or vibration. Andre, our driver, is from Montreal. Whenever we get on or off the coach, he stands nearby in his coat and tie ready to help.

A local guide name Lis showed us around town, including the 1967 World Expo site and the Olympic Village.  

In the old part of the city we visited the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Although I’m not much into cathedrals, it was very beautiful, with elaborate woodwork and unusual stained glass windows depicting the local history. Danielle lit a candle for GinGin, her step grandma. 

Behind the cathedral is a chapel which was burned and reconstructed in the 1960s. Its architecture is jarringly modern, but the bronze sculpture at the front is impressive. The largest in the world, it was made in England and transported to Montreal by ship in thirty-two sections. 

Up on Mont Royal (for which the city is named) the view was nearly obscured in fog — which later turned to rain. Fortunately, Montreal is not a particularly scenic city, so we didn’t feel like we’d missed much.  

After a quick stop back at the hotel, we crossed the bridge to the Isle Sainte-Helene for  the Festin du Guviniers, in The Old Fort. Lunch included singing and piano music. Like many of the old forts in the area, it was constructed after the war of 1812 in case the United States ever again invaded Canada. 

In the afternoon Danielle went ice-skating in the high-rise building next to our hotel. Then, for dinner, we wandered down into the underground city beneath Montreal and had an eclectic meal at a fresh food buffet restaurant called Movenpick. 

 Montmorency Falls from the cable car.
On the suspension bridge.
 Water going over the dam right before the falls..
 In the background are the steps from the level of the falls down to the St. Lawrence River. Yikes.

Thursday

Thursday was a day for traveling. Our bags were picked up from our room at 7:45, and we were on the road by 8:45, headed from Montreal to Quebec. We stopped for lunch at Montmorency Falls, where we dined on a terrace at the Manoir Montmorency, overlooking the falls. The manor was originally built by Edward, Duke of Kent during the 1800’s. Edward was the son of George, and inherited his father’s fascination with clocks, but fortunately not his manic depression. A military genius, he led an unhappy life, and was eventually forced to separate from the mistress he loved and return to England, where he married. He was the father of Queen Victoria.

After lunch we took the cable car to the base of the falls and back. The falls are higher than Niagara Falls, but don’t carry nearly the volume of water. We walked along a boardwalk that clung to the mountain, eventually venturing out over the falls on a suspension bridge. It was very noisy. 

  

 Ste. Anne-de-Beaupre.
 This strange looking organ is in the chapel beneath the church.

After lunch we drove past Quebec City and on to the basilica of Ste. Anne-de-Beaupre, a relatively uninteresting church, the current version of which was completed in the 1920’s. The columns at the back of the congregation are decorated with sculptures made from crutches and various orthopedic devices, presumably to symbolize all of the people who have been healed there. I’m not sure what the artificial limbs symbolize, but it must have been impressive! I suspect this stop is on the tour merely to kill time until the hotel rooms are ready. 

On the way back to Quebec City we stopped at a place that served maple butter on fresh bread. That was delicious! 

 Chateau Frontenac.

Due to road construction we were somewhat late to arrive at the Chateau Frontenac. We’d already made a 6:00 PM dinner reservation, and were dismayed to discover the lobby filled with hundreds of Japanese tourists, all attempting to cram themselves into three small elevators. It looked like a Tokyo subway. 

The Chateau Frontenac is the most famous hotel in Quebec — and perhaps Canada. It is easily identifiable, because of its steeply sloped green copper roof. Built in 1893, (although the section we were in was added in the 1920s), other sections have been added as recently as 1993. Our room was spacious, with modern bathroom facilities, and had obviously been completely refurbished quite recently. The Chateau Frontenac is now part of the Fairmont organization. 

In spite of the late arrival, baggage delivery to our room was prompt, and we made it to dinner relatively on time, and had a lovely five-course meal. We were delighted to be able to select any items on the menu, all included in the tour. The waiter even flambéed Danielle’s steak at the table, although in the flame height competition his flames were about a foot shorter than at the Castillon. The other highlight of the meal was that the waiter asked Danielle if she cared for some of our wine. Although not strictly legal here, if the parents ask, it’s accepted. We had a 1995 Corton Charlemagne, by the way. It was only moderately expensive — until they added all of the taxes! 

 The Old City of Quebec and our guide, Eric, and tenth generation resident.

Friday

Friday began with breakfast at Cafe Terrasse, where the croissants and pain au chocolate rivaled those of Paris. Then we went on a two-hour tour of Quebec City. Our guide, Eric — (Quebec law requires a local guide in the city) — took us down to the old city, where it seemed that almost every shopkeeper and restaurant owner was one of his relatives. Since he’s a tenth generation resident of Quebec, I suppose that’s not surprising. 

We had lunch at Le Continental, a four star restaurant, reputed to be the best in town. Once again Danielle was able to taste the wine, a 1998 Clos du Val Chardonnay (“Le Clos”). 

 Danielle and Linda with Roadster.
 The gardens.

At Danielle’s insistence, we had a lovely carriage ride around town. Our horse was named Roadster. Compared to the summer weather in Orlando, the 70 degree breeze here was heaven. 

 Roadster poses in front of Chateaus Frontenac and the wall surrounding the city. Quebec is the only old walled city in North America.
 The funicular. Well worth $1.25
 I don’t know what you’re looking at, but I’ve got a stiff neck.
 Figure head.
 In the U.S., there would be so many lawsuits over this playground that the lawyers would have to take a number.
 Mother and ugly child.
 Here’s an amazing illusion. This is a completely flat wall in the old city. Can you find Danielle in this picture?

After a rest, some journal entries, and some long-division practice, we headed down to the old city on the funicular. Danielle did some curio shopping, and we took some funny pictures.

 Skipping stones at Chateau Vaudreil.
 Two statues at Chateau Vaudreil.
 An Excalibur, complete with wooden dashboard.
 Guard in front of the Royal Governor’s Mansion in Ottawa. Julia described his job as living in the biggest house and attending socials.
 The view from the Ottawa Westin.

Saturday

Saturday was another day of travel. After breakfast at Cafe Terasse we headed out of Quebec City — to the regret of all. We wished we could stay longer to more fully explore this charming place.

Heading along the St. Lawrence River, we stopped for an elaborate buffet lunch — featuring several dozen salads, among other things — at Chateau Vaudreil, a new hotel built on the banks of the river. 

After lunch we followed a winding road past many lovely homes on the Ottawa River, crossing into Ontario and arriving in Ottawa at 5:00 PM.

We learned that Ontario means “sparkling water”; Canada means “collection of huts”; and Ottawa means “floppy ears”(!) — an Iroquois reference to the dangling earrings of the Heuron tribe.

Ottawa is a charming city of parkland and beautiful buildings surrounding the river and the Rideau Canal. The canal runs 120 miles, paralleling the Rideau River. Rideau is french for curtain, so-named because of the way the Rideau River falls into the Ottawa.

Our room at the Westin overlooked the canal and the parliament building, with a view to both north and south. It is one of the nicest hotel rooms that we’ve ever had.

Saturday evening we had a fairly awful meal at the Elephant and Castle, an English pub near the hotel. The culinary contrast between the French and English parts of the country is self-evident!

 The Canadian Parliament Building.
 Library of Parliament.
 The Senate Chambers.
 Trooping the Colors at Rideau Hall, with junior trooper in foreground.
 Driving a Pakistani Bus at the Musee de Civilization.
 The ByWard Market.
 Paul’s Boat Cruises.

 

Sunday

Sunday we had breakfast at Daly’s in the hotel and set out for a tour of Ottawa. Now that we are out of Quebec, Julia guided the city tour herself.

First stop was the Canadian Parliament building. It’s a beautiful structure, filled with elaborate carving, woodwork and stained glass. The House of Commons is like a smaller version of the one in London.

Behind the building is the older Library of Parliament, which survived the fire that destroyed the earlier Parliament building — due to someone’s closing the steel door that separates the two.

On the south side of the building is the Senate chamber. Unlike the U.S., Canadian senators are appointed until age 75. Perhaps because of this, they don’t seem to have any significant role in the government.

After Parliament, we hurried off to Rideau Hall, a park across the street from the home of the prime minister, to view the trouping of the colors. Adrian, one of our co-travelers, is from London. On the way, he gave us a detailed history of the British army, and described the significance of the colors, the elaborate flags given to each company. The flags are actually blessed, and presented by one of the royal family. Even when they are worn out, they are never destroyed, but are stored away in a chest.

The colors, of course, were used as primitive semaphores during battle, since the drums and bugles could not always be heard.

We watched as the red-coated troops marched about the field. The band — which included bagpipes in addition to the full array of usual instruments — was quite impressive. They played for about a half hour.

The final stop on the tour was the Musee de Civilization, an enormous structure on the Hull side of the river. The others on the tour were most impressed by the exhibits, but we’ll have to take their word for it — we never made it out of the children’s museum! It’s the best I’ve seen, with dozens of fascinating experiences that captivated the imagination of the many children packed into the place. In our brief hour, Danielle drove a Pakistani bus, explored a pyramid, unloaded crates from a freighter using a crane, tried on snow shoes, and visited a dozen countries.

On the way back to the hotel the bus dropped us off a few blocks away at the ByWard open-air market, where we had lunch at a sidewalk cafe.

After a break for journal writing and relaxation, we headed out to the Rideau Canal for a boat ride. The guide on Paul’s Boat Cruises (since the 1920’s, the sign says) was named Frank. A student of French Literature at Ottawa University, Frank was quite a comedian.

We learned that the Rideau Canal was constructed by Irish and French workers in just six years in the 1820s. It was built in preparation for a sequel to the War of 1812, which never came. The eight-kilometer portion we toured was created from sections of swamp, bedrock, and a farmer’s fields. Four hundred of the workers died in the swamps alone, from what was later called malaria.

This section and one other that is ten kilometers long are the only manmade portions of the canal. The rest of the 200 kilometers is comprised of natural bodies of water.

Traveling along the moss-laden waterway, it was hard to imagine it in winter, when they drain all eight kilometers by opening the locks that feed the Ottawa River, Then it becomes the world’s longest supervised ice rink.

We had dinner back at the hotel, at Daly’s, then packed for the trip to Toronto tomorrow.

 

 Cruising the Thousand Islands.
 To be an island, it has to have at least two trees and six square feet of ground cover. Does this count?.
 The rabbit warren at The Big Apple.
 This rabbit came up to Danielle, who named him Calico.
 Parking garage? No. Stainless Steel Fabrication Plant? No, it’s the lobby of the Toronto Hilton.

 

Monday

After breakfast at Daly’s, we headed south for Toronto. 

It was mostly a day of riding on the bus, but we stopped at Gananoque for a one-hour cruise of the Thousand Islands. If you think Thousand Islands is an exaggeration, so did we —  but there are actually 1865 of them! (To be an official island, it has to have at least two trees and six square feet of ground cover!)

The area is one of the most beautiful we’ve seen, rivaling Yosemite, Vancouver, et al. The narration was recorded, and perhaps a bit out of date, but you could have bought a six acre private island with cottage and dock for the astronomical price of $100,000 in 1982. I want one!

Seriously, though, it would be a great place to spend the summer, swimming and boating off of a tiny rocky island, commuting to Ganonoque across the channel. Winter, on the other hand, sounds a bit harsh. Some residents snowmobile across the frozen river to get to town!

We could see the US side of the river from the boat. The international boundary was drawn after the War of 1812, and splits the islands between the US and Canada. No islands straddle the line, although it runs between a pair that are connected by a short bridge — making it the shortest international bridge in the world.

The lunch on the boat was pretty grim, so I stuck with the salad, which was quite tasty and served with — you guessed it — 1000 island dressing.

Mid-afternoon we stopped at a roadside oasis called the Big Apple, which was actually a lot of fun, The bake their own pies, have a large gift shop and restaurant, and the obligatory restrooms. But the real attraction was out back, where you can feed the sheep, rabbits, ducks and llama. The rabbits wander free through the woods, and Danielle had a great time photographing them. It was a well-timed visit, since our current nighttime reading is “Watership Down”.

Julia passed around a clipboard so that we all could contribute to a group poem. Linda’s contribution was:

We greatly enjoyed the tour and eating,
But soon Tauck’s buses will need wider seating!

Danielle wrote:

I had fun although I’m only nine
I even got to taste some wine.

I didn’t get a chance to do one, but it would have been:

Hilton beds are pretty rotten,
But Westin’s are the best we’ve gotten;
Still in all, for what’s around it,
Frontenac’s tops, I’m glad we found it!

We arrived at the Toronto Hilton at 5:00 PM. The building has just been completely remodeled into what can only be described as Parking Garage Moderne. The concrete lobby has all the charm of a cement plant. And the trendy Tundra restaurant offers fine dining in an environment slightly more austere than your average stainless steel box. The food was elaborately presented and mostly top notch, but the designer of the place really should be shot. We had a good time playing with the rocks(!) that held down the napkins, designing hypothetical weighing puzzles for each other. Example: You have four rocks, three of which weigh the same. How many weighings does it take to find the different one?

Julia went to special efforts to get Danielle accommodations on a high floor, so we have an expansive view of the city. But the best thing about the room isn’t that. It’s not even the trendy easy chair that has only one arm(?!). It’s the Internet connection. Plug your laptop’s 100Base-T jack into the cord, launch your browser, and you’re immediately connected to the Hilton’s welcome page. Log in for $9.95 a day, and you’re on the Internet at T-1 speeds. No set up, it just works — I have no idea how. 

I’d never actually used the Internet at these speeds; it’s a whole different experience. Ironically, our web and mail server was down (which never happens) when I first connected , but after dinner it came up and I transferred all of the pictures from this trip in under two minutes. Whew!

 Canada Moose (sponsored by Coke!)
 Map Moose.
 Mountie Moose.
 Provincial Moose.
 High-diving Moose.
 Jaws Moose. This guy will give you nightmares!
 Steve Moose.
 View from the Restaurant 360, 1150 feet up the CN Tower.
 Yikes! It’s 1100 feet down and that’s a glass floor!.
 Lion King Moose.

Tuesday

Toronto is a city of glass and steel, the antithesis of Quebec. The homes of 4 million people sprawl around a block of towering buildings at the edge of Lake Ontario, smallest of the Great Lakes.

Other than the big buildings, there’s not much character to the city. A local guide showed us around for a couple of hours, walked us through city hall, and then dropped us off for a self-guided tour of Casa Loma.

Casa Loma is a castle-like house built by Sir Henry Mill Pellatt in 1911. More precisely, it was built by about 300 laborers. It cost the equivalent of about $40 Million. Sir Henry and his wife lived in it for less than ten years before he discovered that it wasn’t nearly so profitable to own an electric utility company once it wasn’t a monopoly. The furnishings and house were auctioned to pay his debts.

One of the more interesting things we found in the city were some 600 moose statues. Sponsored by corporations at $6000 each, the moose are clever and often comical. The fiberglass creations have mostly lost their antlers to souvenir hunters or pranksters, but they’re still cute. They will be auctioned in the fall. 

For lunch we went to the 1800-foot-tall CN Tower, the world’s largest free-standing structure. The Restaurant 360 makes a complete turn every 72 minutes, affording a terrific view of downtown and the Lake Ontario waterfront. After lunch we walked across the glass floor, which gives you a rather queasy feeling, since it’s 1100 feet straight down!

One the way back to the hotel we passed the theater where we saw The Lion King later in the evening. What a show it was, with fabulous costumes and lighting, and all the great songs from the movie plus many new ones. Several of the performers were quite good, including the ten-year-old boy who played young Simba, and the woman who played Nala — she was truly of Broadway caliber.

 The American Falls. That rock came down in the 1950s. The flow over the falls is greatly reduced to try to discourage such erosion.
 The Canadian Falls. That dot is the Maid of the Mist. Actually it’s more like the Maid of the Typhoon.
 The Maid of the Mist IV, pulling up to let us aboard.
 American Falls viewed from the prow of the Maid of the Mist.
 American Falls on the left, Canadian on the right.

 

Wednesday

After my solo breakfast in the aptly-named Tundra (Danielle opted for room service) we boarded the bus for the ninety-minute drive to Niagara Falls. I had always pictured the falls in the middle of a national park setting, but in reality they’re surrounded by something across between Coney Island and Las Vegas. Still, even the miniature golf courses and haunted houses can’t overwhelm the beauty and massive size of the falls. The Maid of the Mist boats get right up into the spray of the horseshoe-shaped Canadian side. The boats are named after an Indian legend about a maiden who was sacrificed by sending her over the falls in a canoe. Her spirit is said to live in the mist behind the falling water. 

Speaking of people going over the falls, the first one known to survive was a schoolteacher who went over in a barrel about one hundred years ago. She was 63! More impressive is the boy who, about ten years ago, accidentally went over the falls in swimming trunks and life preserver and survived. He was pulled out of the water by the crew of one of the boats.

It’s a good thing they hand out ponchos, because the water really comes down when you’re up in the thick of it. The flow is fairly turbulent, and the boat rocks as if it’s shooting the rapids.

We stopped for lunch at The Queen’s Landing, a new and very nice hotel in Niagara-on-the-Lake. It’s a charming town, and we wished we had time to explore it, and to visit some of the many wineries in the area. But too soon were headed back to Toronto, for our farewell dinner and packing for our early flight tomorrow — and a 4:00 AM wake-up call!

It’s been a great trip. Now we have the excitement of getting back so that Danielle can see her new school. 

As we fly home, we’ll also be remembering the sights (especially Quebec), and thinking about our tour director, Julia, who starts it all over again tomorrow afternoon…

 

 Photos from the Farewell Dinner at the Toronto Hilton.

Itinerary from the Tauck catalog:

1. Fly to Montreal
Tour begins: Bonaventure Hilton Hotel at 6:30 PM. Discover the many charms of the delightfully French city of Montreal; the day is at leisure upon your arrival. This evening you are invited to a 6:30 PM reception and dinner to meet your Tour Director and fellow travelers.
Meals D 

2. Sightseeing Montreal
With its dual English and French cultures, Montreal is one of Canada’s most unique cities. This morning enjoy a sightseeing tour including St. Joseph’s Oratory, McGill University and Mt. Royal, plus a visit to Notre Dame Cathedral. After lunch the afternoon is free to spend as you wish. Visit the fashionable shops of Place Ville Marie, Place Bonaventure, St. Catherine and Sherbrooke Streets, or explore on your own. Montreal is delightful, with many things to do at any time of the year.
Meals BL 

3. Montmorency Falls / Quebec
Leave Montreal and head east through the heart of French Canada. Follow the shores of the mighty St. Lawrence River through Trois Rivières to magnificent Montmorency Falls, higher than Niagara Falls! Enjoy lunch beside the falls, then journey to Quebec City for two nights at the Château Frontenac. Sprawled atop sheer cliffs rising above the narrowing St. Lawrence River, Quebec reflects an old-world charm and grace of another era. Highlights include the Plains of Abraham, the provincial Parliament buildings, Porte St-Louis and the narrow, cobbled streets lined with boutiques and cafes.
Meals BLD 

4. Quebec City
This morning take a sightseeing tour of Old Quebec, capital of the province, the only walled city north of Mexico. Grayed by the brush of time, ancient stone houses huddle beside venerable churches and historic monuments. You may wish to stroll on Dufferin Terrace, watch the unending line of ships from around the world, or visit the small boutiques of the Old City. For those who wish, continue on to the Beaupré coast and visit the shrine of Ste. Anne de Beaupré and its famous basilica. Return midday to Quebec City; the remainder of the day is at leisure to enjoy this beautiful city.
Meals B 

5. Vaudreuil / Ottawa
Travel west, past Montreal, along the route of early French explorers and fur traders. After lunch continue to Canada’s capital city of Ottawa, perched on the banks of the Ottawa River. As the center of Canadian government, it is renowned for beautiful flower gardens, tree-lined streets, numerous parks and noble buildings. The city was chosen as the capital of Canada by Queen Victoria in 1857; at the time it was a somewhat rustic outpost on the edge of the Canadian frontier. View the training center of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police before arriving in the heart of the city for a relaxing two-night stay.
Meals BLD 

6. Canada’s Capital — Ottawa
Ottawa captivates the visitor with the charm of its magnificent boulevards, exquisite gardens and regal architecture. This morning’s sightseeing includes views of the Royal Canadian Mint, National Research Center, City Hall, the residence of the prime minister and Rideau Hall, the governor-general’s home; you also have an opportunity to visit Parliament. In July and August see the “Changing of the Guard” (weather permitting). Enjoy the remainder of the day at your leisure.
Meals B 

7. 1000 Islands / St. Lawrence
Head south to the St. Lawrence River for a luncheon cruise among the lovely Thousand Islands. Some of the islands are lushly forested while others support only a few pines perched precariously over the blue water. Continue to Kingston, where the great river opens on to Lake Ontario. Travel the MacDonald-Cartier Freeway to Toronto, Ontario’s largest city, for the next three nights.
Meals BLD 

8. Toronto / Lake Ontario
Today enjoy a sightseeing tour of Toronto to see the downtown and residential areas as well as the Royal Ontario Museum, Parliament Buildings and the University of Toronto. Visit magnificent Casa Loma mansion, the opulent legacy of Canadian Industrialist Sir Henry Mill Pellatt. The afternoon is at your leisure to visit the museums and waterfront shops, or perhaps take a boat excursion on Lake Ontario. Join us for a special evening attending a theatrical performance of the magical Tony Award-winning musical, The Lion King.
Meals B 

9. Niagara Falls
Travel along the Queen Elizabeth Way to Niagara Falls. In addition to viewing the thundering falls from high above, you will descend to the churning waters of the Niagara River and take the famous Maid of the Mist boat to view the falls from below. It’s a breathtaking experience! Travel along Niagara Gorge to view the world-famous Floral Clock, giant hydroelectric plants, Niagara Parks School of Horticulture, and the Whirlpool Rapids. Visit the charming village of Niagara-on-the-Lake for lunch with time to browse through the shops. Return to Toronto for a farewell reception and dinner.
Meals BLD 

10. Journey Home
Tour Ends: Toronto. Fly home anytime. A transfer is provided to the airport.
Meals B

France 2000

In May, 2000 my Director of Sales, David Geoghegan, and I traveled to Europe to teach Alcorn McBride seminars in Germany and France. We spent three days in Uhingen, outside Stuttgart, then flew via Zurich, to Paris. After meeting with the technical staff at Paris Disneyland we drove to the Loire for one night, then to Brittany and back to Paris in an 1100 km marathon.

training steve
Training seminar at COMM-TEC Germany.

collecting receivables
Collecting a few receivables from Henry Corrado, the head of COMM-TEC France.

loire trio
Steve, Henry and David in front of the Chateau de Marcay, where we spent the night. The Chateau was originally built in the 1100’s as a defensive fortification. The rooms have rough hewn beams, and the walls are very thick.

vineyard loire steve 1
In the Chateau’s vineyards.

vineyard loire steve 2
In the Chateau’s vineyards.

caves steve henry
The caves beneath the Chateau.

racks steve henry
With Henry in front of the equipment racks at the ESCAL’ Atlantic museum in Saint-Nazaire, Brittany. This installation has a lot of Alcorn McBride gear. It’s a mockup of an entire cruise ship, inside a WWII sub bunker. To exit the exhibits you board an actual life boat and are lowered to the gift shop! (Hmm… I wonder if that’s ADA compliant…)

Three Rivers and Sequoia 2000

In April 2000 Linda was headed to Walt Disney Imagineering in California for meetings about the new Space Pavilion at Epcot. Danielle and I decided to tag along, to visit grandparents. I also conceived the idea of visiting my childhood summer haunts in Three Rivers, just below Sequoia National Park.

Saturday, April 22, 2000

To avoid any Easter morning angst, Danielle celebrated Easter with an egg hunt and baskets Saturday. I say baskets, because she had her friend Megan staying over Friday night, and they both got an Easter basket on Saturday. Saturday evening Linda, Danielle, Nicole and I went to A Chorus Line at the Mark Two Theater. They did a commendable job with their limited facility. It was amusing to see the changes that had been made to the names of popular movie stars since we saw it at the Shubert in L.A. back in the mid ’70s.

Easter Sunday, April 23, 2000

We were up at 6:00 AM to head for the airport. Coupled with the late night before, Danielle was pretty much comatose until we got to the airport. Disney no longer uses Delta, so Linda ended up with a United non-stop. Danielle and I got free first class Delta ticket with SkyMiles, but had a connection in Atlanta. We met up at Marjorie and Dean’s house at about 3:00 PM for a nice Easter dinner of Honey Baked Ham and smoked turkey. Then it was off to the Glendale Hilton (Linda had already checked in) for a very early bedtime.

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Monday, April 24, 2000

Still on East Coast time, Danielle and I were up and out by 7:00 AM. We exchanged our Oldsmobile Alero for a Pontiac Grand Am at the Burbank Airport (the Alero went thump-thump-thump at freeway speeds) and then headed north, stopping for breakfast in Castaic (near the site of the St. Francis dam disaster of 1928, although you couldn’t tell it now). Beyond Bakersfield we took the cutoff through Porterville, drove through an A&W Root Beer stand for something to drink in Exeter, and stopped to peer into a cricket cage at a tackle shop in Lemon Cove. By 11:30 AM we were in Three Rivers.

Lake Kaweah was surprisingly low, considering that the spring melt had already begun. Sometime in the mid ’70s they moved the marina down near the dam so that they could let the water drain lower in the fall (for flood control in the winter). After so many years of going out on the boat at the old location, it still looks like it’s in the wrong place to me. The houseboats looked the same, although I doubt that any of them are floating on plywood boxes full of empty Purex bottles any more! I recalled the spring of 1966, when flooding filled the lake to the brim, and water was running over the four feet of sandbags they’d added to the spillway. The surface had been covered from shore to shore with so much debris – tree stumps, building materials, branches, anything that would float – that it looked as if you could walk across it.

Above the lake we passed what used to be Metz’s Trailer Park, now some sort of cabin rentals. Across the street was the Three Rivers General Store, which we used to call Harry’s. Harry seemed to have at least one of everything ever made. It seemed that no query could stump him – with enough rummaging he would come up with whatever you needed, or a reasonable substitute. The store was still there and looked like it was in business, but it was closed.

There was a new Holiday Inn Express on the right (quite an eyesore), and a new hotel and restaurant under construction on the left. Other than these, we saw very little recent construction throughout the area. Some business have come and gone, but the buildings are unchanged. Three Rivers was amazingly similar to when I last visited, some 25 years ago. I was amazed at how accurate most of my memories had been, especially considering that they were largely forged when I was ten or twelve. Even the map that I drew for A Matter of Justice had only minor errors in it: the gas station too far north by 100 yards, the first part of North Fork Drive too perpendicular to 198.

Our first stop was at the Supermarket and Drugstore. Danielle bought a few souvenirs and collected twigs to make a picture frame. Continuing on into town, I didn’t see the golf course clubhouse, but there seemed to be a new structure near the first hole.

Pat O’Connell’s gas station is still there, although they’re just a towing service and wrecker yard now. I guess when the new gas tank regulations came in it was too expensive to change the tanks. We found out later that Pat, who must be in his seventies, still runs the place.

Three River’s “downtown” still looks almost exactly the same. Pat Lang’s emporium, a sandwich and gift shop, is still at the corner of North Fork Drive and 198. The strip of buildings running north from there on 198 is identical, although many of them are out of business, and most of the rest have changed names.

The Three Rivers Market is unaltered – two gas pumps out front, crowding the façade of the building, narrow rows of everyday staples squeezed inside.

Driving on through town we stopped at Rainer’s Candy Shop, which was the same shop I’d written about in the book, but under a different name. The woman behind the counter, Leslie Fry, was a longtime resident of the area. She reminded me that it had been called Huffaker’s Country Candies in those days. She also mentioned that there was a book called “Sunshine and Buzzards”, written by a local resident, which I might find at Ann Lang’s Emporium. I told Leslie I’d send her a copy of my manuscript.

We drove back to Ann Lang’s for lunch, and I found the book that Leslie had mentioned, and another about the founding of the Kaweah Colony Cooperative in the 1890s. I later discovered that the Kaweah Colony book was written by Pat O’Connell’s son! We asked what building the library had been in – I hadn’t recognized it as we drove past – and learned that it now houses a newspaper, The Kaweah Commonwealth, which was resurrected from a nearly 100 year rest in 1995.

On the way into the newspaper office, we passed on elderly lady coming out. Inside, we asked the publisher, John Elliott, about the library. Indeed, this building (which was even smaller than I remembered) had been the library for many years. He told us that the woman we’d passed on our way in was the daughter of Esther Peck, the librarian of the 1960s! According to John, she ran the library for about 25 years, and died a couple of years ago. John gave us a few back issues of the newspaper, and filled us in on some local history. He asked for a copy of the book to review when it was published, and I told him that in the meantime I’d send him a copy of the manuscript.

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We drove past the Three Rivers Drive In Restaurant, which is now closed. They’ve built a new Chevron station next door. (Apparently the restaurant was also known as Corky’s for a time. Interestingly, I saw a stained glass sign that said Corky’s stored in a window of one of the apartments behind the Three Rivers Market.) Incidentally, the market is a one-story structure, contrary to what it says in the manuscript. There is a deck out behind the apartments in the rear, and there is a partially exposed basement beneath the front part of the building. I’m not certain that the apartments were even there in the 1960s, though.

Having seen most of the town, we headed across the North Fork Bridge, and swung through the rodeo grounds, now called Lion’s Arena. It’s actually on the east side of the North Fork, across another small bridge. I purposely showed it on the west side when I made my map, because I thought it was confusing to have yet another bridge. Now I’m not sure that I even what to show it on the map, since it has nothing to do with the story.

Continuing up North Fork Drive, we passed Trailer Isle for the moment and drove to the Kaweah Post Office. It, of course, was unchanged, since it’s an historical monument. I believe this is the smallest post office in the country. The public area is about the size of a phone booth! Danielle petted a cat named Lilly and sent a postcard to Linda while I took pictures. 

On up the road, we crossed the spot where the Bailey Bridge had been. A Bailey Bride is a kind of temporary military bridge. This one ended up being not so temporary. It was installed during the 1950s (I think) and lasted until the flood of 1966 washed it out. It was then replaced with the bridge that Mott would have lived under.

On up the road about a half-mile we photographed the spot where Karp’s trailer might have been, turned back and stopped at Mott’s bridge to take photos. 

Then the strangest thing happened. As I was photographing Danielle in front of the bridge, a dog walked into the frame. He was very friendly (even if he did look like a hyena). He took an immediate liking to us, and wanted to get into the car. This is really weird, because the plot of “A Matter of Justice” centers on Danielle’s adoption of a stray dog. Eventually, after considerable wheedling, we said goodbye to the dog, who Danielle had named Blackie, and headed back to Trailer Isle.
There we met Julie and Kevin Pierce, the managers. In gratitude for letting us look around, I gave them an autographed copy of the manuscript. 

Trailer Isle is amazingly unchanged since the 1960s – even the sign hasn’t been painted. The permanent resident’s loop has had a few more mobile homes squeezed in, and there are cattle in the pasture, but all else remains the same. I was able to recognize several trailers, including the one that we briefly owned in space 10, and the one across the street that belonged to Kay Gregory.

Our longtime location at number 17 (Danielle Deucer’s in the book) was now occupied by a mobile home, and a concrete parking pad had been poured across the middle of the lawn.

The swimming hole was pretty much the same, although it looked like a few floods had cleared it out. The water was running high. Danielle spent a while prospecting for iron pyrite grains. She also found an abandoned Matchbox car buried in the sand. It looked a lot like the ones I used to play with, but that would be just too weird. Finally we headed back to town to find the new library.

The library is now behind the elementary school, on the east side of the road. As we passed the playing field, I recalled the Halloween fair in about 1966, when, wearing a blond wig and dressed as Ilya Kuryachin of the Man From Uncle, I went into a fortune-teller’s tent, was mistaken for a girl, and told that someday I would meet a tall, dark handsome stranger! I’m still waiting.

The new library is somewhat larger and much nicer than the old one. It also has two computers, a feature I’m sure I don’t remember from 1968! They no longer have the copy of Huckleberry Finn that I read those many summers ago, but they did have a 1960 printing of To Kill A Mockingbird. It appeared to be in mint condition. If Danielle Deucer read it, she was the only one – it was in mint condition. Consistent with my novel, there were plenty of old Nancy Drews on the shelf.

The new librarian, Rita Pena, has held the position for sixteen years. She tried to find a photo of Esther Peck for me, but couldn’t turn one up. She said that she’d get one from Esther’s daughter and mail it to me. I told her that I’d send her a copy of the manuscript.

Now it was time to head up to the National Park boundary and check-in. The Buckeye Tree Lodge turned out to be quite nice – two concrete-block buildings right along the river beyond the Pumpkin Hollow Bridge. It’s actually the last structure before you reach Sequoia National Park. We had the only unit with a kitchenette. This fact and the barbecue out on the lawn got Danielle thinking about cooking dinner. Since the White Horse Saloon, although in perfect repair, is permanently closed, she talked me into it. After some rock hopping on the river, we headed back into town to buy hotdogs and other supplies at the Three Rivers Market. After a cookout and more rock hopping along the river, be made it a fairly early night.

Tomorrow we’ll head up into Sequoia National Park.

Tuesday, April 25, 2000

I arose while it was still dark, being somewhat still on East Coast time, and worked on this journal for a couple of hours. Later, Danielle joined me to write hers. I was impressed with the way she distilled the previous day down into the same highlights on which I have focused.

As the sun rose we went out to the river and took a panoramic shot of all 360 degrees, with Danielle in each picture.

With the car packed, we headed down into Three Rivers for breakfast at the Noisy Water Café. I vaguely remembered the place. The waitress told us that it had been there since the 1930s, and that it was named the same in 1968. It’s impressive that it could have survived so long, because right outside are the pilings of the North Fork Bridge that was built in 1938 and washed out in the flood of 1955.

(The other place we used to eat breakfast was the Buckaroo Inn, down by
Metz’s, but I saw nothing that I recognized when we passed by yesterday.)

After a huge and delicious breakfast of eggs, omelets, pancakes, toast, bacon, hash browns, milk and coffee (well, I said it was huge) we headed back towards the park entrance. Unfortunately we forgot that we were going to get gas at the Chevron Station next to the Noisy Water Café. We remembered when we saw the park entrance sign that said there was no gas in the national park. So, after another round trip into town, we finally made it to the entrance gate.

The ranger advised us that the road was only open for a few minutes at the top of each hour, due to several miles of construction just inside the park. So we spent a pleasant half hour at the visitor center, looking at dangerous things in little glass jars. Another ranger in the visitor center sold us a workbook for kids that included puzzles, word searches, writing assignments and quizzes. By filling it out and picking up a load of litter, Danielle learned that she could earn a “Raven” award, which consisted of a patch to sew on a shirtsleeve. This was a great idea, as it gave her something to do while we waited for the road to open.

The road really is under construction. There’s only one lane for several miles, as they build retaining walls to hold up a new outer lane. I couldn’t tell if this was due to flood damage or just an improvement project.

When we reached Giant Forest, Danielle was delighted by the enormous trees, and even more delighted by the snow that was lying in big patches by the road. At Morro Rock we climbed the first 5% of the way (just far enough to take a picture), then went back to the parking lot – Danielle lured by the snow, I dissuaded by the number of air molecules at 7000 feet!

Next stop was the General Sherman Tree, the largest living thing on the planet. We took two more panoramas at General Sherman, then had a snowball fight next to the parking lot.

Onward to Lodgepole, where we had a pretty good lunch at the snack room. Danielle finished her workbook, and we went to the visitor center to claim her patch. A nice ranger checked her work, and then made an announcement of the award over the PA system!

Another two miles brought us to the brand new Wuksachi Lodge, a beautiful complex atop a 7000-foot ridge overlooking the Sierras. Our room, number 127, was lovely. For $95 a night we got a bedroom and a sitting room, snow right outside, and a spectacular view. Dinner was in a dining room reminiscent of the historic park lodges. The food – Caesar salad, grilled salmon with an orange sauce, and asparagus – was top notch, but the atmosphere is casual. We’ll have to bring the Wedi here some time. We ordered box lunches for Wednesday, which we’ll pick up at breakfast time.

Wednesday, April 26, 2000

After some early snow play we had a nice breakfast in the Wuksachi dining room, picked up the boxed lunches and checked out, heading for Grant Grove.

One of the big trees in this grove was named after then General (later President) Grant in 1865. In the 1890s, these sequoias were preserved by the creation of U. S. Grant National Park, later incorporated into Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. (They were also preserved by the fact that their wood is really weak and brittle, making it next to useless for exploitation.) There is an excellent trail here that passes a lot of nice trees, and goes through a fallen log that was used as an army camp in the late 1800s.

I suppose in the interest of bipartisanship, there is also a General Robert E. Lee tree. (The subtlety of the naming of these trees was lost on me when I was a youngster. General Lee is the southernmost in the grove; General Grant is to the north.)

Nearby is Grant Grove Village. In the gift shop I bought Danielle a large chunk of amethyst crystals as a surprise and then we walked over to the visitor center. This is the best of the three visitor centers in the park. The highlight is a circular room the size of a giant sequoia trunk. In the center is a clear dome holding a single tiny seed. That seed has the potential to expand to 3 trillion times its current size!

Before noon we headed out the Big Stump Entrance of the park, and wound our way down through Badger to Visalia, and from there back to Los Angeles, arriving by 4:00 PM for an early dinner with Linda and her parents at El
Cholo.

Danielle and I agreed that although brief, it was an excellent and memorable trip.

Thursday, April 27, 2000

After several days retracing the locale of A Matter of Justice, today was my day to visit the setting of Everything In Its Path, in preparation to start A Stranger From Afar. After dropping Danielle off to spend two days at her grandparents’, I headed for Ventura County.

My first stop was at the new Chumash Interpretive Center at Oakbrook Regional Park. This park consists of many acres of wilderness, plus exhibits of Chumash culture and history, and even some cave paintings. Out in front there is a sculpture of a small, life-size tomol, the Chumash boat that was made of wooden planks sewn together. Oddly, there were some fancy bas-relief carvings inside it, but they were far too representational be of Chumash origin. The tour of the cave wasn’t available, but I enjoyed the exhibits, and met the director, Frank Winai
Lemos. He kindly offered to check the manuscript for accuracy.

The center can’t be more than a mile from where I used to live in Westlake Village. It’s on the other side of the hill, in an area that was wilderness fifteen years ago, but is now almost solid housing developments except for the park. I saw a sign advertising affordable luxury houses starting at only the high $700,000’s!

Also at the center I picked up a very useful brochure listing Ventura County museums. Following this and a web page from the Ventura County Historical Society, I headed for Fillmore. Unfortunately, route 23 was blocked by a Caltrans truck mishap where it winds over the mountains. After about fifteen I grew impatient and retraced my way back to Thousand Oaks, then out to the coast and Ventura.

At the Ventura County Museum of History and Art I was able to purchase all of the Chumash books I’ve seen on the Internet plus others, and some excellent historical maps. The docent in the gift shop was an elderly woman named Betty who lived in Somis during the St. Francis Dam disaster and remembered it clearly. She also knew Charles F. Outland, of course, and has an autographed copy of Man-Made Disaster. She was amazed when I told her that it was worth several hundred dollars.

From Ventura I drove up 126 to Santa Paula, the home of the main character in the book. It hasn’t changed much since I was last there. I visited the California Oil Museum, originally run by Union Oil, but now operated by the city of Santa Paula. An interesting docent there, who worked for Union Oil for many years, directed me up the street to an antique shop/art gallery/used bookstore named Mr. Nichols. The oil museum is an interesting
one. I learned how the oil pumps literally pull the oil out of the ground. There was also a display of antique motorcycles on loan from the Chandler collection. I
saw some late 20’s models of both a chrome-and-green Harley Davidson and a red Indian that I might be able to use in the book.

At Mr. Nichols I met John (I assume John Nichols). He had assembled an exhibit on the St. Francis dam disaster at the oil museum some time ago, and still had most of it in his shop. He let me look through a hundred or more old photos of the disaster in Santa Paula. I was amused to learn that my pen pal, Dave Hogan, from Santa Clarita, the head of the L. A. Grimm Society, had been there just the week before. What a small world it is. John also agreed to read the manuscript. I purchased a few more Santa Paula references and an old bottle dug up under the train station, then headed back to Malibu Canyon to have dinner with Linda at the Saddle Peak Lodge.

Friday, April 28, 2000

Since Danielle was at her grandparents and Linda didn’t have early meetings, I slept in and then headed for Santa Barbara. On the way I stopped in Thousand Oaks to see if Harold’s House of Omelets was sill there. It was, and was as delicious as ever. Football-shaped, and filled with whatever you want, they’re one of a kind. I had the special – bacon, green chilies, and sour cream. The same woman, albeit 15 years grayer, is still waitressing there. And she still doesn’t have any personality. I think she’s Harold’s daughter.

The drive to Santa Barbara was quick, and by noon the low clouds were beginning to clear off. My first stop was at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. This is a very nice, though not large, building located immediately behind the Santa Barbara Mission, on the hills above town. A 72-foot-long blue whale skeleton was being restored out front. Inside there were many interesting exhibits, including taxidermy and dioramas from 1927 that were very well done. I need to find out if they were in the same building in 1927 (I doubt it).

There was also a lot of information on the Channel Islands, and an entire room of Chumash exhibits, my main reason for going. I bought quite a few
good books in the bookstore.

Driving down into the town, I stopped at the Santa Barbara Museum of History. It’s located in an old (and large) Spanish adobe. Unfortunately almost all of the exhibits dealt with the Spanish occupation – nothing before or after. There were also some truly hideous surrealist paintings of the missions, done by a friar. I did find some more interesting books in the shop, including a young adult fiction that is about a sailor from Cabrillo’s fleet who is reported as killed but actually joins the Chumash.

At first this seemed dangerously close to the plot of my next novel, A Stranger From Afar, but it’s pretty thin and
proved to be quite lousy.

I drove back on 126, stopping at the museum in Fillmore (which was still closed) and following the path of the 1928 flood. The valley widens and narrows several times, which must have greatly affected water level and speed. It’s amazingly far, considering how much damage occurred downstream.

In town I joined up with Linda and we met Danielle and her grandparents for a garlic bread gorge at The Smoke House.

Tomorrow we head back to Orlando. Linda has a non-stop, but Danielle and I go through Salt Lake City, arriving late. Fortunately we have Sunday to get back on schedule. This has been an excellent trip for everyone, with many different agendas: work for Linda, grandparent time for Danielle, and research plus a visit to childhood haunts for me.

© Steve Alcorn
April 2000

Caribbean on The Voyager of the Seas 2000

By Danielle Alcorn, Age 9
and Steve Alcorn, Age 44

For Spring Break 2000, we took a cruise on the Royal Caribbean Voyager ofthe Seas, the largest cruise ship afloat. It’s 1/3 bigger than anaircraft carrier!

We drove to Miami to catch the ship. When we saw it, we couldn’tbelieve how huge the Voyager Of The Seas was. Our cabin was beautiful,and the public areas were even nicer.

Our first stop was Labadee, Haiti. Dad and I went snorkeling on acoral reef with FISH (so obviously mom didn’t go – she’s afraid ofthem). She sat on the beach and read. It was my first ocean snorkelingtrip. We went WAY out there.

Stop two was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We all went on an hour tour ofBrimmer Hall Plantation, where they grow bananas, sugar cane and lots ofother crops. Then we climbed up Dunn River Falls. Awesome. Mom got alittle concerned (she was convinced she was going to die) half way up,but Dad and I climbed all the way.

Our last stop Mexico. We landed in Cozumel and took a ferry to Playadel Carmen, then a bus to the Mayan ruins at Tulum. The Mayans believedthat if you were different you were special: one king had six fingers,red hair, was seven feet tall and lived to be 84 years old. It was HOTat Tulum. Afterward we went to Xel-Ha to go cool down. Uh oh… morefish, so Mom stayed hot.

In addition to the ports, we spent several days at sea, but itwasn’t boring at all. The kids program on the ship was great: Age 3-5were Aquanauts, 6-8 were Explorers (that’s where I went, even though Ijust turned 9), and 9-12 where Voyagers. The last day we even had atalent show.

The people on the ship were really nice, especially our cabinsteward. He made me different animals out of towels: a dog, swan, monkeyand an elephant.

Well that wraps up my vacation. It was a GREAT trip.

Danielle

Boarding the Voyager of the Seas, March 12, 2000.
Cabin 1284 showing bar and living room.
Reverse view of living room, barand dressing area.
Bedroom.
Living room and bedroom with double balcony in rear.
Balcony, showing the terminal in Miami.
Bathroom. There is also a spacious Jacuzzi tub not visible.
Danielle peeking through the”wall” that separates the bedroom and living room.
This is the three story high”centrum” that run down the middle of the ship. It’s actually more like ten stories high at either end. There are shops, restaurants,bars and a casino on the lowest level of the middle section. The dining rooms are at one end, and the showrooms at the other.
The magnificent three-story dining room.
The roman themed pool, for the adults.
And the main pools.
The obligatory “King of theWorld” shot.
Life boat drill. Yawn.
Yes, there really is a miniature golf course (and a real ice-skating rink) on this ship. It was actually a great course, except that the wind made it a bit challenging. Danielle won, fair and square.
Pirate attack in the dining room.
The concierge lounge was open to guests in the suites. Danielle and I spent some time there, playing games, and I worked on my novel there one day. There were complimentary cocktails and hors d’oeuvres every evening.
View of Labadee, Haiti from our balcony.
I could only fit half the ship in this picture from Labadee.
That buoy must be very securely anchored.
Fisherman near La Amiga island at Labadee, where we went on Danielle’s first ocean snorkeling trip.
Approaching La Amiga.
Danielle’s first ocean snorkeling trip.
About 200 yards off La Amiga, with Haiti in the distance.
Above the coral reef. She did great.
After snorkeling.
These tenders took us back from Labadee to the ship. They seat several hundred people, but look how the voyager dwarfs them.
With the Captain, first formal night.
Smile, mon.
Touring Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

One of the tractor-drawn jitneys at the Brimmer Hall Plantation.
Carrying bananas.
This is the stalk of the banana tree. See that section hanging by the fiber mesh? It just pulls apart tof orm the mesh naturally. They use it for a wide variety of things, including women’s hose!
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is voyager-ocho-rios-brimmer-hall-cocoa-679x1024.jpg
Cocoa beans. He made me suck on one. They’re slimy! It’s a long way from there to chocolate.
Climbing a coconut tree with a hemp rope. It’s a common tourist scam to offer you a rope as a souvenir, and then collect $5 for it. (“They’re $10 in the shop, but for you…”) This stunt is particularly effective with kids. Needless to say, we now own this useful household device.
The arbor at the plantation. If you can’t climb with it, you can always use the hemp rope as a garland.
Yes, we really climbed 900 feet of this waterfall at Dunn River.
And it felt great.
The midnight buffet on Thursday. We slept, Linda photographed it.
Butter swan and vegetable chess pieces.
Bread animals.
Egg penguins.
We took a ferry from Cozumel to Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan peninsula. Senor Frog’s is the first place you pass as you get off. “Sorry We Are Open”.
Our guide on the way to the Mayan city of Tulum, or possibly Tulun. Tulum means “Wall”. Tulun means “Swamp”.
Looks more like a wall than a swamp.
Find the iguana.
Tulum is the only city that theMayans built along the coast. Pity. It was a delightful breeze.
And a great beach.
It was hot-hot-hot.
Swimming in the lagoon at Xel-Ha (pronounced shell ha). After the heat of Tulum, it felt great.
More Xel-Ha. This floating thing had a spinning section you were supposed to walk across.
Relaxing in a hammock at Xel-Ha.
Danielle’s act during the kid’s talent show in Cleopatra’s Needle.
Elias, our cabin steward, made these wonderful towel animals for Danielle every evening. Here is his Dog.
Swan.
Elephant.
Monkey on Danielle’s Adventure Ocean Kid’s Club Pillowcase
Is this what they mean by”semi-formal”?

Charleston Wine Trip

In February, 2000 we went with three couples from our wine tasting group, The Wine Syndicate, to the Middleton Inn outside of Charleston, SC for a great weekend of wine tasting, recreation and sightseeing.

I had only been “through” Charleston until this visit. I was amazed at what an interesting city it is. The tip of the peninsula is comprised of a grid of about 10×20 blocks of mostly 18th century mansions, with average values of $2-4M! It’s now a retail city, with most of the trade going to tourism, although in the past it was a wholesale city. King Street is a bit like Royal Street in New Orleans, with dozens of  antique stores in just a few blocks. There are also many restaurants which feature what they call “low country” cuisine — stuff like “She-Crab” soup. The highlight of our trip was a carriage ride, which was filled with an hour of fascinating facts and stories about the old city.

The New Millennium in Williamsburg, January 1, 2000

We saw the new Millennium (or Millennium-1, depending upon how you count) in
at Williamsburg, where my father lives on the Kingsmill Golf Course. As usual,
we traveled by auto train. New Year’s Eve was spent at a black tie party at
the Williamsburg Inn.

This was the first outing for my new Fujifilm MX-2700 (1800×1200) camera, with which I am
quite pleased.

For Christmas both Danielle and
Linda got Legos — about 3000 in all! That should keep them busy.
Waiting to board the train. Our
car is already loaded.
Sewing lessons while waiting for
the train to board.
Keeping busy aboard the train by
making a stocking for Nicole’s cat, Nipper. The sewing kit was a request
to Santa.
Relaxing in our cabin.
Journal writing.
They are constructing a
“kitchen” behind one of the houses in Colonial Williamsburg,
using 18th century techniques, of course. But wait. What’s that metal
scaffolding? After they’d already built an 18th century scaffold, OSHA
made them use a 20th century one. Your tax dollars at work.
One of the things Colonial
Williamsburg is known for at Christmas is its decorations, which use all
natural ingredients, in the style of the 18th century. The average wreath
is replaced once or twice during the Christmas season because of
squirrels! This one is made of dried and fresh flowers.
Here is another wreath that I
liked. This one incorporates pomegranates, wheat and feathers.
Another edible wreath.
The stocks. One of only two times
on the trip that Danielle wasn’t wiggling.
The other time.
When you’ve grown up in Florida,
ice in a barrel is a real novelty. Hard to believe that two days later it
was 72 degrees.
The only thing better than a
frozen barrel? A frozen pond.
Lunch with Pop Pop at the King’s
Mill Country Club.
Danielle and Pop Pop both like
projects. This one is a crystal radio kit.
Clowning around while building a
crystal radio with Pop Pop..
Golfing on the Woods course at
Kingsmill.
Our porch at the Williamsburg
lodge overlooked a duck pond. It was cold for the first two days, then
turned unseasonably warm to welcome in the new year.
Playing Ginnie’s piano. Danielle
picked out a whole Christmas carol.
Black Tie New Year’s Eve party at
the Williamsburg Inn.
Danielle learned the Foxtrot, Cha
Cha, and a bit of the Swing.
Steve and Linda dancing just
before the stroke of midnight.
I call this simply
“Millennium Tongue”.
That must make this
“Millennium Top Hat”.
Carriage ride in Colonial
Williamsburg.
Aboard the carriage. Danielle is
wearing her New Year’s Eve party favor — a tiara.
Jack and Jill (not necessarily in
that order).
In jail.
Tree climbing.
Danielle works on her journal in
the top bunk as we head home in a new millennium.

Germany

Stuttgart 10-99
Stuttgart, Germany, October 1999. While visiting our European distributors in nearby Uhingen, I had a chance to enjoy the local Octoberfest, called Volksfest.

Photokina_2000_Return
Sometimes the best part is coming home — in this case from Photokina 2000. Here’s my welcoming committee at the airport: Danielle with chocolate, Linda with Gran Marnier. Danielle held up a sign that said “Daddy”.

Death Valley, Legoland California 1999

Danielle and I traveled to California in June, 1999 for a two week vacation. Linda, unfortunately, was too busy on projects at Epcot to accompany us. We began our trip with a visit to Linda’s parents in Los Angeles, and saw Knott’s Berry Farm and the Getty Museum. Then it was on to Death Valley for a really interesting few days of 114 degree weather (honest, it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity!) Next we spent a night in Las Vegas and caught the Star Trek Experience, where we have equipment installed (Danielle hated it, but it was really cool). Finally, we drove to Carlsbad (Danielle was a great traveler for the whole 7 hours across the Mojave Desert) and visited the San Diego Wild Animal Park, San Diego Zoo, and Legoland. It was a great trip.

Conestoga Wagon at Knott’s Berry Farm

Steve and Dean and a couple offloozies.
Bare feet and Death Valley don’t mix.
Lobby of the Furnace Creek Inn in Death Valley.
Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley.
Outside Scotty’s Castle, Death Valley.
Mushroom Rock, Death Valley.
Badwater, Death Valley. Elevation -282 feet. Lowest spot in North America.
Treasure Island, Las Vegas.
Lobby of the Four Seasons Aviara in Carlsbad.
Lobby of the Four Seasons Aviara in Carlsbad.
San Diego Wild Animal Park.<
San Diego Wild Animal Park. My favorite picture from the trip.
San Diego Zoo.
San Diego Zoo.
Legoland.
Legoland. This wagon has a flat.
Legoland. The jousting ride.
Legoland. Look carefully at the Lego mural.
Legoland. Miniland, showing part of San Francisco.
Legoland. Whizz the dog. Named for obvious reasons.
Legoland. Danielle’s favorite: Lego Driving School (6 times!)
Since Linda didn’t get to go on our summer vacation, when I returned to Legoland in October for meetings, I arranged to take her with me for a backstage tour (on her birthday). We stayed at the same place that Danielle and I did, the beautiful Four Seasons Aviara.

Jekyll Island 1998

In the Fall of 1998 most of The Wine Syndicate group went to Jekyll Island, Georgia, where we stayed at the Jekyll Island Club. There were tastings, dinners, Jonathan’s first golf outing (and Steve’s first in 30 years!) and more tastings.

Attending:

The Alcorns, Crockets, Henlines and Hoffmans (guests).

Click on the small images for a larger view, then use your browser’s “Back” button to return here.


98JEKYLA 98JEKYLB 98JEKYLC 

Los Angeles, San Francisco 1998

Our summer 1998 vacation trip was great. We picked Danielle up at SeaWorld camp on Friday afternoon, August 7th, and headed to the airport to catch a Delta non-stop to Los Angeles. The lease ran out on Linda’s car last month. She has her heart set on a Corvette, but the color she wants isn’t available right now, a situation worsened by the recent GM strike. So she’s been renting a car for the past few weeks. It seemed strange to drive to the airport and have no car to park, but it sure was convenient to be able to simply abandon it in the rental car lot like we do when we’re traveling.

The flight was uneventful. Since I earn Delta SkyMiles on American Express card purchases made on my own and the company’s Amex cards, we’re usually able to get free first class tickets for vacations. First class makes traveling with a busy seven-year-old a lot easier. That coupled with plenty to do — a couple of game CD’s on the laptop, an activity book, and some plastic-tasting food — made the flight go pretty quickly. There are usually a lot of Disney people in first class on the Orlando-Los Angeles non-stop, and this flight was no exception, so we had a chance to visit with a few people we don’t see all that often.

When we arrived we rented a car and drove to Linda’s parents’ house. On the way I swung past the house I grew up in and lived in until I got married at 22. The neighborhood seemed a bit more run-down than I recall, with a fair amount of peeling paint and uncut grass, but I suppose it’s holding up better than most of Los Angeles. I drove past the site of the Baldwin Hills Dam, which was only a few hundred yards from our house, but there was little sign of where it had been.

Linda’s parents live in a two-story, semi-Victorian house that was built near downtown Los Angeles in 1903. The house features hand-painted ceiling murals and elaborate oak paneling. Originally lit by gas lamps, it was refitted for electricity in the 1920’s. Saturday we spent a quiet day at home, letting Danielle play with her grandparents.

One of the advantages of an old house is the attic. With an accumulation of seventy years of “stuff”, there’s always something interesting. On this trip I dredged up some old photos for scanning and some interesting old jewelry and books. Linda found a toy crane from her childhood, a recreation of the arcade-type candy or stuffed toy cranes. It has two levers that manipulate the arm and jaws, and a chute into which objects may be dropped in order to get them out of the enclosed plastic cover. After a little WD-40 Danielle had a great time manipulating the levers to retrieve small “treasures” (crumpled paper) and drop them down the chute. It beats losing fifty cents a shot.

We also unearthed a model of Disneyland that Linda made for her sixth grade art fair, in an eerie presaging of her career as an Imagineer. It’s really quite good, and her parents are still annoyed that she took second place behind a girl who leaned her father’s stamp collection against a prefab castle. Talk about holding a grudge. . .

For dinner we went to El Cholo, a 70-year-old Mexican restaurant just a block away from their house. We’ve been going to El Cholo all our lives, originally for their unique style of Mexican cooking, then later for the country’s best frozen Margaritas. The restaurant began as a small house on Western Avenue, then gradually expanded over the years, until today it occupies almost half the block.

Sunday afternoon we headed for the Los Angeles Zoo. Orlando doesn’t have much of a zoo. While Los Angeles’s Zoo has always stood in the shadow of the San Diego Zoo, it’s pretty nice. Located on a hilly corner of Griffith Park, a wilderness area that is the largest municipal park in the country, the zoo offers thousands of animals in very natural settings, with no obvious bars or cages.

When Linda and I lived in Los Angeles we were members of GLAZA, the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association. During the 1980s we watched the zoo grow and improve its exhibits year by year. Since then there have been animal care problems, management scandals, and funding shortfalls, and now the zoo population seems somewhat sparse.

We saw lions, giraffes, rhinos, antelope, ibex, lynx, wolverines, koalas, seals, polar bears, gorillas, flamingoes, lemurs, marmots, kangaroos, wallabies, foxes, wolves and many more. We enjoyed the otter exhibit the most. Two otters in a large area filled with pools, streams, logs, slides, tubes and other playthings spells fun. The two were in constant motion. We watched them play tag for about half an hour. They have quite a sense of humor. The leader would dive into the top end of an inclined tube and slide through, while the chaser jumped in the water and waited to surprise him at the bottom.

After the zoo we drove up to Burbank and had dinner at The Smoke House, a restaurant we’ve been going to for over thirty years. Their business is built primarily on the fact that they have the world’s best garlic bread — really more of a crumbly cheese / sour dough loaf. Mmmm.

Monday Linda and I headed out to Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale. Linda went to visit co-workers in the department she belonged to before she established the Florida presence of WDI Electronic Engineering. I went to make a presentation about our new products to the Audio/Video department. There were about a dozen engineers in the meeting, and our products were very well received. Most of these people are old friends. Since my company makes many of the A/V systems used in new attractions, we have a special working relationship with them, and it’s always a pleasure to see them when I’m back in Los Angeles.

Tuesday we visited the Page Museum at the La Brea tar pits. Danielle enjoyed seeing the skeletons of giant sloths and saber-tooth tigers that were trapped in the tar. We also watched a film about dinosaurs, and why there aren’t any at the La Brea tar pits.

Wednesday morning, bright and early, we headed for San Francisco. We had to pay for this flight, and since it’s only 40 minutes, we flew coach! We rented a car from Dollar, and were pleased to be offered a convertible at the mid-size rate. So top down, bundled up against the fog, we headed for Cliff House and the Sutro Baths.

The Sutro Baths were built at the base of the cliffs overlooking Seal Rocks, in the late 1800’s. The original bathhouse was an enormous structure, nearly spanning the coastal outlet of the rocky canyon. A great, curved roof several stories high protected the bathers from the chill sea air, completely enclosing the football-field-sized pool, steam baths and changing rooms. The structure burned in the early 1960’s. All that remains today are the concrete walls of its foundation, and the caves cut into the jagged cliffs.

Danielle climbed about on the slippery walls under Linda’s fearful gaze, then we all climbed the path to the Cliff House. This is the third structure to use that name. The first two were large hotels perched above the baths. One burned in the early 1900’s after only a few years of service, the second lasted somewhat longer. Today the Cliff House is a restaurant serving well-prepared California cuisine, with a wine list honored by the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.

After a delicious lunch we headed north, through Golden Gate Park and across the Golden Gate Bridge. With the convertible top down the bridge was most impressive, rising some 500 feet above the cold waters of San Francisco Bay. Danielle took a photo looking straight up as we passed under one of the massive arched supports. A mile away from the bay the fog lifted, and we found ourselves surrounded by eucalyptus, oak, cypress, and a few pines.

After a quick stop for sunscreen, we drove up the winding coast on Highway 1, enjoying the contrast to the flatness of Florida. Rocky cliffs plunged to the Pacific as we took in the sights and smells along the way. We skirted a large, freshwater bay at Stimson Beach and headed inland. Near Point Reyes the road wound through thick stands of eucalyptus that provided a deeply shaded canopy. After a stop at the Pt. Reyes National Recreation Area Visitor’s Center, we headed back.

By now it was 4pm, but we couldn’t resist stopping at Muir Woods, a pristine Redwood forest. Walking on deeply shaded paths amid the giant trees, Danielle commented, “We’re not in Kansas anymore. “

Finally, we finished our first day in San Francisco by heading back across the Golden Gate Bridge and downtown, to The Mandarin Hotel, where Linda and I had stayed about ten years ago.

The hotel was as nice as ever, and we had the pleasant surprise of possibly the best room in the entire hotel, on the top (48th) floor, overlooking the Bay Bridge and Alcatraz.

We dined at Silks, the hotel restaurant. The Sommelier, Reneé-Nicole Kubin, formerly of Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, was a charming hostess, and the winelist was extremely well thought out. Unfortunately the food was not really at the same level, and the food service was truly disorganized. Still, it was a very pleasant end to a very busy day.

Thursday, after Danielle’s obligatory room service breakfast, we drove down to Fisherman’s Warf. I bought a cap to cover my head, which was slightly sunburned from our convertible exploits, despite liberal applications of sunscreen.

After a pleasant lunch at the end of Pier 39 we picked up the Alcatraz tickets we’d reserved prior to the trip, and caught the boat out to the island.

It was cool on the boat, but still the warmest I’d ever felt the air on San Francisco bay. The ten-minute boat ride provides a time to get in the proper mood to enjoy the lonely solitude of “The Rock”. It’s easy to imagine the hopelessness that the “incorrigibles” sent here for incarceration must have felt.

A new audio tour uses binaural sound, prisoner interviews, and dramatic reenactments to capture the experience of life in the cellblock. We all enjoyed it very much.

Thursday evening we dined in a Japanese restaurant at the Plaza Hotel. After dinner we sat in the lobby listening to the piano music, and pretended that it was one hundred years ago. Danielle had some interesting opinions on the advantages of gaslight over the newfangled electric lights the hotel had just installed.

Friday we walked to Market and Powell, grabbing pastries for breakfast on the way, and stopping at the St. Francis Hotel, where Linda and I spent our honeymoon 20 years ago, to ride the glass elevators. After about an hour wait, we caught the cable car. Danielle enjoyed her precarious perch on the side of the car, right up front. She also photographed the mechanism that grabs the cable.

At the end of the line we got off and walked to Ghirardelli Square. After shopping and lunch we crossed to the Hyde Street Pier. A new Maritime Museum, operated by the National Park Service, takes up the whole pier. There, for the bargain price of four dollars, we practiced riveting, toured a ferry boat from the 1930’s (the longest wooden vessel still afloat), and explored the Balclutha, an 1880’s square rigger used in the grain trade of the newly blossoming San Francisco.

Afterwards we enjoyed the variety of odd musical instruments in a terrific music shop at the Cannery, then caught a cab back to the hotel. We had a quiet and pleasant dinner at the Hyatt, a block from the Mandarin. Both hotels are located in the financial district, which was already growing deserted for the weekend as Friday night drew to a close.

Saturday we arose late, packed and checked out of the Mandarin. Since we’d seen so much more than we’d expected to in San Francisco, we decided to drive through wine country before the plane flight home. We headed north across the Golden Gate Bridge, and in a little more than an hour found ourselves in Sonoma.

Our first stop was Cline Cellars, known for their Zinfandel, and “ancient vines” line of wines. While Danielle fed the giant coy fish in the pond we sampled several wines and purchased a delicious Carignane (“CARE-EE-NYON'”) to bring back with us. We also bought a salami and some cheeses, which we enjoyed out by the pond. Our next stop was Gundlach-Bundschu, a charming stone structure tucked up beneath a hill. We purchased a Reserve 1985 Cabernet from their library, which we’ll share with our wine group. Danielle enjoyed socializing with their rather over-stuffed golden retriever.

Finally, we visited Buena Vista, California’s oldest premium winery, founded in 1857 by Count Agoston Haraszthy, the father of California viticulture. There we purchased a 1986 Reserve Cabernet from their library, while Danielle chatted with their resident artist. Outside, one of the winery cats lounged lazily under a picnic table, consuming a mouse for its lunch.

The day was waning, and we regretfully headed back across the Golden Gate a final time, and on to San Francisco Airport, where we returned our beloved convertible and caught the 7pm flight back to LAX.

During our layover we munched on Mexican food and grabbed one final Margarita at the mini-El Cholo in the Delta terminal. Danielle and I keep journals when we travel, and we used the time to catch up on our drawings and writings about the trip, and to fill out a few post cards. The red-eye left Los Angeles at 11pm, and we all caught a few winks before arriving in Orlando around 7am. After renting yet another car, we headed home, for our own comfortable beds.

And a long nap.

Los Angeles, Las Vegas & Grand Canyon in Art 1996

Grand Canyon 96
The annual “Return of the WEDI” trip in 1996 went to the Grand Canyon for the only time.

When I travel I like to keep a journal so I can experience the trip again, years later. Now I use a laptop, but when Dani was little both of use kept travel journals using blank books and colored pencils. Here is a journal I made of our December 1996 trip to the West. Photos from this trip may be found in the Family and WEDI sections.

west1996journal01 west1996journal02 west1996journal03 west1996journal04 west1996journal05 west1996journal06 west1996journal07 west1996journal08 west1996journal09 west1996journal10 west1996journal11 west1996journal12 west1996journal13 west1996journal14 west1996journal15 west1996journal16 west1996journal17 west1996journal18 west1996journal19 west1996journal20 west1996journal21 west1996journal22 west1996journal23 west1996journal24 west1996journal25 west1996journal26 west1996journal27 west1996journal28 west1996journal29 west1996journal30 west1996journal31 west1996journal32 west1996journal33 west1996journal34 west1996journal35 west1996journal36 west1996journal37 west1996journal38

Captiva 1991-1997

There used to be a summer wine festival at Captiva near Memorial Day, and we started making an annual trip the year Dani was born. Several members of our wine group went along. After the first year we learned to stay at Land’s End Village.

p_v14alp3jyxw0830 Good shelling 1994

p_v14alp3jyxw0822Dani, Linda amd Jonathan Henline, 1994

Captiva 1996
In 1996 we went on our sixth annual trip to Captiva. Steve was in Europe during the Annual Wine Festival, so we went later in the summer, and were accompanied by the Carstensens. Here Danielle pilots the dolphin cruise while Mindy looks for a life preserver.

Ritz Naples 1996
Starting in 1996 we began going to the Ritz Carlton Naples after Captiva. It’s our favorite hotel, anywhere.

Captiva 1 1997
Back to Captiva in 1997, this time with Danielle’s friend Zachary. Nicole also went along, as she did every year except 1996.

Captiva 2 1997
By chance, a school chum of Danielle’s was visiting Captiva at the same time, and came by to play frogs in the bathtub.

Captiva 3 1997
Here we are on the porch at Land’s End, overlooking the Caribbean.

Little Palm Island 1990, 1993

LP91
One of our favorite places to relax is Little Palm Island in the Florida Keys. With only fourteen grass huts, each with its own hammock, it’s a very private place. Fortunately, there’s also a five star restaurant. We visited in 1990, when Linda was pregnant, and again in 1993, although we endured several inches of rain on that trip.

Little Palm Boat
You arrive by boat…

Little Palm 1 1990
…at a tiny island a few miles off the keys. This is where PT-109 was filmed. It was long a private retreat, but now accommodates a handful of guests, who relax, play, recreate, and dine in the five-start restaurant.

LIttle Palm Hut
There are fourteen of these grass-thatched huts.

Little Palm 2 1990
Lush plantings of Palm trees lend the island a South Seas flavor.

Little Palm 3 1990
The rooms really have thatched roofs…

Little Palm 4 1990
…but they’re far from austere.

Little Palm 5 1990
And the best seat on the island is the hammock outside your door.

 

France 1991

Danielle was born in 1991. When she was six months old, Linda, Danielle and Nicole moved to Paris for the EuroDisneyland installation. Danielle and Nicole stayed for three months, and Linda stayed on for an additional three months. Steve made several trips over to visit, and during 1992 Linda visited Florida seemingly every weekend. Talk about a commute!

Lusanne 10-91
Lusanne, Switzerland. We took the TGV high speed train through the mountains, and stayed at the Palace Hotel for several days.

Trailer Exterior
Exterior of the trailer at the Davey Crocket campground, EuroDisney.

Trailer Interior
Trailer interior.

Couch
Don’t look behind the couch. Everything was covered with mold.

Black Skirt
Now that I can stand, let’s hit the disco!

San Malo 1 1991
San Malo in Normandy.

San Malo 2 1991
View into our hotel in San Malo.

Mont St. Michel 1991
On top of Mont St. Michel.

Europe 1990

In 1990 I visited Gothenburg, Sweden for a week to install one of the first Iwerks Turbo Tour Theater simulator rides. on the way back I met Linda in Europe, and we spent a week visiting Paris and London.

Bretonnerie
Hotel Bretonnerie, The Moray District, Paris. A good, cheap place to stay, in a charming area.

Hotel Brettonerie 1990
Jet lag antidote.

Eiffel 1 1990
La Tour Eiffel.

Eiffel 2 1990
La Tour Eiffel.

Eiffel 3 1990
La Tour Eiffel.

Tower Bridge 1990
Tower Bridge, London.

Williamsburg 1989-2007

My father lived on the King’s Mill Golf Course in Williamsburg, Virginia. We visited him most years, sometimes traveling by auto train. We enjoyed the ambiance of the train, and it’s convenient to have our car and all of Danielle’s “stuff” when we get there.

norv and ginnie in williamsburg 1987 taken by bill alcorn
norv and ginnie in williamsburg 1987 taken by bill alcorn

Norv Williamsburg 1989
Dad’s house in King’s Mill,1989.

DaniBeforeBaptism
Dani before her baptism, posing in front of the fireplace at PopPop and GinGin’s house.

KingsmillSlide

The Slide.

Ice 2 Williamsburg 1-97
On the iced-up pond across the street, January 1997.

Ice Williamsburg 1-97
This ice is slippery stuff.

Train 1998
Trains are BIG. That red dot is Danielle. January 1998.

Boarding 1998
Boarding the train, January 1998.

Pillory 1998
Linda locks Danielle and Pop Pop into the Pillory, Colonial Williamsburg, January 1998.

Silversmith 1998
Silversmith, Colonial Williamsburg, January 1998.

Windmill 1998
Windmill, Colonial Williamsburg, January 1998.

Williamsburg 1998
Behind the Governor’s Mansion, Colonial Williamsburg, January 1998.

dad golf dec 1998
Golfing with Dad, December 1998.

Miss Manderly 1998
With Miss Manderly, a character from the American Girls Felicity book, Colonial Williamsburg, December 1998.

WilliamsburgInnChristmas1999-1
In the lobby of the Williamsburg Inn, between Christmas and New Year’s, 1999

WilliamsburgInnChristmas1999-2
Dancing in the dining room of the Williamsburg Inn, between Christmas and New Year’s, 1999

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Blacksmith Shop. Thanksgiving, 2001.

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Thanksgiving, 2001.

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The Capitol. Thanksgiving, 2001.

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Carter’s Grove. Thanksgiving, 2001.

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Thanksgiving, 2001.

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Gunsmith Shop. Thanksgiving, 2001.

jail2001Thanksgiving, 2001.

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Thanksgiving, 2001.

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Thanksgiving, 2001.

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Thanksgiving, 2002.

williamsburg2002-2Thanksgiving, 2002.

williamsburg2002-3
Thanksgiving, 2002.

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Thanksgiving, 2002.

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Thanksgiving, 2002.

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Thanksgiving, 2005 Parade.

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Thanksgiving, 2005 Shop.

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Thanksgiving, 2005 walking to a witch trial reenactment.

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Thanksgiving, 2005 at Ford’s Colony.

williamsburg_2007pbj
Thanksgiving 2007. At the Williamsburg Inn for Thanksgiving dinner, Reggie brought Dani a PB&J sandwich for old times sake.

 

Eastern Caribbean on the Norway 1989

In 1989 we went for our first Caribbean cruise, on the Norway, Norwegian Cruise Line’s flagship. The Norway was originally built as “The France”, and represented the pinnacle of cruise ship design. Too large to enter the Caribbean ports of call, we used “huge “tenders” to disembark on St. Martin and St. Thomas. We met two charming couples with whom we dined, and enjoyed all of the amenities of the ship. Particularly memorable are the lazy breakfasts on our private balcony.

SS Norway 1
Boarding.

SS Norway 2
Don’t we look relaxed?

SS Norway 3
The Alcorns, the Segars and the Malloys prepare to “put on the nosebag”.

SS Norway 4
Who knows? But it sold them another photograph.

SS Norway 5
Casual night.

SS Norway 6
Formal night.

SS Norway 9
Dancing to Jazz.

SS Norway 10
Dining “royally”. The highlight, as always, was “Hot, hot, , hot”.

St. Augustine 1983, 1997

Linda and I visited St. Augustine in 1983 after Epcot opened.

staug83l

staug83s
Backwards

St. Augustine 1997
And a return trip in the fall of 1997 when our wine group spent a long weekend at “The Whale’s Tail”, a bed and breakfast in St. Augustine. This cannon is mounted on one of the oldest structures in the United States.

Ponce DeLeon
In August 1998 we had a great time at the historic lighthouse at Ponce Inlet, about an hour drive from Orlando.

St. Thomas 1983

With the stress of Epcot behind us, we took the opportunity to get away for a fourth anniversary trip to Charlotte Amalie in Saint Thomas, U. S. Virgin Islands. We flew down, and stayed on the back side of the island in a nice resort. One day we borrowed a car from the resort. That was exciting, because they drive on the left side of the road, but the use American cars. Very odd. Mostly we took cabs. They run on island time, so the driver stops and picks up friends as he drives you.

st thomas 83 2
The view from our villa at Point Pleasant.

stthomas83l
ditto

stthomas83b
This parrot attacked my camera lens at lunch!

stthomas83l2
Linda relaxing after the parrot incident.

stthomas83s
The wine shop in Charlotte Amalie.

stthomas83l3
ditto.

st thomas 83 1
Mmmm. Cruzan rum. $1.99 a bottle.

 

Morocco 1983

In 1983, with the frantic pace of Epcot’s opening behind us, we visited Morocco, on a Disney-sponsored tour. It was exotic, exciting, and tiring. A great experience, but it was nice to get home!

We were met at the Casablanca/Rabat Airport byour guide, who called himself “Missouri”. I think he assumed that none of us could pronounce his real name. He was probably right.
Francie Owen (Walt Disney World), Linda (Walt Disney Imagineering), Glenn (Birket Engineering), and I, touring the ruins in Rabat. This was the first day of our trip, and we had been awake for over 24 hours at this point.
Weaving in the Casbah of Rabat.
Francie’s first taste of mint tea.
A “Souk” or marketplace, in Meknes, on the way to Fez.
The dentist’s booth had a lot of clients. They let him keep the teeth.
Spice merchant.
One of my favorite pictures of Linda, outside one of the king’s many palaces, high in the Atlas Mountains.
Glenn, Francie, Linda and Steve, in the mountains.
Missouri, at the Roman ruins of Volubilis.
Linda, Francie and Glenn at Volubilis.
The entrance to the “Medina”, or old city, in Fez.
Moroccan video arcade.
Inside the Medina. Hang onto your wallet.
Peeking at the tourists.
The butcher. What he doesn’t use goes to….
The Tannery. What a memorable smell: animal hides and horse urine. Only half the tour group made it through.
Selling rugs in Fez.
Linda and Glenn Birket in front of another of the king’s palaces.
A colorful wall in the desert near Marrakech.
Charming Cobras in Marrakech.
Charming Francie in Marrakech.
What?!! Pigeon again?!! The four of us soon split from the tour group at dinner times, and sought out the best French restaurant in each town.
Linda checks out the native mode of transportation in Marrakech.







Bryce, Lake Powell, Grand Canyon 1980

In December 1980 we took a driving trip throughout the western United States, visiting Las Vegas, Zion, Bryce, Lake Powell, and the Grand Canyon. Linda drove her faithful RX-3 station wagon, while I took photographs. We enjoyed the brisk weather, and the solitude afforded by the nearly empty National Parks.

Utah 1980
Linda’s venerable RX-3 Station Wagon, somewhere in Utah. This picture was taken shortly after we learned what “black ice” was, and we were probably stopped to change our underwear.

Not US89 1980
Yup. This is definitely NOT US-89.

Bryce 1980
Bryce Canyon. We stayed at a colorful place called “Ruby’s Inn”. I’ll never forget the mattress. We finally put it on the floor.

Lake Powell 1980
Lake Powell. It was like glass.

Col River Linda 1980
Sunbathing along the Colorado River. I suggested a bikini, but she was worried about snow.

Col River Steve 1980
This canyon gets much deeper, downstream.

GC Linda 1980
Grand Canyon. Linda held this tree up for a while…

GC Steve 1980
…then I took over.

gc 80
Dangerous to overlook this overlook.

GC Car 1980
We stayed at the El Tovar, and it snowed the night before we left. This was cute until we couldn’t get the car started.

 

Yosemite WEDI Trips 1980-2000

Shortly after joining WED (now Walt Disney Imagineering) Linda began organizing a nearly annual trip to Yosemite for the members of the Electronic Engineering department. The trip was soon dubbed The Return of the WEDI, and her organizing efforts dubbed Alcorn Tours (for which she received a commemorative plaque on the tenth anniversary). This tradition continued for two decades, and we also went a few other places along the way.

tentcabins1980
1980, the first of two years in the tent cabins at Camp Curry before we graduated to the Yosemite Lodge as people started to earn more money!

Yosemite 1980
1980

campfire%2081
Campfire near Yosemite Falls 1981

dave%2081
Dave Barnett, 1981

linda88
Chris and Linda

open face 86
Phil 1986

ira 81
Ira 1981

noonan 81
John Noonan 1981

WEDI83
1983 — we missed 1982 because of Epcot

yosemite 831983

wedi85
1985

tuolumne group 86
For a change of pace, we went to Tuolumne meadows in 1986. Our trip was on the first weekend of the summer that it opened, and it was still cold. The tent cabin were nicer than at Camp Curry, and everyone had a great time in the high country.

p_v14alp3jyxw0960_g
1988

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1988

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1988

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Martin 1988

p_v14alp3jyxw0971_g1988

chris break dancing
Chris break dancing

WEDI 88 Epic
Linda, Glenn and Chris designing Epic Stunt Theater (Indiana Jones) at Yosemite Lodge, 1988. Work never stops.

wedi 1989
1989 at the Ahwahnee

WEDI 90 Group
1990

WEDI Dome 1990
1990

WEDI Yos XMAS 90
1990 Lina is pregnant

WEDI Shower 2 1990
1990  baby shower at Yosemite Lodge

WEDI Shower 1 1990
1990  baby shower at Yosemite Lodge

WEDI Baby Gift 90
1990  baby shower at Yosemite Lodge

p_v14alp3jyxw0825October 1, 1992 at Epcot for the 10th anniversary

p_v14alp3jyxw0818 1992 at our house

p_v14alp3jyxw08171992 at our house

WEDI l s 1994
1994

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1994

p_v14alp3jyxw0744 1994

p_v14alp3jyxw0795 1994

p_v14alp3jyxw0844 1994

wedi g.c. 1996
In 1996 we went to the Grand Canyon and stayed at the El Tovar.

WEDI Party GC 96
We had a really cool room called the Mary Coulter Library, with a huge porch that looked out over the canyon.

wedi alcatraz 1999
In 1999 the group went to San Francisco

cable car 1999
1999

rough water 1999
1999

Blue and Gold 1999
1999

wedi group awahnee 2000 2000, accommodations upgraded to the Ahwahnee

WEDI 2000
2000

vernal steve linda 2 2000 2000

glenn felicia 2000 2000, Glenn and Felisha

LindaSteve 20002000, cameras getting a lot smaller