Nov. 2012 Visit to Bolivia

    About a month after returning from our 2012 motor home adventure, we traveled to Bolivia to touch base with our BECA program there, and do some interesting touring with friends. 
    The first tour was to La Paz and Lake Titicaca, including Puno, Peru.  We visited Copacabana and the Island of the Sun on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca, and then the floating islands of the Uros Indians and Taquile Island on the Peruvian side, both of which were extraordinary, particularly the floating islands.

On the road to Titicaca with friends Steve and Pat Felice

 Barbara and Harold with Copacabana and Lake Titicaca in the background

The Basilica in Copacabana to which thousands of piligramigses take place each year.

The Floating Islands of the Uros Indians

 Floating Islands of the Uros in Lake Titicaca, one of the most memorable experiences in all of our travels..  About 2000 people live on these 100+ small floating islands which are made out of the totora reeds that grow freely in Lake Titicaca.  They live in primatively built small homes with thatched roofs and spend their lives keeping up their totora islands and homes, fishing, hunting and making tourist items for visitors who seem to number in the hundreds each day.  They have lived isolated on these islands for hundreds of years.  Their children attend school through middle school on the islands, then go to Puno (about a half hour away by boat) for high school.  The young people are gradually migrating to the mainland and the easier life there.  In 50 years, these islands, if they continue will simply be a museum.

 A typical totora reed boat made by the Uros.  These boats only last for about 8 months, because the totora reeds become waterlogged and rot.  

This island is known as the Fish island.  Each island has its own name.

 A lookout tower on one of the islands.  The modern boat is a tourist boat.

Barbara with Juana, wife of the "president" of this island, with a decorative panel we bought from her. They were extraordinarily friendly and cheerful with us.

Visit to Taquile Island

 This island is about 2 1/2 hours by boat from Puno.  The Indians who live here have a hardscrabble farming life.  Ancient Incan farming terraces cover the island and are still used by the locals.  In late Nov. it was springtime for them and they were busy preparing fields (all with hand tools) and planting.

 On this walkway they are building from one end of the island to the other to facilitate tourism, you can see a local woman herding her sheep in front of us.

 We hiked on the island to a small village where the locals greeted us with music and insisted we all dance with them.  Harold was accompanied by a particularly enthusiastic older woman who held his hand as they danced.

 This was the table they set for our dinner.  The meal included a fry bread, Lake Titicaca trout, salad, yucca, and a local herb tea.  Delicious.

 After lunch, about 8 local families waited for us on the patio to show us their weavings and knitted work.  The men in this community do the knitting, including the special hats they all wear indicating whether they are married or single, and if the latter whether they are engaged or still looking, or too young for girls!  Their custom is that once a man and woman choose to become engaged, they live together for a year to decide whether or not they are actually compatible, because there is no divorce on this island.  When they marry, it entails a 7-day celebration.

Re: the families with items for sale, our guide encouraged us not to buy everything from just one family.  In fact, between the Felices and ourselves, we ended up buying from every family.  One we accidentally left out made sure we knew they were the only family not bought from.  Yes, we bought from them, too.  Their weavings and knittings have actually won international prizes for indigenous work.

On the Mamoré River on the boat, Reina de Enin

 The Reina de Enin, tied up for the night.  We spent three days and four nights on this boat, cruising the river with jungle on all sides, seeing monkeys and pink sweet water dolphins unique to this river, seeing the elusive blue morph butterfly and numerous exotic birds.  The temperatures were in the mid nineties and so was the humidity!  No air conditioning, but with fans and good ventilation we still slept well at night.  Despite the heat, the surroundings were adventurous and the accommodations were adequate.  (Ever had a shower positioned so that the whole tiny bathroom took a shower along with you?  With river water?)  We had a wonderful time for those four days.

 The dining room on the Enin where we were entertained one evening and morning by this duo that played and sang delightful music.  The food was a daily highlight, very good.

   One of our activities was a horseback ride through some wetlands and the jungle.  Here's Harold on his horse.

Our long-time friends from Santa Cruz, Kelly and David Boldt and their teenage daughter, Julia, accompanied us on this trip.  Here, they chill out in the bow of a small boat we took on a late-afternoon ride up the river one day.

These were our hosts, Victor and Barbara.  Barbara was the captain of the ship, a garrulous interesting woman's woman in her early 40s who grew up in Belgium and speaks about five languages.  She is married to Victor, a Bolivian 11 years her junior.  Becoming acquainted with her added a lot to the exotic nature of the trip.

A lot has happened since RAGBRAI

We've covered a lot of territory since RAGBRAI, with the highlights being visits with friends and family in Ohio (Dan and Linda Houston), Kentucky (Tom and Sally LaBaugh and all our great friends from 1992-1997), Arkansas and Oklahoma (Jean and Jim Lemmon and Alice and Ray Henson), Missouri (Cam and Lindsey Pence); and Denver (Alicia and Darren and Angie and Rick). 

 

Since then, back to the Grand Tour, starting with:

 

 Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park, the third week of July

 

 During an early-morning hike on Bear Lake (around 7:30 a.m.), we saw a big group of elk coming down to the lake.

 

 A draft horse competition at the fairgrounds in Estes Park turned out to be an unexpected highlight of our stay.  The horses were beautiful.

 

 On our best hike in the park, we took a break and had lunch at Lake Haiyaha.  The only way to actually see the lake was to climb over a bunch of boulders between the trail and the lake itself.

 

 One of the more magnificent views on our hike looping around Nymph Lake, Emerald Lake, Dream Lake, Lake Haiyaha, and finally to Alberta Falls (about 7 miles, total).

 

.One of the great scenes on the Trail Ridge Road, a highly trafficked ride into the park.   Here you see we are getting just above the tree line.

 

In sum, the Rocky Mountain National Park is now one of our favorites.  We've never seen such magnificent mountains.

 

Next came Durango, Colorado

where we have been for the past almost six weeks.  Highlights here have been:  the Durango-Silverton Train Ride; the visit to Mesa Verde National Park; and the drive around the Alpine Loop to see the fall color.  Also enjoyed lots of great meals, a couple of great evenings listening to ragtime music by a wonderful piano player, some bike rides, and just hanging out at the RV park where we have been surrounded by lovely scenery.

 

Durango-Silverton Train Ride

 

 The engine was an authentic steam engine powered by coal-fired steam on a narrow-gauge railroad.

 

 The train ran alongside some dramatic steep drop-offs.  The views were jaw-dropping.

 

The train ran alongside the lovely Animas River virtually all the way up to Silverton.  We gained about 3500 feet in altitude, in total.

Our rail car had a glass roof and open sides, letting us see what was above us as well as alongside.

 

The town of Silverton is a small former mining town high in the mountains, now mainly dedicated to tourism.  The population here in winter drops to about 400 people.

 

 

Alpine Loup Drive to see the Fall Color
 

This ride was done on Sept. 28th and 29th, the height of the fall color in the mountains.  We have never seen such intense yellows and golds, all against some of the most dramatic mountain landscape we've ever seen.

 

 

 We stopped in Ouray for lunch (that's Harold), a great small town crowded into a narrow valley at about 8000 ft.

 

 These are some of the 14,000-foot peaks, already covered with snow from a storm last week.

 

 

 

 

What a treat.

 

See our next post for images of Mesa Verde, another great national park.

 



Harold finishes the RAGRAI

 Harold arrived back in Clinton, Iowa on Saturday the 28th, weary but happy.  End of an odyssey.

Harold's new look.

"Be thirsty, my friends....."

Harold rides the RABRAI

RAGBRAI riders passing through the town of Aurelia Iowa on Tuesday. 

We are now in Iowa and Harold is riding in the RABRAI (Register Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) while I do some painting and wait with Gabby and the motorhome in Davenport for him to reach this side of Iowa.  Harold seems to have survived and was even cheerful after the  first and second days  of the ride despite temperatures above 100 degrees on the road.  It sounds brutal  They travelled 55 and 62 miles respectively on those first two days.  Today is another scorcher and they will be travelling 83 miles today.  He's starting at 5:30 every morning to beat the heat, and has been arriving by 10:30 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. in the next night's town.  Today he expects to arrive around mid afternoon.  He's having a great time meeting people from all over the country. 

After Cody we spent a couple of days in Casper, WY, where we found only two really worthwhile things to do.  There was a great little art museum that I enjoyed and we both felt that  the Interpretive Trails Museum, about the 19th century population of the West via the Mormon, California and Oregon trails, was a first class experience.  The exhibits, many of which were interactive, such as sitting inside a replica of a conestoga wagon while in front of us was a movie of what it would look like from inside a wagon as it forged a stream.  As the movie progressed, the wagon bounced around as it would have crossing the stream.  Not to be missed if you're in Casper.  We also went to the Casper rodeo and enjoyed ourselves, but it didn't come up to the Cody experience which was big on pageant as well as the normal rodeo events.

Posted by Barbara

Cody, Wyoming

    Have been here the past four days.  Highlights have been the Buffalo Bill Museums which are excellent.  Also, the nightly rodeo (throughout the summer), which we highly recommend.  They are exciting and professionally produced and a great two hours.  We left a little awed by the skill and bravery of the cowboys and cowgirls.

 We saw this little girl (9 years old) and her two 13-year-old sisters do trick riding.  Guts and a lot of personality, too!

 The woman on the right is doing barrel racing, something like a slalom race on skis but on horseback instead.  Both the riders and the horses were awesome.  Look how the horse is leaning into the barrel.  They can't knock the barrel down or they lose points.

The bull riding is the most dangerous of all the events and came last.  Only men ride the bulls.  Riders had to stay on at least 8 seconds.  About half of them were able to do it. 

In addition, we saw: calf roping; boys (10-year olds) riding bucking steers (not one of them stayed on longer than one second); bronco busting; a lot of pageantry such as a choreographed group of women carrying American flags and doing all kinds of routines on horseback; and one woman who rode around the arena standing upright on the back of her horse and carrying the American flag above her.  Real Americana.

Jackson, Wyoming

   Just like last year, we really enjoy Jackson, WY.  Jackson Hole ("hole" just means valley) is a beautiful area, just south of the Teton National Park and cut through by the Snake River.  We've done a bike ride together out to the Jackson Hole Ski Resort, and yesterday Harold made a 44-mile training ride up to Jenny Lake in the Teton National Park, all on a great paved bicycle path.  He said it was a gorgeous ride. 
    Went for a hike in the Laurence Rockefeller Preserve, also part of the National Park.  John D. Rockefeller, back in the 1920s and 30s, bought up ranches around the Teton National Park, 33,000 acres in all and gifted all but 3300 acres to the National Park in the 1940s.  The 3300 acres passed on to his son Laurence who, in 2000, gave the rest of it to the park.  He tore down all the personal buildings of the Rockefellers and basically restored the area to a pristine wilderness which features a hiking path to a mountain lake, passing through a beautiful wetlands area.
    Finally, last night we went to a barbecue dinner which included musical entertainment and a ride in conestoga wagons up into a canyon, pulled by enormous draft horses.  Today is the Fourth and the day starts with a pancake breakfast on the square, followed by a parade, followed by an outdoor musical event.  There will be no fireworks because of the wildfire danger that is still high.
   

Had a little trouble getting out of Montana because these cowboys had to herd their cattle across our highway.

Entering Jackson Hole, coming over the pass from Idaho.

Harold and Gabby on the ride to the ski resort, Grand Tetons in the background.

On the hike in the Laurence Rockfeller Preserve.

Wetlands in the Preserve.

Mountain lake in the Preserve.

Wagon train to the Bar T barbecue and musical revue.

360-degree take on the wagons waiting to take us back down the canyon after the barbecue.  (If you click on this photo you will have a fun experience.  This photo is made by a $1 app for Barbara's iPhone.  Very cool.)

About to leave Ennis, Montana after six weeks

        We are coming to the end of six weeks in Ennis.  We have really enjoyed being here.  The scenery everywhere you look is beautiful, even breathtaking.  Unfortunately, the weather hasn't cooperated until this past week.  It has been relatively cold and windy since we arrived until about 10 days ago.  Since then, we've had what we could call summer temperatures, though the wind has continued and been a factor in spreading several severe wildfires in the past few days.
         While here, Harold has done a lot of bike riding in training for the RAGBRAI ride across Iowa at the end of July.  Barbara has managed to paint about four days a week inside a club house out of the way of the wind.
        Otherwise, highlights of the trip have included time spent in Virginia City, an old gold mining town established in 1863 with the discovery of gold in Alder Gulch just outside of town where many, many of the original buildings have been preserved and are being used as a museum and as stores, restaurants and even theaters.  One event was the Brewery Follies, a ribald four-person show (for adults, of course) that had us laughing for a couple of hours.  Another was a melodrama, Dr. Hyde and Mr. Jekyll, at another theater where the actors were also of excellent quality.
      Additionally, we visited the Headwaters of the Missouri state park, about four hours north of Ennis.  Three rivers, running north - the Madison, the Jefferson and the Gallatin - come together in meandering fashion to form the Missouri River.  Did you know that it runs north here in Montana, eventually running east and then south to form the borders of Iowa on the east and Missouri on the west?  The headwaters is a lovely area, where the young Indian guide of Lewis and Clark, Sacajawea, grew up.  She was kidnapped as a young child by another tribe and only returned there with Lewis and Clark where she was reunited with her brother.
     We also made three trips to Bozeman, a vital small town with a really great dinosaur museum, the Museum of the Rockies.  Many of the best paleontologists in the country work here at the University of Montana and have made many great dinosaur discoveries, which are reflected in the museum.  It was world class, in our opinion.
    We hiked in the Gravelly Mountains where we saw some deer and a couple of moose that we woke up from their afternoon nap.
     We went back twice more to the Waters of the World hot springs, a place that probably ranks as our favorite place.  We did not get to Yellowstone but will be driving though it as we drive south to Jackson, WY in a couple of days.
     Below are some photos that reflect some of our best experiences.

Main Street of Ennis.  Nice shops and a movie theater that functions three nights a week.  Only $5 per ticket!

One of the antelopes Harold encounters every time he goes for a bike ride.

If you look closely, on the left you'll see a couple of cowboys on horseback herding a huge herd of cows.  Harold also ran into this sight on one of his bike rides.

Some of the old buildings in Virginia City.

A couple of the graves on Boot Hill in Virginia City.  If you read the headstones carefully, you'll see these two varmints were hanged.

Hiking in the Gravelly Mountains

This is the beautiful country at the Headwaters of the Missouri.

This is Harold, flexing his Trailer Park muscles.  Don't mess with him.