10th and Lawrence Streets, N.E. Washington D.C. 20017
From: For4inVa@aol.com
Subject: Where have I been !
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 12:00:47 EST
Dear Terry (2-Rays) & Elsie,
Hi, I'll tell you were I've been. The January after high school I enlisted
for 3 yrs. in the Army. I went through Military Police training and Airborne
(parachute) training. After spending a year stateside I volunteered for Viet
Nam where I got a chance to experience a totally different language and
culture. From Nam I took 3 R&R's. One to Bangkok and two to Hong Kong. Bangkok
was nice but Hong Kong is what I wanted to see. I had read a book by Ernest K
Gahn called, "Soldier Of Fortune" (The movie has Clark Gable as the lead.).
There's a lot of characters in it along with a love story. To me it has the
same feel as "Casablanca" but nowhere near as classical.The plot line stays in
Hong Kong for the most part talking about the city and those expatriats, etc.
who hang out at the Peninsula Hotel.Now, the Peninsula Hotel exists and it was
considered one of the "Grand Hotels" of the world. I wanted to go there to
experience what it would be like to walk through the lobby and have a drink at
the bar. And that's what I did. And, I ate in a restaurant where only the
Chinese eat, had dinner on a floating restaurant, saw Red China from the
border, bought carved ivory (this was 1971), brocaded silk robes (one for each
family member) a five piece gold and jade jewelry ensemble for my mother and
took the cable car up the side of the mountain overlooking Hong Kong to get a
night picture of the harbor. Then I came home and worked and went to college
for the next seven years.
When I graduated from college one of my friends got the use of his brothers
Winnebago for as long as he wanted it. The only catch was that we had to go
get it where he lived. China Lake, CA! Well, since neither of us had any
immediate plans we did it. Our first stop was St. Louis, where we of course
had to up the St. Louis Arch. What a neat feeling. You actually ride up the
inside of one of the arches in these little elevator spheres that are like a
string of pearls. I think there were 4 or 5 of them connected together. You
got in this little sphere shape, sat down around the walls (it only held about
5 people) and then up you went. When you got to the top you could lean on
these counters and look straight down. The arch has three sides with one side
being your roof while the other two form a "V'" pointing down(just like the
letter). Then it was off to Kansas City for the wedding of two of fellow
classmates.
Our next stop was Las Vegas at about 3 am. I was driving and we either came
over a hill or around a mountain and Vegas looked like someone had opened up a
treasure chest. It was just laying there shimmering in the dark. Once we got
the Winny, we spent the next six weeks going from national park to national
park. We went from Zion to the Grand Canyon, then Bryce on up through Utah.
Spent a star filled night in a deserted state park in Utah. Pitch black,
surrounded by aspens, I looked up and saw a satellight go over. (Remember how
in the beginning of the space race we use to look for Sputnik.) The next
morning after breakfast we were on our way to Wyoming. While driving down a
two lane road drinking our coffee we had to slow to a crawl so we could share
the road with some cowboys herding their sheep. You no, you've seen all this
in the movies and on TV but you can't begin to explain the feeling of driving
by a cowboy on a horse who's eye level with you and just nodding your cup of
coffee toward him and saying "Good morning." The next thing we new we were in
the"Equal Rights" state and on or way to Jackson Hole.
Jackson Hole, WY. More cowboys, wooden sidewalks and lots of elk. Somewhere
along the trip I asked Jeff if we were ever going to get tired of being awed.
It seemed like everytime we went over a hill or around a bend we had to slow
down or stop because we couldn't belive the view. Jackson Hole wasn't any
different. We came around a turn out of that town and ran into the Grand
Tetons. This was one of those stop the Winne, get out and take pictures. It
was bright and sunny but there were these big clouds rubbing up against the
mountains. We just stood there for awhile and just looked. If you've never
been off the East coast you just can't imagine what a real mountain looks
life. Next up was Yellowstone. That's were I got this great picture of a
buffalo. We had been driving through the park saw a herd of buffalo on the
plain next to us. So, we park in this area set aside to watch them. Now, your
not suppose to actually go out and introduce yourself but Jeff and I thought
we'd be ok if just stayed on this rise that was above the herd. Well we get
out there and are looking down on them (They're about a 100 yards away.) when
the leader turns and starts walking up the rise in our direction with the
herd. I crouched down and stayed still as they passed about twenty-five yards
over from us. As the leader is passing I take a picture and the the leader
heres the click and looks over at me. I didn't smile or wave. He was so close
I could hear him breathing.
Say, if you all are gettin tired of this just e-mail me. If it's really boring
you call collect. We still got Oregan, CA , France and Germany.