Bear tooth hiking

Hiked up Rosebud Canyon about 30 miles from Red Lodge. Beautiful waterfalls and lakes. Plenty of choke cherries but no bear sightings. Back to the ranch for BBQ on the deck. Drove back across Big Sky rangeland

In Red Lodge MT

Visiting Les and Janet at home in Montana. While they were picking us up at the airport they were alerted about a fire 3miles from their house. We got food to go and headed home and all was well but threatening. Air tankers and copters in the air all day yesterday knocked it down so we're safe. Beautiful here

Looking back, it's been a busy year!

In February we travelled to Europe for a ski trip, taking our friends Maureen and Dennis.  We visited some of our favorite cross-country skiing venues -  Dobiacco, Italy, and Ramsau and Seeefeld, Austria.
We got lots of skiing as it was a big snow year; a little too big.  One day in Ramsau was so stormy the trail groomers didn't get out, and we were stuck in town until we could get tire chains to safely get off the mountain.  Italy was as charming as ever, and we got a chance to visit the resort center of Cortina d'Ampezzo as well.  Plenty of great food along the way, and we finished with several days in Munich.

Springtime found us busy back at the garden of the Oregon Food Bank.  A three acre garden is used for produce to add to food boxes.  Spring is all about planting, starting transplants, and soil prep for summer crops.  Also, Ellen continued with her knitting group for girls and the 10,000 books project,  The books project, begun by a school librarian at a local school, aims to give 10 free books to every child in the school. At the end of the school year, a book fair is held and the kids pick out books to take home.

In June we joined a river cruise trip in Ukraine.  Viking River Cruises led a trip from Kiev, down the Dnieper river and into the Black Sea to the Russian resorts of Odessa and Yalta.  Along the way we learned about Cossacks, the spread of Russian culture, the Criamean War, the extent of WWII and the effect on the Ukrainians as they fought the Nazis on home soil.  We also visited the Russian naval port of Sevastopal, still home of the Russian fleet (in sovereign Ukraine).  The Black Sea ports were beautiful and it's easy to see why it's been the favorite of Russian royalty, oligarchs, and health practitioners alike.

A long warm summer made gardens at both home and the food bank very productive.  One of the driest summers on record, we had great quantities of beans, peas, corn and squash.  At home, the tomatoes were better than ever and the patio took on jungle proportions.

In August we struck out the the wilds of Montana, visiting friends Les and Janet in Red Lodge, on the edge of Yellowstone Park. We had a fabulous time hiking the high passes, visiting local gardens, eating and drinking local, and sharing stories.

Fall brought us back into the gardens, and Ellen's glass kiln was getting a workout.  She's been making more garden art, including bird feeder covers and birdbaths, and she donated some pieces to the fundraising auction for the Food Bank.  Out at the garden, we raised a record 10,000 pounds of produce for the season.  A great result for the great season.

As the year winds down, we're preparing for a trip to Vietnam, travelling the length of the country.

To Europe

We’re leaving for a couple weeks in the Netherlands and Germany.  First touring coastal areas by river cruiser with Viking Cruises, then joining my nephew and family in Dortmund, Germany.  We’ll tour the lowlands and lower Rhine areas.  Tulips, sardines, and chocolate are in our future.

Our Holiday Letter - 2010

We started the year with an Epiphany party, gathering with friends and celebrating the new year.  A great start.

In February we went to Ottawa, Canada for Winterlude and the 2010 olympics.  We wanted to go to Vancouver, BC for the Olympics, but tickets were not available, and lodging was prohibitive.  We had a great time watching the events with the Canadians – getting lots of tips on curling strategy, and celebrating as the Canadian snowboarders started winning.  Great TV coverage of all events (actual sports, not just filler or summaries).

Winterlude is a special time in Ottawa with lots of public celebrations, especially along the Rideau Skateway.  The canal freezes over and a 10 kilometer skating rink appears through the middle of the city.  Food vendors, hot drinks, maple syrup demonstrations, snow and ice carving, all manner of winter activities along the way. Highly recommended.

We finished off the week with the Gatineau Ski Marathon, a 50 km race through Canadian forest near town.  This was our 10th in the Worldloppet race series, XC ski marathons around the world.

 

We continue to volunteer at the Chinese Classical Garden in Portland, and helped out at the big Chinese New Year celebrations.  I do greeting duties, Ellen leads educational activities, and we’re both training as guides.

Springtime brought us back to the Oregon Food Bank garden, and we spent a day a week in the summer tending and harvesting vegetables.

In June I had a bum shoulder checked out, and confirmed a torn rotator cuff.  So I had surgery which slowed me down for several weeks as it healed.  Today, with 6 months of therapy, its all functioning normally and rebuilding strength.

We had been studying Chinese and getting the travel itch, so we set course for a fall trip to Chinese gardens.  I arranged a private trip through China Highlights, with guides in each city and travel and lodging pre-arranged.  The itinerary included Suzhou, the garden city,  Hangzhou, a lake city also know for its gardens, the Yellow Mountains, revered by Chinese for its natural beauty, and Guilin, including a trip on the famed Li river (our boat had a picture of Nixon on the trip so it must be famous). We started and finished in Shanghai, the ever-changing metropolis.

We had a fabulous time (no, I haven’t posted any pictures or written about it yet) and we learned a lot more about Chinese gardens and their history.

That was in September.  Back in Portland, fall brought the Autumn Moon festival and final garden harvests.

Ellen continues to work on fused glass creations, adding more yard art, bowls, picture frames and buttons to her repertoire.  Taking more classes at Bullseye, her techniques and work gets more varied all the time.

We’re now ready for winter, having skied in the mountains at Halloween and had snow in town at Thanksgiving.  We’re now spending a week skiing and relaxing in the Methow Valley, northern Washington.  Christmas takes us to Ellen’s brother’s in Seattle, then back home for the New Year.

Good Solstice, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year to all!

Michael & Ellen

Hanoi

After another overnight train ride (soft sleeper, more sleep) we arrived at 0530 in Hanoi.  With nothing scheduled yet, we headed for the neighborhood where the travel agency was located.  Everything was shut down of course,  so we went to the lake in the center of downtown.  It was just getting light, but things were bustling.  By the lake, many groups of people were doing Tai Chi or other exercise programs.  Someone in the group would bring a boom box, set it up with Vietnamese music playing, and start exercises.  Some groups were more organized than others, and all had different forms of workouts.  Lots of individuals also worked out, slapping their limbs, jogging in place, or stretching. 

About 0630 we decided to find some breakfast, and found a lakeside restaurant with early opening and a great view.  Another bowl of Pho and some coffee, and we were ready for the day.

We found Handspan Travel in the old city and started making arrangements.  We would leave the same night for the northern mountain town of Sapa for hiking; after four days we would return and go to Halong Bay for kayaking; spend two days in Hanoi and then return to Ho Chi Minh City.  We also arranged a tour of the Mekong Delta with Handspan.  Handspan is one of many agencies that provide guides, transportation, and other services for travelers to Vietnam, and has a good reputation for good service and equipment at reasonable prices.

The old town of Hanoi is a fascinating group of narrow streets, jammed with people on foot and motorbike.  The street level is retail, with houses in the upper levels.  There are wide sidewalks, but they are taken over as bike parking and outdoor cafes, so one must walk down the side of the street.

The town maintains an ancient tradition of grouping retail trades together.  There’s silk street, leather street, metalwork and hardware street, bamboo street, appliance street.  A fascinating array of materials on display.  What wasn’t on display was going by on bicycle or motorbike – birds, fish, veggies for sale; pipe, furniture, boxes being moved; food peddlers of all sorts.  Some people carried mobile cookpots – stove on one end of the carry pole and food to cook on the other; others carried fruits or vegetables to sell to occupants or passers-by.  Yes, they use carry poles with baskets on each end, and wear conical bamboo hats.  Bicycles and motorbikes are converted for hauling every imaginable item.  And the riders, most dressed for the workday, many carrying children, flowed continuously down the streets.

Mostly, we wandered the streets, amazed by the sights of ordinary Vietnamese life.  Also, the streets were laid out in an odd pattern and it was not unusual to take a while to navigate back to the hotel.  It made one hungry, and there was plenty of excellent food to be had.  Not far from the ocean, the seafood was plentiful and excellent.  Sometimes fried, but more often grilled or steamed, we had more shrimp, crab, squid and fish than we had in some time.  With light seasonings, the preparations were always different, completely unlike Chinese food and better than most Vietnamese restaurants at home.  More on food later; we’re off to the train station and the mountains. 

Lots of pics on Flickr of scooters, food and people of Hanoi.

Hue, Imperial City

  We enjoyed the last part of the train ride to Hue, which is mid-way up the country of Vietnam.  The route follows close to the coast, and we watched daily life go by.  We climbed over the mountains and could see the beaches near DaNang, now very popular tourist sites.  In mid-afternoon we arrived in Hue.

After a rest we went out for a walk, and headed for the riverside.  The city is situated on the Perfume River, not far from the sea, and life centers on it.  Boats of all sizes and types can be seen, single fisherman to industrial cargo.  It is far enough south it is still tropical, and fruit vendors are everywhere, with dragon fruit, sugar cane, mangosteen, lychees and many others.  We found more bicycles than motorbikes here, a nice change.

In the evening we had a fabulous dinner, with local specialties which have more French influence than some areas.  Later we went back to the river and found tour boats taking evening cruises.  We negotiated a good price, and headed downriver at sunset to a pagoda.  It was further than we thought and was nearly dark when we got there.  Still, the boatmen encouraged us to get out and have a look around.  It was near full moon and the pagoda in the moonlight was magical.  On the return trip we saw the city lights on the river.

Next morning we went to explore.  Hue was once the center of the principal Vietnamese kingdom, and remains of palaces, pagodas, and burial grounds are abundant.  We ignored the pleas of the pedicab drivers (“it’s too far to go by yourself”) and rented bicycles and threaded our way through traffic across the city.  We visited the Citadel, the imperial palace of its day.  Only a portion has been restored, but it was easy to see what a gem it was.  With much Chinese influence in the architecture,  it seemed familiar, but with local flavors.  We rode through neighborhoods past he fish vendors, bird vendors, motorbike shops, drying incense and all  (lots of pictures on Flickr).

We visited the pagoda we’d seen the night before, and found a large complex of palaces on the river.  After exploring the area we pedaled back across the river to prepare for the next leg of the trip – another night train, this time bound for Hanoi.