Holiday Letter 2007

Dear friends and family,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

You could tell if you’ve been following the stock market trend in the latter part of 2007 that the Sturtevants are once again planning to retire. Yup, the Dow has been on a bumpy decline just about from the time C.J. handed in her resignation to USHPA. The February Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine will be the last issue with C.J.’s editor column, and that means she will be finished editing in time to leave her computer at home when we take off for our South America adventure this January in Ecuador.

Last winter we squeezed in two trips south of the equator, one of the best ever to Chile, and the other to Brazil. We were not lucky with weather in Governador Valadares (several hours north of Rio) so the flying did not include the long cross-country flights we had hoped for. Still, the cultural experience was worth the trip, and we got to spend several days in Rio de Janeiro being tourists.

Around home George removed a couple of eyesore metal cabinets (remnants of the original house furnishings) and built new replacements – the tablesaw and router got a good workout especially on the raised panel doors. In addition, George replaced the old, rough-hewn coat tree with a wall-mounted coat rack, and built a bistro table and stools for use on the deck. Our roof, over 22 years old and suffering from the strong winds of last years big storms, had been on the list for repair for some time, so in October we finally decided to hire a contractor to replace the old asphalt shingles with an aluminum roof that is sure to outlast our tenure here.

In spite of working full time, C.J. found time to make two t-shirt quilts as gifts for special people. They came out really well and now she is looking forward to spending time with other sewing projects. George’s hobby project this year was building his first model airplane – a remote controlled sailplane – which he is still learning to fly.

It’s either the weather this past year, or we’ve gotten more discerning about flying conditions; whichever it is, we have spent less time chasing the wind with our paragliders. That does not mean that we haven’t had lots of good flights in Brazil, Idaho (for a maneuvers/safety clinic and later for the Riggins Resurrection Fly-in) Oregon, Utah, and locally, but probably fewer than last year. C.J. once again competed in the Rat Race and from there we went to the paragliding nationals in Lakeview as spectators. In other sports, we got out for several kayak trips, most notably to Orcas Island in the San Juans where we enjoyed staying in a cabin at Deer Harbor and paddling in glorious spring sunshine to nearby islands. We finally visited Tillicum Village on Blake Island, but by kayak rather than via the tour boat. The dinner and show were fun, and the walk back across the island to our campsite made it an adventure. During the winter we did several x-c ski tours here, in Chelan and near Mt. Bachelor. We are considering doing a ski trip to Yellowstone later this winter.

Now that you are here, you can continue to read in excruciating detail about our travels and recreation, just continue below. Please check out our photos at www.picasaweb.google.com/GSturtevant.

Best wishes for good health, good friends and good experiences in 2008.

C.J. and George