Dear Friends and Family,
Just by receiving this you know
that we are still alive and kicking. C.J. is finally retired retired – not even doing any part-time editing. She
resigned from USHPA Pilot magazine effective this December at the same time her
well-liked editor turned in his resignation. George is on something like his
thirteenth year of retirement, so nothing new there.
We’ve had a few fun trips this year
starting with a couple of weeks paragliding in Colombia with our favorite
guides, Passion Paragliding. This time it was safari-style as we traveled from
Medellin to
Jerico, La Pintada, Merced, La Union (near Roldanillo), and finally
to Piedechinche near Cali. We got in a lot of flying, as well as visits to
local sights (and sites), plus lots of good food. We returned to the US just in
time for a big snowstorm that had us shoveling the driveway for days as the
storm continued. It was exciting to watch the big slabs of snow avalanche off our roof – until one slab ripped off our north gutter, and another slab took
off the south gutter. Eventually we replaced them with new ones that have a “gutter
helmet” to prevent leaves filling them up. Seems to be working so far. While
the snow lasted I got to do a fair amount of cross-country skiing; C.J.,
unfortunately, was suffering from a cough that would not go away and she could not tolerate
the cold, dry air. Over a period of several weeks she ended up seeing several specialists, had a CT scan and
tried a bunch of drugs including inhalers until the cough kind of faded away.
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| On our chiva on the way to launch |
We’re still flying, just not as
much as we did in the early years of our addiction. April was a good month for
hang gliding (C.J.) at Dog Mountain. We also joined the locals in planting
trees to keep the landowners happy thus keeping our access open to the landing
zone. We also flew our paragliders at Saddle Mtn., Blanchard, Baldy Butte, and
our local site, Tiger Mtn.
Our tandem sea kayak got some use
when we spent a week on Orcas
Island at Dee
r Harbor in May
with Ginny and Wally. The paddle around the tree-covered islands on the way to Yellow Island was a highlight, but we also did several short, but fun hikes to Turtle Mountain and Obstruction Pass, as well as in Moran State Park.
Island at Deer Harbor in May
with Ginny and Wally. The paddle around the tree-covered islands on the way to Yellow Island was a highlight, but we also did several short, but fun hikes to Turtle Mountain and Obstruction Pass, as well as in Moran State Park.
We added to our toys in Jun and
July when we bought electric bikes. George got a Rattan through Amazon and
C.J., after some searching through a couple of Seattle bike shops, found a foldable
20-inch-wheel bike from Leitner, a brand popular in Australia. We’ve done a
number of rides mostly on bike trails and old RR grades. Fortunately, one of
them, the Snoqualmie Valley Trail passes within a block of our house.
The other big trip of the year was
a Viking river cruise from St. Petersburg to Moscow with the
Goldmans. It started right after our annual Woodrat Mountain paragliding
competition in southern Oregon. In fact, we had to skip the last day so we
could get home and do laundry before leaving early for the long flight to
Russia. We had a really affordable deal with Viking because they gave us almost
half of our fare back for the Danube cruise last year because of the low water
level that interfered with some of the planned itinerary. We really like the
river cruise concept where most of the excursions are included in the base
fare. Thus, we got tours of St. Petersburg, visits to The Hermitage and
Catherine’s Palace, and paid only for a Cossack entertain
ment complete with
vodka, and a canal cruise we booked ourselves at a rate much below that of an official excursion. The trip along the Baltic
Waterway (including a stretch of the Volga River) had several interesting stops
before we reached Moscow. Again, there was a walking tour that started with a
subway ride to several palatial stations, then visits to a new Orthodox
cathedral, Red Square, GUM department store (now filled with luxury
international shops) and St. Basil’s Cathedral. One evening we enjoyed a musical
performance at a local venue, and another night we took a night tour of Moscow
which included a canal tour. One more walking tour took us through the Kremlin
with its museums and cathedrals. This trip certainly changed our Cold War
impressions of Russia.
The rest of the summer and fall
were anticlimactic after that, but we got away for a week to
WorldMark McCall
in central Idaho. We had planned for lots of hiking, paddling on Payette Lake,
and e-biking on the many trails, but the weather turned wintery just as soon as
we left home and we were left with hiking in the snow and touring along the
Warren Wagon Road by car to a more than 100-year old gold mining town. Ginny
and Wally were able to join us for a couple of days on their way to an
eagle-banding adventure in Montana.
Recently we had a setback when a
tree landed on our 2012 Kia. Bummer (!), but we sent the car off to the body shop
and continued with our trip to Vidanta on the Riviera Maya south of Cancun
expecting it would be repaired by the time we got back. We had our usual good
time exploring the resort, enjoying the poolside drinks and snacks and walking
on the beach (now protected from the sargassum plants by a fence/net just offshore).
However, on the day we returned, while we were still at 
It’s been an overall good year, we’re
both more healthy than not, and we’re thankful for that. We hope you are doing
well and looking forward to the new year. Please let us know what’s going on
with you; we love holiday letters.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love,
George and C.J.
