More Random

Christine, Bettie and I were returning from dinner the other night, chatting away, leap-frogging through a 300+ truck convoy. "Isn't it weird," I asked, "that passing 6 mile long convoys is part of our reality?" "Oh, yeah, I guess," Christine answered and then we continued driving, passing and chatting, without missing a beat.

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I was impressed by the three helicopters buzzing in the sky as I was walking to lunch today. Weirdness: I probably know all of the pilots.

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We now have five (5!) USAF living on base. McKee is our first ever (at least since I've been here) Air Force volunteer. He's actually quite nice, very helpful and not at all peculiar.

25 December 2009

Christmas Day was wholly mundane at Camp Virginia. The USO sponsored a Snowman/Sandman contest** and the managers helped serve in the DFac along with Command Cell. Holiday dinner in the DFac was gorgeous, lovely, abundant and delicious with many beautiful scultures and carvings. Other than that, it was business as usual. There were not too many troops on base since everyone going home had already left. The CBs here who are heading into theater are among the kindest we've ever encountered.

**The big boss came in just after we judged the sandman contest. "How is it possible," he asked, "to make a sandman and not have it look like a giant turd?" Actually, it's not.

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One soldier asked if I would make coffee because the pot was empty. I was surprised because our container holds 40 cups and the USO hadn't been that busy. Turned out it wasn't empty, but unknown to us, someone had "made" coffee. Instead of adding water, then the basket filled with coffee above the water and the stem, bulb side down, this genius had put in the basket filled with coffee, then the water, then the stem, bulb side up. He certainly hadn't made coffee, but he had made a colossal mess. Bettie noted the frighteningly obvious: ". . . and these people have weapons." Oy!

Generosity of Strangers (and Friends)

I was not at Camp Virginia for the holidays last year, so I was quite taken aback by the extent of support our troops received from the American people. During December, December only, we received gifts from the following parties:

First Christian Church Nursery School (Casper, Wyoming), Bart J., Kent B., Daniel P. and Wyoming State Forestry, Dawn F., the employees of Keesal, Young & Logan, Go For Broke National Education Center, VFW Post 335, Alexis L., Betty P., Beckman High School, Project MOT, Cafe La Strada, Troop Support, Karen K., Scott's Mom & Dad, Laura S. and Special Olympics, West Elementary (Lander, Wyoming), Steven McM at USAF, Vandenberg, Joseph O. and Kristin P., and many, many others.

The gifts we received include, but are not limited to, the following:

Homemade bread, cookies, cakes and candies; candy canes, bags, boxes and bags of candies, candies, and more candies; magazines, books, batteries, creams, lotions, toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, deodorant, shave cream, soaps, gels, shampoo, conditioner, hand-knitted scarves and hats, dominoes, board games, games and more games, decks of cards, socks, flags, gum, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, coffee, beef jerky, footballs, Christmas lights and decorations, cereal, noodle soup, cards, letters and notes, mini hot dogs, corn nuts, T-shirts, dried fruits, signed calendars, gloves, popcorn, crackers, hand sanitizer, video games, almonds, nuts and peanuts, package cookies, granola bars, first-class airline gear, shoeshine kits, DVDs, Q-tips, CDs, puzzle books, Beanie Babies, posters, etc., etc.

Needless to say, the troops are miles beyond grateful.

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Recently I saw a Navy officer sitting with note a pad and piles of handmade cards sent by elementary school students. The officer was writing down the names and addresses of the students who had included that information in cards. He said he was going to write back to the students.

Thank you means so little in response to your continuous support for our men and women in uniform. You kindness and generosity is enormously appreciated. Blessings on all.

Last, Least and Away

Our last day was devoted to a 1-day, 3-island cruise. When we arrived at our boat we found the whole main deck occupied by Japanese tourists. Nevertheless, the two-hour voyage to the first island was smooth and relaxing. Over the course of the day we stopped in Aegina, Poros and Hydra. We did a little shopping and discovered small fishing villages that look exactly like photographs in the travel brochures. Toby liked everything about the day except lunch. She had eaten half of her chicken when she found out it wasn’t. The main course was actually pork; the other white meat.

The highlight of the day was the really nice Japanese ladies we met on the cruise back to Athens. They shared their cookies with us and were just as friendly and gracious as could be, although they barely spoke English and we speak not one word of Japanese.

Cheryl and Toby left for the airport about 3:00 a.m. I slept in, then checked out of the hotel about 10:30 for my 12:55 flight.

Awesome vacation; wonderful friends; great time; way too much fun.

Never on Sunday

Sunday in Athens we set out for the weekly swap meet/bazaar where we saw a lot of dogs, a lot of beads, a lot of shoes, a lot of shirts, a lot of dishes, a lot of prisms and a lot of junque. On the way there we also discovered that there are no toilets located in the Athens Metro. Not one. Not kidding.

We then headed to Agora (part of the Parthenon) and to the Acropolis of Athens. We stopped at the brand new Acropolis Museum and this time we made sure that we didn’t take pictures with the antiquities.

Cheryl and I had a lovely dinner at a local Greek restaurant. Toby took some cold medicine and went to sleep.

Ruined

The next morning we drove about four hours in the rain on the beautiful back roads, stopping for coffee in a tiny little town. As it turned out the restaurant also offered beef with potatoes, chicken with potatoes, lamb with potatoes, vegetables with potatoes, and potatoes with potatoes. We opted for some delicious bean soup and then puffed back to the car and headed to Olympia.

The long drive to Olympia was worth it. Although we arrived late in the afternoon we did have about an hour to check out the museum where we took pictures with the statues and got in big trouble (again! We will never learn?). I did found my heart’s desire, although, if looks aren’t everything, then Antinous may not be perfect for me. Consider that:
1. He died (by drowning) before he reached age 18;
2. He was a member of the entourage of Roman Emperor Hadrian. (How politically correct is that?);
3. He was born almost 2,000 years before me.

We saw the massive ruins, including the large stadium, the gymnasiums and dormitories. Cheryl found the place where cheating athletes were made to stand in disgrace, with their monetary fines being used to help finance the games.

The journey back to Athens was harrowing. We were on winding, two-lane mountain roads; it was dark and pouring rain. Toby did a great job driving and navigating. We limped into Athens airport just a few minutes late to return our car. After gathering our suitcases and our confidence we took the Metro into central Athens. Luckily we had been there before so we knew where to disembark and exactly how to get to our hotel.

Into Sparta and Onto Monemvassia

We arrived in Sparta late in the afternoon and found a place that had a room for three. Our room was small, but the hotel was nice and centrally located. We walked around town in the drizzle, bought some cheese, soda, yogurt, nuts and fruit at a local market then went back to the room and stayed in for the rest of the evening.

The next morning we wove our way through the streets of Sparta, then drove the back roads of very beautiful countryside in Freakin’ Greece to the large rock of Monemvassia, a medieval fortress with adjacent town located on a small peninsula off the east coast of the Peloponnese. The ruins include defensive structures and many Byzantine churches. The streets are narrow and fit only for pedestrians and/or donkeys. We ate our picnic lunch bundled up in an alcove overlooking the sea then hiked to the stone trials to the top.

That afternoon we visited a charming Olive Museum in downtown Sparta, had a delicious dinner at a local restaurant, hit the Internet cafe, then conked out for the evening.

. . . Automobiles

After spending all night in the Istanbul airport (I'll write a book about how much fun that was), we finally landed in Athens. Once arrived we attempted to pick up our rent-a-car from Thrifty. This turned into a three-ring circus, with someone getting mad and someone acting bad and someone being had, but after much bickering, dickering and paying through the nose we managed to drive off toward Kokoni.

We drove the highway, the toll roads and then some very narrow beach roads through some very narrow little towns, in freakin' Greece, y'know. We reached our hotel about two hours later, got the scoop on a good local place to eat lunch (actually, everything is local in a town of 500 inhabitants), ate a delicious repast then headed back to the hotel for showers and rest. I hit the sack at 4:00 p.m.; Toby and Cheryl went to sleep at 5:00 p.m. We were all abruptly awaken 15/16 hours later at 08:00 the next day.

After a couple of false starts we located Ancient Korinthos with its beautiful ruins of churches and museum filled with antiquities. We found out (the hard way) that there is an interesting regulation in Greece: When Melina Mercouri was the Minister of Culture she established a law that it is OK to take pictures of items in museums (without flash, of course) but it is forbidden to take pictures of any live person alongside. Apparently that disrespects the sacredness of the treasures.

Having just barely avoided arrest and incarceration, we ate lunch at an outdoor restaurant with 6 of Korinthos's finest canines, then headed off to Sparta.

Hiking and Buying; Not Stopping -- Not Sleeping

On our last day in Goreme we went to a ceramic store in the neighboring town of Avanos. There is a bus to Avanos, but we decided to walk the 10K. We trekked off road, viewing the peculiar landscape, accompanied most of the way by a dog we named Dervish. The owner of factory/shop met us at the door and explained that the place had been in his family for centuries. We saw extraordinary plates, jugs, dishes, plaques and art. Since the proprietor wasn't too pushy, we even bought a couple of trivets. He and his friend drove us down to the bus station, from which we promptly hiked the 10K back to the Kelebek.

That evening we took a shuttle to the Keysari airport for our flight to Istanbul. On the way to the airport we passed one of the road signs that we had seen everywhere in Turkey. They look like stop signs, but I don't know how "Dur" translates; I think it means "wave as you drive by."

We arrived in Istanbul about 22:00 and then waited all night at the freakin' airport for our 08:00 flight to Athens. I attempted to sleep on a bench. Toby says there was a party around me at 3:00 a.m. I guess I missed it.

Flying High, Walking Up, Riding Low

The reason Toby had booked us into Cappadocia was so that she could take a balloon ride. She did that early (6:30) in the morning on the first day, just in case it rained and there were no balloon rides on subsequent days.

Later that morning all three of us got into a van with a couple from Korea, a couple from Japan, a couple from Barcelona and our guide Levent. We had been told this tour included a 4-hour hike that was about five on a scale of 1-10. I thought it might actually be a three, but the hike was really a difficulty level of 6 or 7. We didn't do any repelling, but we did go up a lot of mountains, down a lot of gorges and next to the river. For part of the hike Levent told us to walk ahead while he finished his cigarette. He told us we would be fine if we kept the river on our right. (If we're walking in the river is that considered keeping it on our right?) Lee (from Korea) declared that we were probably on the show "Survivor, Turkey." I was very happy with my work boots that day, as I managed to not slip, skid or fall even one time.

Of course our tour included stops in a couple of shops and one large jewelry store, but we managed to make it back in one piece without injuries or too many souvenirs.

Cheryl and I went to the spa at Kelebek for our second Turkish bath. This one was a bit more elegant (the technicians were fully clothed) and lasted almost two hours. We were treated to a sauna and the aforementioned dousing, exfoliating, scrubbing, rubbing and sudsing. We also got a complete massage (including feet and head) and a facial.

We had dinner at the hotel, talking a lot to our new friend Jules from Milwaukee, via Geneva, Zurich and Berlin. We heard a lot about her "zoo" and all of the lovely animals and the not so lovely (mostly married) men of Goreme.

Our second full day in Goreme we walked in a light rain to the Open Air Museum which was the site of the monastic communities in Cappadocia. The complex contains more than 30 rock-carved churches and chapels, some with frescoes inside, dating from the 9th to the 11th centuries. On the way back we saw an ancient schmata tree and also a very rare pottery tree.

After walking back and getting totally soaked by an idiot in a black Nissan driving through puddles at wharp speed we stopped for some excellent lentil soup at a restaurant that had been recommended by Jules. Then we saw her walking by, so she came in to tell us more about her zoo and the lovely animals and not so lovely (mostly married) men of Goreme.

We shopped a little, I bought my adorable red hat, then went back to the Kelebek to read and relax by the fire.