PEOPLE ARE A SIGHT!

One might say that to travel is to discover how much in debt we are to voices both present and now silent. Fro so many places and such diverse peoples we live in a richness, a richness that needs to be shared with the world in ways of imagination, discovery, perseverance, courage and appreciation of the bountiful beautiful world in which we find ourselves as one, or perhaps two or more, expressions of that wholeness, fullness the manifold differentness required to keep alive the dream of discovery that our ancestors cherished. To discover is to move into the unknown. To do so unafraid, and to be open to the unexpected is to live an adventure, to find love and beauty all over again in both likely and unlikely places and people.

What did you see? What did you like the most? Well, as you have read, we liked lots of places.
But now for WHO did you like? Whom did you meet? What is it you liked about them?

• The waiter in Stanley, Idaho, who served us a heaping, piping hot breakfast.


• Tom Bradshaw, who performed ALMOST WILLIE at Jim and Mary's RV Park in Missoula. Great!


• The Glacier National Park bus drivers, Sam, Frank and Ellie, who gave us very informative tours, provided us the Road to the Sun tour, that was unforgettable, and who got us safely arund the park without cost, but with great courtesy and helpfulness.


• Forest Ranger Bill, who presented a starlight Talk at Glacier about the construction of the Road tothe Sun. Very informative, humorous, and a real local high school teacher!


• For the camper couple from North Dakota, who gave us all of ther potatoes and tomatoes as they left for hom. Thanks!


• For the staff at the great wine store in Duluth. Courtesy, helpfulness and good deals!
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• Dan George and Chris Ash, super hosts, easiest going, totally entertaining, always cooking or playing or fishing or guiding us around.
  
• Calvin and Nonnie, the 80-something Cajun dancers, encouraging, welcoming, sponsoring us or even mentoring us into the total Cajun experience. Local royalty! Generous people!









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  Orlando and Yvette Ortega and their family in Taos. Yet more Sayulita Trailer Park friends. They charmed us in thier restaurant and included us in a wonderful family dinner at their spectacular home. They are the most gracious family, who made us feel good just by being with them.

• Bob Bonthius and Fran Truit, old colleagues of Jon's, he 89 and she 85, in a lovely assisted living place in Blue Hill, Maine. Bob, still thinking and writing, his last article an analysis of VP Cheney and his aid, top lawyer David Addington, and their hubris and threat to constitutional protections. Bob, in spite of advanced osteoporosis and a car wreck that broke his bones in seventeen places, walked with cane down the long driveway to meet us and greet us. He walks two miles each day! They had not met Pat but took to her right away, and she to them. They hosted us to a dinner, introduced us around, and then we drank and talked politics the rest of the evening. They were the first among organizers of Witness for Peace, the group that put their bodies in harm's way in support of the Sandanistas during the Nicaraguan revolution. Courageous and delightful and very important in Jon's life. We were so busy talking, we forgot to take pictures!
• Jon's cousin, Catherine Anderson, whom he regards as his second mother. Living with his family from age twelve until she graduated from nursing school at Mercy Hospital in Portsmouth, Ohio, she was a source of stability. Her supply of Kansas City steaks and double yoked eggs were generous and first rate. The conversations and pictures were precious and much appreciated. Thanks Catherine!


• Betty Lawyer, Albuquerque, lovely, charming, great hospitality and looks, Albuquerque's best blind cook and hospitality person! We had a wonderful time with Betty.


• Chuck and Maria Hall, Annapolis, Maryland, and Chuck's sisteer Bev, old next door neighborhood friends from our childhood in Portsmouth, Ohio. We got together on the spur of the moment and Chuck and Maria and Bev were most accommodating, complete with good memories and a dandy salmon dinner. Thanks guys!


• Lucille and Kiona and Ben in Ellsworth, Maine. Lucille, her husband Chris and the kids are friends from our time in Mexico. They interned on the Zuni reservation, and flow easily among local people in Mexico and Honduras. Thoughtful, compassionate, medically talented ambassadors of wholesomeness.


• The grandmother, along with daughter and grand daughter we met in a French restaurant in Montreal. We were seated next to them, and Gramma was impressed that Jon attempted a bit of simple French. It is of course their first language. We struck up quite a conversation, and Gramma, fifty-sixty something, gave us her e-mail and phone and encouraged us to come again to Montreal and stay with her. Wow!

Jeff, our guide and Forest Service Intern, who took us on a great four and a half hour walking tour at Chaco Canyon. Intelligent, curious, amiable and patient as we slowly climbed through the crevasses up the face of the canyon.

• Penny, also a Forest Service Intern, who guided us through Pueblo Bonito. Going on to graduate school in both law and ecology, positive and good spirited, bright and informed.


• The woman in Vermont, where we had just stopped at a kiosk and bought some local farm maple syrup, and were just pulling out when she waved and shouted to us. We stopped, and she pointed out that Pat had left her purse on the kiosk counter. Thank you! You saved our lives!
  
• The delightful couple from Washington DC whom we met at a wine bar in Lexington, Va. They were in Lexington for an alumni gathering at Washington and Lee University.


• Whole Foods supervisor in San Antonio who thought we might need assistance finding what we needed. Engaging style, very positive, loves her work and started as a bagger five years ago, is now a trainer and supervisor.
  
• Also in Lexington, the woman on the corner who offered us directions and hearing we were from Boise, she replied,"The dullest city in the country!' and then offered to take us out for a drink!
• And in Lexington, the woman, walking her dog, who inquired of us if we were lost or looking for some thing or some place. What a treat! What a welcome!
  
• The camping fireman at Samuel de Champlaine Provencial Park. He was a well-traveled guy and fun to talk to as well.
• The great waiters:
  
• Robert at CIA, Hudson, New York, most engaging about his dream -- to start a restaurant with his father in the north Florida panhandle in just a few weeks! -- and his education there at CIA.
  
• The waiter at the brew pub in Moab -- good taste, great recommendations, informative and helpful.
  
• The two staff at The Peace Tree restaurant in Monticello, Utah who took Jon's gluten-free bread and made a wonderful sandwich. And they served wine and beer, but then they were at the far edge of town! Great humor and service. And they have another restaurant in Moab!
  
• The wait person at Berarducci restaurant in Duluth. Service was great and the food fantastic!
  
• The young and beautiful barista at LOKA, Art Space, Bakery & Cafe, in Taos: best lattes in the world!
  
• Each of our hosts at the B&Bs and inns, Charles and Lee Reed, Lynne and Linda, and Charles, Paula and Luci and the interesting people we met over the breakfast tables.