Month: April 2018

The day after cooking class and our party night, we hiked Volcán Pacaya. Fortunately, the shuttle pickup wasn’t until 2p. After a 90-minute drive we met our guide Luis. The hike up took about an hour with a steady and steep ascent. Near the start were fields created to grow crops in the fertile volcanic soil.

It’s an active volcano, so this isn’t a hike to the crater, just a viewpoint. As we ascended we could hear the eruptions. They sounded like cannon blasts accompanied at times by the hissing release of steam and ash.

I’d never seen an active volcano before. Well, not like this at least. I’ve seen Mt St Helens blow off some steam over the years in Portland, and we saw lots of simmering steam and ash at Volacanos Nations Park on the big island of Hawaii.

Not to overuse the word, but an active volcano is quite awesome.

Credit to Leena for the patience to get this great shot during an eruption. They were sporadic and usually several minutes apart.

In this shot you can see a previous spout of steam dissipating on the right while a new one spouts.

Luis was very excited for us as the clouds cleared in the late afternoon. It had been many weeks since the volcano had been so active with eruptions with clear sunny skies for the view.

Brief video of one of the eruptions.

Next up, Guatemala! We flew into Guatemala City and took a shuttle to the historic city of Antigua. The entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The streets are all cobblestone.

We made a quick hike up the Hill of the Cross (so named for the cross monument on the hillside) for a panoramic view.

Beautiful architecture abounds:

This must be my house!

Actually, here’s the place where we stayed. It opened to a beautiful open-air courtyard with a lovely garden.

We took a cooking class on Friday night. I made the sauce for the main dish, pepián, which is a traditional Guatemalan stew:

– Grill (char) tomatoes and tomatillos in a pan. Remove and add to a bowl of water.
– Grill (char) two types of chilis in a pan. Remove and add to bowl.
– Toast pumpkin seeds in a pan. Remove and add to bowl.
– Toast sesame seeds in a pan. Remove and add to bowl.

Then take everything in the bowl, pour it into a blender, and blend to a purée, adding some water to get the right consistency.

Separately, boil potatoes, squash and chicken. These are combined with the sauce.

We cooked rice and boiled beets.

We made tortillas from scratch. After getting the dough to the right consistency, we took fist-sized balls, kept our hands wet so they souldn’t stick too much, and then patted them from hand to hand into discs before dropping them on the pan to cook. Flip once.

For desert, we created a sauce of cacao and black bean paste. We mashed plantains, formed them into discs (much like the tortillas), put a scoop of sauce inside, rolled them shut, and grilled them for a few minutes all the way around.

The results:

Everything was delicious (though I abstained from the beets; that’s my least favorite flavor).

The cooking crew (introducing our new friends Leonie from Ireland but living in New Zealand, center, and Jerica from Seattle, right):

After plenty of wine during class, the class further bonded at a local bar with a 3-liter ball of beer. Good times! At least until the next morning…

On Thursday we drove from Mérida to Celestún on the Gulf of Mexico. Pink flamingos congregate in the inland lagoons. We took a 90-minute boat tour and saw two pink flamingos. Peak season is October to February so it was nice to see any at all.

The boat headed into an opening in the mangroves (which was translated on the information sign as “manigrooves” which was funny to me).

We stopped by a cenote in the mangroves. You could see the source of the spring from the water bubbling to the surface. Note the different color of the fresh limestone water.

I took a swim.

On the drive back to Mérida the rental got a flat. I got to change a tire on the side of the highway. When I was pretty much done – just tightening the lug nuts – a police car stopped by to offer help. But I was all set.

On Friday, we stopped by ruins at Ek Balam on the recommendation of our friend Gus.

The main pyramid was the biggest climb yet (in the Yucatán; Teotihuacan outside Mexico City is higher).

The view from the top.

Some very careful descents.

We drove west from Playa Del Carmen to Mérida on Tuesday and stayed in a wonderful AirBnB with a pool, three dogs, and a full kitchen. Our hosts David and Ann were great company and we enjoyed great conversations in and around their pool while listening to music and snacking. I did most of the snacking.

They’d rescued three local dogs of various backgrounds. Here’s Katie,

and Eddie,

and Henry (who fell asleep in Leena’s lap).

We headed to Mayan ruins in Uxmal on Wednesday. The initial pyramid is impressive and has a surprising acoustic twist. If you clap your hands in front of it, the echoed reply sounds like a bird whistle or a woodwind instrument note.

We walked around the side and Leena got this amazing shot. I mean seriously, how do you get the ray of sun right into the pyramid?

A court for the Mesoamerican ballgame.

You’re allowed to climb the second pyramid, 70 steep steps without a railing. The little guy in the picture is me. We were careful!

A rewarding view from the top back at the first pyramid.

Iguanas are everywhere in the Yucatán.

The Yucatán peninsula is mostly limestone, and one of the features of limestone areas is caves. Couple that with low elevation and groundwater and you get cenotes, natural sinkholes filled with water.

I went for a dive last week at Dos Ojos cenote. This was a cavern dive, which is essentially a limited cave dive. A cavern dive always has a natural source of light and is within 200 feet of an exit. We did two dives exploring different parts of the cenote that were each about 45 minutes long. It was a totally different experience from an open water dive in the ocean. If you’ve ever toured a cave, imagine doing that while floating weightless. Incredible.

After Uxmal, we visited Cenote Kankirixche (good luck with the pronunciation!) and had a lovely swim.

We day-tripped down to Tulum to see some 13th-century Mayan ruins.

Oh, hi there. We took a dip in the ocean in the background.

Oh, hi there iguana.

Even Leena had to watch her head through the exit.

We reconnected last week in Playa Del Carmen and have been exploring the Yucatán peninsula. Leena was here a few days before me.

Street art:

From a beach bar.

Small ruins in Playa Del Carmen.

Back at the playa.

An Agouti (rodent).

On Saturday morning, we visited Playa Animal Rescue and helped by walking and playing with some of the dogs. This is Joy, born in a litter around Christmas.

On Monday, we went to the Inter Playa futbol match versus Reboceres. We arrived a bit late and were surprised that it’s free to attend. They’re making money from concessions, though they also allowed BYOB.

With no scoreboard or clock it was a bit tough to follow. Inter Playa scored on a penalty kick around the 30th minute. Around the 40th minute, a foul was called while Reboceres was setting up a free kick. There was a lot of commotion and a pretty sizable delay before play continued.

As the teams lined up for the second half, I noticed that Inter Playa were playing down a man. Looking at match results, there was a red card during the game against Inter Playa though it’s not clear when it happened. But I’m sure it was what caused the protestations and delay around the 40th minute.

Towards the end of the second half, you could sense the urgency of the Reboceres players as time was getting short. We were fairly certain it was a tenuous 1-0 lead. It was; Inter Playa held on for the win.

The Masters is one of the hardest tickets to get in sports. They run a lottery for tickets each year and I’ve entered most years since they started doing it. Last June I got the lucky email: I’d gotten four tickets to the Monday practice round. Though we planned to take off and start traveling at the end of 2017, I knew there’d be a trip through Augusta, Georgia on April 2nd, 2018.

While living in Portland 16+ years, we made many trips to escape to the sun during the long rainy season. This included a March trip to Spring Training in Phoenix most years. We decided to add a couple of more weeks to our US travels and spent March 14th to 18th at Spring Training.

That left a couple of weeks until the Masters. I went to New Jersey to see family and was hoping to get in some golf with Dad. We got out on Monday and had a nice day in the mid 40s though my game was very rusty. On Tuesday and Wednesday it snowed 10 to 12 inches. That ended the NJ golfing but I was able to help Dad put up some shelves in the kitchen. I went through some boxes of my stuff at the house. That was really nostalgic, especially the box of notes and cards mostly from my high school years.

I messaged an old high school friend (Colin) through Facebook on Thursday and suggested we meet at another high school friend’s (Pete) brewery. Sometimes last minute plans work out. It was great to see Colin and surprise Pete. We hung out for a couple of hours and caught up. They’re both running their own businesses and doing great.

Dad and I drove down to Hilton Head on Saturday and Sunday and spent the week playing golf. My friend Don from Portland flew in Wednesday night, and my brother David joined on Thursday. We drove up to Columbia, SC, about 75 minutes east of Augusta, on Sunday night.

We drove over Monday morning, and after some traffic and parking, went through the gates about 9a. The weather was perfect with a high temperature in the 80s.

In front of the clubhouse with Dad and David, then with Don.

We started walking the course and caught up to Rory McIlroy on the 6th hole. We decided to follow him (and Wes Bryan and Matt Parziale) for the rest of the day. Rory looked really good.

Rory on the 6th green.

Rory at address on the 7th tee. He split the fairway. I’ve been to a handful of golf tournaments and I’ll note two things from this shot: 1) You can get really close to the players, and 2) It’s very nice to be 6’5” at times like this.

Rory from the 9th fairway.

Rory putting on 13.

Rory with the full release!

The greens of Amen Corner (11, 12 and 13).

I knew the course well from years of watching on TV. I’d heard so often about the dramatic elevation changes that the only one that really surprised me was the drop from the 10th tee. I somehow thought the 7th hole went a little left, but it’s a straightaway par 4. I also learned the layout of the course – how the holes fit together. Amen corner is a great spot, and you can understand why the wind on #12 can be so vexing. The 11th and 13th fairways are perpendicular to each other, collide at the 12th green, and it’s the lowest point on the course. As we’ve heard from announcers for years, the wind swirls in there. With a 155 yard shot, guys are hitting short irons high in the air and are at the mercy of any unexpected shift in the wind.

We grabbed lunch – just $11 for two sandwiches, chips and a beer – and went through the merchandise tent.

We headed back out to 15 and 16 to watch groups come through. We saw Sergio and Luis Oosthuizen on the 9th.

Jordan Spieth working on and around the 16th green.

Here’s some guy who loves golf but will never play in the Masters. I bet he could do better than a 13 on this hole though.

We had seen on an information board that Tiger was on the range in the early afternoon, and I knew from some research that he’d played 9 holes starting at 3:30p in 2015 on the Monday practice day. We soon saw a large gallery and figured it was him.

We caught up to Tiger on #7. He was playing with Fred Couples and Justin Thomas. Everyone in pink!

Walking to the 8th tee.

Jordan Thomas is a small guy, but he almost goes airborne at impact. Talk about leveraging the ground for power!

We followed them through 9, watched Tiger for a bit on the practice tee, then called it a day. It went by quickly but it was perfect.