gone'splorin

Think of it as the longest Jersey Shore boardwalk, or Coney Island, or 2600 miles of Fisherman’s Wharf, but Rt 66 has it all…and then some!  Our first full day on the Road and while we can tell that we’ve only scratched the asphalt, there is a ton to take in.  By the way, thanks for the comments so far.  It’s great to get them and it makes us feel like you are on the trip with us!

From Needles we made our way through beautiful Arizona back country to the old mining town of Oatman which bears the moniker “The Ghost Town That Won’t Die”.  That was before it actually did, or so we’ve decided.  One thing that none of the guidebooks mention is how beautiful the land is here.  There’s lots of talk about where to find the next neon landmark but not the next awesome geological formation which defies my ability to photograph it.

We stopped at the venerable Hackberry General Store where we saw the most amazing collection of Rt66 paraphernalia one could imagine.  It’s chockablock full of old gas pumps, old cars, old pictures and old road warriors but a fun stop that we actually missed (yes, we blinked) and had to turn around for.

Kingman, Arizona feels like Rt66 ground zero as its where the man responsible for the resurrection of Arizona’s section of Rt66 is from and where everything is a “Rt 66 Landmark!”.  The pictures tell the story.

After a carhop lunch that included a truly spectacular chocolate shake from Sno Cap Drive-In we wove back on to the Interstate to head to Williams,

then took an amazing detour up to the Grand Canyon.  What a spectacular afternoon for taking a look over the south rim!

And we even had some company.

As dusk fell we made our way south to Flagstaff for the evening.  And then off for another day, we might make New Mexico…  Please forward to your friends if you think they would enjoy the trip!

Choices, choices.  Do we want the black Mustang or the yellow Camaro?  Or the red one?  Maybe not the red one.

After landing an hour early into Las vegas airport we spent that hour standing in the rental car line.  But we were amply rewarded and hit the road.  Ready for adventure.

Day one had to get us from the airport down to Rt 66 and our chosen route was straight through the Mohave Desert.  Much more beautiful and rugged that I expected but we did have to watch for the local inhabitants!

We crossed I-40 and took a right, yes west, on Rt 66 to our first landmark.  Roy’s dates back to 1938 and you can still get your $4.99/gal gas there.  We did.

After Roy’s we turned east and headed for Needles.  A short day and time to find the bar.  See you tomorrow!

One hundred and fourteen days can pass quicker than you think.  Especially at this age.  Have you noticed that the months and years go a little faster now?  It encourages one to do things; to not put them off.

About six weeks ago my very good friend turned 66 and it occurred to me that it was the right time to have a new adventure.  So I called him and said, “Hey, in honor of your 66th birthday what say we drive Rt 66 this spring?”  He was all in.  So now we have 114 days to plan our trip through many states and many miles on America’s historic highway.

There are a hundred questions and a thousand answers.  We’ll get to them all…eventually.  But first we wanted to let you know because you have a role in this.  Some of you may have driven parts of Rt 66 that you remember, or you may have friends that did.  Or maybe you’ve always wanted to.  Whatever the case, we need your help.  So please use the Comments section to let us know what you know of Rt 66.  Where did you stop?  What have you heard?  Where would you like us to pull over and take a photograph for you?  And, pass this blog post to others who may want to share their experiences and share in the trip this spring.

We’ll blog during the trip and post photos each day, but we’ll also start the posts during the planning stages, beginning today. So please join us, help us and have fun with us on the Mother Road.  You can ride shotgun.

Cuba.  Land of socialism, old cars, bright sun and tobacco, where everything changed in 1959.  One of the first things that Fidel Castro did after the revolution was to elevate the importance of the arts.  It’s not entirely clear why he did, but the Cuban arts scene continues to thrive despite other aspects of life in Cuba that do not.

As you drive from the airport along the Malacon, the sea wall, that separates the city from the ocean, you see what looks like a magnificent city with ornate building of spanish colonial architecture in every color of the rainbow.  But as you get closer, your view is obscured by the haze, because first you have to get past the exhaust fumes. Just ninety miles from Florida, 45 minute plane ride, and you have to get past the fumes. Cuba is a land of amazing sights, sounds, philosophies, problems and possibilities.  We have spent the last nine days experiencing it all but due to the nearly non-existent internet service have not been able to write until now that we have made it home to the US. La Habana, at once architecturally magnificent and sadly crumbling, is a city of over 5 million struggling to find its identity in a changing world and a changing country.  We were there as photographers and spent our time trying to capture what amounts to an indescribable land and its people.To understand today, you must have a quick look at yesterday.  Fidel Castro, architect of La Revolucion, took over the country in 1959 and over several short years nationalized much of the country and endeavored to share the country’s wealth among the people providing free education, healthcare and other services to a largely uneducated population.  Castro did not count on the wealthy Cubans fleeing with their money and skills to the US, and he surely didn’t count on the US trying, and failing, multiple times to remove him from power.  So with a substantial portion of the country’s upper class gone and the US creating an embargo and trade blockade in 1962 (which lasts to this day), enter the USSR to provide aid and trade.  So Cuba made it through the 60s and 70s and even most of the 80s with their friends the soviets calling the shots.  The country was not an economic success per se, but it limped along with the support of the hammer and sickle.

Interestingly, Castro is not the face of the revolution.  That honor goes to Ernesto “Che” Guevara, an Argentine revolutionary who played a prominent role in the Cuban revolution and died a hero. Che’s likeness has turned into a logo, an icon, and is everywhere you look throughout the Cuban landscape.

 When the Soviet Union disappeared one day in 1994, so did 70% of the Cuban GDP.  Cuba was suddenly without a benefactor, without exports, and without money.  Moreover, the Cuban people were not equipped to do anything about it and the Cuban government wasn’t either.  Cuba fell into a deep recession and, as Cubans told us this week, it wasn’t a matter of what you were going to eat today, but if.  (As a result, Cuban today love buffets!)

 Today, this once vibrant city looks like a shadow of its former self with buildings stained by exhaust, crumbling from acid rain and no maintenance, and automobiles from the heydays of the 50’s still running, albeit with 1970’s era replacement engines.  But there’s a beauty here that is undeniable.  The Cuban people are friendly and warm, they are healthy and basically educated, the young Cubans in their 20s and 30s are forward thinking, fashionable and very hopeful for the future of Cuba.

During the soviet years, nearly every business was owned by the government.  Restaurants, markets, sugar plantations, you name it.  And, as you can imagine, the government isn’t always very good at running all types of businesses.  But in the last 10 years things have begun to change.  One of the early, and most visible changes is the Paladar.  A paladar is a privately owned restaurant which, initially, could have no more than 12 seats at tables in someone’s home.  They cook in their kitchen and serve Cubans and tourists in the living room and dining room.  More recently the 12 seat limit has been lifted and paladars are now found all over Havana and serve some of the best food you can get. 

One change that is quite visible is the public acceptance of the LGBT community.  In fact, President Raul Castro (Fidel’s bother) has a daughter named Maria Castro who is the nation’s number one advocate for LGBT rights.  You see openly gay men and women in any neighborhood, as well as the occasional transvestite along the main boulevards of the city.

We walked the neighborhoods of Vieja Habana, old Havana, and met people going to the market to get the day’s produce, selling mineral water from their front door in their first attempt at entrepreneurship, and some of the most amazing auto mechanics that keep 55 year old cars running and looking good.

So…the cars. Frozen in time, the streets of Havana are chock a block with Chevy Bel Airs, Ford Fairlanes, Cadillacs, Ramblers, you name it.  Each car that has been restored is painted a bright beautiful color and shines like a mirror.  Others have not been restored but still evoke a sentiment in you that makes you long for the great days of these beautiful cars.  The car is a status symbol in Cuba and it’s no wonder.  There are very few newer cars.  Cars change hands at great expense and an incredible amount of effort goes into their upkeep.  What they cannot seem to get right, though, is the emissions.  Many of these classic cars run poorly and emit horrendous fumes and smoke.  All gas is leaded and the words ‘catalytic converter’ don’t exist here.  In fact, within the first couple of days you can’t help but notice your eyes bothering you and the smell of exhaust that only seems to go away when you’re in your hotel room.  But if the cars are one of the first thing you think of when you think Cuba, what must the other be?

After the Cohiba, we spent a couple days outside Havana in the beautiful province of Cien Fuegos.  The air is clean, the buildings are in terrific shape and you can see what a beautiful country Cuba is and the future that Havana has in store.  While there, we met with the head of UNEAC, Cuba’s National Union of Writers and Artists, who explained to us that artists are not censored and are encouraged to express themselves freely. Cuban art and music is amazing considering how little that they have to work with.  Supplies are outdated or broken, and in either case, hard to come by.  The free expression is both unusual for a socialist country and encourages the artists to express themselves fully, which they do. 

On the way we did a brief stop at Ernest Hemingway’s Cuban home.  Near a fishing village where he kept his boat, it was worth a stop, if only to see fishing the old fashioned way.

Also in the province is the beautiful old town of Trinidad, which is in the process of being lovingly restored in time for it’s 500th anniversary next year. When Columbus sailed the ocean blue, he also spent time in Cuba in fourteen hundred and ninety two.  If you do the arithmetic, you find that Trinidad was founded in 1513.  The homes and building are picturesque, spacious and welcoming.  The cobblestone streets are a bit rough on the ankles, but strolling this village is well worth the effort.

We were incredibly fortunate to attend three private concerts and meet personally with famous award winning national musicians.  One of the musicians was a 25 year old guitarist who is trying to get into the UNEAC association.  We also saw and met with Frank Delgado, one of the country’s pre-eminent singer/songwriters.  He played in the Trova style, one of the roots of Cuban music and really wonderful to listen to.

But that wasn’t our only exposure to music in Cuba!  We were also invited out with our 28 year old guide and his friends one night to a very popular club called “The Yellow Submarine” which was like a scene from a crazy B movie. The band played something that sort of sounded like Daft Punk, into Stevie Wonder and then the Beatles.  The crowed loved it.  They have little exposure to any new music so music was frozen back to when the Revolution began.  After being banned by the Cuban government in 1962 and later allowed, Beatles music is hugely popular.  There’s even a statue of John Lennon with wire frame glasses which are regularly ‘borrowed’. 

We would be remiss if we didn’t talk about the food.  I hope you like chicken, rice and beans.  The food varies from really good to not good at all.  The paladars tend to be better than the government run restaurants, but the quality varies widely.  Dishes tend to be simple and choices are typically chicken, pork or beef, and usually some type of fresh fish.  Sometimes we also saw lamb on the menu.  All the food is pretty good, but recipes are very basic and do not vary widely from place to place.  Service is better than you might expect, and I attribute it to the warmth of the Cuban people who really do want you to love their country.

The hotels are so much better than we expected.  What a pleasant surprise!  But for Cubans who travel to other parts of their own country, it wasn’t until last year that they could see the inside of a hotel room.  They had to stay at people’s homes.  As Cuba starts to reform, Cubans are now able to travel more freely inside Cuba and getting a visa to travel outside Cuba, if you can afford it, is now a reality.

So it all begs the question: are the Cuban people happy?  I’m not sure we can judge but here’s what we observed: it seems the younger Cubans are just starting to know what they’ve been missing as during the past decades few have seen any other way of life.  Life is hard, there’s no question about that.  Getting places with no transportation except a crowded bus with few seats that often breaks down can take hours and possibly multiple rides.  Infrastructure is poor.  Our guide, for example, has a two hour bus ride each way to work as a University professor of economics and earns only $20 per month. That’s not a typo.  The fact that he moonlights as a guide to earn tips is very telling.  Internet service soooo slow, and that’s when you can get it.  On the other hand, the Government pays for all healthcare (which is quite good), food via ration books, all education including graduate school, transportation and work salaries, daycare and after school activities for kids.  The only way to really get ahead is to get money from wealthy relatives that live in the US. Working harder just doesn’t do it.  To have a home, you must inherit it.  If you don’t like your home you may trade with someone for another.  There’s no buying or selling of property.  And yet, not unlike other third world countries we have visited, people smile, they are happy to see you and they seem to take all the hardships in stride.  So are they content? They have deep family connections, friendships and their basic needs are met.  So who’s to say?  

Despite the embargo from the US and our friends, they love Americans. They cheer when they meet us. We get a “thumbs-up” constantly.  They only want us to embrace them and forgive past misgivings. They are kind, innocent and desperate for us to adopt them.

Our last night in Cuba found us at the most famous paladar in Havana. It was in the third floor of a building that you’d swear would be condemned in the states. But once inside, the decor was charming and the food excellent. We were joined by our guide and his 22 year old girlfriend. We were amazed to hear what life is like for Cubans our kids’ age. At age 18 they must join the army for between 1-3 years, then attend college and if they chose to they can get a graduate degree after which they all must do between one to three years of service for the government based on their specialty learned in school and then they can begin their career. They will continue to live in their family’s home unless they get married and then may move to their spouse’s home.

There is no economic advantage to marriage and it doesn’t seem to have the same attraction as it does in the US.  The government used to pay for weddings but no longer does. So as these kids and their friends opt out of getting married, it presents a future problem for this society that sees families take care of aging parents, something the government oddly does not do.  What will happen to an aging generation with fewer couples and families following them?  It’s just another of the problems as Cuba faces it’s future. 

Finally we must also lament the fact that our guide’s girlfriend is a biochemistry researcher working on genomics based cancer treatments. She works with a team that has found a vaccine for lung cancer and due to the embargo, can not sell or give the vaccine to the US or our allies.  It makes little sense.

We both hope that the US-Cuba relationship will normalize.  Until that happens though, it is a place you should surely visit.  It may not be a top 10 vacation, but it will be an experience that you will not soon forget.

Its an old Latin phrase that explains why you haven’t heard from us in a few days.  As I write this it is Wednesday evening and we have just left a great visit with Marci’s mom…in Philadelphia.  Yes, Philadelphia. Home of Ben Franklin and William Tell.  Home of the Eagles and the Phillies.  And definitely not one of the original Ahs, but an Ah nonetheless.

It turns out that last Friday Marci’s mom accidentally fell and the result was a fracture that earned her a partial hip replacement Saturday morning.  So in order to be with her, it took us the better part of two days of planes and a 2am car ride from JFK to arrive to see her.  She’s a tough old gal and will be fine.  But it was important to be here.

So we apologize for the delay.  Fear not though!  While we did not make it to Mendoza, Cuba is still in our future.  Provided all is well we will depart here Friday afternoon for Miami and head to Cuba on Saturday.

In the meantime, we will take in the Barnes Foundation while we are here and if there’s something compelling, I’ll post.

P.S.  I did manage to add the photos from Patagonia so if you scroll to the previous post, you’ll see some very cool photos of icebergs, and a few other nuggets.

That’s what the sign says.After a snappy 30 hours of travel from Cartegena to Bogota to Santiago to Puerta Mott to Punta Arenas, we headed along Ruta Fin del Mundo.  The Road to the End of the World.  What we were greeted with when we got there was something truly spectacular.  This is Torres del Paines (say Pine-ee) National Park in southernmost Chilean Patagonia.  We are staying at one of the very few lodges inside the park.  Called “Explora”, its a really nice place in a really nice place.

We arrived about lunchtime yesterday, filled our bellies and immediately went on a brisk 2 mile hike.  Everywhere you look is an amazing view and the lakes, which are all throughout the park are filled with bright aqua water due to the minerals from the glaciers.  This morning we hiked to Grey Lake, which is the home of the Grey glacier and it’s offspring: the icebergs.  It’s waaay cool to see icebergs.  They are bright blue, just like the pictures.  Its an other-wordly color that you have to see to believe!

After a very civilized lunch we saddled up, went to the stables and met our gaucho for a horseback ride through the pampas.  It was a gentle ride on friendly horses.  And that’s a good thing!

We have three more days at Explora so we’ll keep you filled in on the comings and goings at the bottom of South America!  Hasta lavista, baby!

Someone suggested that we go to Cafe Havana, a salsa club outside the walls of the old city.  “Just walk to the clock tower, head through the arches, past the open expanse and when the road forks, go left and keep walking…”  It was dark.  It was crowded on the streets but on we went and we reached Cafe Havana.  You haven’t seen salsa dancing until you’ve seen it done by people who have been doing it since they were teenagers.  I’m not entirely sure it would be legal in the US.  Cafe Havana got full about 11 and the more crowded it got, and the louder the live salsa band played, the more interesting our view became.  The rhythm and the energy are infections and the dancers are so much fun to watch.

The next morning we spent the morning at a cafe in the old town and had brunch where we met a young international couple that had spent the last year in Cartagena.  She is italian and a PhD working for an NGO here and he is spanish and works in finance.  They met in Thailand, are heading to Cuba for holiday and then back to Europe.  They are truly citizens of the world.

Later we headed to the locals beach for a people watch.  The beach is along a boulevard accessible to the entire city.  What a great amenity to have when you live here. The little blue cabanas are for rent but it doesn’t look like they’re much fun!

Cartagena has been so fascinating because unlike other cities that have a reputation such as Paris, Rome or Rio De Janiero, we did not know what to expect.  The food has been fabulous from one meal to the next, and very, very reasonably priced!  It is not overrun with tourists so you do feel like you can get the local flavor and the locals go out of their way to help you.  If you can speak a little spanish, all the better.  We don’t but have gotten along just fine.  In all, a clean, fun, pleasantly surprising visit.  Tomorrow we take 4 stops to get to Punta Arenas down in Patagonia Chile.  Before we head out, join us for a wonderful sunset overlooking the Caribbean.

Cartagena must mean color in spanish.  This city is awash in it.  A compact old city with walls twenty five feet thick to help protect them from the pirates of old, Cartagena, Colombia is a walking town.  The streets are paved, sort of, and narrow.  I don’t know what I was expecting, but we are both very pleasantly surprised.  It’s an old city.  It was attacked and burned 3 or 4 times in the 1500’s and 1600’s before they actually built the wall, and it’s lasted.  Our hotel is inside the walls and just about anything you’d want is in here too.  It reminds me of a small Seville, Spain.  

We arrived just about lunchtime yesterday and spent the afternoon strolling around.  All throughout the city there are activities.  Some for tourists and others for the locals.  In fact today was the Cartagena 10K.  Afterward all the runners gathered in a plaza and did salsa!  There are parks and squares and cafes galore.  While its easy to get lost in the maze of narrow streets, it’s hard to get too far off the beaten path as you’ll run into the city wall within 10 minutes in almost any direction.  Last night we had a wonderfully fun dinner at a local restaurant that was celebrating its birthday and giving out presents to the diners after spinning a wheel (of fortune).  If the right number came up, you win!  Who knows the right number?  Only the owner.  So we must have done something right because we won!  Speaking of winning, I am thrilled that my premonition in the first post came true.  We hope you made it to the Red Sox rolling rally.  Even here there is news of the Sox winning the World Series.

Today we walked for hours seeing the colors, the architecture, the people and getting a good feel for the city.  Tomorrow we’ll head to an island that we hear has wonderful beaches.

Enjoy the images of Cartagena and we’ll post again soon! 

On Friday, we’ll depart for points south.  Waaay south.  Planning a trip that takes you to one of the most southern National Parks in the world, and to one of the cities that you just didn’t want to go to a few years ago, and to an island that you just couldn’t go to a few years ago takes a bit of planning, some creative packing to handle the various climates, and the ability to say “Ahhhh.”

In fact, Marci has gotten to calling this the Ah trip.  So let me give you a quick preview.

This Friday morning, after celebrating the Red Sox winning the World Series, we’ll be at the international terminal at JFK to board our JetBlue flight to Cartagena, Columbia.  On the Caribbean Sea, Cartagena is a city that is most recently famous for a certain Secret Service scandal last year but it is actually a beautiful, historic walled city that is being touted as one of the great up and coming destinations.  So the first Ah is Cartagen-ah, get it?

Next we’ll make a 24 hour trek by air to Torres Del Paines National Park in Patagonia.  Home of some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world, we’ll staying right in the park under the towering mountains that provide the backdrop for this spectacular place.

From there we’ll head north to the wine country of Argentina known as Mendoza.   If you enjoy a good Malbec, Mendoza is your place.  It will be springtime when we arrive and we’ll be staying at a beautiful vineyard just as the vines are coming to life after their winter rest.

Our last stop will be Cuba where we will join with a group of photographers to try and capture the character of a country that has been forbidden to Americans until recently.  While you can’t simply go as a tourist (unless you’re Beyonce), there are groups that do get permission and that is how we are going.

It should be another trip full of great experiences that we are happy to share with you as we have them.  So stay warm and read along as we take you exploring once again.

P.S.  Our reward for this blog is hearing from you.  So please, even before we go, make a quick comment to let us know you’re there. Thanks, and a hasta la vista!

And so we have reached the end of this wonderful journey.  In fact, as I write this we are at 37,000 feet aboard a British Airways 767 headed away from Dar Es Salaam.  It seems so far from whence we’ve come in so many ways.  But before I begin to wax tripwise, let’s catch you up to date.  Our final stop was Zanzibar, the island nation that is now part of Tanzania just off the coast of the mainland.  Zanzibar has the reputation of being a glorious sea side retreat and the perfect place to end a safari.  True enough as everyone we met in our two lodges in Zanzibar was wrapping up their safaris here.  But Zanzibar is not as magical as we’d have hoped.  The sand is certainly white and fine and the surf a brilliant turquoise.  But the lodges are isolated oases.  The infrastructure is horribly poor as are the residents.  The feeling is the same as one gets in many of the seaside resorts you may have visited.  We were reminded once again at how important it is for us to recognize how lucky we are and to find ways to help.  Our lodge was the requisite bungalow on the beach with a wide open view of the ocean of course, but pricey accommodations troubled me as I watched small handmade sailboat go by as the tide went out, each carrying a fisherman who would sail some three hours, spend the day free diving off his craft with a spear trying to catch a fish that he would, on the returning tide, bring back to the open air fish market, hoping the auction price would bring in enough to make the 12 hour day worthwhile.  At the same time, women and children waded in the tidal waters harvesting seaweed which they would dry for 5 days on village racks in order to make soap and consume for the nutrient value.  I’m not sure who was getting the money from tourists, but it wasn’t them.  I can do the arithmetic and it isn’t pretty.

Our lodge was called Mtemwe and we enjoyed time by the pool, reading, scuba diving and a particularly fun few hours sailing with one of the local fisherman.  To earn a few extra dollars, he’ll take out a couple of tourists for a sail after the day’s work is done.  Marci and I waded into the knee deep surf and boarded his craft, a combination trimaran and outrigger canoe with outriggers on both sides.  The sail plan was a single mast with an asymmetrical sail made of stitched together cotton bolts, each about a meter wide.  The entire vessel was made of wood, hand made in fact, and with no power tools.  The hull was a hand hollowed cocoa log and the mast one of it’s branches.  The wood is so strong!  At about 18 feet from stem to stern it isn’t a big craft, but did she ever fly!  In about 10 knots of breeze we easily beat 7 knots.  It was remarkable how efficiently she sailed.  By the way, for any sailors reading, the mast had no stays but for a mobile polyline that lead from the top of the mast down to a kono (swahili for cleat) on the windward outrigger held in place by the mate who also provided counterbalance.  Coming about was a ballet.  At the end of our wonderful sail we learned that our captain who, at all of 40 years old had 10 children!  What an ambitious guy.

Our time at Mtemwe through we headed to Stone Town, the old muslim city of Zanzibar.  Hustle and bustle, calls to prayer echoing through the narrow streets, shops of all types with shopkeepers beckoning one and all with cheap prices and best quality, we walked through Stone Town for several hours and saw the only real site we had as a destination: the slave market.  Yes it was in that spot, which now serves as an Anglican church that African slaves were examined and sold, or examined and rejected until the 1870’s.  To stare at it is to run a newsreel in your mind.  You close your eyes but the newsreel keeps rolling.  It seems that even as human history progresses into the most modern of times, we cannot stop finding new ways to do terrible things to each other.

Our hotel was at the end of a promontory facing due west and we sat on our small terrace watching our final african sunset.  The sun was a perfectly round red orb sinking into a perfectly still blue sea.  It was the perfect way to end a wonderful trip.

In some ways it is difficult to take a trip like this.  There are wonderful things to see and very special people to meet.  It is also important to see and understand how many of the world lives.  We return from this trip wishing there were things that we can do to help others not as fortunate as we.  But we have also seen that happiness is not what you have or where you live, but it is what is in your heart.  We have seen joy in villages where there is no water and sadness in neighborhoods of affluence.  Who is to say what determines happiness for our neighbor?  I know it is something I will think about.

This was our first safari and despite all that I read to prepare there were many things I wish I had known.  At some point I will write a guide for the first time safari goer but not today.  The captain has announced our final decent into Heathrow and so with that I will bring this post to an end.

Marci and I carry each of you with us on our journeys through this blog.  It gives us great pleasure to write it for you.  She doesn’t always agree with some of what I say but it is written from the heart.  So thank you for being with us, for your comments and friendship.  Until next time…