International Travel

At Sky Harbor Airport Phoenix, Arizona

It’s Friday, the day before we leave for Mexico City down south in Mexico. I’m sitting in Starbucks having a coffee while Caroline is at her office enjoying happy hour with her co-workers. I couldn’t check in with our flight, which was likely due to needing to present our passports to the ticketing window. I bought pesos earlier in the week and scheduled our Uber to the airport an hour ago.

Things are mostly packed but more importantly, the deep cleaning of everything is done. From the shelves of the refrigerator to under the stove, baseboards in the bathroom, and every surface that could be cleaned in that room is super tidy. All laundry is done, as is our bedding, so when we get back home, nothing needs to be tended to aside from possibly turning on the A/C, depending on what the weather looks like when we return. This ritual of housekeeping takes on greater importance the longer we’re away, as when vacation extends beyond a few days, I want to come home knowing that aside from fetching some fresh food and doing our stinking travel laundry, I’m free to bask in the glow of another wonderful vacation.

Hmm, this is mostly true; I’m out of granola and will have to deal with that the day after our return; we are also out of pickled ginger for our Burmese ginger salads, so after buying 10 pounds of fresh ginger, I’ll be occupied with that chore for a solid 5 or 6 hours. Our taxes haven’t been filed yet, and I need to find a new doctor soon after our return as I don’t trust my current one after two appointments where he proved too anxious to prescribe meds with crazy potential side effects when my conditions are relatively well maintained.

On the blogging front, I anticipate that I’ll shoot between 3,600 and 5,000 photos; if I were smart, I’d take less. Prepping the photos while in situ isn’t a problem, but staying current with writing about the day can be a challenge. Should I fall behind and need to work on things after our return, I’ll do that to the exclusion of everything else as I obsess about finishing before we leave for trip number 6 of the 25 planned for this year.

You think you are done preparing, and then after dinner, you realize there are still a dozen things you need to get done before you call it a night. That’s exactly what happened, but now it’s 10:00 pm, and my eyes are heavy. The computer is updated, the phone rebooted, Fitbit is fully charged, pesos are divided between us, documents photocopied, credit card numbers and their phone numbers are noted, plans for breakfast are made, nothing left to do but hope for a good night of sleep instead of a restless one like we’ll have tomorrow night in another strange bed.

Caroline Wise and John Wise at Sky Harbor Airport Phoenix, Arizona

Good morning, Saturday, and the butterflies of going to a new place far away. Breakfast was out of the way, a mile walk was able to be fit in, and we had 10 minutes before our ride arrived. Time to power this stuff at home down, take out the trash, lock the door, and go. Next stop: Phoenix Sky Harbor airport.

Got some walking in at Terminal 4, verified that we’d get lunch on our flight, and now we’re sitting down near our gate where there are very few seats. We’ll start boarding in 15 minutes, though our flight isn’t leaving for another hour. By the way, I have a KTN or Known Traveler Number, but Caroline doesn’t; we need to rectify that as it sure is convenient to zip through security. This leg of the trip, I went to that line as with a CPAP, computer, camera, belt, phone, and shoes, it feels like a hassle to go through the regular line if I can avoid it. Next up, we are flying business class for the better part of this trip; this did allow Caroline to move through the Preferred Boarding security line; we board first, so there will be no issue of getting overhead bin space; we get that lunch I spoke of, and we’ll be at the front of the line for passport control when we land in Mexico.

Flying over Mexico

I was certain I’d see the border scar across the desert as we flew south but my vigilance wasn’t good enough. I did see a lot of desert and, on occasion, some canyon areas.

Flying over Mexico

Our three hours and some minutes turned into something less than three hours, allowing us to arrive early, but with immigration nearly a mile away from where we landed and the need to wait forever for a taxi, we were at the airport a good hour although we had no bags to claim. The great thing about our taxi ride was that it was a fixed price deal where you buy a coupon in the airport for your destination, so there’s no ambiguity, and at $14 or 280 Pesos, it was a terrific bargain.

Caroline Wise in Mexico City, Mexico

Ciudad de México or Mexico City to us foriegners, we are here. We lost an hour as we shifted timezones, lost that hour at the airport, and needed some time at the hotel to get checked in and figure out which way we wanted to go. The place for dinner I thought we’d go to closes at 6:00 for some strange reason, so instead of getting there 30 minutes before they shut the doors, we decided to go for a walk before grabbing our final meal of the day not too far from our hotel.

Mexico City, Mexico

We are in Bosque de Chapultepec Park, where the Museo Nacional de Antropología is also located. This corner of the park dedicated to the friendship between Mexico and Azerbaijan didn’t arrive without speedbumps, but the specifics are of little contemporary interest, so I’ll just leave this here without much comment.

Mexico City, Mexico

Hundreds of vendors line the wide paths through the park, and though the sun came and went as it was replaced with very occasional rain and cloud cover, the festive sense of a beautiful Saturday afternoon is in full effect. From furry monkeys on kids’ heads that squirt water from their tails to Lucha Libre masks celebrating Mexico’s renowned history of wrestlers, it seemed nothing cost much for than a dollar out here. Sadly, we are reluctant to try the various colorful snacks and fast food items along the way as too many Americans have squawked about the dangers to us visitors that will fall afoul of an intestinal bug if we aren’t careful. Somehow, I know they are full of BS, but their poisonous words and fears have infiltrated both of our brains.

Caroline Wise and John Wise in Mexico City, Mexico

There’s something I find peaceful about being somewhere I don’t speak the language, and that’s probably the fact that I can’t tell when people are talking from their butts. I want to assume they are all talking quantum physics, philosophy, or politics using a filter of high intellect. While I can be sure that if someone were translating the nearby conversations, I’d be aghast at the same level of stupidity I find elsewhere, that’s not the case now, and I can easily delude myself, thus making me happier. Happier makes for better smiles, so I gain that, too.

Mexico City, Mexico

We are now on our way to the restaurant we’ll be eating at but first, we’ll have to backtrack a bit.

Mexico City, Mexico

There’s a comedy act going on nearby that has attracted about 100 onlookers who are, as they say, busting a gut, but we understand not a word (well, at least we got “pendejo”) and walk on to check out the spitting frog fountain where a bunch of scouts are standing around doing scout things.

Mexico City, Mexico

This bird of paradise just so happens to look like a flame is burning there or that maybe I over-enhanced the colors; well, it is what it is.

Caroline Wise at Carajillo Restaurant in Mexico City, Mexico

Dinner was Carajillo restaurant I’d learned of before leaving Phoenix and you should be able to see from Caroline’s face that we weren’t disappointed. Prior to getting to this opulent dessert that was nearly as expensive as both of our entrees, Caroline started with a margarita as I ordered a guacamole. We’ve never had a hot guac, but we have now; it even had some ginger in it, not your garden variety version of this popular dip. Our entrees were roast pork for me and encrusted salmon for Caroline.

Carajillo Restaurant in Mexico City, Mexico

Having limited Spanish skills comes with its perks; what Caroline thought she understood we were having for dessert was slightly off. We thought that the many tables receiving flaming towers of chocolate and gold leaf-covered strawberries with a small tower of deep-fried ice cream topped with berries and more gold leaf were celebrating birthdays or anniversaries; nope, this was the dessert option we unintentionally got too. Under the burning cone at the center was the fried ice cream. Do I need to mention that this dessert also involved dry ice and several servers clapping while another one provided light effects with his phone?

With the loud thumping music of this trendy hot spot, the boisterous, well-dressed crowd, and the extremely well-trained and good-looking staff, we were surprised at the sense of celebration going on here and how there’s nothing in the Phoenix, Arizona, area that comes close to matching any of it. Without a tip, the meal, including the appetizer, a mixed drink, sparkling water, two entrees, and this dessert, came to 1,500 pesos or $84. Muy elegante and a great start to this Mexican vacation.

The Race is on…Or is it?

Caroline Wise in the surf in Santa Monica, California

Back on the weekend of January 7th Caroline and I drove from Phoenix, Arizona to Los Angeles, California as we embarked on the monumental personal challenge of attempting to travel somewhere away from home no less than 25 times this year. This was our first trip that included museums, a botanical garden, the ocean, and dinner on the ocean in San Pedro among other things.

Caroline Wise at Teakettle Junction on the Road to Racetrack Playa in Death Valley National Park, California

On January 21st we returned to California, except this time we were aiming for Death Valley well north of Los Angeles. Caroline is seen here posing at Tea Kettle Junction on our way to Racetrack Playa to see with our own eyes the rocks that sail across a dry lakebed. Now, while this second trip of the year qualified as just that, I’d like to point out that was actually our third consecutive trip following the idea of going somewhere every other week. Over Christmas, we were over in New Mexico at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge for some birdwatching, 10’s of thousands of birds.

Caroline Wise at the Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

February 4th seemed to come on fast but this time we were staying right here in our own state of Arizona. I’d booked us a couple of nights at Bright Angel Lodge and hoped that we wouldn’t encounter snowy roads on the way up. As you can see, we had great weather, great views, and consequently a great time here at the Grand Canyon.

Caroline Wise at Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge in Cochise Country, Arizona

Maintaining the theme of trying to avoid snow in the wintertime, our travel plans had us going south on the weekend of February 18. We came down this way to revisit a hiking trail we’d visited nearly 17 years prior. Well, we didn’t make it there because we were distracted by news of a mass of sandhill cranes nearby, and even on the way there we got sidetracked by a quick visit and hike to the Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge. So you can better understand just where we were on the map, Douglas, Arizona, is about 250 miles southeast of us right on the border of Mexico and about 20 miles west of New Mexico.

For the 5th trip away from home this year, which is coming up very soon, I’m now scrambling to finish a ton of details that I put off until the last minute. Because we are so familiar with traveling I need not worry too much about getting things perfect too far in advance. I believe Caroline and I have confidence that the flow of our travels, no matter how they unfold, always seem to have been well-planned and fortunate regardless of the situation once we’re there.

So maybe this shouldn’t be considered a race at all but more a marathon because with 21 trips still ahead of us we need to pace nearly everything we do so we don’t burn out by feeling like we’re always on the run. This is where my preparations which occur in the background while Caroline is at the office should allow her a seamless move from working to being transported someplace where a real adventure in exploration, beauty, and fun can be woven together, allowing the high frequency of so many trips to remain exciting and not slip into feeling like chores. Oh yeah, the last thing, where are we going next? Ha, check back soon.

Lack Of Vision…

Putin_Nukes

When the old men of the past trying to survive today have lost hope and vision of how to propel society forward, they resort to the ultimate economic stimulation: war. The biggest problem with this idea today is that we are noting that here on February 28th, 2022, it seems to be becoming a real possibility that someone desperate to be a large figure in history might be considering nuclear war as his entry into the annals of those who are impossible to forget. Great wealth, commanding power, and squashing lives are routine shit for despots, but annihilation is the stuff of legends. As cliched a saying as it is, Lord Acton back in 1887 was quoted in a letter saying, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.

Putler wants to be a great man, just as our last president delusionally already knows he’s a great man. Lucky for us, our former president believes that while Putin needs to prove himself on the global stage he himself is already worthy of occupying the history books in ways that will bring him immortality. Sadly, the faction of humanity that loves this kind of strong man posturing doesn’t understand history and the pain these epochs bring, so for them, this is a festival of positive revolution.

When people of wisdom and vision need to tackle the fallout of war and pestilence, we occasionally stumble into moments in history where things like a renaissance, enlightenment, or social revolution occur, but too often, this is the late response to catastrophe after people have grown tired of suffering. Have we suffered enough? We here in the West haven’t suffered at all, though to listen to the collective whine; you’d think aliens (Hillary Clinton) landed and took away our televisions, phones, cars, homes, husbands, wives, children, pets, weed, guns, and any possibility of ever seeing another sunrise. We are spoiled and petulant with a focus on the most profoundly stupid of all things.

Meanwhile, Putin is looking to expand his territory at apparently all costs, including a potentially serious impact on the population of our planet, and America is too busy chanting “Let’s Go, Brandon” to give a damn about the geopolitical shitstorm on the horizon of civilization.

This arrogant, shortsighted inner seething that America is convulsing under is exactly the environment that a would-be dictator requires to take advantage of an otherwise strong adversary. We become weakened when as feeble-minded troglodytes digging out the belly button lint of our midsection is more important than correcting the situation brought on by the pandemic and economic upheaval that has left us in desperate need of re-inventing the way we will survive and how we will shape our world of tomorrow. If we leave this process to warlords, we will reap what we’ve sown, meaning from nothing, we’ll gain nothing. But from war, we gather death.

Christmas Beans

Christmas Lima Beans

Saturday morning I opened a 1 pound bag of Christmas Lima beans and started them soaking and by late evening they found their way into the crockpot to simmer overnight. I’ve been pretty good at making a pot of beans at least every other week this year and as is our routine, we start with dried beans. This will be our first time to eat this type of bean from my quest to track down exotic legumes.

And now it’s dinner time as we are tucking into these giant beans, these yummy, beefy beans of considerable heft. Cooked with chicken stock, an onion, six slices of bacon, a large can of chopped tomatoes, and a smidge of chile flakes, we are yet again afforded the simple luxury of a dish that anyone in America would find impossible to sit down in a restaurant to enjoy. Other than green beans or beans at a Mexican restaurant, where else can we enjoy a hearty bean dish in this country?

Thanks to the people at Rancho Gordo for making our bean dreams come true, along with the people of Peru for cultivating this variety.

Writing Exercise

Writing

Go out for a day and take photos of everything that catches your eye. Photograph breakfast, locking your front door, the sign that welcomes you to a highway. Take a selfie, grab an image of your destination, snap a photo of something in extreme closeup, a detail you might have otherwise ignored.

Once you get home, sort them into favorites and toss the ones that need to find their destiny in the trash.

Reduce the image count to between six and ten, and now start writing what you did and what you were feeling when those images were taken. Or, write an imaginary narrative of what those images could represent and make it all up.

You need to write on the same day while the memories are fresh. Now, do this every day for a month as a writing exercise that will get you used to what it’s like to write every day. Having something to fix on that comes out of our routine and trying to find a way to explain things with a slight twist to avoid the same story over the course of that month just might be the thing to show you that a writing habit isn’t all that difficult and starts you thinking differently about each day.

Frosty Desert Morning

Frosty morning in Phoenix, Arizona

This is not just any frost, this is hoar frost, and as much as I seriously want to write it “mistakenly” as being of the whore type, that would just be juvenile. I can already hear Caroline saying, “You idiot, you might as well have just written whore frost because anyone who knows you knows that’s exactly what you wanted to do, Mr. Grandpa Wise humorist.” Well, I can’t agree with this idea that I deserve her derision no matter how she wants to pigeonhole me into categories that could never pertain to me because I’m certainly beyond reproach.

But I’m going off course here as this isn’t about dumb humor (I mean genius) it’s about me taking note of the fact that on February 24th, we experienced such cold that I was able to break out my shell, scarf, and gloves one more time before I have to return to my morning walks wearing a banana hammock in the excruciating heat we must endure in this desert hell we call home. Yeah, I know, this was the perfect setup for talking about how hell has frozen over. I’m telling you, I’m full of these great one-liners, ain’t I, wife?