More TB tests

On May 30, I received a voice message for Victor from the county Health Department. When we returned the call, they said Victor had to come in for TB tests! First Victor, then I, told them repeatedly that Victor had already had TWO sets of TB tests, all negative, but the woman said that because immigration had informed them about Victor's x-rays, he had to come in for more tests on June 17^th. I was angry, but we wrote down the appointment.

A few days later, we received a follow-up letter with our appointment and a cover note that included this:

Although you were cleared for entry into the US, this pre-immigration [TB] exam was not intended to diagnose or treat extra-pulmonary TB, non-infectious pulmonary TB,or Latent TB infection.... We recommend [actually, require !] that you have a medical exam to determine if you have active TB disease.

Had they explained that on the phone, I would have not have been so upset.

On June 17^th, they took another lung X-ray, took Victor's medical history, and took a sputum sample. Then we learned that he has to (again!) give a sputum sample twice more, come another time for blood tests, and come a fifth time for final results. Gee, despite what the letter said, they're re-doing exactly what we've done twice in the past in Juarez! All they can say in explanation is that they don't fully trust the clinics in Juarez. You know, the ones they insisted we visit! I'm pissed! 👿

And, of course, after all that, when we went again on August 26^th, they said the tests were negative and we were done. What a waste of time!

San Francisco — August 2019

Link to more photos.

Lured by airfares briefly as cheap as $39, I scheduled a quick trip to the San Francisco Bay area. We were there for several days this past week. The weather was warm and dry.

We landed in Oakland mid-day Tuesday, and I rented a car. There are only a few locations to buy a senior BART Clipper card, so we stopped in downtown Oakland to do that, and then visited Lake Merritt and some of its gardens. We stayed in Pinole.

On Wednesday, we hiked in Sobrante Ridge Regional Preserve and Wildcat Canyon Regional Park. The hikes were fine, with good views of San Pablo Bay, but San Francisco was too fogged over to see. Later, we went into the city. We tried to see sunset from the Marriott Marquis Hotel lounge, but it was still too foggy and there were no seats. At the Disney Store in Union Square, Victor was delighted to buy this on sale:

On Thursday, we used a hop-on, hop-off bus tour to see much of SF: the civic center to visit the central library and its LGBTQIA Center; Golden Gate Park for views from the de Young Museum tower and some gardens; North Vista Point to see and walk some on the Golden Gate Bridge; Lombard Street for the crookedest block; and Chinatown to eat. 

We were with Greg Castillo for most of Friday. At the Museum of Modern Art, while I was checking my jacket, Greg arrived and spotted Victor. We visited a few exhibits, then went to Castro Street. One new thing since I was last there: a bunch of men routinely stand around almost naked. They were happy to let us take photos with Victor standing among them:

As we were walking to one of Greg's favorite restaurants for dinner, I realized I had left my jacket at MOMA! It was now closed. After dinner, we went to several shops in the Haight to find outerwear for me. We also visited Love on Haight and tried on some of the headgear:

Greg had arranged for the owner of the Westerfeld House to give us a private, very detailed tour:

On Saturday, we went back to MOMA to retrieve my jacket, and then flew home.

Grand Canyon and more — August 2019

(click to enlarge each photo)

Link to more photos.

We went on this tour. After a night in Phoenix, we traveled to

• Sedona, Arizona
• Grand Canyon  National Park
• Monument Valley 
• Lake Powell (Glen Canyon National Recreational Area)
• Bryce Canyon  National Park
• Zion National Park

It was very good. The weather was mostly hot, as expected, but not overly so. We had a bit of rain at Bryce and Zion.

We had time after lunch in Sedona to walk around. It's a pleasant town, but it's impossible to avoid all the nonsense there:

We experienced a brief intense hailstorm after leaving Sedona. The hailstones were grape-size or maybe a bit larger. They made quite a racket on the roof of the bus:
 

I had been to the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion as a kid, but not since. We had time to hike a bit at most places. At Grand Canyon, we went a short ways down into the canyon. (Victor went twice as far down as I did.) Here I'm looking up at the canyon wall, and you can see the trail:

At Lake Powell, I would have traded the boat ride for a chance to visit slot canyons and Rainbow Bridge.

At Zion, Victor tried the bison meatloaf:

It was a large double serving. Victor enjoyed it. I ate a bison burger on Catalina Island years ago, and I had a bite of Victor's meatloaf.

On this trip, we saw loads of amazing geology, but very little wildlife — deer several times and elk twice. These deer are  in front of Zion Lodge:

The tour ended at the Las Vegas airport. I scheduled our departure later in the day, hoping to show Victor a bit of Vegas. We did see the Strip and we went to the Bellagio, but the timing wasn't right for the water show there, and the buffet was much more expensive than I remembered, so we didn't do that, either.

Katmai National Park (Summer 2019)

Link to more photos.

As previously explained, Victor was responsible for my 2000 trip to Katmai National Park, but could not accompany me. Now that he is in the U.S., I scheduled a repeat trip with him, again with Katmai Coastal Bear Tours.

We had a great time. We watched bears for six days. The weather was great, too.

One highlight: About 50 yards in front of us, a mother bear walked away from her three sleeping cubs to a nearby stream. The cubs woke up, didn't see their mother, and suddenly ran at and through us, one going right over one member of our group who was lying down! We were now in the classic never-do-this position, between a mother bear and her cubs. When the mother returned and saw her cubs running away, she charged right at us! She stopped less than ten feet in front of us, then went around us to her cubs. We were left gasping at what had happened in the last few seconds. I wish another group had been nearby to video the whole thing. Victor got the best photo, showing the cubs approaching us:

Victor insisted on clearing everyone's dishes after meals, and he always carried others' gear when we went ashore. Here he has a tripod, camera and backpack, none his own:

Stonewall 1969

Today, June 28, 2019, is the 50^th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. In San Antonio in 1969, I certainly heard nothing about this as it happened. It was the summer after my first year at Rice.

But in those years, I did make an effort to follow counterculture news. In particular, I occasionally visited one small bookstore / head shop (I can't remember the name, but according to notes by others, it might have been "Joint Effort") and browse and buy alternative newspapers. Sometime that summer, I bought an issue of the Los Angeles Free Press, and it had a small note about Stonewall.

I was not even fully out to myself yet, wondering whether I might be bisexual, but I definitely paid attention to this news.

After Stonewall

In my first summer in Los Angeles, in 1973, I made a point of going to Hollywood to watch the Christopher Street West parade.

It would still be years before I started coming out.

Years later, during a visit to New York, I attended a special gay pride program where several of the Stonewall Riot participants spoke. I don't remember their names. Based on this button I still have, this may have been in 1985:

In 2016, President Obama designated the area as the Stonewall National Monument.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks — June 2019

A "trick" photo using panoramic mode

Link to more photos.

I drove there and back, about four hours each way, which is about my limit for driving these days. We enjoyed a full-day tour of each park. The weather was great.

I had not been to these parks since I was a boy, so I did not remember much. There was quite a bit to see and do at Kings Canyon — rivers and waterfalls all full this season, the General Grant tree.

We even saw a mother bear with two cubs up close. She was walking very close — too close — to lots of people, near the start of the Zumwalt Meadow trail.

In Sequoia National Park, in addition to the trees, there was more fast water, petroglyphs, and Moro Rock. Although Moro Rock was clear in the distance early in the day, when Victor made it to the top later, it was too cloudy to see anything.

Index to Travels

• Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta (Oct. '21)
• Appalachian Trail (June '14)
• Argentina (Sept. '87) 
• Argentina (Dec. '09)
• Atlanta (March '22)
• Baja California Sur (March '16)
• Belize (Dec. '16)
• Big Bend, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands (May '22)
• British Columbia (summer '06)
• Canadian Rockies (July '16)
• Canadian Rockies (July '22)
• Canyonlands, Arches, Mesa Verde (Sept. '21)
• Catalina (Oct. '11)
• Channel Islands (Sept. '83)
• Chiapas (Jan. '13)
• Chicago (June '17)
• Cincinnati (Spring '12)
• Copper Canyon (Oct. '25)
• Costa Rica (Dec. '99)
• DC Area (May '25)
• Fairbanks and Denali (1990s)
• Flowers in San Diego County (April '24)
• Grand Canyon and more (Aug. '19)
• Guatemala (May '15)
• Hawaii (Sept. '16) 
• Hawaii (January '20)
• Houston (Oct. '22)
• Iceland (July '25)
• Isla Mujeres (May '08)
• Istanbul to Athens (April '23)
• Italy (April '25)
• Japan (Aug. '03) 
• Juárez (May '18)
• Julian, Anza-Borrego, Pechanga (April '25)
• Katmai National Park (Summer '00)
• Katmai National Park (Summer '19)
• Las Vegas & Death Valley (March '15)
• Lassen/Shasta (June '15)
• Loltun (Dec. '94)
• London & Paris (June '24)
• Maine (June '15)
• Manitoba (August '22)
• Maryland (May '13)
• Mérida (Dec. '18)
• Mérida (Sept. '22)
• Mexico City (Dec. '85)
• Mexico City (Spring '17)
• Montreal & Quebec City (Aug. '18)
• Napa Valley (Oct. '16)
• New England (Sept. '24)
• New Mexico (Nov. '13)
• New York City (Sept. '13)
• New York City (Oct. '19)
• New Zealand (Sept-Oct '22)
• North Carolina (April '13)
• Oahu (March '81)
• Olympic Peninsula & Seattle (July '14)
• Oregon (Aug. '13)
• Oregon (eclipse) (Aug. '17)
• Oregon (Sept/Oct '24)
• Orlando (March '23)
• Palm Springs (June '19)
• Peru (March '18)
• Pismo Beach (April/May '24)
• Puerta Vallarta (Dec. '11)
• Sacramento, Reno, Tahoe (Oct. '24)
• San Antonio (June '13)
• San Antonio (April '24)
• San Antonio (April '26)
• San Francisco (Aug. '19)
• San Luis Obispo & Hearst Castle (Dec. '23)
• Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (June '19)
• South Africa (Fall '14)
• SouthEast Asia Cities (Nov. '18)
• Soviet Union (Spring '84) 
• Spain (Fall '23)
• Tijuana (Dec. '97)
• Tucson (Nov. '25)
• UK & Ireland (June/July '26)
• Washington, DC (June '18)
• Western Europe (Summer '75)
• Western Pennsylvania (May '16)
• Yellowstone (July '12)
• Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, Dignity (July '22)
• Yosemite and Eastern Sierras (Aug-Sept '21)
• Yucatán ('93 and later)
• Yucatán (Winter '13)

Description

Argentina — December 2009

Victor and friend in Trelew

(Note that there are four separate web pages of photos. Each photo link is different.)

Victor had been intrigued by Patagonia, and had long wanted to touch snow. I had been to Buenos Aires, Iguazu, and Bariloche in 1987 (more here), but never to Patagonia. The trip was arranged through Wildland Adventures. It was their 2009 version (Argentina-based) Best of Patagonia plus a two-day extension to Iguazu Falls.

It took a long set of flights to get there: first to Mexico City, then to Panama City, then to Buenos Aires. After a brief overnight stay there, we were off to Trelew. Link to photos (1^st set). We stayed at a lovely B&B with lots of land and a friendly dog.

The next day, we were off to Punta Tombo and Península Valdés. It was a long day of driving, but we did see penguins, sea lions, and elephant seals. Penguin holes were new to me. We were careful to stay on the paths and not try to approach the penguins, but, as you can see in the photo, one penguin walked right up to Victor.

We next flew to Ushuaia, at the southern tip of the continent. We visited Tierra del Fuego National Park (including the end of the Pan American Highway), and had a boat ride in the Beagle Channel. Because Victor had never seen snow in person, I specifically asked ahead of time if we would see some snow while we were in Ushuaia. Despite their assurances, we did not. So we cancelled one afternoon's scheduled city tour and took a cab to a nearby park which still had a patch of snow. See the photos (2^nd set). 

Next was El Calafate and Perito Moreno glacier in the Andes. We walked on the glacier and were served Scotch on the rocks with glacial ice. Link to photos (3^rd set).

The tour concluded with a return to Buenos Aires. A friend had suggested a "molecular cuisine" restaurant, La Viñeria de Gualterio Bolivar (since closed, apparently), with a chef who trained at El Bulli in Barcelona. It was a bit pricey, but certainly unusual.

I had added must-see Iguazu Falls to our trip. I loved it when I first saw it, and we both enjoyed it this time. See the photos. (4^th set).

Our return flights had an unnecessary complication. I didn't realize there were two airports serving Iguazu, and the itinerary I chose started from the Brazilian airport. I later realized that required Brazilian visas. I went to the Brazilian consulate in L.A. to pay for and receive my visa; Victor had to send away to the Brazilian embassy in Mexico City for his.

Palm Springs — June 2019

At dinner with Hugh

Link to more photos. (View them individually to see the captions.)

We were in Palm Springs for two days. When we arrived, we went to visit Hugh. His brother Rudy was there, too. Later, we had dinner with Hugh in town. I insisted on a date shake afterwards.

The next morning, we rode the aerial tramway up Mt. San Jacinto. We hiked several trails for most of the day. Happily for Victor, on the least-traveled trail, there were still patches of snow:

Even just touching snow is still a rarity for Victor. I hope he might see some snow falling sometime. I'll have to work on that.

That evening, we ate at a Thai restaurant and wandered around downtown a bit. 

The next morning, we met Hugh at the Palm Springs Art Museum. They have a very enjoyable collection. I took quite a few photos. The weather forecast predicted it would be well over 100° later in the day, but we left in the early afternoon.

On our way home, we stopped at Hadley's for one more date shake.

Visa for Victor!

Visa for Victor, finally!

We sent the last required documents, and then waited. Starting a few days ago, I've been checking the status daily:

• April 27:   Administrative Processing
• April 28:   Administrative Processing
• April 29:   Administrative Processing
• April 30:   Application Received
• May 1:       Issued

I thought it would be in hand a day or two later, but that didn't happen. When it hadn't arrived on Saturday, May 4^th, I was sure it would come Monday. But on Monday, I received an email saying they were only then giving it to DHL to deliver. Sigh. 

Victor received it May 7^th. I didn't want to say anything to anyone until he had it in hand. Not telling anyone for a week was difficult!

For unknown reasons, it has an expiration date of May 15!! Victor may come to Los Angeles next week!  No one can tell me why it isn't valid for six months, as we expected.

It's been two years since we decided to apply for a fiancé  visa, and it's been more than 25 years (!) since we first tried for a tourist visa. What an unnecessary ordeal!

P.S. We flew into Houston on May 14^th. I could not accompany Victor to his interview, which took about twenty minutes. But it was successful, and he entered the U.S. !! We arrived in Los Angeles on May 15^th.

And here is Victor in his first hour in the U.S.