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)
• Costa Rica (Dec. '99)
• Fairbanks and Denali (1990s)
• Grand Canyon and more (Aug. '19)
• Guatemala (May '15)
• Hawaii (Sept. '16) 
• Hawaii (January '20)
• Houston (Oct. '22)
• Isla Mujeres (May '08)
• Istanbul to Athens (April '23)
• Japan (Aug. '03) 
• Juárez (May '18)
• 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 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)
• 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.