Here's how you can get your photos posted on the website
Just e-mail your digital photos as
attachments to:
donfarmstrong@hotmail.com.
Don't forget to include your name and caption describing the photo. If you
need to send
a photo via regular mail, please send them to:
Don
Armstrong 1225 24th ave.,
Longview, WA 98632, we will scan and return the photo (please enclose a stamped,
self addressed envelope).
Note: Photographs of
class groups have been transferred to "memories". Hopefully this
will streamline the viewing process. We will continue to place
current photo's on this page. Also, to improve downloading of
the website, we will begin purging our photo gallery. The
Memory Section will remain. Any new photo's will be posted
on this gallery or the Memory section.
Any new photo's can be
sent to
donfarmstrong@hotmail.com.
Let's start a new gallery!!
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A couple of "ol" guys..still doing what they like......
The weather started out like this.........
And ended like this........
Oh well. This will do...........
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We received this e-mail from Gary Meyers.
We found it interesting and decided to place on the website for your enjoyment:
Aloha from Mongolia, Frank. I'm here for a couple of weeks then back to
Tokyo to recharge my batteries and wash the Gobi dirt out of my clothes and then
on to Honolulu.
I won't be attending the June luncheon but might make the July function.
Need to check on Mom and make sure she's doing okay.
Mongolia is a country of contrasts. On one hand, it's extremely primitive.
The nomads which make up the majority of the population live a basic existence
,yet in the big city of Ulan Bator (UB) , you find internet cafes on every
street corner. But UB is a dirty, run-down, crumbling city as a result of
years of Russian neglect. And the Mongolian alphabet is Cyrillic so all
the signs would lead you to believe that you are in Russia.
I spent a lot of time in the steppes and Gobi living in gers (yurts).
They are quite comfortable considering . The only difference in any of
them is their size. Most are the same size, but a few are larger.
They all come with a wood stove un the middle, a small table and usually four
racks. I went through a torrential rain storm one night with the wind
blowing probably fifty knots. Inside I was physically comfortable but
mentally prepared to get my ass drenched or worse (if the ger blew away).
We were set up on an alluvial plain beside a meandering small river. At
first I was concerned about the rain and wind but shifted my concern to
flash flooding when I realized that there was a river outside! But in the
morning, all was calm and you couldn't even tell anything had occurred.
Suppose to be great hunting and fishing here, but neither was on my
agenda. (They even have eagle hunting out west. I don't mean hunting
eagles: I mean hunting with eagles) Must be a thrill to have that big
hummer on your leather-gloved hand waiting to launch him to his target ( and
hoping he doesn't come back with a goat in his talons).
At the moment, I'm in a UB hotel preparing to leave. The front desk gave
me a computer to use in my room, but the tap water only drips out of the faucet
(those contrasts again).
Trust all is well in Longview. Looking forward to next luncheon I can attend
. Aloha Gary
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From Gary on July 17,2006...somewhere ???...
You're going to France and I spent two weeks in northern Magnolia. Don,
I guarantee you that France has more to offer. I went alone, hired a Russian
jeep, driver and guide and off we went into the bush( sand). Most of my time was
spent around the capital of Ulan Bator, Genghis Khan's ancient capital of
Karakoram, and the north Gobi. Harsh environment and tough people. But
since over 50% are nomads, they share what they have with visitors. I
don't care if I NEVER see another piece of goat or mutton. Spent 10 days
in and around my old haunts in Tokyo following the Mongolian experience.
Took that long to get the Gobi dirt out of my clothes. Plus I love those
hotsi baths. If I recall correctly, you were going to Europe in August(?).
Good luck and best wishes always tomodachi. Semper Fi.
P.S. The pix show us mounting up for a trek in the north Gobi.
Talk about a ragtag outfit. We had camels, pack horses, and even some
yaks. The camels were the easiest to ride, but I definitely am not Gary of
the Gobi. The other shot is my guide and I at a remote cairn on the way to
Karakoram. What looks like rags are really prayer flags (similar to the
Tibetan ones) for good luck....
l
