Photo Gallery

 
Home
Upcoming Events
Classmates
Photo Gallery
Memories

 

Check-out your old classmates... 

See what they look like now...

 


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!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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...........

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

 

 

 

                                                 Hit Counter Visitors so far!!

 

 

Home | Upcoming Events | Classmates | Photo Gallery | Memories