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[TowerTalk] I'm Baaaaaacck!

To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] I'm Baaaaaacck!
From: K2JAS@worldnet.att.net (Roger L. Elowitz)
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 15:27:44 -0500
Hi Steve and all the TowerTalk gang,

Thanks for remembering me.  Yes INDEED!  I'm BACK!  There is just so much to 
tell. What follows is the briefest of descriptions of my "endless summer 
TowerTalkian vacation."

Forty-three days on the road... driving almost exactly 10,000 miles and 
covering about twenty states was quite an experience.  Writing it all up and 
posting it (somewhere... but not likely here on TowerTalk) will be a 
magnificent labor and one I'm really looking forward to doing.  I have my own 
web page that is just starting construction so it'll probably be there, in an 
in-depth article appearing along with some of the magnificent photos we took of 
TowerTalkians and their antennas in 6 x 7 cm. format.

The absolute highlights of our "endless summer" trip were visiting with 
TowerTalkians... especially Jack Goforth, K4IBP (of exploding toilet story 
fame) and his lovely wife Rose. They really rolled out the Red Carpet for us 
and showed us around Nashville in a fashion that was not to be believed. More 
marvelous hosts one could NEVER hope to find anywhere in the world! What an 
absolute joy to have their friendship. The dinner meal we shared at Nashville's 
pre-eminent French restaurant overlooking the city and the setting sun will 
linger forever in our memories... and on our waists. 

We also had the very great pleasure of meeting L. B. Cebik, W4RLN, and his 
lovely wife Jean, N4TZP for lunch,  along with Jack, who got to meet L.B. for 
the first time- even though they are practically next-door neighbors! ( Yes! 
TowerTalkians.... L. B. "is a real person" and every bit as warm, friendly and 
intelligent as his postings would have led you to assume. In case there ever 
was any doubt about his humanity... I can now let the world know that LB 
prefers duplicating his breakfast meal for his lunch meal. See... he's really 
like the rest of us!

On the other side of the country we were hosted by Morris Fisch, WB2WGR and his 
fabulous wife Marcia... old friends from NJ who have retired to Silver City, 
NM.  Morris and Marcia took us everywhere it was possible to visit.... 
including  a hike across the border into Mexico.  Marcia documented our every 
move with an incessant volley of snapshots.... so much so that I was afraid to 
move for not having my new body position recorded for posterity. 

With Morris and Marcia we attended Bolivian native music concerts, visited the 
Anasazi Cliff dwellings in the Gilla National Forest and took a fabulous tour 
of the bottom of a Phelps Dodge open-pit copper mine. We were so enraptured by 
the Anasazi ruins trip that we missed our scheduled meeting with Lew McCoy, 
W1ICP... who we previously ran into on the street and in a Silver City Mexican 
restaurant several days before. Morris is on his way to becoming a TowerTalkian 
if he isn't already here. Again, more marvelous hosts we could NEVER hope to 
run into anywhere in the world. They really went the "extra mile" for us- 
putting us up in their home, and we appreciated all their hospitality immensely.

Pushing on to Phoenix we had hoped to rendezvous with Stu Greene, WA2MOE but as 
fate would have it, Stu was called out of town on a personal emergency and we 
missed him.  We did stop at his home briefly to do what I called a "drive-by 
shooting." I took a picture standing beneath Stu's magnificent Wilson tower and 
stacked array and we left the sweltering heat of Phoenix to photograph the 
rocks, canyons, pastoral valleys and lofty mountains in the rest of Arizona, 
New Mexico and Utah. 

Indeed, photographing the scenery was to be the major focus of our journey.  By 
the time we finished, we had exposed hundreds of rolls of film and probably 
spent as much money on film and processing as we did on all the rest of the 
vacation expenses put together. So what else would you expect of retired school 
teachers and professional photographers? 

Just before we headed back East we dropped in on TowerTalkian, Mary-Francis 
Bartels, KI0DZ ( of TowerTalk limerick fame) and her husband Marty, KB0VQK. We 
toured the Bartels' rabbit farm and their solar array that powers their meat 
storage facility.  We also visited the fabulous Bartels image scanning facility 
(for getting your pictures digitized) and then Mary-Francis introduced us to 
her multi-talented friend Jan Medley, KB0WQT and we all enjoyed a great lunch 
together.

Perhaps, you have no idea what it means to travel thousands of miles from home 
and to be warmly received by people who you've been carrying on endless 
humorous (and serious) dialogues with via e-mail, and, who consider you "old 
friends." For us it was simply a "dream-come-true!" I guess stuff like this has 
been going on at the Dayton Hamvention (and others) for years... but this trip 
was so much more special- because it was "up close and personal."

To list all the places we visited and fascinating things we've seen would try 
the patience of most readers here, but I did want to mention briefly in 
passing.... The VLA in Socorro, NM, (Yes!  The same one seen in the movie 
"Contact"... which you absolutely must see! ), the Albuquerque, NM Balloon 
Festival, the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH and the Cessna Aircraft Factory in 
Wichita, KS where we nearly bought a plane... but we didn't like the colors of 
the one's coming off the assembly line.

As Yakov Smirnoff told us personally in Branson, MO on the last leg of our trip 
home... "What-a-Country!!!" is a gross understatement when it comes to 
describing what we saw on our little trip. Most Americans have no idea of the 
wonders that await them... and of course.... everyone else does speak a funny 
kind of English and it seems that everyone DOES love Country Music.

As the weeks go by I'll be writing-up some of the interesting and humorous 
insights this memorable trip has held for us.  Since I realize this kind of 
thing is, at best, only vaguely peripheral to the interests of TowerTalkians- 
I'll post it on my own web site as soon as I get it off the ground.

And to answer the most burning questions of all.... Yes!  There is such a thing 
as "life without e-mail" although the withdrawal symptoms are a bitch to go 
through. And of course... living, eating, sleeping, shopping and traveling with 
the same woman, twenty-four hours a day for forty three consecutive days... is 
NOT MY IDEA OF HELL ON EARTH! Joyce, N2REE, my lovely wife.... is a fabulous 
traveling companion and great navigator! I couldn't have even begun to have 
made this trip without her.

It's GREAT to be back... and Yes!  I WILL behave myself.... for a little while 
at least.

Hi to Y'all.... and special thanks to Steve and Bill for having me aboard 
again... and for providing the world with such a great ham forum.... for Towers 
and Antennas and... such... and especially for the warm and friendly place 
TowerTalk has been to meet such interesting "real people." It's enriched my 
life immensely!

73 to y'all,

Roger, K2JAS 



















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