Adventurers' Club Newsletter Jan to Apr 2014

THE ADVENTURERS’ CLUB OF

HONOLULU

Newsletter: January to April, 2014

                                       CLICK ON SCHEDULE (ABOVE) TO ENLARGE
*WCC (Waialae Country Club); MGR (Maple Garden Restaurant); PHR (Pagoda Hotel Restaurant)
Adventurers’ Club members/guests may only book a reservation via our reservationists.
** If making reservations via e-mail, please include the words: Adventurers’ Club Meeting and Mtg Date
If you have to leave a message or are sending an email, please include your phone number.
If unable to reach listed reservationist, please call Erika Wyrtki at 949-2229
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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Welcome to another year of travel and adventure with your friends in the Adventurer's Club. This year, 2014, is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Adventurers’ Club Honolulu. Get ready for some celebrating.  We'll have another adventure with the new restaurants for our meetings. We lost the Tree Tops but we have arranged for a Gourmet Chinese Buffet at Maple Garden in February. Then in March we will have a wonderful set of menu choices at the Pagoda Restaurant. January and April will be at the elegant Waialae Country Club.  

       Remember, fellowship is part of the Adventure, so come at  6 pm, relax with a glass of wine, and share your stories and experiences with your friends.

        If you want to enjoy the program without having dinner, please give $5 to the treasurer Ed Carus to help us cover overhead expenses.

                                                                       Ralph Sprague

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For Adventurers’ Club Information Visit:

     www.adventurersclubhonolulu.blogspot.com/

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APRIL 17, 2014
CUBA!!

By Member Pauline Standish

    A city trapped in time, Havana captures the imagination like no other. Faded glamour meets careful colonial-era reconstruction with a backdrop of irresistible color. Visitors walk El Malecón, the walkway bordering the ocean. Old Havana and the Catedral de San Cristóbal are there for the exploring traveler. Contemporary Havana can essentially be described as three cities in one: Old Havana, Vedado, and the newer suburban districts. The city is the center of the Cuban government, and home to various ministries, headquarters of businesses and over 90 diplomatic offices. The historic center was declared a UNESCO  World Heritage site in 1982. The city is also noted for its history, culture, architecture and monuments. Some of the suburban exclusivity was lost after the revolution, many of the suburban homes having been nationalized by the Cuban government to serve as schools, hospitals, and government offices. In the 1980s many parts of Old Havana, including the Plaza de Armas, became part of a projected thirty five year multi-million dollar restoration project, for Cubans to appreciate their past and boost tourism. In the past ten years, with the assistance of foreign aid and under the support of local city historian Eusebio Leal Spengler, large parts of Habana Vieja have been renovated. The city is moving forward with their renovations, with most of the major plazas including Plaza Vieja, Plaza de la Catedral, Plaza de San Francisco and Plaza de Armas and major tourist streets Obispo and Mercaderes near completion.

     Our speaker will discuss the famous rusting gates and crumbling columns of Havana. She will discuss the four main squares of Havana three of which were built in the 1700's when the island was rich with sugar and tobacco. Our tour will include the Bay of Pigs and the town of Trinidad, a heritage colonial city in central Cuba famous for its cobblestone lanes and landmark cathedral. Nowadays, Trinidad's main industry is tobacco processing. The older parts of town are well preserved as the Cuban tourism industry sees benefit from tour groups. In contrast, some parts of town outside the non-tourist areas are very run down and in disrepair, especially in the center.

Cocktails 6:00 pm Free parking in club lot: Waialae Country Club, 4997 Kahala Avenue

  Program 7:30 pm (Approximately)

Reservations Contact Janet Miller at miller@hi808.us or 732-3506

Wendy Liljestrand and Janet Miller

Jack and Eulalia Luckett

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PAST PRESENTATIONS:

MARCH 20, 2014

The Canadian Rockies

By Member Alan Lloyd

     Alan Lloyd's ideal for enjoying nature's beauty is to look for opportunities to experience spectacular mountain scenery in perfect comfort. As a result he has traveled to and through the Canadian Rockies on about a dozen occasions. His first visit was in 1948 with three other college students who had spent the summer putting 18,000 miles on their Jeep and camping out every night. During the last decade of the 20th century, he was in the Canadian Rockies every other September when the aspens in the avalanche paths through the evergreens had turned to gold.

     Alan's favorite route was to drive for three hours on Highway #1 past Banff to Lake Louise and check in at Moraine Lake Lodge. Three beautiful days later he drove for 30 minutes west toward Kicking Horse Pass to the parking lot for Lake O'Hara Lodge. Since no cars are allowed in Yoho National Park, a visitor must pick up the shuttle bus to Lake O'Hara. It is most beautiful when the sky is blue and the trees are covered with hoar-frost. Next he viewed the Ice Field Parkway past the Columbia Ice Field and the Athabasca Glacier to Jasper, Maligne Lake and Mount Edith Cavell with its spectacular snow covered  eleven thousand foot peak. Especially exciting is helicopter hiking in the Bugaboos, a mountain range in the Purcell Mountains of eastern British Columbia, Canada.  Come and hear about the beauty of the Canadian Rockies and see Alan Lloyd's prize winning photographs!

Cocktails 6:00 pm Pagoda Hotel—1525 Rycroft Street

The parking lot for the Pagoda is on Rycroft Street. Park on the upper or lower level and use the parking machine to pay $1 per hour. Additional parking is in the ROSS building across the street, also $1 per hour.

Dinner 6:45 pm 

Reservations Contact Wendla Liljestrand at wliljestrand@hawaii.rr.com or 554-9639 by Tuesday,

March 18 (email preferred)   Late cancellations and no shows will be billed.

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Pagoda Floating Gardens Restaurant

Canadian Rockies views by Alan Lloyd

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Message from the Membership Chair

    Much Mahalo to Fran Dieudonne for her capable and creative chairmanship.

                   I am happy to report that the club has welcomed 16 new members and reinstated one from 2003.   What a diverse group of travelers have joined us.               

We are bound to get some great presentations from their adventures.

Please welcome them at our next get-together.

Janet Miller

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FEBRUARY 20, 2014

Free as a Nomad: My Journey to Mongolia and Back

By Guest Chick Alsop

Mongolia's reputation as the distant, wild and untamed land of Genghis Khan grew fabled because it was sealed off and repressed by the Soviet Union for most of the 20th century. This reputation which our traveler found to be exotic and well deserved survives to this day. Chick was drawn to Mongolia by visions of her wide-open steppes. He tells of his travel and volunteer teaching experiences in the late summer and early fall of 2012 and 2013. It is a tale of adventure, misfortune and hardship. Once while traveling by camel in the Gobi desert, his group was caught and blinded by a violent storm of gale-force winds, rain and sleet. Later, pursuing the history of Genghis Khan they traveled freely in a 1940's Russian van with no set itinerary, staying with any nomad family in tents who were friendly and hospitable. As a volunteer teacher, Chick lived alone in a leaky log cabin in a small and remote village where no one spoke English. He was occasionally harassed and was never able to feel completely comfortable. Come to our February meeting and hear our intrepid traveler tell how he managed to survive and conquer!
                    Cocktails 6:00 pm Maple Garden—909 Isenberg Street

There are several parking spaces in the lot at the restaurant. There may also be some spaces along Isenberg Street. Free parking is available at the First Hawaiian Bank at Isenberg and King. Note the number of the

space you use and report the number to the restaurant.

                    Dinner 6:45 pm Gourmet Chinese Buffet with more than 20 items including: 

Cold Ginger, Chicken, Garlic Shrimp, Honey Spareribs, Spicy Eggplant, Mixed Vegetables, Kung Pao Chicken, Steamed Fish Fillet, Beef Broccoli, and Soup, Noodles, and dessert. $22

Program 7:30 pm (Approximately)

Reservations Contact Erika Wyrtki at 949-2229 by Tuesday, February 18

Late cancellations and no shows will be billed.

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JANUARY 16, 2014  

In Search of Polar Bears / ViaRail Trains Through Canada

By Member Donna Wendt
Wailae Country Club

 

   Donna presented the tale of her travels in 2008 on ViaRail trains through Canada from Edmonton to Halifax. This includes the grain train route up to the frozen north at Churchill which takes two days. It goes over one thousand miles and is a step back in history on an old train on tracks mainly used for hauling grain to the Hudson Bay.  Because the trip is in the late fall, the scenery is beautiful.

   While the tundra is amazing, there are few travelers who go there. The Tundra Buggy excursion was a great experience, however the bears are scarce before the Bay freezes. Donna Wendt has traveled all  around the world yet she considers this trip to be a favorite.  This is a trip few travelers make, but it is one not to be missed!