“Things were going well – until we came to the toll booths. We had a problem getting through the gate. A few of us went through and waited on the side of the road on past the gate. Then there was some confustion as the gate came down and hit Marilyn in the head, causing her to bump into Andre, and he and his big motorcycle went down. Fortunately, no one was hurt. I may have mentioned this before, but Andre Lacy is our oldest rider, at 75 years, and is still on the board of his large distribution/logistics company, and chairs the Indianapolis 500 board and is active on the Indiana State Fair board. He is chagrinned that this is the first year in his entire life that he is missing the Indiana State Fair – but this adventure is also the opportunity of a lifetime, so here he is, falling down and getting up, several times so far.
Mike came through the gate, circling his finger overhead to round us up and head us out. Off we go – except, for some strange reason, vehicles are supposed to stop about 50 yards past the toll gate. Mike missed the stop sign. A moment’s hesitation as whistles were blowing and cops were yelling, but Mike throttled it up and zipped down the freeway with David right be hind him. Until – a police car rocketed past David and pulls Mike over.
The officer was not happy with Mike for running the stop sign, then caught sight of my camera as I put it in my pocket. He came over and demanded to see the camera. I showed him the blank screen on the back of it. Thinking that I didn’t get a picture, he wagged his finger at me, inches from my face, and made it very clear that I’m not to take pictures. So here is the picture that I did not take.”
Read the full story by Lee-Ann and David here.
Hello, Astana!
By Randy McClanahan:
“We are in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. You have to see this place to believe it.
For a while after the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, the capital was Almaty, in the south. But in 1997, the President moved it to Astana, in the north, and decided to build an Oz-like Emerald City. He started with a tower in the center to serve as a landmark. Then he invited the top 50 architects in the world to come on down and do their thing, even if it all didn’t match! 27 accepted, and designed the best that lots of oil money can buy.
There is the fifth largest Opera House in the world, the largest mosque in Central Asia, and everything in between. The volcano looking thing is a shopping center, one of the most profitable per foot in the world. Does the “I 💝 Astana” remind you of anything? And how ’bout that egg building? Every few years all the world leaders are invited to come to the pyramid for a meeting about friendship and tranquility.
The mosque is a thing to behold. Our ladies really liked the part where they had to cover up with gowns, and even then were not allowed to cross the red rope into the men’s only area.
Even so, the people appear to be very happy, love their President, and we had perhaps our best meal yet in a traditional Kaz restaurant. I’ve stopped asking what the very dark meat is. All I know is that it goes pretty well with salmon.
Tomorrow we continue still deeper into this strange and wonderful place.”
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