Author: Bill

Bill Rumpel served America as an Air Traffic Controller, a Commander of forces, and as an advisor to our country's senior leadership in peacetime and combat in the US Air Force for nearly, forty years of his adult life. Raised on a Wisconsin dairy farm and living most of his early years working hard or enjoying the outdoors, he has devoted his retirement years to telling stories based on true events with an intriguing mix of fiction and adventure. His books are published in 14 countries and in 9 different languages.

PERU – Manchu Picchu, Iquitos, The Amazon, Cusco, Paracas, Nasca Lines – April 2014

Welcome to Peru. Manchu Picchu was high on Nancy’s Bucket List and I always was curious about the Nasca Lines so one day we decided to see if we could get to Peru and see some of these wonders we had heard so much about. We went on line and found a site called Peru Tourism, told a young lady there what we were looking to do and see. She said she would email us a proposed itinerary and some associated costs. We went back an forth a few times and settled on the trip we took. I have broke this trip up because of the number of pictures. The website gets weird when there are too many pictures. This first one is the lead in and covers an over view and our time in Lima. There is also a post for Cusco, a post for Paracas, a post for Manchu Picchu, and a post for Iquitos and our time on the Amazon.

Peru was one of our more enjoyable trips. Each thing we saw was with a different company that was contracted by Peru Tours. Our groups, when we had them were small, we met some interesting people, and saw a bunch of interesting things. (If we look young it is because we did this trip eight years ago).

We flew from Miami and arrived in Lima, Peru late in the afternoon. We were met by some helpful gentlemen who took us to our hotel, made sure we were checked in, and told us a lady would meet us in the hotel lobby the next morning.

The next morning there was indeed a young lady waiting for us in the lobby, we sat down and she went over our itinerary, gave us the tickets would would need during our trips, and described how our tour would work. When she finished she told us we had the rest of the day to rest and become accustomed to the higher altitudes (although Lima was not that high).

Here is a map of Peru with the places we went circled:

The Red Lines are travel lines with the squiggles being our flight over the NASCA lines

Not wanting to rest but to see what we came to see we decided to walk down towards the Pacific ocean and see what Lima had to offer. It was very foggy for much of the morning but we did see some interesting things.

High Rise Living (Lima is quuite modern)

That was out time in Lima. We returned three times to Lima. Twice just to the airport to go to another city. Lima is an impressive city. Much culture, many warm and welcoming people.

2021 Christmas Holiday Season (Including New Years)

Merry Christmas Everyone. Our Christmas Holiday season is being spent relatively local this year. Travel restrictions still keep us from visiting our family in Australia so we are just enjoying what we can where we are. We officially opened our Christmas Holiday Season by sending out our annual Christmas letter.

We have received many cards and emails again this year. It is always fun and interesting to read, and see in many cases, how people have changed or spent the year since we last heard from them. Always good to hear from friends and family.

On the 10th of December Nancy and I went downtown Tampa to enjoy the Tampa Symphony perform their Annual Christmas Concert Special at the Straz. A lovely evening. We spent the evening in town, had dinner at an excellent Moroccan Restaurant, enjoyed the symphony, had a night cap at an Irish Pub, and spent the night at a hotel downtown. We returned home Saturday morning.

So, now we are preparing to spend Christmas itself. We have attended dinners and parties in our neighborhood. Visited and greeted friends and neighbors all around where we live. Tune in later to see what we did for Christmas and New Years.

CHRISTMAS DAY – Again, Merry Christmas Everyone. We are snuggled into a quaint cabin in a ridge above Pigeon Forge, TN. Below us you can see all of the Pigeon Force city area as well as DollyWood.

We arrived here on the evening of 22 December after a scenic drive up though Florida, Georgia, and through The Great Smokey Mountain National Park from Cherokee, NC to Pigeon Forge, TN. The last leg, through the park, was sixty six miles at thirty five miles per hour but very scenic. All the leaves are gone so it’s a bit drab but still very impressive We did see a herd of Elk grazing in some of the lower pastures the park provides. As I mentioned, we arrived here in the evening of 22 Dec. I carried our stuff in from the car and Nancy unpacked the coolers and whatever needed unpacking. It was late so we drove down to Pigeon Forge to find food … you know, Hunting! We lucked out and found a very nice Brewpub (we like brewpubs) that served good food.

After a fulfilling dinner and a couple IPA’s we proceeded back to the cabin, unpacked and went to bed.

The 23rd was set aside for setting up for Christmas in our cabin and doing whatever we wanted. There was a very nice tree already here (with bunches of bright flashing lights) but Nancy still put our little tree up. I may be prejudice but I like ours better. I get photosensitive epilepsy from the flashing lights. Consequently we leave the big tree unplugged. It looks quite nice without the flashing lights. We do keep our little tree lit and shining on us throughout our time in the cabin.

After getting everything squared away at the cabin we decided to go back downtown and see what they have to offer. Pigeon Forge is much larger than one would expect and has an endless variety of shows, rides, restaurants, souvenir shops, museums, and whatever you can imagine. We drove around a bit and then parked and walked through an area called the Island. Interesting place. Best part was a huge fountain that performed to music. Comfortable chairs set up all around it so you could sit and watch and listen as long as you liked. We strolled, shopped, watched, and had a pleasant afternoon.

That wrapped up the twenty third. Christmas Eve morning found us enjoying home made cinnamon roles and coffee as we worked our way into a day of relaxation and meditation. Here are a few pictures of the cabin where we are staying and the view from our back patio.

Downtown Pigeon Force from our Cabin (Note the Ferris Wheel)

Last night we went to a Christmas Mass at a local Church. First packed service we have seen since the COVID stuff started. A long but nice service.

When we got home we called our family in Australia. Being way down under they were already well into Christmas day. We got to talk with all of them, joke about our presents, and had a very pleasant conversation. They are all doing well … Thanks for asking. We adjourned for the evening and turned in.

Christmas morning found Santa had come through and filled our stockings. Nancy cut some German Stolen, I made some coffee, and we set out to see what he had brought. A pleasant morning remembering Christmasses past, opening gifts, answering texts from all over, eating Stolen, and drinking coffee.

That was our Christmas Morning. This afternoon Nancy gave me some more pool lessons. Beat me at Cribbage and Gin several times, and we listened to bunches of Christmas music. Later Nancy will be serving one of my favorite dinners; Cornish Hen. After Dinner we will again call Australia to wish our son Andrew a Happy Birthday. More tomorrow.

Wow!! Who would believe it’s the 6th of January in a new year?? My only excuse is that my films got lost at the photo center and I had to wait for them to be found. I’m sticking to that one.

We did call Andrew on his Birthday. We had a nice chat. We also undecorated the cabin from what we had put up and went down to the Brew Pub we started at for dinner. We had a nice dinner, came back to the cabin, packed the car, and got ready for an early departure the next morning. Which we did.

The drive from Tennessee to Florida is kind of interesting and takes about ten hours to drive … if you don’t get stuck in a traffic jam. Which we did. About one hundred miles from home we encountered the transformation of I75 from an interstate highway to a parking lot. Traffic stopped or moved very slowly. We finally bailed off of the interstate and zig zagged across Florida to the west coast and came home that way. We got home only a couple hours later than we had planned. On the 28th we unpacked, Nancy washed, we repacked, did some errands, spent a few hours with some friends, and prepared for our New Year’s event which was meeting Nancy’s Brother Brian and his wife Deb in Miami and driving down to Key West to spend New years. We drove to Miami on the 29th and checked into a hotel near the airport. We were tired so we just walked to a nearby pizza place for dinner. It turned out to be quite interesting as it claimed to be an Italian Pizza Place, but was ran by a Cuban guy who had lived in Italy. He had some friends there from Venezuela. It was an interesting group, we had a pleasant dinner, had an interesting conversation, and went back to the hotel and turned in.

The next morning we picked up Brian and Deb at Miami International. Was an interesting event as there was no parking available so we would park at some curb until the police chased us off and we would move to a new spot. Thank goodness Brian and Deb we only about an hour late. We scooped them up and headed south to Key west. It was a ninety mile drive that took four hours! A bunch of people were joining us!

We checked into our hotel, which was on Duval Street, and walked towards downtown looking for dinner. We found some food at an upstairs place that over looked the street. Shared several appetizers.

We spent the rest of the evening exploring and turned in to rest up for the 31st.

The 31st we spent the day visiting local points of interest, local watering holes, and celebrating New Year’s Eve. Fun day, long, but fun.

We had a very good diner at a nice restaurant on Duval and continued the evening’s activities till about one or two. I think I crashed first.

New Year’s day was kinda mellow. The hotel provided a pleasant breakfast so we enjoyed a leisurely time having that. Then we walked about the pier watching the big Tarpon swim around. Stopped at an interesting place for a late lunch, then boarded a big Catamaran for a Sunset cruise. The cruise was great, the sunset spectacular.

That was it for New Year’s day. It was up and at them the next morning. Brian and Deb had an 8 PM flight out of Miami and there were rumors of bad traffic all the way there. Consequently we left early and encountered a little traffic but not bad. Because we got back to Miami early we decided to show Brian & Deb The Everglades National Park. It is Winter so there was not much activity. It was a nice drive and we did see a lot of birds.

We got them back to the airport in time for their flight and they were off. I did find an interesting advertisement.

This is the real thing. If you want to be treated for a hangover they inject fluids and vitamins and you are supposed to feel great immediately. None of us tried it but we did run into one guy who had and he said it worked great.

So that was out holiday season from Pre-Christmas to New Years. It is different each year and a chance to try and enjoy different things. Wish you all could’ve been along.

2021 Thanksgiving In Hayesville, NC

We decided we did not want to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas at home and we still can’t go to Australia so we decided to “Get Away” by renting a cabin for each of the holidays. For Thanksgiving we rented, through Airbnb a two bedroom cabin in Hayesville, North Carolina. We have never spent much time in the Smokies so we decided to give it a try.

It turned out really nice and while it was a long drive it was not really a trip. It was just getting there and back. Hayesville is about six hundred miles from where we live so we decided to drive it in one day. The drive was uneventful even though it went through Atlanta. The heaviest traffic was in the suburbs to the Northeast of Atlanta. Fortunately we made it with no problems and just a few colorful words by Bill regarding other “drivers”.

The cabin turned out to be really nice, quite remote and private … and nice and quiet. It had plenty of room for the two of us. Was very nicely furnished and provisioned. Nancy brought everything she would need to prepare one of her wonderful Thanksgiving dinners so we were all set. Interestingly enough the cabin did not have a TV and only a slow Satellite Internet link. We don’t really watch all that much TV and usually only use the internet for our email so that was no problem. The owners had left a number of board games, we brought a deck of cards and a cribbage board, and I brought an old laptop I had that still had a DVD player so we each picked out a couple movies from our library that we could watch in the evenings. We were never bored, enjoyed several old movies we had not seen in a long time, Nancy abused me at Yatzee, and I squeaked out a victory or two on the cribbage board.

Here are some pictures of the cabin.

On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, we decided to drive up and see Great Smokey Mountain National park. We originally had a couple ways to get there but found that one way had been blocked by a landslide. We took a route that was west of where we were and it turned out to be quite a day. Part of the drive included a famous piece of road call “Tail of the Dragon” which features 380 curves in eleven miles. It is a favorite Summertime drive for Bikers and sports cars. We did it in our Subaru and it was still a ot of fun. I saw my tail lights a couple times. Great Smokey Mountain National Park is great but it was packed. The holiday weekend was clear and sunny so everyone took one last drive to the park. The park is just south of Gatlinburg and Knoxville so all the tourists from there came by. Sorry but no pictures. On the way home we stopped in Hayesville and had dinner at the Nocturnal Brew Pub. It was a great day. Saturday we just veged out. Played some cards, relaxed, packed a bit, and had leftover turkey for dinner. Sunday we drove home. Great trip.

For Christmas we have rented a Cabin in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee which is a little father north from where we spent Thanksgiving. My Christmas Holiday post will include things we do at home, ouir time at Pigeon Forge, and our trip to Key West for New Years.

SOUTH ISLAND – New Zealand – 2016

South Island is not like North island in some ways, the people are pretty much the same but the geography is different and it is farther to the south (or north as we would look at it). The southern tip of South Island has seals and is much like the Patagonian areas of South America, although not as close, it not that far away either.

The ferry we were on sailed across the Cook Straight and picked its way through the Islands on the north side of South Island to a small town called Picton. We disembarked and walked across the harbor to the car rental place and picked up our rental, drove to our hotel, checked in, and walked about enjoying a festival they were having near our hotel.

The next morning we went to church in a small chapel and headed west for the west coast of South Island. We passed a couple cellar Doors where local vineyards were selling wine but we didn’t stop. We made it to the west coast and drove out to Cape Foulwind (what a name!). Very rocky, nice light house, seals.

We drove back to the main road and proceeded south. The shore was rocky and the sea turbulent. Great views. A little farther down we came to “The Pancakes”. Thousands of thin layers of rock eroded by the sea forming interesting shapes, dramatic coves, and mysterious formations.

We walked around the gift shop a bit to kinda get our breath back, then got in the car, turned on the heater to dry out, and pressed on. First was a reindeer farm, then a glacier. We hiked out to the glacier but the fog was inso it was difficult to see it. If you wanted to walk out to it you had to hire a guide, wait till he had enough people to make a group and walk out with the guide. We chose to walk around the river and along it to where the glacier was.

A reindeer farm … These are all Does for breeding stock. They raise reindeer here like the raise Angus out west.

We left the glacier, drove across the river, and headed up into the mountains to a ski resort town named Queenstown. We lucked out and got this really nice two bedroom unit up on the hillside over looking the lake. The scenery was incredible, the room was terrific, but we only stayed one night. We did go down town and walk around, had some dinner, talked to some locals. Great day and evening.

Crossing the bridge. Nearly all the bridges are one lane so proper protocol and politeness are essential. Most teveryone honored the right of way signs. As you approached the bridge there was a sign indicating which direction had the right of way.

We left Queenstown and visited an old gold mining village near by. No pictures, just stores and stuff. We then proceeded out to Milford Sound. Milford Sound is a huge fyord that comes in from the ocean. We went on a half day long boat trip that took us all the way out to the sea and back. Incredible scenery. Water running off of the high sides, seals, boaters. I’m not going to label each one as most are self explanatory. Just flip through them and enjoy. We were not even sure we were going to go as the weather was forecasted to be rainy and foggy. We stayed in a small town about 20 miles inland and figured we would decide in the morning. the morning was marginal but promising so we took a chance. It turned out perfect. A wonderful day.

That was Milford sound. Took an entire day to see it but well worth the time and effort. Hope you didn’t get tired of the falls. They are all kinda the same but each unique in their own way.

From Milford Sound we decideed not to go all the way to the souther tip. Many miles and all it offered was seals and turbulent ocean .. we had seen that so we deided to head over to the east coast. So we did. Went through two interesting towns, Gore and Clinton, then got to Dunedin on the east coast. Most notable thing on the east coast was a beach covered with huge, round boulders. Some had split and were filled with an agate type material. Looked like dinasour eggs to me, or maybe Martian eggs … who knows? There’s a photo that explains them. We saw similar boulders in the British Virgin Islands (see post) so they do get around.

On the way north we saw several reindeer farms. The ones with the horns were the cash crop that went to the market … or that Santa bought.

Then we got to Christchurch. A lovely old city. The first books I read about New Zealand had the settlers landing in Christchurch and heading north to stake their ranches (Stations) for sheep. Christchurch was heavily damaged by a severe earthquake in 2011. 185 people were killed in the 6.2 Richter scale quake was so damaging because it struck in the same area a 7.1 quake struck in 2010. The city was struggling to recover and doing well. Impressive perseverance.

Christchurch … very modern progressive city. Very clean and safe

That’s New Zealand. A most interesting, diverse country. Highly recommend you go there if you ever have the chance. Great people. As I mentioned earlier. This was one of several trips we took during this time in Australia. Watch for future posts of the other trips. A peak? Okay … Melbourne down to the Great Ocean Hiway, up towards Adelaide, then up the Newell Highway to Toowoomba and on to Brisbane. or, Brisbane south to New castle, Sydney, and Melbourne. Lastly, Gold Coast North to Toowoomba, south along the granite belt then down to Tamborine Mountain. Stay tuned .. they are coming soon.

NEW ZEALAND – Jan 2016

Our first trip to the east side of of Australia was to visit our Son and his family who had just moved to Coomera (Just south of Brisbane) in late 2015. They had originally planned to move to Tasmania but had changed their minds at the last minute. Consequently, we had already made plans and bought airplane tickets to and from Melbourne with plans to take a Ferry to Tasmania, rent a car, and drive to where ever they had settled. Because they were in Coomera and we were already flying into Melbourne (which we could not change) we decided to see a little of eastern Australia before, during, and after our visit with our family. We were going there for the holidays (Christmas, Andy’s birthday, New Years. and my birthday) and had made arrangements to spend at least a couple months there. We flew in to Melbourne in early December, spent a few days there, then traveled in the area and eventually up to Coomera arriving just before Christmas.

After the holidays we decided to drive down the east coast of Australia to Sydney and on to Melbourne, leave our luggage there and take a two week trip to New Zealand, back to Melbourne and home. Eventually I will post each major segment of our time in Oz (Australia) but for now, and to keep the posts from getting way to long, I will post each segment separately. This post is our time in New Zealand. There will be two sub posts with this one. North Island and South Island.

A bit about New Zealand. I was never personally interested in going to NZ. I thought of it as stodgy old Brits, goats, sheep, and aboriginal people. I was very wrong. NZ is an amazing place with a tremendously diverse population, geography, and history. The indigenous people there are Maori (pronounced Mow ray) and are proud, hard working people who can tell you what boat their ancestors came to NZ on from Tahiti, Hawaii, Samoa, or other South Pacific Island. They have reclaimed much of their land from early poachers through the courts and hard work. They are active in all levels of government and proud of their country. There may be some Aboriginals in NZ but very few. Most live in Australia.

The early settlers, or poachers, were Europeans who came to NZ and claimed large tracts of land and used the locals to farm it for them. They have seen the writing on the wall and are working with the government to reinstate original owners and pay local workers a fair wage. While they did bring progress, they are not entitled to colonization.

The geography of NZ is the most amazing. In two little islands you can find mountains, deserts, fertile farmland, forests, glaciers, thermal activity, swamps, and seacoasts. Their history is just as diverse.

We only had a couple weeks to spend in NZ so we moved quickly to cover both Islands. I have included maps depicting where we drove. I took pictures of things Nancy and I found interesting. Follow along and I encourage you to goggle or research anything or place I mention because my photos and commentary do not do the country justice.

We had no real itinerary. We stopped at the end of each day and started at the next morning. We had made no reservations so as we got to mid afternoon we would decide how much farther we were going, find a McDonalds that has WiFi, logged on to booking.com and found a place to stay a couple hours down the road. We would go out for dinner, talk about our next day and get some sleep. Breakfast was normally included, and we pressed on. Life is good!

Come on along!

NORTH ISLAND – New Zealand 2016

We had a very late flight leaving Melbourne so it was oh dawn thirty when we arrived in Wellington, North Island, New Zealand. We were lucky and the car rental place was open so we got our car and ventured forth onto North Island. Of the two Islands that make up New Zealand, North Island is the most populated and, for those of you who haven’t memorized all the capitols of the world, Wellington is the Federal Capitol of New Zealand.

Because it was so early nearly everything was closed, but because it was in the middle of their Summer, it was already daylight. We saw this big hill in the center of the city and we decided to drive up and see what we could see from it.

It was very windy, and as it was so early, quite cool. The days were all very pleasant and warm. We took a few pictures from the hill and then went down into the city and toured around a bit, spent the night there and left the next morning.

This is a Picture of a poster I found of the hill we were on in Wellington and the city behind it.

We left Wellington the next day and drove up though the center of North Island to Napier. We stopped several times along the way at points of interest.

Huka Falls. Lake Taupo drains north east through a layer of granite that resists being cut. The result is a dynamic drop in altitude through a narow cut causing this rush of water

This stop is at a vey large geothermal area much like Yellowstone National Park. There were a number of trails that wound around whatever was featured and we did most of them.

We diverted to the Kiwi capitol of the world. Most people think all the people from NZ are called “Kiwi’s” but that is not true. The indigenous people are call Maori’s and they actually come from the south pacific Islands like Tahiti, Samoa, and even Hawaii. Kiwi’s are the English settlers who came to New Zealand and took the land for themselves. Here are some pictures of real Kiwi’s.

This is a big hedge that surrounds a Kiwi orchard/grove/vineyard whatever

We left the Kiwi Capitol of the world and headed west to the ocean coast. We elected not to go all the way north to Auckland. It is a big city and we were not into big cities and it was so far out of the way we decided to skip it for now. You just have to choose what you are going to make an effort or spend time to see and everythng else will need to wait for the next trip.

So, we drove west to a town name Katikati. It is known as New Zealand’s Mural town and lives up to that name. There are over 70 buildings in town with murals on the side of them. The amazing thing is the quality of the art and history the murals depict. Here are some of them.

Okay … enough murals. We spent several hours walking the streets admiring the artwork and historical aspects of the murals. We even had a Latte in a nice little coffee house.

Moving right along, we next came to an area that featured Glow worms. Yep … just like it says … worms that glow. They live deep in caves and attract food by glowing … kinda like lightning bugs but these guys hang from the ceiling of a cave and don’t fly around. Here are some pictures of our tour of the Glow Worm Caves. Please keep in mind I have a little pocket camera and it does not do real well in the dark.

Okay then. From here we traveled west all the way to the South Ocean. (In Australia and New Zealand there is another ocean. They call it the South Ocean. It is actually the waters around the islands of Australia and New Zealand. Guess they can have their own ocean if they want to. They area is actually The Coral Sea and the Tasman Sea with the Coral Sea just reaching the northern part of NZ. When we got to the ocean we saw a sign for “The Three Sisters” so we headed over that way to have a look. Here is our journey all the way to Plymouth on the western coast of North Island where we spent the night.

The white stuff in the middle is the bottom of a water fall. As we drove along there would be a sign for a water fall so, if it was not too far away, we would park and walk out to see it. In late summer they all dry up so we wanted to take advantage of the season and see as many as we could.

When we left Plymouth the next morning it was quite foggy. We decided we wanted to see the tallest mountain in NZ so we cut inland to go past the east side of it. We actually drove up to the top of it (pictures later). From there we took the Forgotten Highway to the center of NZ, then cut south to catch the coast again. Check the map.

Here’s the story on the Forgotten Hghway:

Forgotten World Highway is one of the most scenic drives in New Zealand. This highly memorable driving journey is remote and mysterious to the extreme. This scenic route winds alongside the spectacular Tangarakau Gorge and passes through the 180-metre-long, single lane, Moki tunnel. It’s one of the most scenic drives in the world.

The route winds its way across some seriously crinkly landscape, through gorges, tunnels and dense forest. Built on colonial bridle paths formed in the late 19th century. The highway goes through some rugged, beautiful countryside. It climbs three saddles, including the Strathmore Saddle, the Whangamomona Saddle and the Tahora Saddle. If you’re up for a challenge, the Forgotten World Highway is a drive to remember. It’s a leisurely drive through numerous different types of environment.

The journey is so called due to the fact that it’s New Zealand’s oldest heritage trail. It includes some narrow sections. State Highway 43 has been ranked as one of the 10 worst roads in New Zealand by the Police. This bad record is because of the slippery gravel surface in the Tangarakau Gorge, however this is not scheduled to be sealed because of the low traffic volume.

From Lake Taupo we went south, higher into the mountains, where there was a large ski resort. Being the middle of summer there was no snow but we took the lifts up to the top and walked around a bit.

From here we drove South until we reached the ocean again and continued south back to Wellington. We spent another evening in Wellington enjoying the sites and town. We were not permitted to take our rental across to South Island so the morning that we left Wellington and North Island we turned it in and a guy gave us a ride to our ferry that was going to take us to South Island. Here are pictures of our trip along the coast to Wellington and some of the places we visited in Wellington. Very nice city. Clean, well kept, friendly people.

This completes the North Island. Hope you liked it. The South Island had much to offer as well. All different, all interesting. If you are interested, go to the South Island post. Bye now.

GERMANY/SWITZERLAND September 2021

With the EU announcing an easing of the entry restrictions due to COVID, Nancy and I decided to take a trip to Germany and Switzerland to enjoy the late Summer weather there, attend the WurstFest in Bad Durkheim, and do some hiking in the Swiss Alps. Along the way, while we were there, we would stop and see friends from our past. In early July we made airplane reservations and a number of hotel reservations based on where we thought we would be during our time there. The timing centered on the WurstFest which covered the weekends of 10 and 17 September. Our schedule was based on us attending the Wurst Fest the weekend of the 10th. With all that in mind we scheduled as much as we wanted to in advance leaving some wiggle room should our plans change while we were in Europe. Lastly, we alerted our friends in Germany, warning them of our impending arrival and desires to see them and perhaps share a dinner or something. Having done all that, the only thing left was to wait until the 7th of September and fly out.

As our departure drew near we were made aware of, by our airline, several COVID related issues we needed to take care of before we left. First, The Airline we were flying on wanted proof that we had our COVID-19 vaccinations. We were required to show we had once had COVID and were now naturally resistant or that we had the vaccination regimen required for resistance. We provided all that on line and soon we were ok’ed by the airline to fly. Then, three days before we departed we had to go to a German website and provide proof of our vaccinations or previous recovery as well as listing where we would be during our time in Germany. We did all that, again on line, and soon received a form approving our visit. A two week quarantine in Germany, upon our arrival, would be required if we did not have the approval forms. As we were going to be there for only three weeks, we did not want to spend the first two weeks locked in a hotel room. We were pleased we were able to complete everything in advance.

On Labor Day, 6 Sept, we checked out a rental car to get us to the airport, packed our bags, and did our last minute preparations to leave. On the 7th we drove to the airport, turned in our rental car, and boarded our flight to Newark, NJ and on to Frankfurt, Germany. The flights, connections and arrival processes all went fine with no delays or difficulties. We arrived in Frankfurt at 10 in the morning of the 8th of September, processed through Immigration and Customs, checked out a German Rental Car and our European Vacation was under way. We checked into our hotel, a Gasthauase in Enkenbach called the Kolb where we were to spend three nights. It is pleasant place with several rooms and great breakfasts and meals for lunch and dinner. We seldom or never stay at people’s homes. We just find the inconvenience we cause for both our hosts and ourselves to be not worth it. We find it better just to spend time with friends and stay in a hotel.

Our first stop was to see our neighbors from when we lived in Germany the last time we lived there. Manfred and Waltraud Helf lived next door to us for six years while I worked as a DoD consultant. They kind of adopted us and we were included in many of their community and family events. Many, many fond memories. Because we had not slept for 36 hours, were tired and in need of a shower and sleep, we just had cake and coffee with them and went to our hotel in the next village over. We checked in and walk to a nearby Turkish Restaurant we have enjoyed for years, had a light dinner and returned to our room. It was our intent to stay up until at least nine or ten but only made it to Seven before we crashed. Next thing I knew, Nancy was telling me it was Nine in the morning and we needed to go down for breakfast or miss out.

After a pleasant breakfast we decided to go to Kaiserslautern, the largest nearby city, and get German Telephone SIM cards for our phones which will give us phone service as well as texting and internet while we are here. There is a large electronics chain store (like Best Buy) called Saturn in Germany so we decided to try that. They had the cards but we needed our passports to register them. After driving back to the hotel and securing our passports we returned to Saturn, got the cards, and pressed on.

As we had spent many years living in this area we spent much of the day just driving around seeing what had changed, what was new, and how so many things had not changed. Between trips back and forth getting passports, stops at bakeries for coffee and a sweetie, and an afternoon beer, we managed to use up the day.

That evening we met the Helf’s and four of their friends at a sports bar for pizza, beer, wine, and schnapps … a fine evening it was. They have a group that meets there every Thursday for Pizza and we were fortunate enough to be invited. Over the years we have done many social things with the Helf’s so we already knew most of the people they were having dinner with. It was during this dinner that we found one of the events we came to Germany to enjoy was again cancelled this year. The Wurstfest in Bad Durkheim, a tradition in Germany for at least the last 600 years. (I put some pictures of one several years ago in this blog. The title is Germany Revisited.). Oh well, more time to practice relaxing!

A better night’s sleep and we were ready for our German breakfast which is usually a whole grain Brotchen ( Like a dinner role but fresh and a little bigger) with sliced cold cuts and fresh cheese. Nancy usually has the Muesli with yogurt followed by a small regular brotchen with a slice of cheese. Always with coffee. Our objective for this trip was to see friends and relax a little. We usually travel at a fast pace so this time we are practicing slowing down. That said, we spent the day cruising around again and part of the afternoon resting. We also took a long walk around the village we were staying in … very refreshing. The evening found us walking to a nearby Gasthaus for a dinner of Wiener Schnitzel, French Fries, and a salad. A ultimate traditional German Dinner.

Saturday morning found us traveling to the Deutches Wine Strasse (German Wine Street). We stopped in St Martins which is a beautiful little village that hosts a large number of Vintners selling their wines, restaurants, and lovely streets. We walked around for a while, stopped in at our favorite Vintner (Alte Schloss meaning Old Castle) and bought a couple bottles of our favorite wine to have later or take home. We also drove around the area a bit enjoying all the fields of grapes nearing maturity. The grapes were impressive as they hang in huge clusters along the bottom of the vines. Many of the fields are harvested by machines that “vacuum” the grapes from the vines causing no damage to the grapes or the vines. In hillier places like along the Mosel or Rhine Rivers the grapes are still hand picked.

We did stop in Bad Durkheim at the largest wine barrel in the world which normally anchors the Wurst Fest Event. There were many people there and we enjoyed a glass of wine next to the big barrel … which is actually a restaurant inside. After the stop there we traveled to a nearby small village where we spent the evening in a Bohemian type hotel, Hotel Vivo Vino (you can check it out on the internet if you don’t believe me).A very clean and nicely decorated room off of a center courtyard where they served dinner. We did have dinner there and enjoyed a delicious, well presented, meal which was followed by a good nights sleep.

The next day we headed cross country to get to Bernkastel Kues which is a good starting point if you want to enjoy some of the Mosel River. We had not had breakfast when we arrived so we proceeded to the nearest bakery and had a Latte and a sweet role (they still bake them fresh right on the premises here). As we always have done in the past we parked and walked through the scenic part of the town enjoying the people, shops, restaurants, and wine bars. We did stop at a wine shop that had an outside seat available and enjoyed a great glass of wine while watching the tourists. Realizing that our parking time was soon expiring and we still had some ways to go to our hotel, we finished up and drove on.

Driving along the Mosel is exceptionally scenic with endless things to see. There are fewer castles along the Mosel as there are along the Rhine but the Mosel is smaller, more quaint, and much more scenic. Nancy and I often came to the Mosel to ride our bikes along the river. We would park someplace and go either upriver (South) or downriver, eventually cross to the opposite side and ride back. Because the Mosel is smaller, there are frequent bridges you can use to cross. The Rhine however has a bridge in Koblenz, where the Rhine and Mosel converge and most other crossings must be made by ferry. Once the Mosel and Rhine converge, it is called the Rhine as it runs Northwest into the Netherlands, where is becomes the Wall River and continues to the Atlantic near Rotterdam. There is always a great deal of barge traffic on both the Mosel and the Rhine that is enabled by a very efficient lock system to keeps the waters deep enough to support the barges. There are also a number of tourist barges that provide either day tours or weeks on end of cruising the rivers while living on the boat in grand style. Today though we are just driving our rental down the Mosel enjoying the pleasant scenery.

Late afternoon found us arriving in Senheim where the Gasthaus Halfenstube is nestled up to the Mosel. Twenty plus years ago Nancy and I were stationed at Rhine Main Air Base in Frankfurt. While we were there Nancy booked a River Cruise on the Nile River in Egypt. While on the cruise we met and became friends with Erich and Ushe Klingon, who owned and operated a Gasthaus called the Halfenstube on the Mosel. We enjoyed our time with them on the cruise and when we parted, they extended an invitation for us to stop at their Gasthaus someday and enjoy some Mosel Hospitality. We did that and have going back to visit them ever since. A few years ago, their daughter Sylvia took over the business and has raised it to a higher level providing relaxation, sauna, massage, more rooms, wellness, and a heated swimming pool. We had a lively dinner with Erich and Ushe that first evening and had a lot of fun catching up.

The next day, after breakfast, Nancy and I drove down to Beilstein where a large Castle once dominated the Mosel. The town is picturesque and hosts many restaurants and hotels. It is also a stop for many of the tour boats that take thousands of people up and down these two rivers every year. We had just finished breakfast so we decided to make the climb to the castle. The reward for making it to the top is an awesome view of the villages, vineyards, and the Mosel. I’m pleased to report that the trip down from the castle is still easier than the trip up. We made it back to the car and proceeded to Cochem.

Beilstien Castle Standing above the Mosel

Cochem is a larger town with a complete castle that towers over the city, both have which have been here since the 1400’s. We found a parking space (Whew!) and strolled through Cochem. We had been here a number of times so it was just remembering all the good times we have had here. As a matter of fact, some 10 to 15 years ago we were guests at Sylvia (Ushi and Erich’s Daughter) and her Husband Volker’s wedding reception held in the beautiful castle. We did stop and have a refreshment, then finished our walk.

Returning to the Halfenstube in mid afternoon we relaxed with a very good piece of German Pastry and a glass of wine on their Mosel Terrace which sits right on the Mosel and you can sit there and watch the boat traffic and swans on the river and the bikers riding along it. We again had dinner with Erich and Ushe that evening , after which we went to their house where Erich shared some of the “Special “ wines he had saved over the years. Erich also grows grapes and we are featured picking the grapes for him one year in my “A Revisit To Germany” post at adventurzwithnancy.com

The next morning, after checking out of the Halfenstube and saying goodbye to everyone, we were off to Koblenz to see that city and start our tour of the Rhine. It was not too far to Koblenz so we arrived around noon and were able to check in to our hotel. It was downtown so we hauled our stuff in and walked through the old city to the “Deutch’s Eck” or, where the Mosel and the Rhine flow together. It turned out to be quite the walk and used up most of our afternoon. We had stopped for a coffee and a strudel late in the afternoon so we decided to skip dinner, had an early lights out and got a good night’s sleep.

The next morning was foggy and a bit of drizzle. We did not have a real long way to go so after a leisurely breakfast we packed up the car and headed out for Boppard, a whole 30 kilometers down the road. We stopped several times to look at and photograph castles and boats and we made it to the hotel around noon. Because it was a dreary day and the hotel (Park Hotel, Boppard) upgraded us to a room with a covered balcony, we elected to spend the day there, in the room, on the balcony, enjoying the scenery and playing cards. The afternoon went by quickly and we had a pleasant dinner in the hotel restaurant that evening. In the morning we just had coffee, packed up the car, and were off.

Our hotel for the next evening was on the North side of the Rhine and we were on the south side. Consequently, when we left our hotel we crossed on the first ferry we encountered. That was not a smart move because a few kilometers down the road was a huge construction site that had the road on that side of the river closed. Because of the closure, we had to take a ferry back to the side we were on when we started the day. No worries though … we had ample time and crossing on the ferry was both inexpensive and kind of fun. We continued to Bingen on the South side of the Rhine, then took a big ferry over to Rudesheim. Rudesheim is a very quaint big town famous being the home of Asbach brandy, restaurants, and tourists. We used to go there frequently just to enjoy the ambiance. So, we were going there today. Our hotel was just a couple kilometers up the road so we drove up to make sure the roadwas open, checked in, and drove back to Rudesheim. We wandered around looking in shops, had a glass of wine and a Rudesheimer Coffee, and drove back to the hotel later in the afternoon. We strolled around the little village our hotel,was in, spend some time sitting out front watching the river traffic, and eventually had dinner. Then off to bed.

The next day, Friday, 17 Sept, we had arranged to meet some friends for dinner in the city of Frankfurt. We left our hotel near Rudesheim and proceeded to Frankfurt and our hotel, a Marriott Residence, that was a new hotel in the old part of town. We were going to meet Uwe & Jutta Thoms for dinner. Jutta had worked at the Frankfurt Airport when we were stationed at Rhein Main AB in Frankfurt. The Airbase was actually located on the airport so we had a great deal of interaction with the Airport (Called Fraport). Jutta was an interpreter for the Fraport executives and would attend meetings to ensure everyone understood what was being discussed. Not so much the actual language but the nuances of intent that often are misunderstood. Anyhow, Nancy and I got to know Uwe (Jutta’s husband) and Jutta over the years we were there and always make a point of having dinner with them when we pass through Frankfurt. Uwe had a successful Legal Practice in Frankfurt. They are both retired now but Uwe still does some legal work in the village where they live.

We checked in to the hotel, wandered around the old part of Frankfort a while, had a bratwurst and a glass of wine and returned to the hotel. We met Uwe & Jutta and they took us to the oldest restaurant in Frankfurt. It has been operating since somewhere in the 1400’s. We had a delightful dinner and walked around the Romer Platz and down the Zeil talking about the city and life in general. A very pleasant evening.

Saturday morning Nancy and I did one of our favorite things. We walked the Zeil (A big pedestrian walkway through the retail center of Frankfurt). There are two markets in Frankfurt on Saturdays. One is underground and sells some of the best international foods you will find. Fresh fruit, vegetables, spices, seasonings, meats, mushrooms, you name it and they have it. An incredibly interesting market to walk through. The other market is in a .large lot and is more traditional with fruit, veggies, bakery, meats, and wines. We always finish up there for a bratwurst and a glass of wine. The wine place has just high tops set around outside with no chairs. You get your wine, find a table and stand there enjoying the weather, people and hustle. Germans typically share spaces at a table so it is not uncommon to be offered one side of the table or offer aside at yours. You meet the most interesting people doing that. Today we met Adam and Lee, two Americans actually, that lived and worked in Frankfurt. Nice couple.

This is the Zeil (Quite empty because it is early in the morning)

We drove back to Mehlingen that afternoon and took Manfred and Waltraud out for dinner. We went to a local Gastehaus for snitzel and fries, then went to the Helf’s garden Hutte for some evening socializing. Many Germans have small rooms beside their gardens where they spend time during the Summer when the houses are hot.Just the four of us. Another pleasant evening.

Sunday we were up and on our way to Switzerland. Our favorite place in Switzerland is Grindelwald. A medium sized community that is a haven for skiers in the winter and hikers in the Summer. We had reservations at our favorite hotel, the Hotel Gletschergarten. It has been in the Michel family for five generations and is ran by two very nice people (Greg and Gaby Michel). We have stayed there several times and always enjoy it.

We didn’t drive the entire way to Switzerland the first day. We stopped overnight in Freiburg on the edge of the Black Forest. The day was rainy so driving was no fun. We checked in to our hotel, got out our umbrellas, and walked downtown for a Latte and a slice of Black Forest Tort. That brightened up the day a bit and we returned to the hotel and vegged out until dinner. It was still raining at dinner time so we decided to eat at the hotel. The hotel did not serve full dinners but did have a short menu in their bar area. We each ordered a beer and a Flamkugen. Flamkugen is like a pizza but the dough is very thin and crispy, there is no tomato sauce, and usually has only one or two sparsely spread out toppings. There is some sort of white sauce on it (Cheese I think) but I’m not sure what that is. They are about the size of a small pizza so we each had one. We met a pair of gentlemen from Denmark. A father and his adult son. The son was a commercial airplane pilot and the Father worked with the Danish defense ministry. Interesting conversation and evening.

German Bakery … Black Forest Tort left front

So Monday we drove on to Grindelwald, checked in to the Gletschergarten, and walked downtown to see what had changed. Like so many small European cities, not much change. Mostly the same shops, restaurants, and equipment rental places. After strolling, looking, strolling, we decided it was late enough for dinner so we stopped at this place called “Oncle Tom’s Pizza” … and yes, we had eaten there before and yes, it is spelled with an “O”. We had a great pizza and a couple beers and called it an evening. The next morning we decided to ride the lift to what they call First. The lift is the ski lift in the winter so it goes all the way to the top of the mountain. There is a lake, a cliff walk, and a restaurant at the top. We did the cliff walk while it was exhilarating, it was foggy so you could not see very far. We did not walk out to the lake because it was fogged in and a two hour walk in cold weather. We enjoyed the cliff walk and had a latte at the restaurant to celebrate our joy. We then took the lift back down to the lowest stop and boarded our Trotti bikes for an exciting ride to the bottom! The Trotti bike is like a coaster with bigger tires. No pedals, no seat, just brakes and a platform to stand on. We had a beer to celebrate. Later we had dinner at the hotel. Dinners are difficult in Grindelwald in that you eat mostly at pizza places or hotels. The hotels all serve about the same thing for about the same price. So, we ate at our hotel, had a great dinner and turned in.

The next morning produced a great breakfast and a bus ride to the train station. We took the train from Grindelwald to Kliena Sheidegg at the top of the mountain. From there you could take another train to the Jungfrau and “The Top of Europe” or back down the other side of the mountain to Wengen. Wengen is a special town in that it does not allow automobiles or trucks. They have electric taxis and a few utility vehicles that they operate to support the city. We took the train to Wengen as we have been to the Eiger on previous trips. Once in Wengen we walked through the town, stopped for a beer, bought some souvenirs, and later, took a lift to the top of the mountain. Some years ago we took a lift from Grendelwald to the top of this mountain and hiked across the top to Kliena Sheidegg.

Following is a number of mountain pictures … I will caption only those that are unique.

From Grindelwald we had three days to get to our flight. We had to get a COVID test to get back into the US so that was our first priority. We had bought test kits that you performed yourself while being observed on the internet. The result showed up like a pregnancy test and if you were negative, they would send you the test result document you needed to get on an airplane going to the US.

We left Grindelwald and drove back to Freiburg in the Black Forest. There we again stayed at the Marriott and did our COVID tests from our room.

That got us cleared to fly back so all we had to do was make it to Frankfurt by Sunday morning. We left Freiburg the next morning and stopped for the night in Enkenbach because the Helf’s had asked us to stop by one lat time. That we did and Waltraud made a a superb homemade meal. That was followed by some wine, beer, and schnapps with some other friends that stopped by after dinner.

Saturday morning we got up and drove to Frankfurt and checked into the Steigenburger hotel at the airport. As soon as we were checked in we returned our trusted rental car.

We then wandered around the airport for a while. There are many things to do at the Frankfurt airport. Many restaurants, shopping, whatever. We wandered around for a while, had a pretzel and a beer, and took the shuttle back to the hotel. Next morning we got up, took the shuttle back to the airport and boarded our flight back to the US.

All in all a very pleasant trip. It was wonderful seeing friends from our time there again, and we always enjoy traveling and seeing and experiencing new things. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and blab … thanks for coming along.

P.S. I apologies for reasserting you to my blog but I must add two comments that I had intended but neglected to include.

Our original itinerary had included going to Spain for a couple days to visit Phil and Sarah Gardner. However, as we were planning our itinerary, Spain put a lock down on anyone entering the country. That, unfortunately resulted in us dropping any plans of going to Spain. Phil and Sarah are friends of ours who we met in Australia. They had retired and bought a home there and, through our affiliation with St Mary’s Catholic Church we came to know each other and kept in contact. Phil & Sarah eventually sold their house in Australia (A very difficult place to live if you are not Australian) and moved to Spain. Because Ryan Air flies to Spain from Germany we had intended to drop in on them and have dinner. We scratched all that with Spains lockdown not knowing it would last only a short time. The unfortunate result was that we did not go to Spain, we did not get to see Phil and Sarah. Sorry.
The second comment is more personal and involves only Nancy and I. We have been back home now for nearly three days. As we were enjoying a home dinner that Nancy planned and prepared, and I cooked on the grill, we commented to each other how it is almost surreal that we had been to Germany and Switzerland, saw all the friends we had, and now we were back home, having dinner, just as were were doing on the 5th of September. It feels like we never left home, yet we have all these new memories. Strange but pleasant.

Okay, I won’t add any more. Thanks for bearing with me.

The Pacific NorthWest Road Trip – July 2021

11 July 2021 – Tuesday morning we saddle up a Delta 737 and fly to Seattle to start our adventure in the NorthWest. We will rent a car in Seattle and eventually bring it back when we finish. Here’s a couple maps to show where we will be going. Other than Seattle we have no reservations anywhere so I’m not sure where the stops are … depends on what kind of day we are having.

That’s the plan. See you Tuesday evening in Seattle. Don’t forget your bathers … it’s hot out there!

13 July 2021 – OK!!! We made it to Seattle. After a nice evening in Tampa we caught an early flight out of Tampa and had an uneventful five hour flight to Seattle. Couple memories:

We got our car and drove to Downtown Seattle where we are staying in the shadow of the Space needle. We parked the car and decided to do some tourist stuff. Here’s our time at the Space Needle built in 1961 for the Seattle World’s Fair:

The Top of The Space Needle – It’s 552 feet tall

That was it for the day we arrived. As I mentioned in the caption we walked to our restaurant for dinner. I have found Seattle a bit disappointing in that it seems to be in decline. I have been to Seattle a number of times over the years. Starting in 1971 on the way to Viet Nam and a number of times over the years since. It used to be a very clean, vibrant city with a lot of hard working people who were friendly and were very proud of their city. I have not found much of that today. It reminded me of some third world country where they had some really interesting things they wanted tourists to see but didn’t take care of anything else. There are many, many attractions that are closed, including major ones like the Science Museum, and restaurants, and services. There is litter everywhere long the sidewalks and road sides. Sadly, it not just that the city doesn’t pick stuff up, the people who live here, and the tourists, just throw stuff because there are no garbage cans and they don’t want to carry it around. The roads, streets and walkways are in disrepair with little evidence of any attempts to fix them. Lastly, the architecture is very uninspiring. Nothing imaginative or creative … just big buildings with drab colors. Downtown has a few interesting buildings. Reminded me of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. They do have modern art pieces set up all over which makes you wonder about their priorities. Anyhow. Underwhelmed but I did like the Space Needle.

14 July 2021 – We got up at 1 AM to call our Grandson who was Five years old today. He was just finishing his family birthday party after dinner and was opening his presents. He lives in Australia so he had a 17 hour head start on us. We went back to bed and slept in till seven. Got up, had coffee, a mediocre breakfast provided by the hotel and decided to get going. First on our agenda was the Chihuly Glass Museum. As you will see and in the event you don’t know who he is, he is a famous Glass artist who has Glass on exhibit all over the world. We were introduced to his work By Brenda and Dave Gardner of Atlanta so I took a lot of pictures in the museum for Brenda (and all of you too of course) to enjoy. Here they are. there are several pictures with explanations on them:

That took up a good part of the morning and the other biggy we wanted to do was go down to the Harbor and see the Pike Street Market. To get there we took the Monorail that was also built for the Seattle World’s Fair and is still running. They were doing some major renovations to it but it did get us to where we were going.

That was our day in Seattle. The things we saw were impressive. Nothing very new but well done. I don’t see Seattle progressing very much. Rich people put up big things to get their names on the wall but I can’t see where anyone is caring for Seattle. If you do come here, make sure you know what you want to see. See you tomorrow in Spokane.

15 July 2021 – As promised, here we are in Spokane. A very different texture, vibe, and culture. Spokane lives out in the prairies of Eastern Washington and is snuggled up against the Western slope of the Rocky Mountains. It is an old city but appears to be well kept. Again, many closed businesses and activities but many people out and about. We are staying in the University section of Spokane right next to the Spokane River. You can almost throw a rock from here into Idaho. Because we are in the university area there are many young people which gives the area a lot of energy … always fun to be around. We did walk downtown after dinner to stretch our car cramped legs and while it is old, it is very well kept, clean, and there are people out and about. Not nearly so many tourists, families on vacation, tour buses, etc but people are out and about.

Before I get into our trip over here, here are couple alibi pictures from yesterday that I thought important to add to the Seattle setting.

The First Is A view Of The Space Needle Where You Can See The Restaurant on Top … You Need To Be Quite a Ways Away From the Needle To See The Top

Okay … The trip Here. We left the hotel after a little breakfast and getting the car out of parking. Driving out of town was not too bad, mostly because everyone was coming into town. Anyhow, the first twenty miles or so were city driving, then a couple of the suburbs. The suburbs appear to have the money. Fancy decorations along the road, sculptures, decorative walls so they don’t have to listen to the traffic … and no trash.

Then we finally got to US 2 which is the Hiway we elected to cross Washington on. If you read my blog on our trip last Summer; we followed US2 from Duluth, Minnesota to Glacier National Park. I-90 runs from Spokane to Seattle but we decided to take a more scenic route. Twenty years ago I traveled from McCord AFB in Seattle to Fairchild AFB in Spokane to talk to some of the Air Traffic Controllers I was responsible for. I spent the afternoon and evening with them and drove back the next day. Anyhow, I found the geography of Washington to be extremely diverse and very interesting and I have been telling Nancy I wanted her to see it. Today she did.

As soon as we were clear of the Seattle Metropolitan area we were in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. Not as big or rugged as the rockies but very nice to look at. Here are some pictures of the Cascades.

We drove out of the Cascades and came to a town named Leavenworth. This is an authentic Bavarian Town that really goes out of its way to be Bavarian. They were having a festival there so we stopped and walked around.

Yup .. There’s A Bavarian Dude Now! “Guten Tag Herr Rumpel”

We did pause to have a couple Lattes and some German bakery. Quite good! From there, Washington turned agricultural. First Fruit Farms, Then Huge Wheat Fields, then Smaller Farms and then back into the tress. The land became much drier and rocky. From Leavenworth to Spokane, about two hundred miles, is like driving in New Mexico or Western Texas.

Ok .. That was today. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. We are leaving Spokane and driving over to Couer d’Alene, Idaho, then South to Boise via the National Forests. No Wheat fields tomorrow … many trees though!

By the way … did you notice what I brought back into my photo’s that I didn’t have the first couple days? Any guesses? Tell you tomorrow. Good Night.

16 June 2021 – (This is actually the 17th but the hotel’s Internet blew up last night so I didn’t get to post yesterday. So I will pretend it’s yesterday until I get caught up today. Then it will be today!!) Made it to Boise, Idaho. Long day but many interesting things to see along the way. As I did earlier, I have a couple alibi’s from the 16th and our stay in Spokane.

A Tower in A Park We Walked by After Dinner. Don’t Know What it, or The Wire Thing Behind it Is … Looked Interesting Though!

So This Morning we got up and got on our way. We had a long way, on curvy roads and a lot of little towns to get past. We were going to do more in Couer d’Alaine but it turns out it is just another goochy city on a big lake that rich people park their boats at. The lake is beautiful but lined side to side with marinas. Then there were many more farms than I expected. Big farms, lots of wheat fields, and many cattle. We did get up onto the high Plains which is very different than the plains of Kansas.

Morning On The Road, Spokane, WA towards Couer d”Alaine Idaho

We suddenly came to a big decline and it wound down into a large city. Two Actually. Lewiston and Clarkston co-located on the confluence of the Salmon River and the Snake River. Both towns were named after Lewis and Clark … you can guess which is which. The Salmon River flowed into the area and we followed it upstream for most of the rest of the day.

View of Clarkston and Lewiston On The Snake River

We came to a turnoff to Devils Canyon on The Snake River. It was eight miles over a pass on a dirt road .. so we gave it a go (I’m driving a rental)

We didn’t make it to the Snake or Devils Canyon. The road became much rougher and finally a sign that only ATVs were allowed. So we went back. The rest of the way to McCall was routine. More farms, Cattle, horses. At McCall we took US 55 straight South to Boise .. More lakes, tourists, and traffic. Boise must have been in a level five evacuation …everyone and his cousin were heading to the mountains with their boats and campers .. then we remembered it was Friday night … WEEKEND!!

And we made it to Boise. It was well after six when we arrived. Checked into our hotel, went and had dinner, did some planning for tomorrow, and went to bed. Long Day.

17 July 2021 – A much shorter day with a big high. We had an easy start and headed East to Mountain Home, then South to Elko, Nevada. A very picturesque drive, including through a Native American Reservation. We we swarmed by grasshoppers at one point, and drove by a lake at 6,200 feet elevation. Most of the day was spent above 5000 feet. Very High Plains.

Here we are in Elko, Nevada. I did find a carwash and got the grasshoppers off. Spending the night here and hading South to Eureka, then West to Sparks where we will prepare to see Reno.

Oh!!! One last thing … my question that I asked you about what was not in the first couple days and has been in since?? My windshield … and so much of it. We have a little Honda Civic rental and the windshield is steeply sloped causing all sorts of reflections … as you have seen. No apologies though .. That’s the way it is when you travel … Hmmm.

18 July 2021 – Team Bill & Nancy are now in Sparks, Nevada, just a stones throw from Reno. As a matter of fact, we get here earlier than we had expected so we spent the afternoon exploring Reno. However, as before, I have an Alibi from our stay in Elco, NV, then some thoughts, then Reno, NV.

We Had Dinner At A Nice Italian Restaurant in Elco. Across the Street we Saw This muriel. It is quite Good and Conveys A Peaceful, Western Feeling … Don’t You Think?

We left Elco, NV after a brief breakfast. The road South was all High Mountain Plains, a few fields, some farms, and some mountains. It was mostly at or above five thousand feet. Nothing new so no pictures. W drove south about a hundred miles and got to Eureka, NV. Eureka claims to be the friendliest town and the most lonesome road in America. I’m not sure about the friendliest town but here was the sign for the highway.

We followed HWY 50 Due West for about two hundred miles to get to Sparks where we are staying tonight. While the terrain yielded nothing new or interesting, we did encounter some interesting sites (some of which were terrain)

There is a very big wild fire burning in california and the smoke is obscuring everything around here. Very bad for photos.

After we checked in to our hotel we went to reno. We went downtown, to the River Walk, and a couple other places.

We found Reno to be rather underwhelming. Not much to see, not much to do (unless you wanted to gamble and all the Casinos are filled with smoke). It is interesting, we met interesting people, and had a nice time. The smoke was getting thicker.

Don’t know what impact the fires will have on our itinerary tomorrow. We plan to drive around Lake Tahoe and see what is there.

An interesting factoid about Highway 50 is that it follows the original route of the Pony Express. We didn’t see any riders but some of their dust was still hanging in the air.

19 July 2021 – We have made it to West Reno … That’s about 12 miles West of where we stayed last night but at least its farther West. However, we did drive about 200 miles today. We left Sparks, went west on I80, took I580 South to Carson City, got back on US50 West which took along lake Tahoe all the way to the Souther tip of the lake to a small town called South Tahoe. Somewhere along the way we had drifted into California so we took California Hiway 89 North all the way back to near Reno, following the West side of Lake Tahoe. We again caught I580 which took us to where we currently are. Basically we drove around Lake Tahoe. All that confusing enough? Bottom line is that Lake Tahoe is a beautiful Lake and the villages, settlements, developments, and commercial enterprises around it are well maintained, well presented, and it all made for a great day. We did come to one realization though … actually it is a big DUH! Traveling in the Summertime in high tourist interest areas is crazy. Most of America is on vacation, many of them have not been out for two years because of the COVID, many of them have pockets full of money because they haven’y been able to go anywhere and the government sends them money every so often, so they are all out, with all their kids, and dogs, enjoying the good life. It is such a big Duh for us because we have hardly ever traveled in the US during the Summer. We did go to our home in Colorado in the Summer but stayed away from tourist areas. Now, we suddenly realize, Summer vacation is back in full swing for most of America. Some people still wear masks, some stores ask you to wear a mask if you are not vaccinated, and some places over which the government has control, requires masks all the time (thanks Fuachi!) even though the CDC does not require masks.

Enough soap box stuff. We had a wonderful day, saw a lot of interesting things and are ready to press on to the West tomorrow. We did have our doubts as when we got up this morning there was a lot of smoke from the Tamarac Fires south of Lake Tahoe and some of the other fires burning out here in the West. It was so thick you could not see the foothills. We nearly cancelled the trip but decided to go and see what we could. We went over a Pass just outside of Carson City and when we came out of it, the weather was clear. Apparently all the smoke stayed on the east side of the range we passed. Carson City is about one third of the way down the East side of Lake Tahoe. So here we go:

Smoke Driving South From Reno to Carson City

We were then on US50 (I tell you these names for the people who follow the routes on their maps) We get out first look at Lake Tahoe, stop at a scenic points, and go through some villages. Lake Tahoe is a high mountain lake and sets at about 6000 feet. The highest we made it today was going over Mt Ross Pass at 8400 feet.

We stopped for lunch at this Deli/Store/Bathroom kind of place and used all that it offered. We split a delicious Italian Sandwich, a bag of chips and we both had our very own goochi California soft drinks. It was a nice break to be out of the car for a while and relax and watch all the people.

After our pleasant lunch we diverted away from the lake because the traffic was getting so heavy it was basically stand still. We decided to follow the Truckee River as it left Lake Tahoe. There were a couple of rafting companies that put people on rafts in Lake Tahoe and picked them up five or ten miles down stream. It looked like bumper rafts. There were so many of them and they were all having a good time.

As we drove on we came upon Squaw Valley! Squaw Valley was the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics. They are the first Olympic Games That Nancy and I remember thanks to “Wide World Of Sports”. We both had a chuckle when we saw the sign and the name. Naturally we drove in just to have a look. Here’s a picture I got from the internet from the 1960 Olympics:

Look At The Snow and Snow Sculpture! February 1960

Here are some pictures we took today:

Same Place, Same Sign, No Snow – July 2021

Well, that was exciting .. for us anyhow. The rest of the drive home was good. We drove all the way out to Truckee, then back in to the lake. We followed the lake until we got close to Reno. Highest we got was going over Mt Rose:

Ok .. That’s it for Reno and Lake Tahoe. Highly recommend visiting but maybe in September or so … After Summer Holidays and Before the Snow. Of course, you can always come here snow skiing but the locals tell us the place is packed with people all Winter long. Take your pick.

Tomorrow we head west towards the Pacific Ocean. We plan to see the Lassen Volcanic National Park and spend the evening at Redding. See you there.

20 July 2021 – We made it to Redding, California famous for … not sure. We chose Redding because it was as far as we thought we would want to travel and we were about right. Had a nice day driving across California and driving through all the National Forests. Beautiful country. I’m not a big fan of California but I must recognize it is well maintained, and clean highways. The parks are well kept, and everything seems to be working. We were nearly diverted off of our planned route by a huge forest fire called the Dixie Fire. Fortunately we turned North just before we got to it and missed any problems with it. Several major roads were closed and there was smoke everywhere. Not a lot of pictures from along the way. Mostly mountains, streams, trees, etc which you have seen a lot of already. A few interesting shots and then we got to Lassen National Park. Took some pictures there. SO here we go:

Welcome To California … Just A Few Miles West of Reno

We found out way into Lassen National Park curious regarding what we would see. Turns out it is a Volcanic area with hot springs, boiling mud, and volcanic craters.

21 July 2021 – We got a very early start today because parts of US 101 along the Pacific coast were closed while the hiway department cleared rockslides. Timing was important as we had to be near the closed section when it opened from noon to three for traffic to pass North.

We traveled through yet another mountain chain, again nice lakes, many trees, beautiful scenery. The area was not real high, 500 feet to 4000 feet but went up and down several times so it took us nearly three hours to go 150 miles. The area is very dry. Here are some shots from that part:

Eventually we got to Hiway 101 in Arcata and turned North. This was our first sight of the Pacific Ocean on this trip. From here we saw Redwoods, Elk, and grand views of the Pacific. We are now in Brookings, Oregon for the night.

To Close Out The day here are a few shots from behind out hotel. Incredible shore line.

See you all tomorrow as we head North through Oregon.

22 July, 2021 – Here we are in Newport, Oregon. Something I have not mentioned much about lately is the weather. Other than some occasional smoke from forest fires, morning haze, and low clouds, it has been pretty clear. The temps have ranged from the 90’s in Seattle and Spokane. tp the 70’s and 80’s in Reno, to the 110’s in Reddington, to the low 60’s and 50’s along the coast of Oregon. Good thing we packed a lot of clothes!! We had a great day today. Traveled about 200 miles North along US 101 right on the Pacific Coast. So many beautiful trees, beaches, hills and valleys. Very scenic with little towns along the way all claiming to have the best Clam Chowder. Not many captions on the picture tonight. They are mostly along the coast at various viewpoints or pull offs that we went into or that I shot as we passed by. Have a look:

These Tsunami Warning Signs Were In Every Low Area With A Corresponding Sign Saying You Are Leaving It Once You Go Up

That’s it for today. Many trees, many rocks, much ocean … great stuff to see. Tomorrow is the remainder of Oregon and some of Washington.

We just found out our trip was being abbreviated as we need to divert to Denver to conduct some business there. Consequently, tomorrow will be a full day then Saturday will be a short one getting us to Seattle Airport.

Looking forward to seeing the rest of Oregon and some of the Washington Coast with you tomorrow.

23 July 2021 – Our Last stop on our vacation/tour of the Northwest is in Montesano, Washington. Montesano is a small, unassuming town, nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Greater State of Washington. Lumber, and fishing (including mussels) seems to be the big trades here. The people are aloof but cordial, the town old, but taken care of. Mostly hard working blue collar people here. We are staying in a local hotel that is clean and neat, offers a full breakfast, and is concerned about their guests.

The trip here from where we stayed in Oregon last night was pleasant with no big surprises. We had a beautiful, sunshine day with the temps starting at 55 and going all the way up to 75. Mostly dramatic coastline, many trees, and we even got into some dairy farming country. I didn’t take any pictures of cows, crops, pr farms. I did take shots along the way of the areas we found interesting. Again, captions are not necessary as they are general scenery pictures. Just flip through them and enjoy. I do comment on things that are unique.

A Lighthouse Near where We Spent the Night

A couple comments about my photos. I again apologize for all the reflections. The car we have has a very low and sloped windshield which reflects everywhere. Plus you sit much lower than the RV so you can’t shoot over the railings. Mia Copa!!

There were many turnoffs and vista points but we did not take them all. After a while, every landscape, regardless of how brash taking it is in real, looks the same in a photograph. Lastly here are a few pictures from Montesano as Nancy an I took a walk after dinner.

That concludes our 2,600 mile trip around the NorthWestern part of America. Beautiful country, well deserving of many visitors.

There were many, many people out during our travels. As I mentioned, hotels were all pretty well booked up, campgrounds had No Vacancy signs out, and there were many RVs camped in parking lots “Boondoggling”. America is out regardless of what the politicians have to say. Many wear masks, many don’t. Most people feel like it’s their choice and no one judges them for it. Way it should be.

Thanks for coming along. Tomorrow we get to Seattle, leave Sunday morning, fly to Denver, have dinner with some friends from Heritage Pines who are in Denver babysitting their Grandchildren (actually the grandchildren are watching them), going to Colorado Springs and having dinner with a colleague from my AF days, then on to Fairplay and home..

THE GREAT RIVER ROAD – Minneapolis to Memphis – June 2021

Sunday, 6 May, 2021- As the caption says, we made it to Wisconsin. We left Florida early Tuesday morning and dashed up across America to a little community in Northern Wisconsin named Holcombe. Holcombe’s claim to fame is that it sits on a beautiful lake that is fresh and clear at least six months of the year … the rest of the time it is frozen over.

We came to Holcombe to attend the wedding of one of our nephews. He (Alec), and his bride (Alison), had a Venue wedding at one of the locations on the lake in Holcombe. So, Thursday evening, Friday, yesterday (the actual wedding was late yesterday) and last night was spent playing golf, eating, drinking, visiting with friends and relatives and enjoying Northern Wisconsin. For you meteorologists, the temps here are normally in the mid 70’s during the day and low 60’s in the evening. Just for us, the temperatures, while we were here, exceeded 90 all four days, but was breezed and humid. Hmmm. Anyhow, we had a very nice time, enjoyed gracious hospitality, and ready to move on. But, before we leave the wedding thought, here a few pictures of the venue where the young couple had an informal reception for their immediate families:

As you can see, hunting and fishing are a BIG thing here … it’s what most people up here do when they are not working or drinking. The other big activities are four wheeling and snowmobiling and drinking … Snowmobiling wins out as the most popular because there is snow here most of the time … except June, July, and August. The venues are quite well done and a great place to entertain. We had a very nice time.

We are near Holcombe right now getting ready to depart and wander around the state looking up friends and relatives today and tomorrow. The Great River Road experience does not start until Monday morning when we will be leaving Winona, Minnesota and starting down the great Mississippi. Here’s our route:

In a Nutshell, we are following the river from Winona to Memphis with multiple stops along the way. From Memphis we hope to cut over to Nashville and catch some of the nightlife there. Then, catch a couple distillery tours south of Nashville, on to Atlanta, and home. OH!! I forgot to tell you. Today, leaving Holcombe, we were driving down Hwy 27 and we saw this furry little head poking up out of the grass right next to the road. From a distance we thought it might be a kitty but as we got closer the head looked too big. Just as we got to it another furry little head popped up right behind the first one and it was to little bear cubs!! Wow, first bears we have actually seen next to the road. Before I could stop and take a picture they were both skedaddling into the woods. I did not follow knowing Mama Bear was not very far away and they are no fun to reckon with. Saw a sign once that said. Things that nearly kill you make you stronger … but bears … The will definitely kill you. Anyhow … nice experience and the little cubs were really cute.

7 June 2021, Monday – We are officially on our way!!!! This morning we had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and departed Lake Halie, where we had spent yesterday and the night, and drove South to Buffalo City, Wisconsin. We first stopped in Arcadia to see my Uncle Jerry and his wife Cleo. Uncle Jerry is the youngest of My Dad’s siblings and the only surviving sibling of that family … he is 87 and doing well … so is Cleo. We had a nice lunch at a little place calle “The Pub” at a Ashley Furniture Store … yup, right in the store. Had a nice time and a nice chat and said good bye. We continued on to Buffalo City where my cousin Doris and her husband Ralph live. Doris is one of my cousins that is the same age as I am so we have kinda kept in touch over the years. We used to visit them when they spent the winter at Longboat Key but due to health reasons they no longer come South … so we decided to visit them. Along the way we saw some great Wisconsin scenery … which I am going to share with you now:

Large Coops for Raising Chickens (Big Industry around Arcadia

Wisconsin Farmstead … Looks just like Norway

A Train Just went through here … you can still see it’s tracks

A Pair of Work Horses .. They stand that way so they can switch flies off of their friends face … Really!

We got to Buffalo a little early so we cruised up the Mississippi to Alma. They had a great little park there that is on top of a high bluff that overlooks the region. It also overlooked one of the 29 dams and locks that work to keep the Mississippi navigable from North of Minneapolis to New Orleans.

We got to Ralph and Doris’ house, visited for a while catching up on recent times, then went to a Wisconsin Supper Club … Sullivan’s … (One of a kind restaurants found only in Wisconsin) and shared dinner. Nice evening.

We are now in Winona, Minnesota where we will spend the night and start our way down the Mississippi tomorrow morning. See You then.

8 June, 2021 Tuesday – Here we are in Dubuque, Iowa on the West side of the Mississippi again (Last night in Winona was in Minnesota also). We had a very nice day … But, before I jump into that there was one picture that escaped me last night that I found today and wanted to share with you. While we were having dinner at the Wisconsin Supper Club I mentioned a very long barge went by. Nancy and I were accustomed to seeing big barges on the Rhine in Germany but this puppy was BIG. Here’s the picture I got of it:

A Very Large Barge … Each segment is three wide so that’s Twelve monstrous segments … must exceed the capacity of a hundred semi trucks we have on the road. Very Impressive!

Back to today .. Tuesday. We drove from Winona, back across the Mississippi to Buffalo City, Wisconsin and followed the Great River Road (GRR) all the way to just East of Dubuque, Iowa where we turned West and crossed the river into Iowa. It was early so we decided to drive North on the GRR back up a ways to see what we had missed on the West side. Turns out we didn’t miss much and the Wisconsin side had much more river exposure. when we had decided we were okay with what we hd done we drove back to Dubuque and checked into a hotel we had reserved around noon. Everything worked out well.

Now for some exciting stuff! Below you will find a picture of the BIGGEST Catfish in the world. It was caught right there in Trempealeau. The the angler hooked onto it he had to tie his line onto the back of his pickup truck to pull it in. Once he got it on shore it was hauled to a nearby Taxidermist by a oversized Flatbed truck trailer. It took a team of ten Taxidermists three weeks to get this guy preserved and he now marks the entrance to the fair city he used to swim by all the time. A touching story of bravery, endeavoring until success, and home town pride … here he is:

Today’s trip can be put into three categories … The River, Small Towns, and farms. That is basically what we saw all day … and it was all very interesting, and beautiful in many areas. So that is how I am going to present the pictures … in those three categories … But first let me post a picture of a map of the route we took with all the little towns along the way:

The Route we Took … Buffalo City, Wisconsin to Dubuque, Iowa

So lets start with the towns. As you can see by the map there were a quite a few of them. LaCross and Prairie du Chien were the largest. Most of the other ones were just little villages. All had old buildings, some ran down and some restored quite beautifully. Being Wisconsin they all had bars and many of them had Supper Clubs. Here’s some views of the towns:

That was the villages … Now the farms:

And the Third category is the river:

Some Trivia regarding the Mississippi. When it is at it’s normal flow it passes roughly one million gallons of water per SECOND! It is 2,340 miles long, it takes a drop of water 90 days to travel the length of the river, and is the home to 360 species of fish, 326 species of birds, 145 species of amphibians, and 50 species of mammals.

That leaves our travel in Iowa. Mostly farms and never near the river. Great vistas, big farms, old towns … here they are:

So now we have had our dinner, I’ve made the post in my Blog, and we are ready to turn in. The Great River Road is not extremely exciting but is a wonderful collection of all the great things about out country. It is amazing to see what we have done with the great river, the vast farmlands, the businesses we have created. Following this byways gives you a peak at parts of our country you never hear of and will never see sitting in an airplane or even zooming down an Interstate highway. More tomorrow.

9 June 2021, Wednesday – Ok … So yesterday I used categories to show you what we have seen. Not today … and NO FARMS today!! We had an interesting day. What has happened is that the Bluffs of Wisconsin and Minnesota have flattened out and the Mississippi lays in the middle of some flatlands, sometimes surrounded by Sloughs (pronounced “Slews” and means swampy backwaters) and we didn’t really see it all that often. But, if you think about it and look at my pictures .. a river is a river is a river! So today I’m going to post the best pictures (That’s a relative term) of today in the order I took them. I will explain what they are in the caption. Here we go: But First a little explanation … The Pictures of my GPS are to show you how the waters are spread out into finger lakes and sloughs. Next, there are some very interesting big homes along the way. Lastly, we came across the founding place of a major religion. We traveled from Iowa, to Illinois and have stopped in Quincey Ill. Let’s Take a look:

So that was the day … Not much river, a lot of farm land and some interesting sites. Regarding the Mormon Temple. Nauvoo, Illinois, is where Joseph Smith established the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) in the mid 1800’s after he was forced out of Missouri. The town is plush with historical things regarding their early activities. You can read much of it on the Blue slide above or google Nauvoo, Illinois and Mormons. Very interesting history and well presented. We spent some time there before moving on.

There are some really impressive homes along the river. Some next to the water, some with railroad tracks right next door, some on estates. All worth taking a look at if you get a chance.

Tomorrow we travel across to Missouri and South to Hannibal where Tom Sawyer comes from. Then on to St Louis where we will spend the night. I am gong to try a new case for my phone so I can take pictures without my fingers being in it. I hope to pick up the hardware tomorrow morning so hopefully tomorrow evening you will not have to look at my fingers. See you then.

10 June, 2010 Thursday – Here we are in St Louis, Missouri … Gateway to the West, home of the Arch, big city on the Mississippi. We left Quincy this morning, drove across the Mississippi to Missouri, then headed south mostly through forest and farm land and got to Hannibal, Missouri. Hannibal is the home of Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, and famous write who introduced Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Becky Thatcher, and a while bunch of other river characters to us in his many novels, short stories, cartoons, and lectures about life on the Mississippi during the late 1800’s. Nancy and I had been to Hannibal before but had not taken time to do some touring … so today we did. We toured the boyhood homes of Sam Clemens, Hannibal, and the area around it. We found it absolutely fascinating and I encourage anyone who is either looking for an interesting place to go or passing through this area to stop and look around. Here are some of the pictures of our trip to Hannibal and time there.

On the road between Hannibal and St Louis there were several “Scenic Overlooks”. Most were obscured by overgrown trees but I did get a few good pictures … Yes, of the river. The area is abound with forest land populated with second or third generation Oak trees … very nice.

Woodlands (and my finger … I did get the hardware but did not use it for this picture … takes time to learn new tricks)

So, the next thing you know we are in St Louis. We booked a hotel right down in front of the Arch and explored the Arch National Park and some of the local interests.

So that ends our time in St Louis. If you have not visited the Arch National Park I highly encourage it. It is an amazing architectural and contracting feat. The Little Black dots I mentioned are windows you can look out of if you take the ride to the top of the Arch. A little confining and unsettling as the cars rotate to stay upright but an excellent view once you get to the top. In the Museum at the bottom there is a very good movie that shows how the arch was built … absolutely fascinating.

Off to Memphis tomorrow. Check in and see how it goes.

11 June, 2021, Friday – The The Great River Road has deserted the River, so we have deserted the road. Because the shores along the river, on both sides are wide and low, the road does not go very close to the river. It gets close occasionally when there is a lock and dam or a community right on the river. Consequently, most of the time on The Great River Road you are driving either through large fields of corn, gran, or rice (which is a grain), or through thick hardwood forests. Because of that we decided to take I55 South out of St Louis and drive directly to Memphis with the caveat that if something looks interesting over towards the rive we will deviate over to it. We drove the 280+ miles and didn’t deviate, then when we got to Memphis, on the Arkansas side, we ran into a huge traffic problem because one of the two large interstate bridges that cross the Mississippi from Arkansas to Tennesee, was closed. A major crack was found in one of the mail suspension beams and they have the bridge closed for several months to get it fixed. The result was a huge backup on I55 so we spent some time getting through that. We had to cross the river to get to Memphis (just like the chicken had to cross the road) so it was just a matter of getting across.

We first went to Graceland thinking it might be interesting. We arrived there and the place was mobbed. We like Elvis’ music but to tour his museum held less interest for us. We traveled on to our hotel.

The hotel we booked was right downtown and is a restored Train station … very nice. We got checked in and drove over to Beale Street where all the action in Memphis is … and there was action. We got to Beale Street and decided to walk over to the Peabody Hotel to see the Ducks before we toured Beale Street. The Ducks spend the day swimming around in a big fountain in the middle of the Hotels reception center (very big hotel). At Five O’clock the Duckmaster lowers a ramp, they walk down the ramp and straight into one of the waiting elevators (because the ducks are so short someone has to press the buttons for them) and are swept up to the rooftop where they spend the night. The next morning they come back down. It is quite the performance and occurs everyday. The place was packed with little ankle biters getting the promo positions along the path the ducks use. Behind them were all the protective, SUV driving Mom’s, who were armed with cameras and bags to ward off anyone who might step on their kids trying to get a picture. The Duckmaster (whom you will soon see) puts on a big show and talks too much before the march … bi then that’s what makes it unique. Anyhow, using my new hardware I was able to get a couple pictures of the march and some of the ducks. Here they are:

The Ducks in the Fountain … There were Five of Them

Wasn’t that just Ducky!!!? No one can say we lead a dull life. So ever we had a drink with some nice folks we met from Minneapolis we walked back to Beale Street. We had dinner there (Ribs, of course) walked around for a while and went back to the hotel. Here’s Beale Street:

No captions on the pictures means you can probably figure out what it is. That’s it for Memphis. Saturday we drive to Nashville and see what it has to offer. No more river road. The top half was very interesting but as we go lower it lost most of it’s charm. The small towns along it varied where some were fixed up real nice with Parks along the river and others were just industrial stuff. Guess you gotta choose what you want to like. See you in Nashville.

12 June, 2021, Saturday – Nashville … Center of the Universe for any Country Western music lover and home to hundreds of aspiring C&W singers. Before we get into all that … here’s a couple pictures from our hotel (I mentioned it was unique) and of final sights of the Mississippi as we left Memphis.

After a few traffic slow downs and a couple hours of driving we made it to Nashville, checked into our hotel, and went out exploring. We have never been to downtown Nashville before. We did go to the Grand Ole Opery once and had a Grand Old time (which I highly recommend) but never downtown. Downtown Nashville is amazing. Museums, restaurants, bars, sky scrapers, a river (The Cumberland) … it has it all. All the bars and restaurants feature aspiring C&W singers … many of whom are excellent singes and musicians trying to make the big time. To keep things hopping there are any number of “Conveyances” where a number of people climb aboard and party as it tours the downtown area. So here are my pictures from our afternoon in downtown Nashville:

This Alley Runs Right behind Our Hotel … Has A Lot of party Places

So That’s Nashville … We spent he afternoon walking around, ducking into various places and listening to a song or two, had a GIANT Pizza for dinner, then stopped and listened to the last band I showed you for a while. Made it back to the hotel early and in good shape. It was an interesting afternoon in an interesting town. We did not plan to be here on a Saturday night but I think it was the best night to be here for activity … I’m sure there is a lot going on other nights but … Saturday night!!

Tomorrow we are off to early church, then breakfast, then down to Lynchville and a tour of the Jack Danials distillery. If you recall, we did some bourbon tours in Kentucky last year on our way North but most of the places were closed because of the COVID … Jack Daniels is a Whiskey tour in Tennessee.

A parting side note for all you single guys. Downtown Nashville was loaded with beautiful young women looking for guys to dance and party with. They are so desperate a couple even asked me to dance!! This, if you are a young guy looking for some fun, is a “Target Rich Environment!”.

This Is What The Walk of Fame Tiles Looked Like

13 June, 2021, Sunday – Got a earlier than usual start this morning. Wanted to attend Mass at St Mary’s which was built in the 1840s and is known as Nashville’s oldest church still standing. We made it there … was an interesting church … couple Photo’s:

The Alter and A Fresco on the Ceiling

After Mass we walked back towards where we had our car parked overnight and stopped along the way for a light breakfast. Following that we headed out for Lynchburg and the Jack Daniels Distillery. A few slow spots on the highway but no big problem. People are definitely getting out this Summer. The roads are packed regardless of the day or destination. Good to see people out. We got to Tallumba where our hotel was and they let us check in early. We settled in then left for the tour at Jack Daniels. Very interesting tour and history. Here are some photo’s, then I will fill in the details:

Here We Are … Have a 2:30 Tour .. With Tasting

The tour lasted about 90 minutes and we were not allowed to take pictures some places. Some Notable facts: Jack Daniels died after kicking a safe he could not open of an infected toe. The Distillery was closed for nearly 27 years during prohibition. Whiskey is made with higher quality and processes than Bourbon. This is the only place in the world where Jack Daniels Whiskey is made. So, it was an interesting tour, and a nice day. Leaving for home tomorrow. Will be going cross country and stopping for the night in Eufaula, Alabama. I’ll post any interesting pictures I get along the way.

14 Jun2, 2021 Monday –Ok! … We made it to Eufaula, Alabama, home of Lake Eufaula and Bass Fishing Capitol of the World … Really … The Whole World … It could be the Universe … who knows, you know? Anyhow, it was a nice trip … we motored from Lynchburg after stopping at a little coffee shop there for a Latte and a sweetie (The hotel we were at was out of everything but grease burger egg sandwiches fresh from the nukes so we opted out of that). Latte was good as was the sweetie:

On the way out of Lynchburg we saw some of Jack Daniels warehouses where they age the whiskey for four to seven years. Here is what they look like … JD has 90 of them scattered around Lynchburg … could you have a party with the or what!!!

We then drove South and caught US 431 in Fayetteville, TN and followed that all the way here to Eufaula. Crossed an interesting lake called Guntersburg Lake … had a some nice boats on it:

Boat Houses (Not House Boats) on The Lake

Then we made it here to Eufaula. We are just spending the night here. Having some dinner and getting some sleep. We did drive along the main Street and took some pictures of some the grander (not grandeur) homes along the street for you to enjoy:

At least one of them were for sale if you are looking for a little second home get away. I can even recommend a good Realtor!

This will be the end of the Blog for this trip. Tomorrow is just getting home following some tired old road … as the saying goes “Nothing to see here folks, just move along!” We do hope you enjoyed the trip as much as we enjoyed sharing it with you. Next trip will be to the Great Northwest where we hope to tour parts of Washington, Montana, Utah, Nevada, California, and Oregon. We plan to go in July … Yup, Next Month. See You Then and Thanks for coming along.

SOUTH FLORIDA GETAWAY – May 2021

19 MAY 2021 – We are on our way. We left home this morning and headed South. Our goal is to see Marco Island and return to Naples, FL to spend the night.

We made it to Marco Island with just one stop half way down for an emergency Latte and a couple Glazed Chocolate Munchkins. The trip went well. This trip I am using a different camera. If you recall, my camera failed while we were on our trip to the Outer Banks. My cell phone was also acting up so instead of buying a new camera I just bought a newer, better iPhone to use as a phone and a camera. So far it seems to be working.

Marco Island is the most expensive place in the United States. You can google that if you don’t believe me and I’m not sure what criteria they used to claim that but it is. Now, having been there, I believe it truly is. Many, many big residential developments with fancy fronts and expensive golf courses. Then, once you get towards the beaches, hundreds of condominiums, short, tall, new, old, and all expensive. The Island is very nice and I would recommend staying there to anyone who is looking for a nice place to spend the week at a beach resort. Here are some pictures from there: … However, first are some exciting photo’s from the trip down:

Streaking Along on the I275 Bridge Between Tampa & St Petersburg

OK .. Now the pictures from Marco Island:

So we finished up our day at a hotel in Naples. Had a nice swimming pool and they served drinks and meals right from the edge of the pool … we stayed till we turned in. Nice day … nice evening. Naples is more city like than Marco Island and offers more of a variety of things to do. I think we may go back there some day. Marco Island is nice but mostly just beach stuff.

20 May 2021 – So here’s what we plan to do today:

We will drive on US 41 which is called the Tamiami Trail and is the original Alligator Alley. We may make some diversions as we find places of interest. Once we get to the East side of Florida we will drive South to get into the Everglades National Park. We have been there a couple times before but always enjoy it. Once we leave the park we are going North to the hotel we have reserved in Ft Lauderdale (Plantation, FL actually).

Okay … we did it. Here’s some pictures from along the way. First we diverted South to a place called Chokoloskee (easy for you to say!) which was one of the earliest settlements along the Everglades and was the original county seat for Collier County until Naples took over.

The place survives on fishing, both commercial and tourist, as well as airboat rides and tours. Nice, but only to visit.

We drove on into the Big Cypress National Preserve. More Everglades and Native American Villages. You normally can pay a fee and tour the villages but the COVID has hit our Native Americans very hard so they are all closed up. We did see many alligators along the way.

We Are Stopping Farther On Where They Have a Board Walk With Info on It

The Park was next:

That was it for Everglades national Park. We kept looking for some of those nasty Burmese Pythons but didn’t see any. The Everglades are interesting as they look like a huge sea of grass with these Islands they call Hammocks all over it. There trees grow and animals flourish. Definitely recommend it.

21 May 2021 – We spent the night in Ft Lauderdale and headed home this morning. Interesting scenes along the way. We followed the backroads and saw much of the sugar and orange industry.