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.

2023 – 07 – Boyne Valley (A Sunday Drive)

Several people we have met, since we arrived here, have mentioned having or knowing people who ranch or live in the Boyne Valley. Being curious we decided to look it up and see what it might offer as far as sights of interest, etc. Turns out that the Boyne Valley is a little ways south of Tannum Sands and inland over the first range of foothills. That range of foothills, and the next range in create the Boyne Vally which is quite large.

We decided, in spite of of being an overcast and drizzly day, to drive out to and through the Boyne valley and see what it is like. It is not uncommon to be overcast and drizzly here early in the day and clear and dry by ten or eleven so the weather was not a worry. We loaded up the Tucson and off we went. Here is a map of the area (The Boyne Valley is shown in the middle outline) and there is a red line that marks our path. the trip was just shy of 400 Kilometers and took us much of the day. Of course we stopped every so often and we were in no hurry. It turned into a beautiful day.

Country Roads … The hard seal quickly narrows, then ends once you leave populated areas

That got us through the valley. We started the climb out and found that when we got to the top we were entering the Burnett region. Recently, when we drove down to Brisbane we decided to take a back road and it was through the Burnett region. This trip however, we swung back north along the A3 highway to get back home. Still interesting.

It was a great trip. We hadn’t done a road trip just for fun in a while and it was nice to get out. Looking forward to the next one. See you then.

2023 – 07 – Yeppoon

Yeppoon is coastal resort community just north and east of Rockhampton. We went to Rockhampton one day to look for some furniture we wanted and after finding nothing that caught our attention, we decided that, it was early, there might be interesting things to see up here, and we had not explored the coast by Rockhampton, so we did just that.

While Rockhampton, normally called Rocky, does have a port, it is in the city and there is not a beach as the city lies inland from the sea on the Fitzroy river. Yeppoon is located about 30 kilometers farther east and right on the shore of the Coral Sea. It is a beautiful area that is well developed and well taken care of. Many places to stay whether you are camping, hoteling, or renting a condo or beach rental.

The town has built a wonderful park along the beach where there are places to shower and change into your bather, let the kids play on water toys, walk on the beach. or sail out on a rental catamaran. There is a fair amount of parking (there is never enough) and access to the beach is easy. We drove around a bit, parked, walked up and down the beach, then took a different route back to Rocky and home.

From the stage of a large outdoor theater

We will probably return to Yeppoon, maybe once we get our caravan.

2023 – 07 – Seventeen Seventy & Agnes Waters

Agnes Waters is a small resort town south of Tannum Sands that is right on the coast. It hosts many camping facilities as well as hotels and many rentals. The coastline features rocky shores and thick forests where anyone can find a hike or activity of interest. Seventeen Seventy is a smaller part of Agnes Waters, newer but just as much fun. Nancy and I went there one day just to get away and had a great time.

Andy (our son) and his family camped in Agnes Waters 4th of July week. Nancy and I went down and spent the 4th with them. We did hot gogs, burgers, and watermelon. The tables and awnings were decorated in Red, White and Blue balloons, and we all had red, white and blue plates, napkins, and silverware. It didn’t take the Australians camping there long to figure out we were all Yanks. (They are actually jealous cuz they are still stuck with the King and England!) We had a swell time even though it rained a bit. Christian enjoyed the sparklers after it got dark.

2307 – 07 – Bundaberg and Rum

Bundaberg, or Bundy as it’s known here, is about an hour south of Tannum Sands and is famous for it’s Rum production. Bundy is a larger city where people from here go when they need bigger city stuff, like medical specialists, etc. Bundy’s population is a little over 100,000 people so it has more to offer than the smaller cities. Also it is farther south, so it attracts more people. The farther north you move in Australia, the more remote it is. If you go west from the coast, it gets very remote, very fast. As a matter of fact (Yes, a Factoid!) 87% of the Australian population lives with 50 Kilometers (30 miles) of the coast. Bundaberg, Gladstone, and Rockhampton (which you will meet later) are all coastal towns and are all located right on major rivers. Bundaberg is on the Burnett River and has suffered catastrophic floods several times. Gladstone is located on the Boyne River but is hillier so the floods as not as damaging. Rocky is located on the Fitzroy River and floods frequently. Every year hundreds of cattle drown in the Rockhampton area by being caught in floods. This is how these cities were founded. They were established as ports where ships could bring in supplies and smaller boats and ships could carry supplies inland to the vast sheep and cattle stations that early settlers had established..

Bundaberg is an old city and is laid out the way you find may of the older cities in Australia. There is a wide center street that has parking on both sides with a wide strip in the middle for parking. All the stores and businesses are located mostly along that street. That all morphs as the city grows of course but amy of the older, small towns, have not changed much in the years they have been around.

I didn’t get many pictures of the city itself when we drove down one day but we did take a tour of the Bundaberg Rum Distillery, it was very interesting. The rum industry started in Bundaberg because of all the molasses produced when refining sugar. Sugar was and still is, a major crop in the area.

That’s it for Bundy. As with Tannum Sands, as we do more stuff and go more places, I will be adding more pictures … even to to these. I will get more shots of the cities themselves. I didn’t have this in mind when we went there the first time.

2023 – 07 – Tannum Sands on the Coral Sea

KANGAROOS: Last Sunday, Nancy and I elected to try out a new golf course. A small community near by named Calliopi boasts an 18 hole course so we decided that would be our target for the day. We had a tee time and a cart reserved, checked in, got briefed, and were off. We enjoyed the course. It had more hills than most of the other courses around here so that was a new challenge for Australian golf. We had a pleasant time, Nancy beat me as usual, and we enjoyed a Tasmanian Beer when we had finished. I didn’t take any pictures of the course but, of note, were the Kangaroos. On the 7th, 8th, and 9th hole (we only played 9) there were at least thirty or forty kangaroos hanging out in the shade of trees along the fairway. Occasionally one would cross to another tree but mostly they just layed or stood around watching us. They didn’t seem to mind when I asked them if we could play through so we did. I did take some pictures of them so here they are. (Please keep in mind that the photographer is in the bright sun and the Roo’s are in the shade).

BRUSH FIRES: We are finishing a long dry winter and spring is dryer and warmer than normal. As usual this causes brush fires. Because the area is nearly tropical there is a tremendous amount of undergrowth. Through the winter that all dies, and because here is no snow, dries out. In spring it becomes a tinderbox. We had a major fire quite close to our house just the other evening. Fortunately it was controlled and eventually went out before causing any property damage. Again, because the area is tropical, everything grows back quickly and in a month or two, you can’t even tell there was a fire … except for the lack of undergrowth.

UTEs Here’s a little feature I found interesting. Australian guys are UTE crazy. A UTE is short (remember they shorten everything) for utility truck … what we call a pick up. They really do them up and all for getting into the outback and camping. Australians love the outdoors and camp, hike, and camp all year long. Here are some photo’s of some of the UTEs I have seen.

A fairly basic Ute. Note the pipe on the right side of the windsheild. That is not for going underwater like many people believe. It is for getting clean cool air versus the super hot, gassy air along the road surface.

Them’s the UTEs … I’ll keep an eye out for more interesting ones. Once we start camping in a month or so I’m sure there will be plenty at the campgrounds.

Here’s a couple pictures from Nancy and my favorite hangouts, The Tannum Sands Hotel and The Tannum Sands Surfers Rescue Club. They are two of the three regular restaurants that serve dinner in the evening. There are other places to eat in Tannum Sands but most of them close after lunch or are carry out oriented.

Inside Dining at the Surfers Rescue Club

I will frequently add new items of interest that in find here in Tannum Sands. To save you the disappointment of checking I will update the title with the date of the newest post.

A while back we went to a special Mud Crab festival that the local pub we frequent was hosting. Not knowing what was so special about muyd crabs we decided to check it out. They catch these things and mostly eat them However, as a fundraiser, they band the claws of a bunch of them, auction them off, and race them. They were going for up to $600 each. Not sure what the winner got but it was all for charity so it was “all good’!

I mentioned earlier that we had a bif 4th of July Celebration at the campsite Andy and the family were camping at. Here’s a couple of pictures of the events.

I mentioned Andy worked here. He works at Queensland Aluminum Limited. They build a site overlook for the local people, and visitors, to see the facility. Here it is.

As I mentioned in the introduction, Gladstone hosts a very large sea port. Being part of greater Gladstone, Tannum Sands enjoys that same body of water. While some people would say we are on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, we are actually on the shores of the Coral Sea. Most locals will make that distinction. As mentioned, here are some pictures from around the local area.

These are four new pictures of Tannum Sands. They were commercial pictures I saw ina coffee shop that I took pictures of.

This is the bridge from TS to Boyne Island. Looking out to the sea.

Tannum Sands has a population of a little over 5,000 people. It does host a grocery store, a couple hotels, a pharmacy (Chemist in Aussie), a gas station with a car wash, a Domino’s Pizza, A Colonel Sanders Chicken, a Subway Sandwich shop, several local restaurants, a couple garden shops, one that features plants and fertilizers and one that features equipment. There is also a fairly big clinic, a state and a private primary school, and a state high school. It also has a variety of churches, charitable organizations, and clubs. Gladstone, when you add in Tannum Sands and Boyne Island (another small suburb) has about 50,000 people.

I will add more photos of and around Tannum Sands.

2023 – 01 – The Oz Adventure

** NOTE ** As I add each new event or place, it will be at the top of the list under this post. That way you will be able to quickly see if there is anything new***

We decided to move to Tannum Sands, in Queensland, Australia in early December 2022.

It took us until February 2023 to dispose of, or ship, everything we owned in the US and make it over to Australia. Since then we have been slowly acclimating ourselves to living in OZ (Short for Australia in Australian). “No Worries” really is a common phrase and Australians seldom get bothered significantly if things don’t go quite right. The are forgiving and very helpful. They have a interesting habit of shortening most words and adding an “ie” on the end so words like breakfast and Christmas become Brekie and Chrissie. To make matters worse they tend to speak more English than American so they have the slang the Brits invented, like Bathers for swim suits and Jumpers for a jacket. Lastly, just like in the States, every region has its own dialect and accent. Nancy has to interpret for me quite often, As we have always done, we take frequent short trips on weekends or midweek breaks and tour local things of interest. Local can be anywhere within a couple days drive.

We moved to Tannum Sands because that is where our Son Andrew, his Wife Candice, and our three Grandchildren, Samantha, Cathy, and Christian moved to in 2022 when Andy got a great job in Gladstone.

Gladstone is the greater community in the area and Tannum Sands is like a small suburb of Gladstone. Gladstone hosts the largest saltwater port on the east coast of Australia and it serves a thriving ore processing industry. As you can see by the maps, Tannum Sands is right on the east coast of Australia about 500 kilometers (300 Miles) north of Brisbane.

For you geogrphy enthusiasts:

Basically, what that boils down to is that here in Tannum Sands, we are just a little closer to the equator than we were in Tampa, just south of it instead of north. As a matter of fact, we are jsut a short distance south of the tropic of Capricorn which is why they call this the Capricorn Region. The weather here is a bit warmer than in Florida, it never freezes and seldom gets below the 40’s. Summers (October to March) are quite hot. Being south of the equator switches the seasons so its summer from October to March and winter from March ot October … not many white Christmases here.

For the past seven years or so Andy and the family had lived in Coomera which is about 75 kilometers south of Brisbane. Tannum Sands and Gladstone are much smaller communities and the life here is considered rural by most Australians. It’s a great place for kids to grow up in, has abundant work opportunities, and is just swell for older folks to live peacefully in.

I’m in the process of writing a book about our experience moving and living here but it is not yet finished. Keep an eye out for it on Amazon if you want to read about our adventure in depth. (Just go to amazon.com and put Bill Rumpel in the search bar at the top of the page. My book, once I publish it, will be there.)

Unlike the bigger trips I have posted here on this website, this post will be about the things and places we find interesting in and around where we live. Most will be just a few pictures and maybe some description. If we take a significant trip it will be in the trip side and I’ll just put a note in here to have a look at it.

We have lived here for around six months, have our own home, a car, we are waiting for a camper to be built (supposed to be ready in September … watch for the pictures), have become involved n the community, have got our Australian driver’s licenses, our application for a permanent VISA has been accepted, and we we are enjoying being close to our family.

So, each of our little “adventures” will be a little tick below this one. If you are interested in catching up, just click on the little down arrow next to this post in the menu and see if I have posted something new.

2023 – 01 – 4 – Iguazu Falls and the Rio de Janeiro Excursion

4 January – Today was a long, frustrating day filled with delays, rescheduling, and chaos. Yesterday we were told we would be departing the ship at five thirty AM to catch a bus to the airport where we would catch a flight to Iguazu Falls, have a lunch at a resort overlooking the falls, tour the falls, and go to our hotel that we would be staying at for check-in and dinner.

We got up at four and readied ourselves for the five thirty transport. Upon approaching the cabin door walking towards the head (that’s what they call the bathroom on a ship) we discovered a slip of paper had been slipped under the door sometime during the night informing us our flight had been cancelled and we were rescheduled for a later flight. We did not need to report for disembarkation and the bus until nine thirty. As we were already up, our baggage was gone, and we were, in no way, going to go back to sleep, we dressed and went up for some breakfast, coffee, and the wait.

We did leave the ship at nine, and because we were four hours away from our flight, they put a guide on the bus and we received another tour of Buenos Aires, by bus this time. Even though we pretty much followed the same route we did on the bikes the day before, the guide was different so we got a different slant on what we were seeing. We finally were delivered to the airport, we did get a one thirty flight to Iguazu Falls, and we did get there … six hours later than we were originally scheduled. Due to the late arrival, we went to the hotel where we were supposed to have lunch and had an early dinner (which was the lunch they had been saving all afternoon). You could see the falls from the hotel so we did see them. We then proceeded to cross the border into Brazil, where we were to stay and tour.

The tour guides did a good job of reshuffling everything but it was a frustrating day. We checked into our hotel, had a relaxing break at the lounge, and went to bed to prepare for an early tour of the falls.

5 January – The hotel was actually located inside of the National Park the Falls are in and the park does not open until ten in the morning. Because of that, we were able to walk out of our hotel and do a private tour of the falls before everyone else showed up.

Iguaza Falls is incredible. We were told we would see both the Argentina side and the Brazil side and that the Brazil side was more scenic. We agree. We walked along the walkways (which we had to ourselves but was packed later in the day) and were able to view and photograph to our hearts content. After the tour, our guides offered us a choice of three things to do. Go for a boat ride up the river to right up to the falls, take a helicopter tour of the falls, or just stay at the hotel and veg out until the afternoon when we would see the Argentina side. Nancy and I opted for the helicopter ride. Wow. Here’s some pictures. Most of them are of the water falls, different angels or views.

Then we did the helicopter ride. It didn’t last real long but was definitely worth the effort. We got to see the Falls from up above and from all angels. The pilot made a number of passes so everyone (there were five of us in the helicopter) got to see the best view.

A bit about the falls from Wikipedia. “Iguazú Falls or Iguaçu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná. Together, they make up the largest waterfall system in the world. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River rises near the heart of the city of Curitiba. For most of its course, the river flows through Brazil; however, most of the falls are on the Argentine side. Below its confluence with the San Antonio River, the Iguazu River forms the border between Argentina and Brazil.” Now that you know all that, you can imagine how much we enjoyed it. That afternoon we again crossed the border into Argentina and walked through the Argentina National Park for the falls. Less dynamic but very beautiful.

Then, after that we went back to the hotel and prepared for a dinner show at an Argentine Steak restaurant. The dinner was a huge buffet featuring all sort of meats and other foods and deserts. Following dinner the restaurant presented a South and Central America Folk Dance Show. It was both loud and entertaining. The pictures a a bit lacking because of the light, or lack of it, and the fast movements of the dancers.

Lastly, here are some photos from our hotel;

The show ended our day and we again crossed back into Brazil. Each crossing took 30 to 45 minutes of extra time to process our passports but the day was good. Tomorrow we travel to Rio de Janeiro.

6 January 2023 – Another frustrating day. No fault on Viking or it’s folks. Today, we were supposed to fly from Iguazu to a small airport near downtown Rio de Janeiro, then have lunch, and do some touring. When we were on short final to the airport, the aircraft received a wind sheer warning and went around. Many of the people got quite excited as we were quite low and over water so it looked like we were going to bank right into the ocean. Anyhow, the pilot recovered and entered holding for about forty five minutes before he diverted into the international airport that was a forty five minute ride away from our hotel. Rio was socked in with fog so the bus ride was fairly uninspiring. We went through several parts of town, some not too nice, and finally made it to our hotel. The Hotel Copacabana on Copacabana Beach. Nice.

7 January – *** A SPECIAL DAY*** Today we were scheduled to see the big statue of Christ The Redeemer that stands above Rio de Janeiro and Sugar Loaf Mountain. Again the weather did not cooperate very much and low clouds and fog pretty much kept everything out of site … we still went. We loaded up right after breakfast and headed out to see Christ The Redeemer. Interesting buildings along the way and a great deal of history. A much better part of town than the trip from the airport.

The story about the Carnaval stadium. Carnival, sometimes known as Mardi Gras in other places, is a long standing tradition that features outrageous costumes and rowdy parties. Rio de Janeiro is especially famous for the biggest party. It became such a burden to the city to control they built a massive, half mile long stadium where the only parade allowed is conducted. Thousands of people come very early to get seats in the stadium and the participants line up and parade through the stadium from one end to the other. The parade lasts much of the day. The parties continue in smaller venues and private homes but the city wide party is a thing of the past. The day was wet and windy, but very interesting. Of course it would have been nice without the fog but you cannot do anything about the weather. We did enjoy the day. That night we had a farewell dinner at the hotel. A very nice evening with a great meal. Nancy topped off the evening by sneaking in a cake and Champagne for the group to celebrate my birthday. The perfect ending to a nice day.

8 January – Today is our return home day. our flight did not leave until ten thirty PM so we were given a late checkout from the hotel. Nancy and I took a walk on Copacabana Beach just to say we did, The exercise was good. We had a late lunch with the few people left from our group that had not left yet, then we went to the airport. The trip home was uneventful, we made all our connections and didn’t loose anything. We got home early on the ninth of January.

I apologize for taking sooo long to post this but we have been busy with our move to Australia. Since our return we have packed and shipped our belongings, sold our house and cars, and settled into a small villa that we will regard as our home in America. It has been a very busy month.

Hope you enjoyed the trip as much as we did. Viking does a great job, we saw many interesting places and things. See you on the next trip. Not sure where or when but there will be more trips for sure.

2022 – 12 – January 2023 – South America and the Chilean Fjords

This is how we decided to spend our 2022 Christmas Holidays. We had a credit due from Viking River cruises from a cruise that was cancelled a couple years ago due to COVID-19 and we decided to use it for this cruise. We had originally planned it as a u-drive like we did Jordan and Israel but because we had the credit, we decided to do it as a cruise. Cruises are okay but you are limited to what you get to see by the cruise line. They prefer you spend your money with them rather than somewhere else. Because there are not a great deal of places to see in southern South America we figured this would work. Here’s the course of our cruise.

We did add a four day excursion to the end of the cruise. We wanted to be sure to see Iguazu (pronounced E waah zoo) Falls so after disembarking in Buenos Aires we will fly to Iguazu Falls (more about the falls later), spend a couple days there, then fly to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, spend a couple days there, then fly back to the US.

17 December 2022 – We drove to Tampa for our flight to Houston, where we connected to Santiago. In Huston we hurried to the Santiago gate (because we had been delayed two hours in Tampa, and boarded with ten minutes to spare.

18 December – The flight to Santiago was nine plus hours and through the night. One of us got a good sleep, the other can’t sleep on airplanes. We arrived in Santiago at nine AM on the 18th of December. There we were met by Viking personnel who were herding passengers from various flights to a holding area. From there we boarded busses for transportation to Valparaiso where our ship was docked. The bus trip was about two hours long. Here are some pictures (through the bus window) of our first glimpse of Chile. Note: Southern Chile is not a real picturesque place. Here, being south of the equator, it is the start of summer and the coastal plains are dry and arid. Anything that is green is that way because someone is watering it through irrigation or canals.

Immaculate Conception Church … Story later.

So, the stories. The church of the Immaculate Conception: December 8th is the Roman Catholic Feast day of The Immaculate Conception. On this day, hundreds of thousands of people walk from Santiago and Valparaiso to visit this church and ask The Blessed Virgin Mary for assistance or to thank her for helping them with previous prayers and requests. The highway is closed to traffic for the entire day and night of this feast day while all the people walk to this church. Chile is ninety percent Catholic. The Trees: The indigenous trees in this region are not real big and grow slowly due to the arid conditions. Consequently, the lumber industry brought in pine and eucalyptus trees that grow faster. Unfortunately they draw much more water and have deprived everything else growing near by of any water at all. They just keep growing and have become a problem. The Grapes: The wine industry started in Chile only about fifty years ago. Is is now a flourishing industry and produces a great deal of excellent wine. Tomorrow we tour a wine producer. Lastly, the Venicular: Valparaiso is located on forty two different hills around a large bay. When the city was still young, Veniculars were built and operated to assist people to get up to their homes in the hills from the downtown area. Many of them still run having been converted from steam powered to electric.

That was our trip to the ship. We settled in and explored the ship learning our way around. We were going to explore Valparaiso but decided against it. We were tired and there didn’t seem to be much we wanted to see or do. Here are a few pictures of our surroundings in the port. I will do a tour of the ship later when we have a day at sea. For now, the Port of Valparaiso:

19 December – Today we went to a Vineyard … interesting tour … good wine. Then we visited a ranch where we had lunch and watched a display of Chilean horsemanship by Ouacha’s (pronounced wa kaz … they are the Gaucho’s of Chile). Very impressive. Lastly we visited the seaside town of Vina Del Mar which is located just north of Valparaiso. This city is an upscale area where the rich settlers of this region had summer homes and took vacations. It now has an abundance of high rise Condos and some interesting sites. We finished the day at a museum that featured the stone statues from Fiji. Crowded but interesting. Pictures from the trip:

A big rock (similar versions found centries ago)

20 December – Today we sailed. We left Valparaiso and headed south. Spent the day relaxing, exploring the ship, meeting people. Nice day.

Some comments about the ship. The ship is fairly small as cruisers go. It holds only 960 passengers (we have 850 on this cruise). There are no children on this cruise, thus no need for super slides and water activities. Most of the people are retired or close to it so the activities are a bit more sedate. There is a variety of shore excursions at each stop so you find any level of activity you seek. The boat is fairly new and exceptionally well kept. Being from Norway, it reflects the Scandinavian preference for uncluttered and modern.

21 December – We docked in Puerto Montt today. A small city that was settled by German immigrants. The town is rather worn down but still busy. We took a bus from here to an inland lake, Lianquihue Lake, and Puerto Varas on it’s shores. A very nice town, that sits on the edge of the lake. Very scenic, visited the Christmas market, etc.

22 December – Another day at sea. More exploring, meeting, chatting, etc … actually more relaxing. The ship offers many activities that promote relaxing so we try to take advantage of the ones we like.

23 December – Today we cruised into a Chilean Fjord and parked next to a big glacier. Amalia Glacier was quite impressive. We stayed parked as close as the Captain dared and everyone took pictures and watched the activities around the area. There are many glaciers along the pacific coast of Chile. Many are in smaller Fjords which are too small for this ship so this was a rare opportunity to see a glacier without having to take a smaller boat or a bus ride.

24 December – Today we pulled into Puerto Arenas, a small city in Chile that hosted a number of activities. We weren’t really interested in any specific tour or activity so we elected to walk off the boat and explore the town a bit on our own. The streets were busy with people doing their Christmas shopping at the street vendors selling trinkets and clothing. We spent about four hours walking around seeing the sights, had a latte, and a very pleasant time. Very nice town. We got back to the ship and cleaned up for the Christmas Eve festivities on the boat. The crew formed a choir and we all sang Christmas Carols for about an hour. Very nice.

25 December – MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! This was our first Christmas in Chile so we decided to go for a horseback ride in the mountains. We were in Ushuaia (pronounced Ush way Ah). We got up early and opened the gifts Santa had delivered during the night and had waiting under our little Christmas setting. Then we dressed and took a small van to a ranch where we did our ride. We rode up onto a mountain, through creeks and a sub-arctic forest. The ride lasted a little over two hours and was the perfect way to spend Christmas Day in Chile. The horses were well trained and very sure footed. We saw a lot of incredible country. Christmas night we had a special Christmas dinner with some friends we had met earlier. They had rode an old steam powered train to a National Forest so we exchanged the tales of our Christmas Day experiences.

Coming into Ushuaia (Southernmost city in South America)

Christmas morning … Santa had found us after all. Life is good.

Mounted up and ready to ride … Yeeeehaw!!

26 December – Happy Birthday Andy!! … This morning the Captain took a right and we deviated south to circumnavigate the Island of Hornn. The island is named after a city in Belgium where the explorer who discovered it came from. I bet you thought it was named after the horn looking appearance of the tip of South America … Nope. Anyhow, this island is as far South as you can go in South Amorica and sits right where the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans meet. The area is considered to be one of the most dangerous places to sail due to the currents and winds. There is a small lighthouse on the island to provide a warning to sailors. We were told that a man, his wife, and their two children live there to tend the light.

27 December – Today is a day at sea while we sail to the Falkland Islands and Fort Stanley. During the day the Captain of the ship conducted a formal ceremony inducting any of us who wished to join the Order of The Drake. This is a special group of people who have sailed around the Island of Hornn going from one ocean to the other. The order was founded by Sir Francis Drake, the explorer who discovered Drake Passage around the tip of South America. We were doused with cold water, had a special ointment placed on the tips of our nose, and sealed the ceremony with a shot of Aquavit. We were supposed to get an ear pierced as well but most people declined that.

28 December – Welcome to the Falkland Islands, southernmost English territory on the planet (If you depart the Falklands eastward and do not deviate north or south, you will not reach land until you get to the west coast of Chile). After two days of lolly gagging across the southern Atlantic we pulled in the Falklands this morning at about five thirty. It was foggy and cloudy when we arrived but by eight or so the sun started peaking out and we had a nice day … albeit with a couple showers and a high of forty five Fahrenheit with a brisk wind.

We pulled into a sheltered bay and the tenders from the ship took us ashore in small groups to meet our buses and guides depending on what tour had booked. The tenders are really life boats the ship carries but they are enclosed and motorized so the ship can run three or four of them at a time shuttling people to shore. Each one holds about forty people (picture later).

We had booked just a general tour of Fort Stanley and the area immediately surrounding it. It was the scene of the most conflict during the 1982 invasion by Argentina. Argentina said it was liberating all the people who lived there (Mostly Brits) from their English occupiers. The war lasted for two and a half months, the UK won by deploying hundreds of ships and aircraft to the Falklands. Nearly a thousand troops (both British and Argentinean) were killed and several significant fighting ships (both British and Argentinean) were sunk. The war was a staggering shock to the Brits who lived on the Falklands and still today they talk about the stress it caused them. Argentina still claims the Falklands (known to the Argentineans as the Maldives) as theirs and the UK claims it as one of their territories. Relations between the UK and Argentina are not good. We enjoyed the tour. The guide was a local old Brit who had all sorts of interesting stories and an interesting history.

The Falklands were never a whaling community but whalers from New England and England, requiring up to three years to kill enough whales to fill their ships with whale oil, would winter here rather than sail back up north. The Falklands are mostly farmers with the islands having a population of nearly a half a million sheep.

That ended our tour of Fort Stanley. It was an interesting stop. We had many discussions why GB continues to feud with Argentina regarding who owns the Falklands. Many interesting points. The people who live here, more or less govern themselves but depend on GB for diplomatic and military support. Our guide told us there were eighty nine different nationalities that live here … most are of British descent.

Tomorrow is another day at sea so there will not be any new pictures. On the 30th we stop at a small city in Argentina named Puerto Madryn where we will do the variety of tours and sight seeing excursions. See you then.

30 December – As I mentioned above, we stopped today in the Argentina city of Puerto Madryn. It is actually quite a large city but has little to offer in terms of tourism. Penguins, seals, rocky shores. Everything that was offered here as far as excursions go involved a long bus ride. As the area was originally settled by immigrants from Wales that were offered free land it has a strong English infuence about it. We elected to do the tour of the original settlement and partake of an English Tea with treats. The excursion was advertised as a four hour trip. Turns out it was two ninety minute bus rides with an hour of tea and crumpets. To make matters worse, the countryside was quite underwhelming … and I don’t like tea! Anyhow, it was something different so the day was okay. After our tour we returned to the ship walked downtown to check, out some street vendors and ended the afternoon with a local pub and a cold beer. I made the servers day when I explained to her we had been on a ship the last two weeks and asked if she knew who won the World Cup. She lit up like a fourth of July fireworks demonstration and, in her best english, told me how Argentina had whupped France to win first place. Much much enthusiasm and pride … even the Chileans, who don’t get along with Argentina, are proud that a country from South America had won the World Cup. Pictures follow:

Biggest dinosaur in the world found here, Trelew Patagonia

Most of the trees here were planted by the Welsh settlers

31 December – A day at sea today. Everyone is resting up for the BIG party tonight. Our Cruise Director assures us it will be a party to remember.

Getting ready to “Step out for the evening”

1 January 2023 – Happy New Year everyone!! As our Cruise Director assured us it was be a party to remember. At least I remember some of it. I believe a good time was had by all. It was assuring to see all the old folks on the ship that use walkers, canes, and braces suddenly get out on the dance floor and “shake their booty!!”

The swimming pool area set up for a party

So now we are still at sea today. Many people complained about the number of days we are at sea but if you look at a map, two things should catch your attention. First, there are not that many places (developed cities or towns or developed parks) to stop and do something in this part of the world. Second, we are traveling some pretty significant distances when compared to cruising the Caribbean or the Gulf of Mexico, or even the Med. I just tell them they should have flown on South West if they didn’t like sea days.

Tomorrow we make a call at Montevideo, Uruguay. Nancy and I are spending the day on a ranch there just to learn what the Gauchos do. After that we are off to Buenos Aries.

2 January 2023 – Welcome to Montevideo, Uruguay. We pulled into port this morning and we had a day long excursion inland to spend the day on a ranch. The day started with a bus tour of Montevideo which is the capitol of Uruguay. Many old colonial buildings mixed with modern high rise buildings. Here they do have Gauchos (like cowboys), raise cattle and crops to feed the stock. They also raise, buy, sell, and race horses of all types. Interesting, entertaining, and we had great Bar B Q lunch. The day included a welcome talk by the owner, his family hosted the days activities, a ride around the farm on wagons (it was like a hayride because we all sat on bales of straw), demonstrations of local dances, watched a horse care preparation and learned a little about the Gauchos, and life on the Pampas of Uruguay. Montevideo is located near the mouth of a large estuary that extends inland all the way to Buenos Aries. Uruguay is bordered by the Atlantic ocean, Brazil, and Argentina.

The ranch was a lot of fun, interesting, informative, and well done. The spoon story. In Patagonia the locals drink a special tea. They put the crushed dried leaves in hot water and use this spoon to stir it. The spoons are not solid but hollow with tiny holes in the spon part and the handle is hollow. They use the spoon as a straw to draw the tea up while the tiny holes strain out the tea leaves.

3 January – As I mentioned, Montevideo is located on a vast estuary formed by the Uruguay River and the Atlantic Ocean. Our next destination is Buenos Aires, Argentina. Last night we departed Montevideo, sailed back out to the Atlantic to turn back in on the channel that will take us up through the estuary to Buenos Aires. The Estuary is quite shallow and boat traffic follows specific channels to their destinations. So, here we are in Buenos Aires. Had a nice trip last night and docked this morning in a huge port.

Today we are scheduled for a ten and half mile tour of Buenos Aires on bicycles (no, not electric … foot powered!)

Following the markers up the channel to Buenos Aires

That was our day in Buenos Aires. Very interesting, quite challenging, especially in the heavy traffic, but well worth the sore butt! The stories: The large metal flower. This huge, seventeen ton, chrome flower was designed and displayed by some great artist. It was originally designed to open in the morning and fold in in the evening just like real tulips do. However, after some time, it stopped working and there is no money to fix it. Now it just stays open and is in this big park by a large museum. Argentina once had the best economy in the world. Everyone did well and the country flourished. The Army, sensing a loss of power and influence over-threw the government and the economy went into a tailspin. Now Argentina is again a third world economy and most things that are broke don’t get fixed.

The monument to Eva Peron is the symbol of a very sad story. Wife of President Juan Peron, Eva spent all her time and effort lifting up the poor and, more specifically, poor women. She became vastly popular and was urged to run for Vice President. If you recall the movie, Madonna sang “Don’t cry for me Argentina” as she portraided Eva Peron announcing to the people that she could not run for Vice President because she was dying of cancer. Eva did not sing that song in real life but she did make that public announcement. She died shortly after just as the Army was overpowering the country and, although her body was snuck out of the country to Paris, there is a horrible story of the time she died until she was returned to Buenos Aires. Look it up or read the book.

Buenos Aires is the end of our cruise, but NOT the end of our trip. As I mentioned in the beginning, we have booked a five day extension to Iguaz’u (pronounced frequently as E wa Sue … but many other different ways depending where you are) Falls and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. So early tomorrow, five AM, we leave the Jupiter and get transported to the airport for our flight to the falls. The excursion to the falls and Rio de Janerio will be in a separate post found under this one in the menu. Thanks for “Turning the Horn” with us..

2022 – 11 – THANKSGIVING CRUISE

This year we decided to do something different for Thanksgiving. If you have not read my book “Us Vs The World” you do not know that Thanksgiving is the only holiday that Nancy and I have not been separated from each other for some reason or other. We have missed birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, New Years, all of them, except Thanksgiving. It’s a long story, buy my book on Amazon and you can read all about it.

This year we decided to take a cruise and have someone else do the cooking, and … the cleanup. In the past we have have enjoyed Thanksgiving at other people houses (Friends, relatives, work mates, etc), we have had these same groups of people to our house for Thanksgiving, one year we spent it in Hawaii, one year we invited our German Landlord and her family to this “American” holiday, and we have enjoyed Thanksgiving in fine restaurants. One year (last year) we rented an Airbnb in Haysville, North Carolina and we packed and hauled all the parts of the traditional dinner there. Nancy made a superb dinner but it was a lot of work.

So this year we opted for the no work, no clean up, and a good meal plan. Cruises are noted for their fine cuisine so we decided to go that route. We found a short five day cruise out of Jacksonville, Florida on Carnival and booked that. What follows is a few pictures of the ship and where we went. It was not a overly interesting trip as it went only to Nassau and a private Island but it did serve a great Thanksgiving meal. I was even able to have a double portion just so I could once again, over eat on Thanksgiving. Here are the pictures:

This is Minerva, from Bulgaria, who served us these two Espresso Martinis to welcome us aboard

That’s it. I didn’t take many pictures. It was a trip to give Thanks for all we have and have a Thanksgiving diner. No picture of the dinner … you will have to take my word for it that it was good.

It was a good Thanksgiving. We met new friends, had a few drinks, enjoyed some entertainment, and we were together.

2022 – 09 – EUROPE

For the last several years the Wurstfest in Bad Durkheim was cancelled due to COVID 19. This year the fest will return and it is our intent to be there and enjoy it once again. Although it is called a “Wurstfest”, it is actually the Octoberfest of the German Wine industry where all the Vintners from the central region of Germany set up tents, bring in a big carnival, and host two weeks of food, wine, and fun. To explain the Wurstmart handle I am inserting an excerpt from their website.

Why is the festival called “Wurstmarkt”?An invoice for delivered leather from the year 1417 is (until today) the first documented mention of the Michaelismarkt in Dürkheim – the actual origin of the Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt. The Michaelismarkt, since the beginning of the 19th century probably because of the immense sausage consumption in the vernacular more and more called Wurstmarkt, was originally a medieval consumer fair to supply the pilgrims on the patron saint’s day of St. Michael around the chapel of the same name. As the space there soon became insufficient, the market activities shifted more and more to the Brühlwiesen. With over 600,000 visitors and around 300 wines, the Michaelmas Market has today become the largest wine festival in the world.

If you wish to know more about the fest. Here is the website: https://www.bad-duerkheim.de/kultur-tourismus/veranstaltungen-feste/duerkheimer-wurstmarkt/faq-wurstmarkt-english/#accordion-1-16

Then, as long as we are in Europe, we will spend some time there and see some places we have enjoyed in the past and some we have not seen but always wanted to. Come on along, we have a seat for you in our car and a setting at our table.

16 Sept 2022 – After a successful escape from Tampa and the Florida heat, ten plus hours in airport terminals and on airplanes, and a ten kilometer hike from one end of Terminal One in Frankfurt to the other where the car rental agencies are, we made it to Germany. All went smoothly actually and it appears most of the COVID distractions to travel are a part of history. We climbed into our trusty rental and were off from Frankfurt to Deidesheim. Deidesheim is a sleepy little town along the Deutches Wine Strasse (German Wine Road or route) that caters to the city folk from the surrounding larger cities in the area as they seek relaxation and scenery during their weekends. They drive their Mercedes’, BMW’s, and Audi’s to smaller towns that have posh hotels, walking paths, bicycle routes, and vineyards to sooth their tortured souls and exercise their tired bodies. They eat, walk, exercise, enjoy good wine, spend some time in a spa, and go back to work the next week. A good way to spend the weekend. We came here because it is just a short walk to the train station from our hotel, and a short train ride to Bad Durkheim and the Wurstmarkt.

Arrival day is a rugged day for us because we left Tampa at seven in the evening and arrived in Frankfurt at nine in this morning. I don’t sleep much on airplanes and Nancy sleeps just a bit more so, as usual, we are tired that first day. In order to get adjusted and sleep our first night here, we stay up all day and go to bed after dinner and some exercise.

We spent the day getting to Deidesheim, checking into our hotel, and touring the local area. A small town nearby, Saint Martin, is one of our favorite little towns because it has out favorite little vintner, Alte Schlosschen. It is a small winery that produces excellent wine. We always stop by to sample a few of their wines (a process called ‘probing'”) and purchase a few bottles to take back home. In addition to the winery, the town of St Martin is the epitome of what you would imagine a small German village to look like. Here are some pictures taken during our time there.

We left St Martin and drove back to Deidesheim. Parked the car and walked downtown to find dinner.

This is what remained from my schnitzel and pommes fritts

For our post dinner exercise we walked back to the hotel. We stopped by the lobby for a glass of wine and some conversation with the bartender, then we turned in for the evening. Long day but good. Nice to be back in Germany and Europe. Tomorrow we have a leisurely start, breakfast at the hotel, then the train to Bad Durkheim.

17 September – This is Wurstfest day for us. We slept in a bit trying to recover from the long day of travel. Had a very nice breakfast in the hotel. German Hotels often provide breakfast and some of them are very extensive, and free. The hotel we stayed at, The MAXX by Steigenberger is one of the nicer hotels in Deidesheim and they had a very impressive breakfast which we enjoyed immensely. Around one we decided to walk to the train station and catch the train to Bad Durkheim. We stay in Deidesheim and take the train for three very important reasons; First, there are no hotels rooms to be had in Bad Durkheim during the Wurstmart. Secondly, if you drive there you cannot find a place to park within a couple miles, and third, No DUIs driving back to the hotel. German police are everywhere and drinking and driving is not acceptable. So, a ten minute train ride for $2.50 each way for each person solves all three problems; Nice hotel, no parking problems, no DUI’s.

Speaking of three things … That’s what there is to do at the Wurstfest. One, tasting wine; two, eating; and three, the rides. We have kind of evolved out of the rides. The last ride I did at the Wurstfest was about twelve years ago when I rode this slingshot thing straight up into the air and free fell back to the ground. Our nephew Michael and his fiancé (at that time, his wife now) Rachelle, were visiting us and Rachelle wanted to ride the slingshot thing. Mike didn’t want to nor did Nancy so I went. Picture to follow. So, that is what we did at the Wurstmart this year, we tasted some wine, ate some bratwurst, and didn’t do any rides. Here’s some photo’s:

So that was Bad Durkheim and the Wurstfest. We had a nice day. A bit cool and windy but nice. Tomorrow we head south to Ulm, a city south of Stuttgart where we will be spending the night. Not sure what’s there but we’ll see. Hope you enjoyed the Wurstfest as much as we did!

18 September – Today we drove to Ulm. Left Deidesheim after a nice breakfast and had a leisurely drive to Ulm. Hit a couple traffic jams (called Staus in German) but made it through. The weather is quite cool which is a nice reprieve from the heat of Florida. Ulm has about 128,000 folks that live here, it’s located on the Danube River, has a big university, was first recorded historically in 850 A.D. and hosts a huge cathedral that claims the highest steeple on earth. If you would like to know more about Ulm, Google will put you to sleep! We got here in early afternoon, checked into our hotel, vegged out for a while, then went to an Irish Pub for dinner. After dinner was walked about town looking at the interesting buildings. Because it was bombed in World War II there is a mix of very old, kinda old, and new modern buildings throughout the city. (The Brits bombed it not the Yanks!) Fortunately, during our walk I took a few pictures. Here they are:

Top of the steeple of the huge cathedral

Ok, that’s it. Tomorrow we are off to Innsbruck, Austria. I’ll check in when we get there.

19 September – Made it to Innsbruck. Forgot how impressive the Alps are. We had a pleasant breakfast in Ulm and departed south to Innsbruck Along the way we side tracked a bit and stopped in Fussen to take a peak at the Neu Schwanstein Castle and the castle the Kings parents lived in across the way. The Neu Schwanstein Castle was built by King Ludwig II and the Disney Castle in Orlando is modeled to resemble it. Fairly new, it was built in the late 1800’s. It is an interesting castle to tour. We have toured it several times in the past so today we just took a couple pictures of it.

Then we started seeing snow capped mountains. The Alps are just kids compared to our Rockies but the Alps are still growing and the Rockies are wearing away. The Alps are 30 – 55 Million years younger than the Rockies. They are smaller now but will someday be larger than the rockies. I can’t wait to go skiing in the Alps then!

There in the distance is our first sight of the Alps, covered with snow.

As you enter Austria from Germany you come in through a narrow valley. Sitting high on a mountain top on the right is a castle that controlled that valley for many years. Recently a footbridge was built for tourists to cross the valley to get to the castle.

From there on, we drove through the Alps, through Fern Pass, and into Innsbruck.

So that was our trip to Innsbruck. Tomorrow we are driving farther south into Italy and down to Genoa on the Mediterranean coast where we will spend the night. It will be one of our longer legs driving. Tonight we are walking over into old town Innsbruck for dinner.

Okay … Back from a lovely dinner and a very interesting walk around Old Town Innsbruck. An exciting corner of Innsbruck that has revitalized itself. Many shops, restaurants, and places of interest. We walked through it a couple times just to make sure we didn’t miss anything. Having the Alps rise up above the buildings while they are capped in snow was quite magnificent. Here are some pictures I took.

Hope you enjoyed that as much as we did. See you in Genoa.

20 September – Long day today. We finished our drive through the Austrian Alps, then through the Italian Alps. Once out of the mountains we drove across a large expanse of flat farmland. Interesting but not picturesque. After the flat lands we came to another set of smaller Alps known as the Ligurian Alps which push Genoa right into the Mediterranean Sea. That is how Genoa has become known as the city between the mountains and the sea … those Italians are clever people. Here’s a few pictures from the trip from Innsbruck to Genoa. I didn’t repeat a lot of mountain shots as we had enough of those yesterday.

Then we got to Genoa! Italy is an excessively busy, chaotic place. No one follows the traffic rules, people drive all over the place, scooters, and motorbikes are everywhere and swerve in and out of traffic. We found out hotel, right on the water, checked in and found a safe place to leave the car. We decided to walk about a little to stretch our legs and find something to eat for dinner.

That was it for the evening in Genoa. Our room had air conditioning so we had a pleasant, cool night of sleep.

21 September – The drive from Genoa (After a nice breakfast) was interesting. It was a fairly new highway that was either crossing a bridge or going through a tunnel. There were no non-tunnel or non-bridge segments to the highway for nearly 60 miles. Then we left that highway and descended into Monaco.

We drove through Monaco. many Italian plates, many French plates, and some Monaco plates. Mostly all buildings, big buildings for apartments and condos.

So then on to Marseille. A bigger city by the sea. The French Rivera. First visited by the Greeks in 800 B.C. (They are still making payments on their time shares here!) A very big, and very busy center. We are traveling in the middle of the week, in late September and people are out in droves. Crowds everywhere, traffic is heavy, and there must be a bijillian motor scooters! Have a look.

We had an early dinner and and are turning in early. Two long traffic days and too many scooters.

22 September – Here we are in Dijon, France. Yup, mustard capitol of the gourmet world. You would think it’s French’s but it’s Dijon. Had a good breakfast in Marseille and fought our way out of town. I have come to hate city driving in southern European cities because of the chaos. The scooters, the speeding, the dodging in and out of traffic (I fear I am sounding like an old man but if you are not accustomed to driving here, it is a challenge, regardless of your age). Anyhow, we made it out running over a minimum of scooters and pedestrians and headed north along the western side of the French Alps to Dijon. A fairly boring drive as most of it is farm land. First vegetables and fruits then dairy and cow food type farms. Traffic varied from very heavy to moderate. As we passed by Lyon, it was fairly heavy but then dropped off to just irritable. Couple pictures from along the way.

Sky Rocket Junitpers (Very common in the med area)

Eventually we made it to Dijon. We were here once before, many years ago. I think we just passed through and took a picture by the city name. Now, we have penetrated the cities outer protective layer and are checked into our hotel in the city center. A very impressive place. Well refurbished with pedestrian traffic areas, restaurants, shops, and local attractions. We checked into our hotel and went exploring.

So that was Dijon. Tomorrow we leave France and stop at the American Military Cemetery where Gen Patton and thousands of American soldiers from World War II are buried, then on to Trier. See you then.

23 September – Three countries today. France, Luxembourg, and Germany. We left Dijon and drove north to Luxembourg. We passed by Nancy’s place.

Then we went past one of the many diverts we encountered during our trip.

After several hours we arrived at the American Military Cemetery in Luxembourg. We stopped for a while to say “Hello” and “Thanks” to the five thousand one hundred Americans buried there from World War II. Many are from the Army Air Corps because they were shot down flying over this area on trips into Germany. There are also many soldiers from the 3rd Army that served under Patton. This cemetery is always a very sobering place to visit. There are so many graves, lined perfectly in rows, of Americans who will never return to their native lands let alone their home towns, families, girl friends, wives, children, what ever. When we lived here in Europe, Nancy and I used to visit the American Cemeteries in France mostly on Memorial day and Veteran’s Day. We used to talk to the curators who are assigned there to care for the graves and cemeteries. It is amazing how many people from Europe come to pay their respects to the American’s who gave their lives to save them from the tyranny that threatened their lives. Many older people bringing their grandchildren and walking through the graves and explaining what all happened so many years ago. Anyhow, we stopped in Luxembourg to see the American cemetery there. A unique aspect of this cemetery is that General Patton, who was killed in a Jeep accident after the war while he was still in Germany, requested that he be buried with “his troops” and he is buried here.

Unique to this cemetery is the fact that there is a German military cemetery very close by. If you read the photo that explains why you will understand.

So with that we pressed on to Trier. Trier is a special town as it was once a Roman settlement. Still standing in downtown Trier is the “Black Gate” which was the main entrance into the Roman settlement. It is called the Black Gate because of all the algae that has grown on it over the hundreds of years since it was built that gives it a black appearance. We also walked through the pedestrian section of the old city and visited a couple of churches. In case you are wondering. You can’t go anywhere in Europe without visiting old churches. They are the biggest and oldest buildings in each town and are all very impressive. The skill of the masons that built these structures thousands of years ago is amazing.

That ended our day in Trier. We have been here a number of times over the years and always enjoy a walk through history. Tomorrow we follow the Mosel river north to some small town north of Cochem. One of our favorite drives.

4 September – Off to an early start after a pleasant breakfast we left Trier and tried to get a direct route to the Mosel River. To us, the Mosel is the most scenic drive one can take in Germany. The steep hillsides covered with vineyards, the little villages along the way with vintners working thier fields and selling wine. It is almost like visiting an imaginary place something one would expect to see in Epcot (less the woke Baloney). Everything is neatly kept, colorful, and attractive. The boats and barges on the river, the half timber homes and businesses, and the vineyards. Very nice. We went this way last year as well and were frustrated by the COVID requirements to eat or enter a store. Nothing of that remains. Only occasionally do you see a mask and it is logical to assume this is a high risk person trying to shield him/herself. People are out everywhere, like I mentioned before. Cars, bikes, motorcycles, walking, in stores, restaurants, attractions, and bars.

Anyhow, we made it to the Mosel, However, due to road construction we had to take a detour that took us back out to one of the main highways. We finally made it back to the Mosel just before getting to BernKastle-Kuez. This little town is a must see if you travel the Mosel. Everyone else stops there as well! We go there fairly early so many of the stores were just opening. We parked and walked to the town center. Along the way I was treated to a solution of a problem I had long pondered. How do they get their furniture into those upper partments with such little stairways and elevators. Here’s the answer:

A special truck with an industrial sized elevator on it! What could be simpler?

Ok, back to the city. All the stores were just opening so we walked around, I took a few pictures, and we had a coffee and a sweetie before we left. German’s love to bicycle and on weekends they go all out … especially since the introduction of electric assisted bikes. Before it was the fitness people and many of the men. Now, everyone bikes. Biking along the Mosel, where there are specific bike paths close to the river are extremely popular. When we lived here Nancy and I would ride them frequently on weekend outings. Here are some pictures of around town and the way along the Mosel. Because it is grape harvesting time, there was a great deal of activity with that activity as well.

We passed through the city of Cochem then we arrived at our hotel. You can see pictures of Cochem and it’s beautiful castle in my posting from last year’s trip. Here’s our hotel and room, it too was built in the 1740’s.

For dinner tonight we are dining at the hotel and tomorrow we climb out of the Mosel Valley enroute to Brussels, Belgium. Another place we have enjoyed a great deal over the years. See you there.

25 September – Here we are in Brussels. When we lived in Germany we came to Brussels fairly often. Sometimes my work brought me here and Nancy would come along and tour or shop while I was working, other times we just came to enjoy the city. Being Hq for NATO and a number of offices of the EU, Brussels has become very international in it’s ethnic makeup. You see people from all tracks of life and nationality. Everyone seems to get along so it is always an interesting mix. We came here this time just to see the city again and more importantly, have some Brussels Mussels. The Mussels are something we have enjoyed nearly every time we came here. Boiled in a white wine and served in a pot with bits of celery, onions, and some kind of green leafy stuff, they are delicious. So, that’s what we did, we arrived here early, parked the car and stored our bags until we could check in later, and headed out into the town on foot. The Grand Place is a large city square bordered by large old buildings. The square is filled around the sides by restaurants, and shops and there is no end to the activities within the square. I tried to capture the building but they are big so I had a difficult time getting them all in. Some pictures are close-ups of some of the architectural features of the buildings. No churches today!

Now, we are off to Amsterdam … See you there!

26 September – Today it rained most of the day. Visibility was quite low at times due to fog or road mist. Therefore the trip from Brussels to Amsterdam was not particularly scenic. Plus it is mostly flat farmland with herds of cows. It did go off as planned and we made fairly descent time. It was Monday morning and everyone was on their way back to work and the trucks were all back on the road. Trucks are interesting in Europe as they are required to travel at only 48 to 54 miles per hour maximum on the interstate highways. Consequently, the right lane is one steady row of trucks tugging along. The left lanes are filled with cars trying to go faster, speeds up to 60 to 72. Fortunately it all works out. Trucks are also not permitted to drive on Sundays so Sundays have less congestion. Some trucks can get special permits to travel on Sundays, but not many. So, on Monday they launch with vigor! We decided to go to a small seaside town named Volendam. It is quite the tourist attraction as they cater to the rest of Europe and the world that wants to see what the Netherlands are really like. They have all sorts of tours and restaurants, and shops. Quite the place. It was just raining lightly when we got there so we decided to brave it and talk a walk around. We last visited Volendam some fifty years ago when we were in Germany for our first time. It has not changed a great deal. Here’s some pictures:

The first windmill we saw … I will try to get a better picture tomorrow

From Volendam we drove into Amsterdam, found our hotel, and a place to park our car. That took most of the afternoon. We did walk back from the park garage, noted some scenery, had dinner, and made it back to the hotel.

So, that was it or today. We are spending two days in Amsterdam so for once we are not driving anywhere tomorrow. By the way, many people confuse the names Holland and The Netherlands. The Netherlands has twelve provinces. The two biggest ones are North Holland and South Holland. Consequently many times people are speaking of Holland meaning the state. Both are in The Netherlands and anywhere in any of the twelve is in The Netherlands.

27 September – No pictures today and only a short story. Yesterday afternoon we booked a Canal Tour for this afternoon. It was raining yesterday but we were hoping for better weather today. When we got up this morning it was raining. Not real hard but hard enough to not enjoy being out in it. We waited until about 10 PM and made the call. We have been here for twelve days, traveled eleven days in a row, stayed in eleven different hotels and it was time to take a day off. Because it was still raining, we cancelled the canal tour and spent the day vegging out in our hotel room. We had enjoyed a nice breakfast so we just spent the entire day in the hotel room watching it rain, reading, I edited some of my posts and worked on the next of my best seller books. Nancy read and did some puzzles she enjoys. Around five thirty, it had stopped raining around three so around five we wandered out and had a pizza for dinner. We are now back in the hotel room getting ready for our trip back to Germany tomorrow. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. See you tomorrow.

28 September – This morning the sunshine greeted us so we knew it was time to hit the road again. We checked out of the hotel and took and Uber to where we had the car parked. In Amsterdam, and many other European cities, the streets are narrow and there is little parking available. Therefore the cities make it either inconvenient or expensive to drive into the city and stay there. They prefer you use mass trans, which they have plenty of, and leave your car somewhere where it is not so crowded. As we are not familiar with places to leave our car and not sure if we will use it during our stay, we drive into the city. Amsterdam makes it both inconvenient AND expensive to drive into the city. Our hotel was pretty much downtown because we wanted to be able to walk to the downtown activities. Therefore, to park the car for two days, the hotel we stayed at recommended booking three days parking at the central train station and walking back or taking a taxi back. It was about a mile and a half away. We did all that but opted to explore the city on the way back to the hotel so we walked, had dinner along the way (see 26 September). Because we had out bags this morning, we took an Uber to get us back to the car park. We bailed out the car and spent about forty five minutes getting out of town because one of the major tunnels was closed. Good thing it was sunny, I could see half of the cars I nearly hit because the sun was in my eyes!! Anyhow, we made it out of town and headed for Germany. I did get another picture of a windmill but its not much better than the last. Here it is:

They do still use the windmills to pump water off their land. Much of the land is below sea level and claimed from the sea. There is a constant need to pump out water that seeps in. So they use windmills.

Most of the trip from Amsterdam to Germany was fairly mundane. A great number of farms, crops, cows, and a few horses. traffic was amazingly heavy so we kept pressing on.

We stayed in a small town along side the Rhine River. The town’s name was Rhens. Its a small village that has been there a long time. Has some pretty neat buildings. There is also a castle just up the road that Nancy and I walked up to and toured a bit. Before we got there we stopped at a small town that claimed to have the highest geyser in the world. Had to see that so we diverted over to see it. Turns out the geyser was a man made well on an island that does shoot water in the air, about 60 feet. To see it you must attend a ninety minute lecture and tour in a museum on Germany hydrography, then take an hour boat ride to see them set off the geyser. We passed on the geyser but there was an interesting old gate neat the river we enjoyed seeing.

That was our day. We had a great German dinner in a local restaurant and turned in.

29 September – This morning was not so sunny. There was a low hanging fog across the tops of the hills on both sides of the river so it was kinda gloomy. We had a nice breakfast. We loaded up the Open and headed up the river to Rudesheim. The Rhine runs north from southern Germany, joins with the Mosel at Koblenz in Germany, and goes all the way up to the Netherlands and empties into the North Sea. So we were going south and up the Rhein. I took a couple pictures along the way. Then we took a ferry from the Bingen side of the Rhein to the Rudesheim side.

A campground along the Rhein (Note the fog)

We unloaded, drove into town, and parked. The “more later” caption is about a monument that sits way up over the Rhein. We took a cable car, like a ski lift, up to see it today as well as walked about Rudesheim a bit, then drove to our hotel and checked in for the day..

Rudesheimer Coffee, best way to start the day!

We are settled in for the night. Will eat dinner at the hotel and leave in the morning. Going to Frankfurt tomorrow and spending our last two days in Europe there.

30 September – Went to Frankfurt today. The day was bright and sunny so we looked forward to a fun day in one of our favorite cities. We were not disappointed. The drive was just over an hour so we slept in, made our own coffee in our hotel room (The hotel had a gucchi coffee maker) and left mid morning. Most of the drive was on autoban and with a fairly heavy flow of traffic but everything went well. Stopped at a Bakery in Rudesheim and had a cup of coffee and a sweetie. Germany still has it’s individual bakeries where they sell bakery and sometimes coffe .. nothing else. But, unlike the supermarket bakeries we have at home, the bakery is frsh, made right there, and in abundant supply and flavor. We arrived at our hotel in Frankfurt just before noon and to our surprise our room was ready so we checked in. We had to take everything to our room because we are doing our final repack for the flight home. Instead of messing around in the room we left everything and went about exploring Frankfurt.

Frankfurt is the financial capitol of Germany and the EU. While they don’t cater to tourism as much as the tourist cities like Munich, it still has a great deal to offer and see. Nancy and I lived here in Frankfurt for two years while I ws in the Air Force. We lived right on the airport on a US base that has since closed. We frequented Frankfurt often by car, bike, bus, and train. It is probably our favorite city in Europe … maybe even the world. Anyhow, we dumped our stuff in our room and set off on foot to rediscover and enjoy Frankfurt. We had no agenda so we just kinda wandered around. That is the way my pictures will be. They are mostly of things we saw that we thought were interesting. Hope you enjoy them:

A medieval toll gate to enter Frankfurt, near our hotel

So that’s it for our day in Frankfurt. More tomorrow before we get ready to leave.

1 October – Happy October and welcome back. Today in Frankfurt it is raining and very cool. The only activity we have seen outside so far today was a demonstration … couldn’t tell if it was for or against the effort in the Ukraine but they were playing Jane Fonda music so it was probably a peace parade.

Fortunately we had a great day yesterday and saw and did most of the things we enjoy here. Therefore, no worries about the rain, we’ll just watch it for a while and maybe venture out later. We went down for breakfast earlier and had a good one. I’ve been catching up on this blog and other endeavors.

Tomorrow we fly home. We were pleased that Ian changed course and did not affect us much. A little rain and some wind, no damage. Our prayers for the folks south of us. So much devastation. It will take a long time for them to recover.

With that I’m closing this puppy out. I doubt I will be taking any more pictures and all we have left is dinner tonight. Might be a sandwich in the room if it keeps raining. We have had a good trip this time and have enjoyed seeing and doing all the places we went and things we did. We had a good friend diagnosed with brain cancer two weeks ago. He had no idea he had it and the Doctor gave him two weeks to live. He made it a week and died peacefully in his sleep under hospice care. You never know when something like that is going to change your life forever. That’s why we travel like we do. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. Enough philosophy … good to have you along and see you next time? … Maybe?

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