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LION at Shiduli Lodge in South Africa, Nov. 2010 - Mom and Vaughn ride a camel in Dubai, Feb 2009
WASHINGTON DC - A week in DC with Bill & Charlotte White and their three grandchildren was a fun and learning experience. MYW EUROPE - June 16 I flew to Europe to be both tour operator and tour director for 48 people. We started with 2 days of rain in Zurich but the weather improved for Strasbourg, Heidelberg, a Rhine River cruise, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Munich, and Salzburg. One of the highlights of the tour was the Oberammergau Passion Play which takes place every 10 years. We ended up with 3 nights in the Swiss Alps and enjoyed hiking high in the mountains and exploring Emmental. I had been working on this tour for over 2 years so it was a great relief when it was finally over and went relatively well. AMISH in UTAH & COLORADO - Barely home from Europe I met 9 Amish gals in Grand Junction and toured them through southeastern Utah, Monument Valley, Durango/Silverton and back to Colorado Springs via the Black Canyon and Royal Gorge. KAUFFMAN REUNION - 65 Kauffmans came to Bozeman for our bi-annual family reunion. I organized this one again and fortunately had lots of help from my siblings and other family members. It's a lot of work, but those who came had a great time visiting and playing games.
2010
SWITZERLAND - Anny Gerber turned 75 on January 10, so I had to fly across the 'big pond' and help celebrate. I spent 2 weeks there and during that time also did more tour planning with a number of Swiss groups.FABULOUS DUBAI AND ARABIAN NIGHTS 2 - An encore trip to Dubai and the Gulf States, but with a new ship, the Costa Luminosa. This was another great success and three people repeated the trip from last year. Actually my cousin Chloe had also booked to repeat, but broke her ankle and had to cancel. We stayed again in my favorite hotel downtown, the 5-star Radisson Deira Creek, and did our tours of modern Dubai and ancient Dubai, as well as the desert safari with dinner in a Bedouin Camp. We enjoyed the new ship and our ports of call were wonderful. Muscat, Oman is really one of my favorite places in the world. We had a young Omani man as our guide, Badar, and he gave great insight into their country, culture, and religion. The people in my group will certainly not be tempted to "lump all Arabs/Muslims into the same pot" anymore. In Bahrain, we were delighted to have our young Bahraini Lady, Nada, as our guide again. After the group flew home, Mother, Armina, Gaylene, Roger and I flew to Amman, Jordan, where we were joined by Kermit Kauffman for a few days visiting Petra and the Dead Sea. This was a terrific 3 days and Mother said the trip into Petra was one of the highlights of her life. Thanks to Armina for the Petra suggestion! I'll definitely offer that as an optional extension next year.... And yes, that does mean I have decided to offer "Dubai and Arabian Nights 3" next February 2011.
MAJOR REMODEL on Mother's House! - Thirty years ago when we bought our house in Bozeman, Mother wished the kitchen and dining room were reversed. We always thought it would be nice, but that it was way too big a project to attempt. When our friend Rachel Shureb heard about it a few months ago, she looked at it and just replied, "We can do that!" Now it's being done, but of course the project didn't stop there! The false ceilings came down in the living room, kitchen, and dining room. New lighting is being put in, new outlets and electricity, new cabinets, new flooring under old cabinets, new plumbing, and of course new sheetrocking, taping, and painting! Lest anyone think I had a vacation between Dubai and my first tour, just take a look at the photos for the project on the Tour Photos page!
VIRGINIA GARDENS & PLANTATIONS with a senior group - We started in Washington DC with a little touring of our nation's capital and then headed to Charlottesville, VA to the Boars Head Inn for 4 nights. What a great place that is. We toured some of the famous plantations, like Monticello etc, and drove up on Skyline drive in Shenandoah National Park. It was 34 degrees at the visitor center! It was a little early for spring flowers, but dogwoods and redbuds were beautiful.
SOUTHWEST - In May I did two small-group tours back to back in Utah, Colorado and Arizona. I never tire of going to the canyons and parks and wild places of southern Utah and surrounding areas. Great photos!2009 RECAP
As much as I enjoy world cruises, I must admit that it's rather nice having more flexibility in the winter, as opposed to being gone on a ship for several months. After a severe cold spell in December, January was fairly mild, but I headed down to Florida for a week anyway. Most of my time, though, was spent preparing for the biggest tour project I've ever undertaken - Dubai!FABULOUS DUBAI AND ARABIAN NIGHTS! I organized a trip for 25 people in February to Dubai and the Persian Gulf. We stayed 2 nights in the 5-Star Radisson SAS in the middle of Dubai and then took a 7-night cruise on the Costa Classica to Muscat, Oman; Fujairah UAE; Abu Dhabi, UAE; Manama, Bahrain; and back to Dubai. It turned out to be a tremendous trip. In Dubai we started with a tour of ancient Dubai with the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, the excellent museum, the old town, crossing the 'creek' by abra, and the fascinating souks (markets). If you think of Dubai as just expensive luxury, don't believe it. Shopping is wonderful and cheap in the souks. In the afternoon we went on a desert safari in luxury jeeps, careening up and down and sideways on huge dunes. We ended up at a Bedouin Camp in the desert for camel rides, belly dancing, waterpipes, henna painting, and of course a delicious barbecue dinner of Arab specialties. The next morning we toured modern Dubai and saw the incredibe architecture for which they are justifiably famous. We marveled at the Burj Dubai - the tallest building in the world - and went to Dubai Land to see one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. Of course we saw the indoor downhill snow skiing(!) and the 7-star Burj al Arab Hotel, and also drove out on the Jumeirah Palm Islands to the Atlantis Hotel at the end to see that unbelievable project. Mother describes Dubai as "modern as tomorrow and ancient as Abraham!" So true.
We boarded the Costa Classica and sailed to Muscat, Oman for a delightful tour of the port, the city, grand mosque, royal palace, fort and then tea at the gorgeous Al Bustan Palace Hotel. The next day in Fujairah people went off on their own, but 10 of us ended up having lunch in a typical Arab restaurant and ordered all kinds of local appetizers. Best meal of the trip! In Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, we toured the Grand Mosque - one of the most amazing and beautiful buildings in the world. The rest of the city was great as well, but the mosque rather overshadowed everything else. In Bahrain we had a lovely local lady, Nada, as our guide. It was super to get the woman's perspective from her, and not just from the men. We loved her. Bahrain does not take a backseat to the Emirates when it comes to being progressive! They also have great architecture, fabulous mansions/palaces, an ancient fortress, and a huge camel farm. We also drove halfway out on the 25-mile causeway toward Saudi Arabia and took the elevator to the top of a tower for the view.
The ship returned to Dubai Saturday noon, but we didn't have to disembark until time to go to the airport Sunday night. That allowed us some free time to do more shopping, and 10 of the group enjoyed high tea at the Burj al Arab (only $115 per person!). One of the most impressive aspects of the trip was the warm welcome we received when people learned we were Americans. That made us honored guests and we were treated so well everywhere we went in every port. There were countless instances of hospitality that sent each one in our group home with a different perspective on the Arabs and on what they think of us! The tour was a tremendous amount of work over a 6-month period, but now that I've done the research and made such excellent contacts, I've decided to do it AGAIN NEXT FEBRUARY. So if you missed your chance this time, you get another next year! SEND ME AN EMAIL IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION!
WINTER IN YELLOWSTONE - Doris Gnagey and Willie Vogt were both along on the Dubai trip, but a mere 2 weeks later they came to Bozeman to experience winter in Yellowstone. We spent two days in the northern part of the park, staying overnight in Cooke City, Montana. It was cold, but we had bright sunshine. We saw countless antelope, mule deer, bison, elk, and coyotes. We also got to observe 6 wolves through the telescopes of other visitors (wolf watchers). We also walked around in the snow around the terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs. The next morning in Cooke City a couple nice fellows from Iowa took Willie and Doris on rides on their snowmobiles and even let them drive them! On the way back through the park, believe it or not, we saw a grizzly that had come out of hibernation early. He walked across the road in front of us, then meandered out about 100 yards, before making a kill to get some nourishment after his long winter. After eating some of the rabbit, he started rolling in the snow and playing with it, swinging it back and forth like a stuffed animal. All the while, 2 coyotes sat on either side barking (not howling) at the bear. He ignored them. Great drama. Later we went hotpotting in Boiling River. Delightful. The next day we drove early to West Yellowstone and spent the day on a snowcoach, going in to Old Faithful. Again the sky was bright blue and the geyser put on a good show for us. We saw bison all day long, as well as 17 trumpeter swans. Sunday afternoon we drove west of Bozeman to the Madison River and Beartrap Canyon for a walk along the river. Warm but windy. The wind brought in a fierce blizzard Monday afternoon and delayed their flight out by 2 1/2 hours. Doris and Willie went back to California to warm up, but taking with them memories of a spectacular winter wonderland.
HONOLULU - This was unexpected. My cousin Ken Stanley, who had just been with us in Dubai, took a sudden turn for the worse after battling cancer for several years and died March 31. His sister Chloe was trying to deal with his estate, so I flew out for a few days to help her and to go to the funeral.
SWITZERLAND, GERMANY & HOLLAND - In April I took Abraham & Anny Gerber, and Anny Zoss on a trip through the castle region of Germany's Rhine River and into the Netherlands. The tulip and daffodil fields were in full bloom and we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful colors.
CANYONLANDS - May/June - A nice short trip through some of the highlights of the southwest with seniors from a number of ACTS retirement communities on the east coast. Starting in Phoenix, we headed up through Sedona to Grand Canyon, over to Monument Valley, back to Page and Lake Powell, then Zion and Bryce before ending up in Las Vegas.
CANADIAN ROCKIES - End of June I flew to Florida to pick up a group from 2 different retirement communities and we flew to Calgary. We started with 2 nights in Banff and continued with a night at Chateau Lake Louise and 2 nights in Jasper before boarding the Rocky Mountaineer for a 2-day train trip to Vancouver. On the tour we saw an exceptional amount of wildlife and very close up. We saw 5 bears, 2 big bull elk, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep among other animals.
OTTO KUNZ FAMILY - Otto Kunz from Switzerland brought 3 of his grandchildren (ages 14, 12, 10) for a tour through the Yellowstone region and California. We visited the Pryor Mountain Wildhorse Refuge in southern Montana and the children were thrilled to get to see wild mustangs close up. We continued through Yellowstone Park and Virginia City, before flying to California for a visit to Yosemite National Park, Monterey, and San Francisco. James, Victoria, and Steven were a delight to travel with and got along with each other exceptionally well, making it a pleasant trip for all.
MULLET REUNION - Over 100 people came to our Mullet Family Reunion here in Bozeman, which I spearheaded. It was a lot of work, but turned out to be a great weekend. What a wonderful family we have.
AUGUST - My sister Gaylene spearheaded a project to redo the siding on the back of Mother's house. It quickly turned into a much bigger endeavor, including insulating the walls, replacing windows, and eventually having the electric system for much of the house redone! And to think I was hoping to spend some time building out on my land!
SEPTEMBER - MYW ROCKIES - The Mennonite-Your-Way tour is normally in June, but a conflict moved it to September. We weren't sure about the weather that late in the season, but it turned out perfect! We had an enormously good trip from the Black Hills of South Dakota, through Yellowstone and Tetons, up through Western Montana to the Canadian Rockies. On the return we took the red buses to Logan Pass in Glacier Park before heading east, where I left the group in Glendive.
OCTOBER - COLORADO / NEW MEXICO - Another trip with my "Ladies in their Eighties" through some lesser-known areas. Unseasonably cold weather was felt particularly by this group from Florida, but in spite of that we enjoyed Colorado Springs, Great Sand Dunes NP, the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad, Santa Fe, Tent Rocks NM, Cloudcroft, White Sands NM, Carlsbad Caverns, and El Paso.
NOVEMBER - SOUTH AFRICA!! - Now this was a truly wonderful tour! 6 Swiss and 4 Americans spent 2 weeks of safaris, great landscapes and seascapes, flowers, vineyards, Cape Town and the Cape Peninsula. We saw amazing wildlife up close at Shiduli Lodge and also in Kruger Park. The Blyde River Canyon was spectacular, as was the Garden Route along the south coast. The last 3 days in Cape Town were packed full of great activities and sightseeing, including riding to the top of Table Mountain and hiking(!) down and driving out to the Cape of Good Hope. Don't miss my photos of this trip on my 'Tour Photos' page.
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2008 Recap
In the winter of 2008 I took another break from world cruising, not that world cruising is a chore, mind you, but I had a lot of projects to catch up on and the extra time for them was nice. Of course, a break from world cruising didn't mean staying in one place!I've been traveling the world extensively for over 30 years and have often had occasion to take Mother on trips, but seldom the rest of the family. In February we convinced Pam to join us on a 4-day cruise out of Los Angeles. Mother, Pam, Uncle Bud, Cousin Bev, friends Doris Gnagey and Steve Wall, and I had a great time cruising to San Diego, Catalina Island, and Ensenada. Pam was hooked on cruising!
In March Northwest Airlines offered such a cheap fare to Europe it just couldn't go neglected. So I spent a week visiting Gerbers and other friends in Switzerland.
Toward the end of March, Doris Gnagey, Willie Vogt, and I took off through some of the lesser-known areas of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. We had a great time hiking in the late winter / early spring weather. We discovered Tent Rocks National Monument near Santa Fe - a real gem. Willie had never been to the WAVE so we allowed ourselves several days to try and land permits through the lottery, but we got them on the first try. It's always exciting to hike in through North Coyote Buttes to the WAVE and of course Willie was duly impressed!
April/May I repeated much of that tour with a small group from Switzerland. We had to begin in one of their favorites, Organ Pipe National Monument. We continued to Chiricahua National Monument for hiking in the rocks and then up over the Coronado Trail. The Catwalk, Gila Cliffs, White Sands, El Paso, Carlsbad Caverns, Cloudcroft and the Valley of Fires filled our itinerary to Santa Fe and Taos. Then a ride on the DSNGRR out of Durango, a visit to Monument Valley, Goblin Valley, Devils Garden, and the Escalante got us to Las Vegas where we finished with a day trip to Death Valley. Unusually cold temps much of the tour, but we had a great time!
The end of June I flew to Boston and visited Rod Hazard in Maine a couple days before picking up Abraham & Anny Gerber, Gerhard Rabe, Gerbers' grandson Raphael and his friend Lucky Luke for a diverse trip across the United States. We first spent the 4th of July with Rod and ate lobster, then took the train to Indiana to see Ron & Ruth Davidhizar. By van we drove to Tuscola, Illinois to the Amish community and spent time with Lynn Miller and family. What a welcome they gave us. After a whirlwind tour of Chicago we flew to Bozeman and toured Yellowstone Park. Our plans changed when Gerhard collapsed to the floor at Old Faithful Inn and was helicoptered to Idaho Falls. He ended up having major open heart surgery a few days later! The rest of us continued the tour, flying to San Francisco and heading up the coast to the Redwoods. We headed south to Sequoia National Park to investigate Abraham's little grove he planted in 1985. The trees are doing well. While there Raphael, Luke and I climbed Moro Rock and were struck by lightning! Fortunately no one was hurt.
From San Francisco Gerbers flew home and I flew to Portland, Oregon and drove to Salem for a Kauffman family reunion. It's always so enjoyable to get together.
There wasn't much time after that before flying to Florida to pick up my 'Ladies in their Eighties' and take them to New England and the Maritime Provinces of Canada for a couple weeks. Acadia National Park, the Cabot Trail, and Prince Edward Island were highlights. On the last day we were all invited for lunch to the home of one of the ladies on the tour. We dined on 'lobstuh' rolls and coleslaw while taking in sweeping views of the ocean.
The end of August brought another challenging tour, this one to Switzerland and Eastern Europe. We had glorious weather in the Swiss Alps for a nice hike and then headed east to Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest, Cracow, and Prague. It was one of those tours that demand a great deal of energy while operating the trip, but in retrospect was a huge success.
After a couple weeks break to check on the new trees on my land, I rejoined Mennonite Your Way tours for our biennial Peaks, Parks & Canyons tour in the Southwest. It's never a problem getting up for this tour and this one proved to be as good as expectations. The aspen were probably as spectacular this year as I have ever seen them. Especially between Silverton and Ouray in Southwest Colorado the trees were just brilliant!
I had a whole day at home after that tour before flying to Boston to pick up Karl & Ursula Heese from Germany. We ate lobster with Rod, Betty, and Kate in Maine and spent three days exploring the brilliant fall colors in New Hampshire. We drove to the top of Mt Washington into ice, snow, cold and wind! We toured through Vermont and the Adirondack Mountains of New York, then dropped down to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to see Amish Country and Philadelphia. We continued further south to Skyline Drive in Virginia and colonial Williamsburg. We returned via the coast and Chincoteague Island (saw one pony) and back to Boston.
Normally I would go to Switzerland early November, but this year I was busy wrapping up details of our February 2009 Dubai trip, with a final payment deadline of November 15. So I waited until the end of November and stayed into December. I returned to Montana to a real winter with snow and very cold temperatures through the end of the year!
Previous Years
In 2007 I resumed my world cruising! I hosted the Virtuoso group on the Queen Mary 2 maiden world cruise - around the world in 80 days! It was just my type of itinerary, lots of sea days so I could play bridge! It is a stunning ship with remarkable food and service. Because the ship is world-famous, we had great receptions in most of the ports. Thousands of people turned out to see the ship. In Sydney, Australia it was an absolute madhouse, as the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth 2 were in port together. The traffic completely shut down the city. In the evening we were treated to spectacular fireworks over the harbor.
I was home just long enough in April to plant a few trees out on my land before heading to Switzerland for a couple weeks. Three friends from Illinois; Lynn, Leona, & Matt Miller, took the QM2 to Europe and then I toured them around Switzerland for 10 days. We had such good weather I'm afraid they'll think that's normal. The mountains were so clear and beautiful.
Back home for two days, then off to Seattle to pick up Kellers (from Switzerland) for a tour of the Northwest, the Canadian Rockies, Yellowstone/Tetons and down to Salt Lake City. There again I had only a day before driving to Rapid City, South Dakota to greet another MYW tour group for a tour of the Black Hills, Yellowstone/Tetons, the Canadian Rockies and Glacier National Park.
The weekend following the fourth of July we had our Mullet family reunion north of Glendive in Eastern Montana. It was already pretty brown around the state, but there it was wonderfully green and we delighted in the myriad of wildflowers during several walks through the badlands.
Shortly after that I flew to Ft Lauderdale to pick up my "Ladies in their Eighties" for a tour of the Northwest, roundtrip Seattle. It had been exceptionally hot in Seattle, but the day we got there it turned cool and cloudy and remained unseasonably so for the duration of our 11-day trip! We had a great time though. I really enjoy my annual trips with my groups from John Knox Village in Pompano Beach, Florida.
After taking them home to Florida, I finally got a much needed break. Nearly 3 weeks at home to 'get organized' and catch up on numerous projects that have been neglected. Of course it also means time to spend on my land, which I relish!
Toward the end of August it was time for another Alaska/Yukon tour. Four Swiss flew first to Bozeman to enjoy a day in Yellowstone and an evening picnic out at my land. Then off to Juneau where we were met by two others for a couple weeks in the North. After a few cloudy, cool days in Southeast, we enjoyed stunning fall weather for most of the rest of the trip. The tundra in Northern Yukon and in Denali National Park was blazing with fall colors. We saw more animals (bears, moose, goats, sheep, wolves, caribou, whales) than I've ever seen in Alaska and we enjoyed seeing thousands of geese and cranes in migration along with many bald eagles. A glacier cruise in Prince William Sound topped off a superb tour!
In September I took a small group on a hiking tour in Southern Utah. I just enjoy that area more than any other destination in the world! My MYW tour bus driver, Doug, brought his sister and two friends friends from Pennsylvania and our friend Doris from California joined us for ten fabulous days exploring some of the secret wonders of the 'Grand Circle' from Moab to Zion and the Escalante. We were thrilled to get permits for the WAVE on our third day trying and we were 'treated' to a rainstorm that suddenly turned the rocks and cliffs into a myriad of waterfalls and cascades and transformed dry washes into rivers. In spite of being wet and cold, it was a true marvel to behold. It also washed out our road so we had to detour 40 miles to get out of the area, but even that was part of the adventure.
Just a few days later, in October, I joined Mennonite Your Way for a new itinerary in the Enchanted Lands of New Mexico and Arizona. Near perfect weather accompanied us again on that trip, as we started off with the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque and continued with ancient civilizations, canyons, deserts and mountains before finishing off with Carlsbad Caverns and heading east again.
Then I had a whole week at home before flying to Switzerland in November for a few weeks. In addition to singing in the annual church concert I was able to spend time relaxing and get some work done on upcoming tours. I also went to Venice for a couple days to check out some things for an upcoming tour.
In December I took 12 members of the White Family (from Wyoming, Florida & Montana) to Italy for 11 days over Christmas. We started with a couple nights in Venice, proceeded to Florence and Tuscany, and ended up with 4 nights in Rome over Christmas. We were fortunate with the weather, the 4 children were a delight to travel with, and nobody got mugged or 'lost' their money or passport. It turned out to be a great tour!
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The winter of 2005/06 I took a break from world cruising. I devoted most of my time getting Mother's book published. Back in the 1960's, while she was raising nine children, she interviewed over 160 pioneers who had settled Eastern Montana. The interviews were published in the local newspaper, but were never stored on computer. I typed stories and Mother and I edited, proofread, and organized. "As I Remember, Volume I" came out mid-June and the reception has been phenomenal! Volume II arrived October 31. Mom has become quite a celebrity and is a bit overwhelmed at all the attention. Interviews, book signings, radio and TV talk shows have kept her really busy, but it is definitely gratifying! Check out our website for more on this exciting project as well as information on how to order: www.As-I-Remember.com
In May my tour season got underway with a flurry. I took two people I know from cruises on a tour through Utah and Colorado. Mary Beach, Bob Fray and I 'suffered' through perfect weather and fine dining for our tour. I was only home a day before flying to Seattle for an Alaska cruise on Holland America's Westerdam. A bunch of family and cousins enjoyed a mini family reunion for a week. Gorgeous scenery. Again, no break, and I was off with my 'ladies in their eighties' for a tour through Utah and Colorado with 10 ladies from John Knox Village in Florida. Lots of fun. Then I was off to Switzerland to take 37 Swiss around their own country for a few days. The Alps were spectacular and the alpine flowers better than I have ever seen them! Most of July and part of August was spent promoting Volume I and working on Volume II. I had to clear my tour schedule for about 5 weeks to concentrate on the book. August 21 I flew to Anchorage and took Karl & Ursula Heese from Germany on a nearly-3-week tour through Alaska and the Yukon. Pouring rain the first day gave way to mostly good weather the rest of the trip. One of the clearest days I've ever seen in Alaska treated us to stunning views of Mt McKinley and Denali National Park!
After getting "As I Remember, Volume II" to the printer September 20, I had a bus tour in the western parks with MYW tours (fantastic weather!) and then a New England / Canada Fall Foliage tour with a small Swiss group. Colors weren't great, but we had a good time anyway. November and December were busy with promotions, book signings, and interviews for "As I Remember" Volume I & II. Sales of the books leading up to Christmas ran at a feverish pace. Now we have to concentrate more on long-term sales. However, I am taking a 3-month break and going on the Queen Mary 2 full world cruise, roundtrip Ft. Lauderdale, starting January 10!
============================================================================================2005 was a full year! Through the end of April I was at sea again, doing the World Cruise on the RSSC Voyager. You can read my chronicles of the journey, as well as stories of previous cruises on the Cruise Chronicles page.
My summer tour season got off to a fast start with two 2-week tours in May in the Southwest. That is such a fascinating area. The first tour was with my Amish friend Lynn Miller and his family. My mother also joined us for a good part of that tour. Highlights included Antelope Canyon and the Wave. Immediately following that tour I did a similar one for Peter, Hedy, Pierrette and Otto from Switzerland. There we included the southern Arizona deserts. It was hot!
The end of June meant another MYW Tour in northern Rockies, starting in the Black Hills of South Dakota, on up through Yellowstone/Tetons and up to Glacier National Park and the Canadian Rockies. I left the tour in Glendive just in time to catch the last night of our Mullet family reunion.
The morning after getting home from reunion I flew to Zurich for a week with just two people from New Hampshire. Then I got to stay a week and visit in Switzerland.
One of my favorite tours in a long time was with a small Swiss group the first two weeks in August. We started in Bozeman and worked our way down through the parks ending in Las Vegas. We had a great group and we enjoyed lots of my favorite places. I repeated almost the same tour the first two weeks of September with another small group and then it was off to the Northwest for another MYW tour. Finally, I finished up a busy tour season in New Mexico, Arizona and California with my seniors from John Knox Village in Florida.
In November I made my annual trip to Switzerland and, other than a few small trips, have been enjoying a winter at home.
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2004 was another busy year! Last January through April I enjoyed the World Cruise on the RSSC Voyager as host for the Virtuoso Group. What a great way to spend the winter. Read more about it on the page titled '2004 World Cruise' and there are photos under the same name on the Tour Photos Page.
In May I took 5 Swiss on a tour of Southern California and Arizona . We enjoyed San Diego and Palm Springs, before heading into the wilds of SW Arizona. Organ Pipe National Monument was a surprising highlight. Desert, mountains, giant trees and coast made a delightful tour.
In June I ventured into new territory with Karl & Ursula Heese from Germany. We started in Boston and went to the Canadian Maritimes . Newfoundland was by far the best with fantastic icebergs in the northern coves. The extreme tides of the Bay of Fundy were fascinating as well.
Right after that I took 3 cousins, a sister and a friend to southern Utah to explore more secrets of the southwest. We had a great trip with lots of fantastic photos. The WAVE was the culmination of a colorful trip.
In July we had a Kauffman family reunion in Idaho and enjoyed seeing Dad's side of the family again. Shortly after I went to Maine for a couple weeks to help my friend Rod with camp laundry. It was nice to be able to relax with some hard physical work again!
August took me back to Alaska with a small group. I've never seen so much good weather in Alaska. We had a little rain at the beginning and a little at the end, but other than that had incredible weather. In the interior there was thick smoke from many forest fires, but it was a great trip.
In September I had a short trip with 6 Swiss through New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. It was a good chance to refresh my French and enjoy some of my favorite places in style!
Also in September I guided the MYW Peaks Parks and Canyons tour to some of the most popular parks. A really spectacular with great weather, except for a few wild storms that added variety!
Right after that tour I flew to Florida to escort 15 seniors from John Knox Village to the west coast for a 2-week tour. We got to Yosemite just after a freak early snowstorm and we had a spectacular visit.
In November I made my annual sojourn to Switzerland for a few weeks, but made it home for Thanksgiving. Then it was off on one more tour before Christmas, another 2-week tour with Karl & Ursula Heese from Germany, spent mostly in Arizona and southern Utah.
In 2003 I had a good summer with some great tours. One of my all-time highlights was a hiking tour to Southern Utah in October with 5 friends. It has been my dream for some time to get into the Wave and we finally made it. It has the most remarkable colors, waves, swirls, and shapes you can ever imagine in stone. Don't miss the photo page (main menu, left) with 6 hilite photos from the Wave. See photos of the whole trip on the favorite links page, under Secret Southwest.
Prior to that I had a perfect-weather trip through the western parks with a Swiss family (Glarner). I used my digital camera heavily on that trip and used some of the photos to update my slideshow page .
In August I had another tour with 30 seniors from John Knox Village. We managed to get the only clear day between smoke in Glacier Park, then went on to Yellowstone/Tetons and the Black Hills.
In July I took 6 23-year-old Amish gals on a tour of the Canadian Rockies and the Northwest. We covered some miles but saw great scenery, ending out at the coast.
In June I guided for Mennonite-Your-Way tours through the Black Hills, Yellowstone/Tetons, Glacier and the Canadian Rockies.
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This past spring I went to Europe twice and had some good work time around home to get garden and yard in order. My tomatoes are doing great this year!
Jan 7 to Feb 21, 2003 my home was the Radisson Seven Seas Mariner. We sailed from Ft Lauderdale through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles. From there we continued to the South Pacific and Australia. See my 'World Cruise 2003' page for more details.
I was home for the Christmas Holidays 2002 before taking off for the ship. I also took a quick trip to Florida in December and one to Maine. In November i spent 3 weeks in Switzerland, relaxing after summer tours!
I was really busy with tours through the summer and into fall 2002. My last tour of several back to back (too many in a row, actually - i'll have to space them better next year!) was in New England and Quebec with 8 Swiss. Fall colors, hiking, great cities, the coast of Maine - all added up to a full 2 weeks.
The end of September i did the guiding for 50 passengers on a Mennonite-Your-Way tour through the southwest Peaks, Parks, & Canyons. This was really a fun group and a great itinerary. I enjoy that area of the southwest more everytime i go there.
The first part of September i had 20 seniors from a Florida retirement community through the southwest parks. That tour had special challenges and was much more difficult than my average trip, but the group seemed to thoroughly enjoy the grandeur of nature in that area.
Prior to that i toured Karl & Ursula Heese from Germany around the northern Rockies for 2 weeks. We often will do a trip together - just the 3 of us. They like the personal attention and flexibility and i enjoy showing them new wonders.
Probably my most unusual task of the year was in July. I did a short tour of Switzerland for 40 SWISS!! Yes, an American had to go over to Switzerland to show the Swiss their own country. The weather wasn't the best, but we had a good group and we had lots of fun in spite of the clouds.
The beginning of July i took time out for a family reunion in Makoshika Park near Glendive. Mom turned 80 August 6th, so we used the reunion to celebrate a little in advance. We surprised Mom with a potluck supper for friends and relatives at the church. We also had lots of fun climbing the rocks and hills of Makoshika.
In June 2002 i took 6 Swiss around Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota. After one gorgeous day in Glacier Park we were snowed out the next (they ended up getting 4 feet of snow!). We crossed a very wet Montana to Glendive where we just made it into the Lions Camp in Makoshika where we were then 'rained in'. We couldn't drive anywhere the next day, but we enjoyed the scenery and solitude (solitude is an unknown concept to Swiss!). The weather improved for the Black Hills and was perfect for Yellowstone/Tetons at the end.
In May i guided a west coast tour for Mennonite-Your-Way and mother (despite a broken wrist) was able to go along as well. We enjoyed highlights from Seattle to San Francisco and had a great time.
February 20 to April 22 i spent two months on the Seabourn Sun's final World Cruise and had a wonderful time! Svein Johnsen and I joined in Hong Kong as escorts for a Virtuoso group of about 100 passengers. We were originally scheduled to join March 20 for the final month, but end of January we were asked to go for two months. I had to do some scrambling to rearrange schedules, but finally agreed (it's tough, but somebody has to do it, right!?). I took a very brief trip to Switzerland in mid-February, came home for just one day, then flew to Hong Kong!
Prior to the cruise i enjoyed being around home some for the winter. Especially since the MSU Bobcats were really on a roll, winning basketball games left and right! They ended up winning the conference with a 12-2 record, but unfortunately, they fell apart in the Big Sky Conference tournament, when i wasn't there to cheer them on.
I had a quick trip to Washington DC and Florida to start off the year 2002 visiting friends. It was nice to be home over Christmas and enjoy family and friends. Not much snow, really nice winter weather. From December 11-22 I enjoyed a wonderful cruise on the QE2 as escort for a Virtuoso group. We had a cocktail party and a full day tour in Funchal, Madeira, but other than that, my friend Kathy Aaron and I reveled in 12 glorious days on QE2. It was great to be back.
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The rest of this page goes back to highlight various events of 2001.
I kept busy with tours the first half of 2001. However, I started out in January escorting a group on a cruise in the south Pacific for 3 weeks. It was a delightful cruise aboard the Seabourn Sun and co-escort Svein Johnson and I enjoyed ourselves immensely and still managed to keep our 'charges' happy!
My biggest task this year was organizing a 2-week tour in the southwest for 25 Swiss. We started in Phoenix and covered several lesser-known areas of Arizona and New Mexico. We also dropped down to El Paso, Texas for one night and skirted through southern Utah on the way to our final destination, Las Vegas.
In May I enjoyed 10 days in Switzerland helping to celebrate the 70th birthday of long-time friend, Abraham Gerber. A good time was had by all!!
In June/July I spent 3 weeks with Mennonite-Your-Way tours on a big trek through the northwest US and western Canada. They drove out from the east coast, but I joined them in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We continued to Yellowstone/Tetons and out through Washington to the Olympic Peninusula and across into Victoria, BC. We spent 3 days in Banff and Jasper National Parks before dropping back down into Montana's Glacier National Park and heading east.
The last 2 weeks of July I was with a small Swiss group in Alaska. For anyone who has never been to Alaska, it should be a priority destination. The grandeur of the state defies description. Stunning mountains, countless glaciers, bears fishing for salmon, whales, caribou and moose, endless daylight, rain forests, and the general vastness of it all make Alaska unforgettable.
However, in August and September I took somewhat of a sabbatical! Tours and organizing tours have kept me so busy the last few years I haven't had time to get much done around home. So for a couple months (believe it or not) I tackled projects here and concentrated on my Pre-Paid Legal business. It was nice to finally stay put and catch up!
Unfortunately the 2 months flew by and by October I was busy again. Gerbers from Switzerland came for 2 weeks and we put them to work cutting firewood for the winter! We did a few fun things as well, of course.
A few days later I flew to Nice, France to join the Seabourn Sun for 3 weeks in the Med and across to Florida. I was escorting a group again and had a super time. After 5 days at home I took off for Switzerland for a couple weeks.
