Upcoming Travel Calendar
June 2026 - Mike and Sandy enjoyed their American Cruise Line trip along the East Coast, and are now getting ready for another one. This one is shorter (9 days), travels the Colombia and Snake Rivers, with port stops in both Oregon and Washington, but is on a slightly larger and brand new ship, the American Encore.
September 2026 - Viamonte has a new travel partner (Bay Magic) and Sandy and Mike are going to try a trip with them.
This one is via Amtrak to Santa Barbara, and then by Motorcoach to LA (Getty Museum) and Laguna Beach (Festival of Art).
October 2026 - The last "coach' trip on Globus was quite nice (even with the living out of your suitcase part), so Sandy and Mike have decided to try another one, also close by. It starts in Los Angeles, comes north along the coast as far as Monterey and Carmel, makes a quick visit to the Central Valley, including tours at UC Davis, then hits Napa and Sonoma wine country before ending at SFO.
July 2027 - Oh why not go ahead and book the ACL cruise on the Ohio River, traveling from St. Louis to Pittsburg? It seems to be very popular, and some dates are already sold out. We'll check around and see if anyone would like to come with us.
Mike and Sandy haven't booked any more long international trips -- they've been to 110 countries, including most places they really wanted to see, and overnight flights have lost their appeal. In retrospect, their two-week land trip around Spain in 2019 (not long before Covid) might prove to have been their last one.
FRIENDS IN ARIZONA April 2026
- Mike and Sandy flew to Arizona (no more 4 days of driving back and forth) to visit friends Marv and Joni, former neighbors at Blackhawk. It was a nice visit, with an out-back adventure for Mike and Marv, but on the chilly and windy side -- not very Arizona-ish!
INTRACOSTAL WATERWAY November 2025
Sandy and Mike, with friends Linda and Jack, are home from St. Agustine, Florida, at the end of their small-ship cruise on the Intracoastal Waterway from Baltimore, Maryland, to Amelia Island, Florida.
Pix here.
OFF BEAT ARIZONA BY COACH May 2025
Mike and Sandy tried out Globus, a Europe-based tour operator, for a short trip to some lesser-known sites in Arizona.... the highlight was the cliff dwellings at Canyon de Shelly National Monument, on the Navajo Indian reservation near the Four Corners area. It wasn't Tauck, but at around half the price, wasn't bad, either.
BAJA CALIFORNIA CRUISE November 2024
Mike and Sandy took a short round-trip cruise from LA down to Baja California and the "Mexican Riviera," including up into the Sea of Cortez, with some ports they haven't visited previously. You can see a few pictures and notes here.
POLAR BEARS November 2024
Mike made it back from near the Arctic Circle at Churchill, Canada, where he spent several days admiring Polar Bears, Red Foxes, Seals, Ptarmigans, etc.
See some pictures from the frozen north here.
ARIZONA ROAD TRIP June 2024
Mike and Sandy were happy to be back in their own bed after a 1600 mile road trip in Sandy's new hybrid SUV. This trip included a visit with friends Joni and Marv in Prescott, plus a stop in Kernville, California, to visit Sandy's son Rick, and a stop in Bakersfield to see long-time friends Buzz and Doreen.
VIKING STAR-PANAMA November 2023
Mike and Sandy enjoyed a cruise on a Viking 930 passenger ocean-going cruise ship. The ship was "repositioning" from the Carribean to the Pacific, so took Mike and Sandy from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles. That was ample time to check out the ship, but not take us TOO far from home.
Of course there are a few notes and pictures from the trip! Click here
VIKING MISSISSIPPI August 2023
Several years ago, Viking decided to expand their successful European river boat business to the U.S., and had a new "river ship" built for them at a shipyard in Louisiana. They call it a river ship, rather than boat, because it is much larger (368 guests) than traditional river boats, and quite modern and fancy. Mike and Sandy boarded the ship in St. Louis, and spent a week cruising up the river to St. Paul (which is as far as large vessels can go). The ship is very impressive, and definitely to be recommended. You can see some pictures and notes from this trip here.
TAUCK - FREEDOM FOOTSTEPS April 2023
Philadelphia, Gettysburg, Williamsburg, Richmond, Washington D.C. and more -- all about our path to the free country we are today. Some notes and pictures are here.
ARIZONA ROAD TRIP July 2022
Picking maybe the hottest weeks of the year, Mike and Sandy made an 1800-mile road trip to visit friends and family. They hadn't seen Earl (best man at their wedding) and his wife Karin in over 10 years, and had a nice reunion at their home in Scottsdale, Arizona. Blackhawk friends Marv and Joni showed Mike and Sandy their recent remodeling project in Prescott, and there was also time for lunch with some old cruise friends now living in Sun City. A stop in Southern Califronia to see son Rick's recent home improvements and in Bakersfield to see Doreen (old high school friend of Sandy's) and husband Buzz rounded out the itinerary.
ROCKY MOUNTAINEER October 2021
Mike and Sandy, with friends Marv and Joni, spent a week in Canada, starting with two days on the luxurious Rocky Mountaineer sightseeing train running from Vancouver over the mountains to Lake Louise and Banff.
See some pictures from the train and the Canadian National parks here.
ROAD TRIP TO NEVADA October 2020
Sandy and Mike drove to Dayton, Nevada (near Carson City), to help observe the birthday of cruise friend Carolyn, who, with husband Albert, are from Hawaii.
SO CAL and ARIZONA August 2020
Why would anyone go to desert areas in August! A visit to friends Marv and Joni's new place in Prescott didn't sound TOO hot, since it's over 5000 feet up in the mountains. A day trip in Arizona took the group to the old gold and copper mining town of Jerome. But the stop in Palm Springs on the way (115 degrees) and in Bakersfield on the way back home (108) were 100% inside visiting!
Mike and Sandy are glad they didn't take the 2020 Holland America Round-The-World Cruise as they've done in previous years. About half-way through the 4-month trip, Covid-19 struck the world, and cruises came to an abrupt end. In Perth,Australia, passengers had to leave the ship, and scramble to find ways to quickly fly back home.
NEW ORLEANS + NCL February 2020
- Mike and Sandy went to New Orleans (aka the "Big Easy") for a few days of sightseeing before boarding the NCL cruise ship "Getaway" for a short trip in the Western Caribbean. Apart from Bourbon Street and some factory outlet stores, the National World War II Museum was the big highlight in New Orleans. This museum, affiliated with the Smithsonian, covers in detail the American contributions to winning the war, and includes an interesting film starring Tom Hanks. Mike and Sandy had never been on an NCL ship. But favorable recent reviews, said this was a good opportunity to check them out -- short trip and low cost. See our review of NCL, and a few pictures from New Orleans and the cruise here.
Looking for something earlier, maybe all the way back to Mike and Sandy's 1981 Honeymoon trip? Click here for the Archives !!