ALASKA, 2008
We've found that many people are unaware that you can explore Alaska without being on a cruise ship. When we began researching this trip in the fall of 2007, cruises were our first study because that's all we had ever heard of. We discovered that they are expensive, too quick and allow little or no exploration of the "true Alaska". Somehow we happened on to the website of "The Alaska Highway" - the state-run ferry transportation system which transports you from port to port in comfort at much less cost. For less than a 14-day cruise, we managed our own 21-day itinerary. The result was that we saw what WE wanted to see on a time schedule of our own choosing and the Alaskan Ferry system agent aided us in the planning, customizing the entire trip to our desires, making valuable suggestions and arranging all the necessary ferry tickets, local air and rail tickets and even booking our lodging according to our own tastes.What we thought would take months of painstaking planning and booking took 90 minutes on the phone with a helpful agent. The kicker is that their booking and planning services are FREE!
We got ourselves to Bellingham, Washington, the starting point of the Alaska Ferry system and used it in the same way as you would use an on-and-off bus system. The ferries are like smaller cruise ships without the gilded extras. Overnight ferries have small but clean and comfortable staterooms. Some people pitched tents on the aft deck and some slept on lounge furniture. There are no casinos, pools, limbo dancing contests or suits and ties. It is 100% casual. The on-board restaurants are good, with a variety of well-prepared fare. Lounges with lots of glass provide viewing of the Inside Passage, surrounding scenic beauty and whales. The day trip ferries have no staterooms because they are not needed, but have all other amenities.
We visited Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka, and Skagway on the ferry and flew Alaska Airlines from Juneau to Fairbanks. Then we took the Alaska Railroad from Fairbanks to Denali and from Denali to Anchorage. Then we flew to Seattle and home. We stayed in bed and breakfasts, hotels and the Backcountry Lodge in the middle of Denali National Park. At each location, we stayed as long as we wanted in order to absorb the local sights and people.
Everywhere we were, the cruise ships were too. When the cruises were not in dock, we had the towns to ourselves, exploring the local sights and shops. When the cruise ships docked, thousands of tourists got off and flooded the town. These towns are small, so the flood of tourists crowded everything, especially near the large souvenir shops owned by the cruise lines and filled with goodies from China. At those times we would migrate a few blocks from the docks and still have those parts of the town to ourselves. These were areas which had the real Alaska arts and crafts, and friendly local shop owners who wanted to talk and give local suggestions.
During the times the towns were flooded with cruise people we had many of them mistake us for locals (because we were not in a hurry and seemed happy). Every one of the people we talked with were shocked that anyone could do Alaska on their own and expressed disappointment that they did not know this before planning their trip. They told us they would have preferred doing what we were because they felt "herded" from place to place, forced into a set itinerary and spent too much time on the ship and not enough in the wonderful scenery they were watching pass from their decks.
Our favorite experience was Denali National Park, the home of Denali (Mt. McKinley), the largest mountain on earth. The highest peak on earth is Mt. Everest in Tibet, but because Tibet is a very high altitude, the mountain itself is only 2/3 the size of Denali. We saw every form of wildlife in the area and scenery you wouldn't believe. The Backcountry Lodge, 93 miles from the park entrance in Kantishna, is in the center of the park and close enough to Denali that the monstrosity looms overhead - even from 40 miles distant. In fact, from our hotel window in Anchorage, it loomed on the horizon even though it is 120 miles away.
In summary, Alaska is truly a wonder of scenery, wildlife and very friendly, independent people. It is a place where you should have your feet on the ground, ready to explore at your own leisure, rather than from the deck of a Disney-like cruise ship. You can watch Alaska pass you by from a deck or you can walk through, smell, touch and experience the beauty up close.
U.S. WESTERN PARKS, 2009
In August, 2009, we set out in our GMC Yukon to see as many western parks as we could manage. We did a lot of planning preparation, including choosing lodging at B&Bs, hotels and lodge cabins.
The parks we visited were: Badlands, South Dakota; Black Hills, South Dakota; Custer State Park, South Dakota; Devil's Tower National Monument, Wyoming; Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; Grand Tetons National Park, Wyoming; Yosemite National Park, California; Calaveras Big Trees State Park, California; Death Valley National Park, Nevada; Zion National Park, Utah; Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah; Kodachrome State Park, Utah; Capitol Reef National Park, Utah; Arches National Park, Utah; Canyonlands National Park, Utah; and Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
Before starting on this trip we suspected that somewhere along the trip all the parks would start to look alike. Not so! Each park is very unique and has special features. Our eyes and cameras couldn't possibly soak in all the scenic beauty we saw, but enough of it developed to provide a lifetime of fond memories.
We've been asked which park is our favorite and it is really impossible to answer. We loved them all.
EUROPE, 2010
We had been to Europe previously, in 1985 with our then 12 year old daughter. We flew into Luxembourg, rented a Fiat Uno and scooted all over southern Germany, including a visit to my second cousins in the Schwabishe Alps.
We wanted to visit my cousins again but also to visit Paris and Italy for the first time. We researched a European Tour which went almost where we wanted to go but not exactly. The price of the tour was reasonable. So we researched doing exactly what we wanted to do and "Voila!" - found that we could do just that for less money and spend more days over there. (Are you begining to see a trend here?).
So in September, 2010, off we flew like the down of a thistle - to Paree! We stayed five days in a private apartment one block from the Arch of Triumph. Any more central and we would have been camping on the roof of the Arch. Two blocks away was the Champs Elysees for window shopping and people watching. The Etoile Metro subway got us to wherever we wanted to go if it was too far to walk. We explored the Louvre Museum, Orsay Museum, Touilleries garden, a sundown boat ride on the Seine, the Eiffel Tower.
Then we flew to Nice, which is laid-back compared to Paris. We stayed in a small, quaint hotel which had four or five rooms. It was just steps from the beautiful Place Massena central square of Nice. At the end of the square is the Mediteranean Sea, the "Old Town" and Castle Hill. The square was a fantastic place to watch people and to be entertained by street musicians in the evening. The "English Walk" along the beach is beautiful. Old Town is an experience of narrow streets, quaint little shops, tiny eateries and cafes and an outdoor farmer's market. Castle Hill (named for the ancient Roman castle which was atop it) is a photo op waiting to happen. Walking around it was a continuous sequence of picture postcard vistas. We did day trips to Monte Carlo and Cannes. We didn't get off the bus in Monte Carlo - we had no intention of spending the day or of wasting money in a casino. We took the bus beyond Monte Carlo to the next hill, the town of Cap Martin and took pictures of Monte Carlo draped across the seaside mountains. In Cannes, we did get off the bus and explore. It has interesting shops, restaurants and a nice seaside marina with big yachts.
From Nice we took the train through Ventimiglia, Milan and Bologna to Florence, arriving around dinner time. It was a short walk from the station to our B&B. The host of the B&B graciously showed us around the property and proceeded to be an expert guide of Florence while our stomachs growled with hunger. She directed us to a Trattoria about a mile distant where we wolfed down the best large, thin crust traditional Italian pizza we had ever had. The next night we took a Tuscan cooking class and ate our experiments - which were delicious. The third night we ate at Trattoria Nerone where Nicholas, the owner of our B&B is chef. Cathy ordered a lasagna which is heavenly and I talked Nick out of the recipe! Florence is a beautiful city and easy to walk around in. The Santa Maria de Fiore cathedral built in the 1300s is beautiful and domineers the city landscape. The hillside village of Fiesole north of Florence and reachable by city bus, provides a fantastic panorama of Florence and the Arno River valley.
From Florence we took the train to Rome. In Rome we stayed at an extremely comfortable B&B whose owner was an encyclopedia of local information and suggestions. We were within walking distance of the Colliseum, Parco Triano, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and the Jewish Ghetto. On day 2 we took a 24 hour on-off bus all over Rome and then looped again to get off and on. We spent time downtown at the Campo di Fiori and Piazza Navona squares, the Pantheon, and Trevi Fountain. On our third day we took the bus to St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. On the way back we got delightfully and hopelessly lost and everybody we asked for directions succeeded in getting us further away. Italians have an evil sense of humor. Finally, by chance, we arrived at the train station and walked "home" with a stop at a cafe restaurant for dinner. Rome made us think of Manhattan but older. Romans are as intently busy as New Yorkers - until you stop them to talk. They are delightful people who want you to feel welcome in their city.
The train took us to Venice which is even more intriguing and beautiful than the photos and television specials can show. Every step you take in Venice begs for a camera and you don't have to be an Ansel Adams to get great shots. The food in Venice was wonderful. The cute little apartment in the non-touristy Cannaregio neighborhood was an interesting adventure. The owner spoke not a word of English and I know about two words in Italian. She laughed, I laughed and we somehow communicated. You could spend a ton of money in Venice on souvenirs and gifts - or you can do like we love to do - and windowshop for free. No, we did not do a gondola ride. They run about $120 for two, the gondoliers normally DON'T sing "O Sole Mio" and we couldn't justify the "romance" (?) of spending that much on a tacky Disney stunt. So we took the Vaporetto boats on the canals for 6 Euro. We saw much more of the Venice canals for 6 Euro than we would have seen in the funny skinny little boat. We also spent a day taking the Vaporetto to the islands of Murano and Burano. Murano is the Island of Glass and famous world-wide for its glass artistry. Burano used to be the "lace island" until all the old Burano lace makers died. Now it is famous for beautifully colored buildings. The large San Marco square of Venice was flooded by the sea waters and workers kept busy locating platform walkways through the flood waters to allow the tourists to navigate. Venetians are well aware of the value of their tourists. Locals who live there feel inundated in tourists but would never show it.
From Venice we flew to Stuttgart and spent a relaxing few days with my second cousins Erich and Monika Hintennach in the small, mountaintop village of Baltmannsweiler, where my Halm ancestors were brewers. My great-great grandfather, Jacob Halm, immigrated from there to America in 1854 and ended up owning the Halm Brewery of Bryan, Ohio. While in Baltmannsweiler, my German relatives fed us well and showed us around the Schwabishe Alpen and the Schurwald. We even got to experience the huge Volksfest put on in Cannstadt by the Mercedes Benz company.
From Stuttgart we flew home with our tummies full of Maultaschen, Rouladen, Kirchkuchen und Spaetzle. We flew to Paris and then to Detroit.
SOUTH AFRICA SAFARI, 2011
This was our very first commercial tour and was with Gate1 Travel. It was their 15 Day South Africa and Victoria Falls tour. Our dates were Oct. 10-25. We were very pleased with our tour guides and lucked out by being with a tour group of 35 wonderful people - not a jerk in the bunch! The tour cost was very do-able and the lodgings, amenities, food and amount of free time to explore on our own. We would highly recommend this tour company if a tour is what you are looking for. Our reason for finally "giving in" and booking a tour was that a safari trip to South Africa did not make sense to try to book and manage on our own. We made the right decision. Had we chosen to do it independently we would have missed some of the experiences, would have had to rent a car and drive on the left side of the road and probably would have spent more money.
We chose South Africa for our safari adventure instead of the usual Kenya/Tanzania location because at this time it is strongly advised by the U.S. State Dept. to avoid Kenya/Tanzania. Americans are being kidnapped and killed there by terrorists. The news and the State Department make this obvious but, interestingly, the commercial tour companies will not own up to it - essentially putting your life in jeapordy for their own commercial gain. South Africa is devoid of terrorist activities and therefore much safer.
In general, the wildlife game drives are totally unbelieveable in regards to the scenery and viewed wildlife. Kruger National Park and Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park in Swaziland are a constant amazement of wildlife viewings with giraffes, zebras, baboons, vervet monkeys, elephants, rhinos, hippos, lions, wild dogs, hyena, impala, kudu, wildebeest, springboks, bushboks, cheetahs, and the evasive leopards (which we did not see but another jeep in our group did). The animals are so obviously healthier and happier in the wild than in a zoo, it makes a zoo seem really lame afterwards. Most of the wildlife viewed was within 50 yards of the jeep and some were almost close enough to touch. They would be very dangerous and could kill you easily and instantly except they see the jeep as a familiar, non-threatening object and do not realize there are delicious people inside. You are instructed not to exit the jeep, speak loudly, reach outside of it or to stand up because then they would realize that the familiar jeep was full of lunch.
Equally amazing were the people of South Africa. Their reaction to tourists is to smile broadly, wave excitedly and to talk with you (yes, in English) if given the opportunity. Most of the native blacks live in what we would call poverty but they don't see it that way. Their jungle huts or city shacks made of salvaged junk are "Home Sweet Home" to them and their post-Apartheid newfound freedoms they see as a blessing. We took an optional cultural tour in the poor Langa District of Cape Town and walked as a group through the village, interacting with the people and seeing inside homes of various quality. On one hand, the poverty ripped our hearts out and, on the other hand, their friendliness and happiness put our hearts back in again.
On our tour we were in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Johannesburg, Kruger National Park at Hazytown, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi National Park in Swaziland, the east coast town of St. Lucia and Cape Town. We had enough time in each location to really appreciate it but would have obviously liked more.
We would definitely go back to South Africa and probably would stay inside Kruger National Park at a lodge and absorb it more completely.
OUR NEXT BIG ADVENTURE:
We are just now begining to explore the possibility of a trip to Hawaii for 2012.
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