Iceland Cruise

Our cruise ship (not my photo)

Link for more photos. (View the photos individually to see the captions. And see below for a second photo album of the botanic garden.)

Our first-ever cruise, encircling Iceland. Summary: almost no rain and pretty moderate temperatures, ate good food, saw beautiful scenery, lost an important and expensive first day, went to some onboard entertainment, visited several towns, saw waterfalls but almost none of the country's famed geographic wonders. For full details, read on.

Iceland has been on my travel wish list for a while, mainly for its geography. I saw an inexpensive 8-day cruise around the island with stops in four ports and decided to try it. It would be our first cruise.

When selecting a stateroom, I discovered why the cruise was relatively cheap: In the cheapest category, there was only one room available, and it had no outside window. The next level up had no rooms available. I went up one more level and took a room with an obstructed view window, and, I realized later, on the ocean rather than the land side, meaning we would only see water most of the time. I added a basic wifi package, and four shore excursions. I declined booze packages, fancy dining packages, spa packages, etc. Without paying $40/day for the cheapest beverage package, you don't even get sodas! (I'll buy some to bring onboard.) After all the additions, the cruise is no longer "relatively cheap."

We were to fly to Chicago then to Reykjavik. In the wee hours of the morning, over Newfoundland, halfway from Chicago to Iceland, the pilot said we were returning to Chicago! There was new volcanic activity in Iceland, and jets can't fly through volcanic ash. Here's the track of our flight:

Sounded reasonable, and we were trying to figure out just when we might get to Iceland or whether we would get there at all, but passengers discovered that NO other jet headed for Reykjavik had turned around. United Airlines provided us with alternative flights, free hotel and meals, but no one was happy. In our case, the suggested alternative flights meant waiting another day in Chicago (!!) and an added stop of more than 11 hours (!!) in Canada. Instead, I booked a flight on Icelandair. We needlessly lost one pre-paid hotel night and our pre-paid full day Golden Triangle tour. I will later hassle with United over just how much of an airfare refund I can get. (P.S. I did get a refund for the unused flights.)

I didn't think of it at the time, but what I should have done is extend the trip by a day or two and try to do the Golden Triangle tour after the cruise.

There was a little drizzle at the Reykjavik airport, but none when we got to town. We did not get to the hotel until after noon. We slept for a while, had a bit of dinner, bought the sodas for the cruise, and did no activities.

Boarding the ship involved health questions, security briefing, lines for photos, searches, sea passes, and more, but went fairly quickly. The first day, I opened one of the two 0.75 liter bottles of Evian water. I thought they were complimentary. They were not; after taxes and crap, that bottle cost me $7.21! Grrr! That first evening, there was a not very well publicized LGBT get-together; out of over 2500 passengers, there were only two other men and one woman who showed up. The second day was completely "at sea," but we did go to an onboard magic show. Meals are good, and because we are often full, we skipped a couple.

We went to a presentation about the Vikings. The next day included our first excursion, watching Icelandic horses and visiting a dairy farm.

The following day had two excursions. In the morning, we went to the Goðafoss Waterfall and the Akureyri Botanical Garden. (See second photo album about the garden) The afternoon excursion said it would be a "narrated drive through Akureyri; Laufas Folk Museum; Tour the turf farmhouse" Well, the Laufas Folk Museum included the turf farmhouse, but the rest of the excursion was the Goðafoss Waterfall and the Akureyri Botanical Gardens! That's right, a repeat of what we did in the morning. I'm pissed that I paid for both excursions when we could have just done one! I complained to the Shore Excursion people that the two descriptions should have explicitly said that they were nearly identical and that customers should not even be allowed to book both of them without acknowledging that they were practically the same.

Our fourth and final excursion was OK, not great. Most interesting was driving through a one-lane tunnel with two-way traffic! (There are short pull-out lanes every so often for the traffic in one direction to yield to oncoming traffic. Click here for a 40-second video.)

Overnight we were north of the Arctic Circle. We received certificates saying we were now in the Order of the Blue Nose.

I did use the swimming pool and jacuzzi once. We enjoyed a Broadway show tunes performance on the last night. 

All the Iceland geology I was looking forward to? We saw almost none of it! Missing the Golden Triangle tour was a major blow, but also the Akureyri excursions did not include any of the nearby lava formations of Dimmuborgir, bubbling mudpots or hissing fumaroles at Namafjall Mountain. 

Our return flight from Newark to L.A. left four hours late, because the aircraft was more than three hours late arriving in Newark. Sigh.

On the whole, interesting enough, but missed most of what I wanted to see. As for cruising, Victor got tired of looking at the sea. If I book another cruise, I might try a river cruise.

DC Area — May 2025

The U.S. Capitol

Link to more photos. (View the photos individually to read the captions.)

We took this tour of some places around the District of Columbia. The tour specifically did not spend much time in DC itself. On my last trip to DC in 2018 I saw a lot. And whenever I thought of taking Victor there, I wondered how much someone not U.S.-schooled would appreciate all the U.S. history, past presidents' monuments, etc. So I hoped this trip, with just a bit of DC, would be suitable for both of us.

The temperatures were mild, but there was some rain, including thunderstorms.

Our first tourist stop was Fort McHenry in Baltimore, where the sight of the flag during the War of 1812 inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem we know today as "The Star-Spangled Banner." We also stopped at the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, where that flag was sown. In the afternoon, we were at the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum. Despite the title, it celebrates all Baltimore teams, including the Orioles and the Colts, so it also has the Colts' 1970 Super Bowl trophy. We enjoyed a short cruise of Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

The next day began with a guided tour of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. After lunch, we stopped at two houses associated with John Wilkes Booth: the Surratt House Museum, Booth's first stop after he shot President Lincoln, where he picked up guns and equipment he had stored there earlier, and the Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House Museum, where Dr. Mudd treated Booth's injured leg.

The following day included several home tours: Woodlawn Manor, the Pope-Leighey House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and George Mason's Gunston Hall. We stopped for lunch in Occoquan. Our last daylight stop was the National Museum of the U.S. Army, opened only 4½ years ago. 

After dinner, we had a Washington, DC illumination tour. But just as we were disembarking at our first stop to view the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, there was lightning, and we were hustled back on the bus. We stayed on the bus, viewing the many sights only from the streets. That was a disappointment.

In the morning, we stopped at Alexandria's Christ Church, where George Washington and Robert E. Lee, among many others, were parishioners. We spent the afternoon at Mount Vernon, which I had never seen. The museum was good, but the mansion itself was another disappointment. It is a bit of a hike, with a wait, and then you are rushed through just a few rooms of the mansion, and some of those are currently all torn up for renovation:

The next day started at Lincoln's Cottage, where he spent most summers and developed the Emancipation Proclamation. Next came Ford's Theatre where Lincoln was shot, and, across the street, the Petersen House where he died.

Italy — April 2025

 

Link to more photos (View the photos individually to read the captions.)

We took a two-week tour of Italy. It went pretty well. The weather was cooler than I expected, and there was some rain. My sore hip slowed down my walking and was a constant low-level pain.

Victor had never been to Italy. Fifty years ago, I was in Rome, Florence, and Venice. This tour included those cities along with much more. The tour began and ended in Rome.

Our flight leaving Los Angeles was delayed and we missed our connecting flight to Rome, so we arrived several hours later than expected, and missed the Mouth of Truth, St Valentine Bones, and the first group dinner.

The first full day, we toured the Vatican and the Colosseum. The following day we traveled to Pompeii and Sorrento. Next was the Bay of Naples and Capri, then Assisi the day after. In Verona, we glimpsed Juliet's house and continued to Venice. While in Venice, we cruised to Burano.

Next were Milan, Como, and Lake Maggiore, including the Borromean Islands and the Palazzo Borromeo. After that, we were in Pisa and Florence before returning to Rome.

My favorite stops were Pompeii and the bays and lakes. 

Differences from 1975: The all-too-frequent bag checks (ever since 9/11). Far more tourists now, meaning more crowds and queues. But at least, with smart phone cameras, we took many more photos; Victor took over 500, and I took 75, including many more photos of Michelangelo's David than the single one I had in 1975. 

Oh, and why, at IAH (Houston) and IAD (Dulles) is there no TSA Pre-Check for international arrivals making a connection? GRRR!

Julian, Anza-Borrego, Pechanga — April 2025

 

We took a two-day tour to Julian, Anza-Borrego, Pechanga and Temecula. The forecast called for some rain, but fortunately, it only rained while we were riding on the bus; I never opened my umbrella. It was pretty cold, though, and very windy in the desert.

Julian, in the Cuyamaca mountains east of San Diego, is famous for its apple pie, which we certainly tried.

In the afternoon, we visited Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. There were no wildflowers this year, but we saw a few of the sculptures by Ricardo Breceda. Here are my photos of them. 

We spent the night at Pechanga Resort Casino. Because they are a sponsor of the Lakers, they have a 2020 Lakers NBA Championship ring on display. Here is an 11-second video of the ring. (If necessary, click to enlarge the video.)

The next day, we had lunch at Wilson Creek Winery in Temecula and stopped in Old Town Temecula.

Odd grocery store name

 

Abarrotes is Spanish for groceries. Such small stores are common in Yucatán, frequently named for the owner or the neighborhood. I have no idea how or why this name was selected for a store in the coastal town of Progreso.

Sacramento, Reno, Tahoe — October, 2024

 

At Lake Tahoe

Link to more photos (View the photos individually to read the captions.)

I have been trying to get to Lake Tahoe for many years. I first glimpsed it in the mid-1970s, on a day trip from Sacramento to Reno. Years later, I tried twice: I signed up for a cheap trip there in exchange for a timeshare presentation, but that was canceled by the pandemic, and our first trip after travel re-opened, with Good Times Travel (GTT), was to include Tahoe, but a nearby wildfire made it impossible.

This trip, also with GTT, partly overlapped with two earlier GTT trips. It began with the same train ride we used on our trip to Pismo Beach, this time followed by a bus ride to Monterey. The next day we went to Felton, where we visited Roaring Camp, and took the narrow-gauge tourist railroad through the redwoods. We continued to Sacramento.

In Sacramento, we visited the capitol, Old Sacramento, and the California State Railroad Museum. I was surprised by the information card at the Gold Coast, a private rail car furnished in Venetian Renaissance replete with a gold and crystal chandelier, a fireplace in the drawing room and brocade tapestry. It explained that the owners, Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg, were partners not only professionally but personally.

On a partly rainy day, we took another train through Truckee and the Donner Pass to Reno. The next day, we toured Carson City, Virginia City, and Reno, and had a short train ride aboard the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. The day was too cold, too windy, again partly rainy, with a touch of snow (!), and Virginia City was blanketed with Trump signs, and I mean at tourist shops not private homes!

The weather cleared up the following day, for our lunch cruise on Lake Tahoe. From there, we went to Mammoth and stayed at the same hotel we used on our previous visit there. As before, our hotel room was huge, but this time the two bathrooms were both standard size, not like the enormous one I had before.

On the last day, on our way back to Los Angeles, we stopped at Manzanar National Historic Site.

Oregon — Sept/Oct 2024

At Crater Lake

Link to more photos. As always, view the photos individually to see the captions.

I toured Oregon in 2013 and enjoyed it. This tour was similar but shorter, and I thought Victor would like it. I was worried about rain, but we were in the rain for all of five minutes during the entire week.

After our flight to Portland, we stayed at a lodge overlooking the Columbia River. We left in the morning for Mount Hood and lunch at Timberline Lodge. 

After a night in Bend, we journeyed to Crater Lake National Park. We arrived for lunch, and stayed at Crater Lake Lodge. We had a great view of the lake from our hotel room. (See the photos.) We were there for both sunset and sunrise.

We next stayed two nights in Eugene. We rode dune buggies at the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, had lunch in Florence, and stopped at a Willamette Valley vineyard.

Returning to Portland, we had a bit of rain as we boarded for a lunch cruise on the Willamette River, followed by a stop at the International Rose Test Garden. There were still some roses in bloom.

New England — Sept. 2024

There are three photo albums. First, an album of overall trip photos (view the photos individually to see the captions). Second, an album of fall foliage. (There was plenty of color, but not entire landscapes.) And third, a specialized album relating to one museum (see below).

We took a tour that visited all six New England states. The weather stayed mild and, contrary to early forecasts, almost entirely rain-free. Our tour guide, from Rhode Island, had a marked accent. When she spoke of "potty boats," I had to laugh.

The first day, we quickly toured Boston, including stops at Old North Church and Faneuil Hall. We visited Lexington, and Plymouth, where we stopped at Plymouth Rock, Mayflower II, and the Monument to the Forefathers. The next two nights were at Hyannis on Cape Cod. After a stop at the JFK Memorial, we ferried to Martha’s Vineyard.

In Newport, RI, we cruised by many mansions, and toured one, the Vanderbilts' Breakers. In Connecticut, we went to the Mystic Seaport Museum. The next day, in the Massachusetts Berkshires, we stopped at the Norman Rockwell Museum. I do remember and appreciate Rockwell's work, but I was surprised and delighted by their current special exhibit: The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine. My third photo album for this trip is about that exhibit. Yes, it includes some Norman Rockwell, too. After that, a quick stop at the Bennington Battle Monument in Vermont.

The next day began at the Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site in Plymouth Notch, Vermont and continued to Montpelier. Our final full day was in Maine: Portland, Kennebunkport, and Ogunquit, including a lobster dinner. (I had an almost identical lobster dinner in Maine in 2015. See the photo.)

London and Paris — June 2024

 

In the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles

Link to more photos. As always, view the photos individually to see the captions.

We took this short trip to London and Paris. The only time I had visited was in 1975, and Victor had never been. The temperatures were mild, but there was a bit of rain in both cities.

In London, we stayed at a hotel right by Marble Arch, but it was completely covered, undergoing restoration (click to enlarge):

Our first full day we had Tootbus tickets, but with three routes, only connecting at certain points, it took time to figure out what to do. My main goal was the British Museum, my favorite museum from my 1975 trip. I decided we could also go to the changing of the horse guards (much much less crowded than the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace) and Harry Potter's Platform 9 3⁄4 (click here for the 3-minute video clip) at King's Cross railway station. We did those, and also took photos of many other sites when the bus stopped. The museum, along with most other places, had many more visitors than I remembered from 1975, and, of course, all the previously unheard of, but now ubiquitous, annoying and time-consuming security checks.

The next day, we had a bus tour of Warwick Castle, Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford and the Cotswolds. The following day was open; because of my interest in Alan Turing and computers, we went to Bletchley Park, which I had not seen before.

We then took the train to Paris, via the Chunnel. Our first full day in Paris was open. Because I had visited the Louvre and the Rodin Museum in 1975, and because one of its current exhibitions was "Comics, 1964 – 2024," we went to the Pompidou Centre. It was a bit exhausting, and the comics exhibition had little I hadn't seen or read before, but there was still plenty to enjoy.

Our last two days were busy: a cruise on the Seine, a visit to the third level of the Eiffel Tower, and a Paris City bus tour on one day, and a trip to the palace and gardens of Versailles the next. I had not been to Versailles before.

Pismo Beach — April/May 2024

 

We took this short trip to Pismo Beach and nearby sites. Happily, the weather was mild and it didn't rain. The trip began with a ride to San Luis Obispo aboard Amtrak's Coast Starlight train.

Here's the view from our Pismo Beach hotel room:

More photos:

 - The trip as a whole

 - Sculptures at Sculpterra

 - Frank Lloyd Wright building in San Luis Obispo

In Paso Robles the next day, we visited an olive farm and Sculpterra winery and sculpture garden. (Photo album of the sculptures)

The following day we were at a Clydesdale horse ranch, including lunch in a barn with several of the horses. After lunch, we went on a short Morro Bay cruise. In the evening, we returned to the weekly evening downtown farmers' market in San Luis Obispo that we had visited in December. This time, I made a point of stopping at the doctor's office designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. (Photo album of this building)

We stopped at a luffa farm on the way home.

Mérida — Jan/Feb 2024

Victor with his mother

Queso Relleno Yucateco made by Victor's sister

We go to Mérida so often that I don't usually blog about it, but here are a few photos from our recent visit.

One of the highlights was Parque De La Plancha, opened in November 2023, built at a what used to be a railway station. Over fifty acres, it includes covered walkways, bicycle paths, a large amphitheater, an auditorium, a wading pool, a lake, an outdoor gym, a multipurpose sports field, a large food court, the Railway Museum, children's play areas, a skating rink. Click here for a photo album.

A few photos in Progreso:

And two more photos:

In one store in downtown Mérida 

At a Miró exhibit in downtown Mérida

SLO and Hearst Castle — December 2023

 

At Apple Farm Inn

Link to more photos. As always, view the photos individually to see the captions.

We went on this short 3-day tour of San Luis Obispo and Hearst Castle. I was worried about the December weather, but it was fine — mild temperatures and no rain! I had visited Hearst Castle once before, in 1975, but Victor had never been there.

Our first group meal was lunch at Pea Soup Andersen's in Buellton. I love pea soup, and hadn't been there in decades. We next visited the Madonna Inn, with its over-the-top pink decor and stone sinks in the men's restroom (see the photos).

After checking in at our SLO inn, we stopped at the weekly evening downtown farmers' market, including the large Tom's Toys store and nearby holiday lights in Mission Plaza.

The next day began with animal viewing at Giving Tree Family Farm and then on to the Point San Luis Lighthouse. The lighthouse tour was fine, but Victor had an unfortunate incident with Pam, the woman who runs the tours and the volunteer docents. As we were all returning to the bus before lunch, I went to the bus while Victor stopped at the men's room, so he was then approaching the bus alone. Pam stood in his way, and as he tried to go around her, she moved to block him. He said he was on the tour, and she didn't believe him. He pointed to his tour name badge, but she was unimpressed. She even made a cutthroat gesture. The bus driver saw all this, and came out of the bus and vouched for Victor being a member of the tour group. (And even then, when the bus driver was approaching, Pam made another assumption and asked him, "Is he a friend of yours?")

After a brief afternoon rest at the inn, we went on a Holiday Twilight Tour of Hearst Castle. 

The last day was our return trip. In Lompoc, the group had a tour of La Purísima Mission State Historic Park, but I'm not interested in missions, so Victor and I skipped the tour and stayed in the Visitor Center. Afterwards, we saw more animals and had lunch with wine tasting at Vega Vineyard. 

My favorite place

When discussing travels recently, someone asked what was my favorite place. I said, "It depends."

For nature, Costa Rica. For wildlife, Katmai. For history, London. For communism, the Soviet Union. Etc.

Spain — Oct/Nov 2023

 

Victor and Rodney with the royal palace of Madrid in the background

Link to more photos. There are three photo albums in all: Below are links to separate photo albums for the Alhambra and the Picasso Museum. As always, view the photos individually to see the captions.

We took this tour of Spain. It went well, although it was colder than I expected, and we could not visit Gaudi's Parc Güell which was high on my wishlist (see below).

In Madrid, I was impressed by the underground highway that goes for miles. I was surprised by graffiti worse than L.A. I was somewhat disappointed by the Prado Museum, since I'm not much into classical paintings. It also remains behind the times with a "no photos" policy, and I found no water, and you couldn't leave and re-enter.

We toured the mosque-turned-cathedral of Cordoba, and the huge cathedral of Seville. By this time, I was no longer surprised by the new-to-me urinals (?) we were seeing in every hotel. (See the photos.)

In Grenada, the highlight was the Alhambra, of course. As expected, I loved all the elaborate geometric decoration. Link to a photo album solely of the Alhambra. Similarly, in Valencia, I liked the City of Arts and Sciences designed by Santiago Calatrava.

Our last stop was Barcelona. We began with a city tour, including some architecture by Gaudi and others. With free time the next day, I wanted to visit Parc Güell, but I discovered that you need reservations and purchased tickets and it was all sold out for the day. I never thought that a public park would need tickets. If only I had known, I could easily have bought the tickets long ahead of time. Sigh. The other major sight I wanted to see that day was the Picasso Museum. That went well. Link to a photo album solely of the Picasso Museum.

Long flights, even in cramped economy seats, never used to bother me much, but now they are not very enjoyable.  Our return flight from Paris to L.A. was more than eleven and a half hours. I got up and walked and stretched a bit three times, but it was increasingly uncomfortable.

Istanbul to Athens — April 2023

 

At the Parthenon

Link to more photos. As always, view the photos individually to see the captions.

After Victor expressed interest in seeing Greece, I looked to combine it with a bit more, and signed up for this 12-day tour. It went well. The temperatures were a bit cool, and there was some rain on several days. Getting there and back required very long flights, of course, and ten hours time change.

In Istanbul, we began with a visit to Topkapi Palace, center of the Ottoman Empire and home to the sultans. We then got in line early for the Hagia Sophia mosque, the first of several mosques we visited during this trip. We were supposed to next visit the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum, but it was closed due to an electrical outage. Fortunately, it re-opened the next day and we went then. That busy day also included the Istanbul Spice Market, the Grand Bazaar, a carpet-weaving demonstration (including carpets that change color depending on which direction you view them from!), and a Bosphorus cruise. We passed by Turkey's brand new first aircraft carrier, and saw a very long line of people waiting to see it.

We left Istanbul for Edirne, where we stopped at several mosques and a historic health museum. (I had no idea that the first smallpox vaccinations were in Turkey.) The traffic lights at busy intersections include the entire stanchion. (See the 9-second video included in the photo album.) This deserves to spread widely.

The next day we entered Greece. We spent the night in Kavala. The well-preserved aqueduct impressed me. We had great views from our hotel.

We had the archaeological site of Philippi almost to ourselves. In Thessaloniki, we ate all meals together and had a short cruise in the gulf. We were gifted with bags of mountain tea, oregano, and thyme.

At the Royal Tombs in Vergina, we viewed the Vergina Treasures. On our way to Meteora, I asked if we could stop for photos of Mount Olympus. We did, but it was somewhat obscured by clouds. We went to several monasteries in Meteora precipitously perched on massive pillars. 

Before reaching Athens, we stopped at the Leonidas Monument in Thermopylae. Leonidas, King of Sparta, led the famous 300 Spartan soldiers and other Greek soldiers who fought to the death and held off a vastly larger Persian army for three days in 480 BCE.

In Athens, we got to the Acropolis early. By the time we left, the crowds were huge. There's quite a bit more than the Parthenon. I particularly liked the caryatids of the Erechtheion, but it was only later at the Acropolis Museum that I learned that they were replicas, with the originals only in the museum. Also at the museum was this model of the complete Parthenon:

When I saw the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum in 1975 I wrote, 

"... half the Parthenon...! With all that ... right here [in London], why does anyone go to Athens...? I really never knew so much of the Parthenon was in London. Only the skeleton remains on the Acropolis, I suppose." 

Now, at the Acropolis Museum, many items are marked "(BM)" indicating that the originals are in the British Museum, and they want them back, of course.

Later, we briefly viewed Hadrian's Arch and the Panathenaic Stadium, the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble.

Orlando — March 2023

 

Link to more photos. View the photos individually to see the captions.

I had heard that the Star Wars area at Disney World was bigger than the one at Disneyland (which we have not yet seen), and the Harry Potter area at Universal Studios Florida was more extensive than the one here in L.A. (which we have seen). So when I saw a cheap flights + hotel package for Orlando in March when there's usually not too much rain, I grabbed it.

Not everything worked out. First I found that the added parts at Universal were mainly roller coasters, which Victor would never do, so we dropped that. Once we arrived, we found that Uber was quite expensive, so we did use a rental car one day. Our cheap motel had mandatory resort fees, undisclosed until you checked in, of course. GRRR!! I hope the government succeeds in banning these! And finally, with every passing week, Florida governor De Santis angers me more, so I was unhappy spending money there. At least I did often wear these:

I also had, but never wore this more explicit pin:

As an Internet addict, I got online as soon as we were at the motel, but after about twenty minutes, my (rather old) Chromebook died! I was offline until we got back home! I only use my phone for phone calls and photography; I dislike doing Internet work on the phone.

Our Disney day began quite cool and a bit rainy, though it warmed up later. We didn't pay for Lightning Lanes, so we waited in long lines, but we did get to all of our desired attractions.

The weather improved after that first morning. Instead of Universal, we visited several other sites (see the photos): 

The Lake Nona Sculpture Garden has quite a few good pieces, including the charging bull famously on Wall Street and a Henry Moore.

The Morse Museum has the world’s most comprehensive collection of Tiffany works.

The Harry P. Leu Gardens is about fifty acres, including a large lake and multiple gardens. Many flowers were not in bloom this time of year, but at least there were butterflies in the Butterfly Garden.

I definitely wanted to see the Pulse interim memorial. I explained the event to Victor.

Houston — Oct. 2022

Link to more photos. (View the photos individually to see the captions.)

In February 2020, I booked flights for a trip to Houston a few months later. When COVID shut things down, that was the first of five trips I had to cancel. Now it's the last of them to finally happen. Rice's "Golden Reunion" weekend, my 50-year reunion, was the obvious time to go.

The trip included family, Rice, and several Houston sights, some new to me. We stayed with cousins Joel and Joan in Fulshear, 35 miles west of Houston. Victor particularly loved taking their dogs for walks.

We had dinner one night with more family: Warren, Lisa, Lauryn, Jason, Spencer and Ryan.

Around Houston, I first showed Victor the Rothko Chapel and Barnett Newman's Broken Obelisk sculpture in front, which I've always liked. We continued to the Menil Collection. I was surprised by how much they continue to acquire. I had not previously seen their Flavin Installation. (See the photos.)

Because we had recently been to Hobbiton in New Zealand, we had to stop at the Hobbit Cafe. 

The rest of the day was at Rice. I particularly wanted to see Duncan Hall and the Turrell Skyspace. Duncan Hall did not disappoint, but there's really not much to see at the Turrell work unless you're there at dawn or dusk, which we did not manage to do.

The next day, we started at the WaterWall. I showed Victor the Galleria, including the ice rink. The mall has expanded over the years; it is much larger than I remembered. After lunch, there was heavy rain, so I abandoned plans for other sights, and we went directly to the Rice reunion dinner location. As the rain let up, we saw large rainbows over downtown Houston. 

In the weeks before the reunion, I asked several of my classmates whether they were going, and all but one said no. So I only knew a handful of the reunion attendees, but the reception and dinner were fine.

All around the region, when you tell someone that you go to Rice, the most common response is, "You go to Rice? You must be smart!" While I was attending Rice, someone made this T-shirt, which I still have, and which I brought to the reunion:

(I read that someone later made a bumpersticker of that, and Rice students often put it on their cars upside-down!)

New Zealand — Sept/Oct 2022

 Milford Sound

Link to more photos (As always, click any photo to enlarge it, and view the photos individually to see the captions.)

(And don't miss the link to a second album of Hobbiton photos below!)

I have long wanted to visit New Zealand. When I saw a sale price for this short tour, I signed up. Plus, I had sufficient airline miles for our round-trip flights.  But in the following weeks, there were changes. Certain activities were not going to re-open before we were there, and we made substitutions. In the end, we even cut Christchurch entirely and made the already short trip a full day shorter. 

I was not surprised that it rained at least a little almost every day, but it was also colder than I expected. I never wore any of the short-sleeve T-shirts I brought.

We started in Auckland. We walked around a bit, including Albert Park. Few people wore masks. Although we were in downtown, it was difficult to find a restaurant open for early breakfast. We then had a day-long tour of the city and surroundings, including Mount Victoria, both the Pacific and Tasman Sea coasts, the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, and Arataki Centre. We walked a tiny bit of the [Edmund] Hillary Trail in the rain forest, saw giant ferns, large kauri trees, and Piha Beach with gray magnetic sand. (See the photos.)

From Auckland, we went by car to Rotorua via Hobbiton. Despite the drizzle, it was fun visiting Hobbiton. See my separate photo album there. 

Victor and Rodney at Bilbo's house in Hobbiton

In Rotorua, we went on a Duck Tours ride in an amphibious WW2 "duck" landing craft able to drive on city streets and become a motor boat in water. We did both. That evening, we saw the Maori presentation and had an indigenous dinner at Tamaki Village. 

From Rotorua, we flew to Queenstown on the South Island. The Rotorua Airport is a welcome throw-back: no security check, no metal detector, no ID check, and family and friends welcome at the gate. But our flight was canceled due to fog, and we were booked for a flight more than 7 hours later! We spent all day at the airport.

The next day, despite great weather in town, the morning Milford Sound flight/cruise was canceled! When I called, they set us up for a later time, and that worked. The flight was a bit bumpy, but beautiful; lots of snow-capped mountains. (See the photos, of course.) On the cruise, there was more beautiful scenery, a dolphin, and seals.

The following day, we walked a bit, including Queenstown Gardens, a bookstore, and an art gallery.

A cold front came through on the day we departed, so Victor saw snow falling for the first time, even though it was only a few flakes.

Crossing the International Date Line cost us a day when we flew from Los Angeles to New Zealand, but the return was weirder: We left NZ 8 pm one evening, and after a 12-hour flight, arrived in LA at noon the same day!

Mérida - Sept. 2022

 

Due to COVID, we had not been back to Mérida since Victor came to Los Angeles in May 2019. He had not seen his mother or any of the rest of his family in more than three years!

We were there for two weeks. We will probably return again this coming winter.

There was frequent rain, especially in the afternoons. I was pleasantly surprised by how many people on the street wore masks; many more than in L.A.

As always, we spent a lot of time on and waiting for buses, both to the downtown and to Progreso. Because Victor's house is now mostly unoccupied, there is no longer Internet service, so I used Internet cafes in the downtown or I used Internet at his sister's home in Progreso. 

Manitoba - August 2022

Link to more photos (and one video). View the photos individually to see the captions.

Polar bears, beluga whales, and aurora borealis!

With Victor's love of bears (see here and here and here), we certainly had to go to Churchill, Manitoba to see polar bears some day. When I found this warm weather tour, I signed up. And despite some rain in the forecast ahead of time, the weather was very good.

First, we flew to Winnipeg. I was annoyed that they booked us at a hotel away from the airport that didn't offer airport pick-up.

At breakfast the next day, we met two people going on our tour. I figured there would be a handful of people joining us, but when we first gathered together, I was surprised to find more than fifty people in our tour group!

We had a charter flight just for our group (!) from Winnipeg to Churchill — no security checks! — followed by a tour of the area.

The next day, we went on a boat tour to see beluga whales. They were easy to find.

The following day was open for pricey extras (kayaking, aqua-gliding) which we didn't buy. So we wandered the town, although it's not very big and there's not a lot to do or see.

Next came polar bears! We did get good views of swimming polar bears and more distant views of them on land. Here's a 13-second video of one coming ashore and shaking off water:

We saw aurora borealis briefly one night (see the photos). On a tundra tour the next morning, we saw a distant caribou, one even more distant pair of polar bears, and birds including a golden eagle.

We left Churchill on another charter flight to Winnipeg, this time staying at an airport hotel. But the next day, our first flight to return home left too early to use the included breakfast.