Dad's 99th birthday

My sister and her husband joined us in Littleton for a few days of fun, then the four of us flew to Florida, to visit Dad for his 99th birthday. My cousin from New Hampshire joined us there. Dad had started out saying he didn't want any kind of party, but by the time we got there, he had a dinner for 20 planned! I invited my friend Jennefer to come meet my Dad and his friends, and she changed the family dynamic of our visit, in a very nice way. With some encouragement from my cousin, we did a few extra fun activities, like swimming in the pool at Dad's condo, exploring Morikami Gardens just inland from Del Ray Beach, and walking around MacArthur Beach State Park near my Dad's, all of which we enjoyed a lot. And... Jennefer is now my girlfriend :-D

Fun X-Plane adventure!

I tried out a high-end Asus ROG Strix gaming laptop computer from Costco, hoping a faster computer would make the X-Plane 11 flight simulator run at realistic speeds. It *was* fast enough to run X-Plane in real-time, but had some quirks I decided not to live with. For anyone interested, my big issue was about how hot and noisy it got, when trying to keep up with the complex flight simulation graphics. I was also thrown off by the small solid-state drive. Solid-state drives are cool, because they allow very fast access to applications and data. The man at Costco told me it was going to be a 256 GB drive, and it turned out to be only 128 GB. After installing just the one application, X-Plane 11, that drive was over half full. That didn't bode well, for future software installations. I was also annoyed by the lack of keyboard indications (the usual three lights) for the caps lock, num lock, and scroll lock modal keys. When I used the computer for everyday things, I really missed those lights.

Still, I did have a blast during the 90 day trial period (thank you Costco!), flying the little Cirrus Vision SF50 personal jet Northwest from Denver to Steamboat Springs, Jackson Hole, Missoula, Spokane, and Friday Harbor, then North up the coast to Ketchikan, Juneau, Anchorage, and Fairbanks, then Southwest to Kenai, King Salmon, Cold Bay, and Dutch Harbor, before turning back Northeast, and threading my way back along the coastline to the continental USA, by way of Sand Point, Kodiak, Homer, Yakutat, Sitka, Prince Rupert, and Portland.

I tried lots of different flight conditions: day and night, clear and cloudy, rain, snow, ice, and fog, flying into large metropolitan and small unattended airports. The ground scenery, starlit night sky, sunrises and sunsets, and weather effects were so beautifully realistic! I was able to setup a connection over my WiFi network, to my iPad, so I could use the Foreflight app to plan and execute each leg of the trip, in the exact same way it would be used on real flights.

Each night, I flew a different leg, or multiple legs, of the trip, depending on how late I wanted to stay up. Omigosh, it was way too much fun and time-consuming, for a working stiff - so it's a good thing I'm retired! I was very sad, to have to return that laptop computer, as X-Plane 11 runs too slow on my old desktop computer, to be usable at all.

So, I've got two takeaways from this experience: 1) I need a new, fast, quiet-and-cool-running computer to run X-Plane some more, and 2) I need to win the lottery, and buy myself one of those really cool personal jets!

Sad event last night

I'm feeling sad for the pilot of the Cirrus SR22 aircraft that crashed near here last night. Because of the events that made me into who I am today, I continue to have an insatiable thirst for the details of these things. It was cool, overcast, and drizzly last night, with cloud based reported at 6800 feet - about 1000 feet above the airport - and it was after sunset and getting dark. I got online at liveATC.net last night, and listened to the recorded radio transmissions between Centennial Tower and the Cirrus pilot, from his 8:11:11 VFR takeoff clearance, to his admission at 8:17:24 that he thought he would return to the airport, mixed in with a series of requests from the tower, for him to avoid other aircraft on the final approach course, until he asked at 8:18:30 for a repeat of the wind numbers, when the tower offered him a choice of runways. Wild guess on my part – but it sounds like a VFR pilot blundering into IFR conditions, or an IFR pilot attempting to scud run. He sounded a little overwhelmed to me. It didn't help that the tower controller was getting very irritated with his failure to comply with instructions. So sad for the individual, but it also sounds like there was a little bit of luck, for the big news story to not be about a midair collision in the clouds last night.

If you want to listen, the audio recording starts at 8pm, so the time numbers are minutes and seconds after 8.
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http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kapa/KAPA-May-12-2018-0200Z.mp3
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Free Sound Effects!

Kinda cool: The BBC is offering more than 16,000 free sound effect samples for download from its archive. I don't think I have the time or the storage space to download any of these, but they're fun to listen to. Here's the online blurb that announced them:

Attention all sound effects enthusiasts! Over 16,000 classic BBC Archive sound effects and field recordings, from air raids to zebras, are available on the BBC Sound Effects Beta: http://bbcsfx.acropolis.org.uk/ -- they are FREE to listen to, or download and reuse for non-commercial purposes.

Dining Out For Life!

April 26: Dining Out For Life! After Kristan's leg was amputated, Project Angel Heart was there for us, when we were having trouble putting healthy meals on the table on short notice, with our weird schedule. Every Saturday, they would drop off a week's worth of diabetic-thyroid-kidney-patient-friendly frozen meals for her. Then a month later, after I broke my ankle, and was bedridden for awhile, my sister Mikele (❤️ thanks again sis) asked them to drop off meals for me too, which they did, and it really helped us out in that time of need. They didn't charge us anything, but once things quieted down, I started making regular donations, to make it up to them. I also try to take advantage of this "dining out for life" event every year, by simply going to a restaurant that donates to them. I would love it, if anyone else did that too, in her memory, or for any other reason. They mailed me a brochure with a list of the places in the Denver metro area, but you can use the link above, to find places near you that participate, if you're interested.

Walk around Echo Lake

Super cold, very windy walk around Echo Lake. Fun adventure! Scenic drive on the back roads! Pretty iced-over lake and snowy surrounding countryside! A challenge for Mandy with her new boots (they didn't last long)! Did I mention it was windy and COLD?! Good test of the gaiter-mask-hoods that Jennefer bought us! We had a satisfying hot lunch in Idaho Springs, after surviving our cold windy walking adventure.

Rejected again

Well, I was called for Jury Duty again, this time for Arapahoe County, which requires me to drive way over past Centennial airport, to the Justice Center over there. I've been called so many times over the decades, and never made it onto a jury. This time, I made it all the way into the jury box for about 30 seconds. I took the place of a potential juror that had just been excused by the prosecution. Within seconds of moving to the front row, the defense attorney chose me for one of his peremptory challenges. This felt a little like the last time I was excused. I suspect that when they asked me to list my favorite TV shows in their initial questionnaire, my answer probably made a difference. I said, "Blue Bloods." ;-)

Cold morning!

We're experiencing one of the coldest mornings in Denver in awhile! I think we set a new record low for this date of -7°F, with the previous record being -2° back in 1953. Still, it warmed up enough, that I ventured out with Mandy for a post-breakfast late-morning walk. It was a beautiful sunny day, but I'm glad the wind wasn't any stronger.


I had a funny moment at the restaurant this morning, when my server came over to sit with me for a few seconds. She asked if I was some kind of restaurant reviewer, and I said no, I'm just a frequent food eater. I think someone there must've noticed that I occasionally post on social media about the places where I eat, and jumped to a conclusion. So, you may never know what's being said about you.

Anti-RoboCall Article

Here's another good article on dealing with Robocalls, those annoying sales and malicious calls made by automated systems. Some good tips for anti-robo technology. I started using the "Call Protect" app from AT&T on my cell phone last year, and it's so much fun, to see incoming calls labeled as "Suspected Spam" and "Telemarketer." It makes me giggle. But really, I've learned that the simplest way to avoid being annoyed by automated telemarketing calls, is to only answer calls from numbers that are already in my contacts, or whose caller ID I recognize as someone I know. I'm counting on a legitimate caller who isn't in my contacts to be willing to leave me a message.

Florida in January

I flew to Florida for the past week, to visit with Dad and Adele. I was expecting / hoping for nicer weather than Colorado in winter. The first day, it was 46 degrees in Palm Beach, and 48 degrees in Littleton, so not that great a start. Later in the week, it warmed up into the seventies in Florida, and Denver got several inches of snow, so I felt like I was getting at least some of what I had been hoping for. Dad and Adele are both doing pretty darned well, especially considering the alternative for their ages.

I helped Dad cleanup stuff on his computer a little, replaced the dead battery in his APC UPS, recycled another dead UPS unit, pulled a bunch of disconnected cables, and helped him get his primary phone line working. I scrubbed the mold (I thought it was "moss") off the stepping stones that lead from his parking spot, through the back yard to his patio entrance, after my cousin reported that they were so slippery she had almost lost her footing when walking out. I was able to go out for a few short early morning walks during my visit. The landscaping at Dad and Adele's places is so lush and nice, that it makes those walks even nicer.

\My cousin flew down from New Hampshire, coordinating her visit with mine, and we got together several times. We went for a couple of short walks, dragged Dad and Adele to High Tea at the Flagler Museum's Cafe Des Beaux-Arts, spent an afternoon touring the Morikami Japanese museum and gardens near Delray Beach, and enjoyed lounging in the delightful pool provided my Dad's condo complex. I really enjoyed her company.

Holiday with family

Mandy and I visited my younger sister and her family for Christmas! My niece is now working, and didn't want to take as long off, so she declined to drive out with us, so I booked an airline flight instead. I was glad to be able to take advantage of the new non-stop flight from Denver to San Luis Obispo. That route has one of the smaller airline jets, a CRJ-200, so I was careful to not overpack my single backpack, and it worked out perfectly. Mandy was once again an awesome airline traveler, and rested comfortably in her travel carrier by my feet, the entire time. She didn't even raise her head for takeoff or turbulence or landing. Our seatmate didn't even know she was there, until I pulled her out to disembark.

We had a pleasant 10 days out there. We visited with my friend Sher in Los Osos one day, and went for a short walk in Baywood Park, after meeting her friends for lunch there.

We went for several walks with family, many of them around the local lake enjoying Christmas lights.









We took a very pleasant walk on Cayucos beach, and had a delicious Albacore sandwich in Cayucos afterwards.

My nephews and I went to see a movie at the Atascadero Galaxy theater. Such nice reclining seats! I almost fell asleep!

We had a delightful Christmas dinner, hosted by Brighton and Marissa, narrowly avoiding their awful flooding event that occurred a few days later.







Mikele and I took a nice walk up in the hills just west of Atascadero. We got to meet Tyler and Annalisa's baby Alice for the first time. Mikele and Bob took us to the Pismo Beach Melodrama, where they were showing their holiday extravaganza triple-bill show, and we all loved it. We stopped at the Butterfly Grove in Grover Beach before the show, and I enjoyed reminiscing about the first time I was there, 48 years ago, with my soon-to-be college girlfriend. And last but not least, I (and more than half the family) managed to come down with a third annual post-Christmas nasty cold. I hate to jinx anything, but I'll say that it appears I'm already getting over the worst of the symptoms, after just five days, which is way better than the last two times. I had really wanted to continue my tradition of driving up to visit with friends and family in Northern California, but I didn't get it together to make it happen. After coming down with this cold, I'm really glad I didn't run up there, and spread it to them. I also think that being tired from fighting the virus I didn't even suspect I had, probably tipped the balance, in feeling like it was just too much to attempt.

Wedding in Portsmouth

I spent some time in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with my younger sister and most of her family, watching our cousin's daughter get married, and exploring the East Coast a little. While the girls were getting mani-pedis before the wedding, the boys were climbing around inside the USS Albacore, a test vessel that was the first submarine to have the low-drag bulb-shaped nose, and the last non-nuclear sub. Although my sister and her son had to return home early for their jobs, some of us stayed with my cousin and her husband after the wedding. We enjoyed dinners and board games together, and we also drove down and toured the town of Salem, and the witch trial museums. We walked the freedom Trail in Boston, and toured the USS Constitution sailing ship. That was a very fun trip, but I really felt bad, being away from Mandy, who is so dependent on me. My friend volunteered to watch her for the 10 days. That was a big commitment, for a cat person who has never taken care of a dog before. But Mandy got along just fine with her, and her cat. Mandy and I were so happy to see each other, when they met us at the airport.

Facebook shadow profiles

Interesting article on Shadow profile information that Facebook collects about people, even non-users. The gist of it, is that, even if you never create a Facebook account, the Facebook site still collects information that your friends and acquaintances may have provided, in the process of searching for you there.

Feeling dumb

I gave an acquaintance a ride across town Sunday night, with his bicycle in the bike rack on top of my car. After I dropped him off, and was driving away, I heard a loud rattle coming from the roof of my car. I quickly stopped and surveyed for damage or loose pieces, and found nothing in the street or on the nearby sidewalks. In the process of trying to get out of my car quickly on a busy street, I slammed my pinky finger in the door and trapped it. It hurt so much, that I yanked it out, without opening the door first. I am so glad I didn't pull off the end of my finger. I finally figured out in the light of day Monday morning, that I had lost a moderately large rubber seal off the end of the bike rack. Not a huge deal. But man, does my finger hurt. And it's purple, very swollen, and quite sensitive. I feel so dumb. This is the only time in my life I can remember having caught my finger in a car door. I've always felt so certain, that I was going to avoid that particular misadventure. Sigh...

Film On The Rocks

We had so much fun, watching "Twister" at Red Rocks Amphitheater tonight - the last movie in the 2017 "Film On The Rocks" summer series. Oh my gosh, what a sound system. We didn't need to see the twisters -- we could feel them in our bones! And the crowd had clearly all seen the movie many times, as they were calling out some of the fun lines along with the actors - "OK find this road… It's like, Bob's Road" - "We got cows!" - "Is there an F5? [everyone goes silent] What would that be like? … The Finger of God" - "That's no moon, that's a space station!" - such a culty kind of thing, it reminded us of "Rocky Horror Picture Show." The opening act, a fun band called "Gasoline Lollipops," kept us entertained until it was dark enough to show the movie. Many thanks to Jennefer, for making this fun evening happen!

Hurricane Irma

I spent several days before and during last weekend, helping Dad and Adele stay informed about Hurricane Irma, its predicted and actual path and strength. The weather forecasters were saying that Irma was the strongest Atlantic hurricane, category 5 with sustained winds exceeding 185 mph for several days, when it was approaching the Leeward Islands. I tried to provide some helpful advice, and some humor to keep things lighter, as they seemed quite (and justifiably) concerned, during the storm passage. Dad didn't seem very concerned, for the week before Irma actually made landfall in Florida, but he spent a few nights at Adele's house, which is a few miles farther inland than his place, while the hurricane was passing through. The prediction at first had Irma running up the East coast of Florida, which would have been a much greater impact on them, but it eventually went up the West coast, which was significantly farther away from them. They got through it pretty much unscathed, although the winds and rainfall were both very strong and intimidating. Adele's house developed a dripping leak, but it wasn't coming in very fast, and she was able to keep up with it, using a large bucket to catch it.

Basement leak... ugh!

I went into a basement storage room this morning, after freeing the stuck door, and found the carpet drenched from wall to wall, with a large six inch wide dimple on the ceiling. Not sure when it started, as I don't go in there very often. So much for the breakfast/walk routine. Frantically moved piles of stuff to other rooms. Safeco Insurance recommended a plumber and a water damage mitigation company. The first guy from the plumbing company came to evaluate - he pointed his infrared camera up, noted that there's a large area of cold (ergo wet) ceiling, and notified his company that they need to send the plumber to find and fix the probable leak.

Funny, haha 😞😡😬 that this water mess is happening at the same time I'm worrying about Dad and Adele in the path of Hurricane Irma. I guess we might have bad water Kharma in our family right now.

Update 9/7: Ugh. Didn't sleep well, after yesterday's water leak event. The bad news yesterday, was that the plumber got backed up (haha) and couldn't get to the house, and finally had to reschedule for late this morning. So, it was difficult to sleep very well, with the problem hanging out there unresolved. The plumber finally arrived, tore into the soggy ceiling, and found and fixed the leak, which was a pinhole in a hot water line. Replaced about six feet of copper line at the joints. Yay? The water damage mitigation guys will come tomorrow morning.

Update 9/8: The water damage mitigation folks lifted the carpet, and started the process of dehumidifying. Will check back tomorrow.

Update 9/9: The water damage mitigation folks came back this morning, pronounced the carpet bone dry, announced a negative asbestos test result for the ceiling, cut out the remaining moist ceiling drywall, and left warm air blowing up there to dry it out. They will probably be done tomorrow.

Update 9/10: The water damage mitigation folks came back this morning, tested for moisture in the ceiling and found none, and took their equipment out. I guess now I need to find someone to replace, texture, and paint the ceiling drywall.

Physical and Flu shot

I'm cautiously excited about finally breaking out of one of my many procrastination ruts, and making some progress... yesterday, I completed the online medical self-assessment, in preparation for the new BasicMed private pilot physical. Then today, I had my annual physical with my regular physician, and while I was at it, I signed up for a Flu shot, so that's out of the way. My doc signed the BasicMed paperwork, too, so I guess I'm good to go, to contact my flying club, and start working toward getting the necessary Biennial Flight Review (lots of studying, after six years away from flying), and finally get back up in the air.

McCullough Gulch Hike

We found a really fun, challenging trail, following McCullough Gulch, a little southwest of Breckenridge. This is the most strenuous, and highest altitude trail I've hiked in awhile, and I loved it! Beautiful scenery and happy bubbling stream. We had beautiful blue skies the whole time, with just a hint of clouds building, off in the distance. Very rocky trail in places, sometimes hard to figure out where it goes. I'm glad to have made it up to the first lake - Upper Blue Reservoir - on my first hike here. I know I'll be sore in the next day or two. I suppose I'll need to get in better shape, and start earlier, to make it any farther, the next time I go. Thanks to my friend Joy, for posting about it, as it's now one of my favorites, too.

Devil's Head Lookout Hike

Another adventure today. We started out with a fun, but a little tiring, hike up to Devil's Head Fire Lookout. The hike, and marathon stair climb, was delightful. We were very sad to hear that someone had lost one of their two dogs on the trail somewhere. Even sadder to later see that dog stranded on a ledge, on the cliff about 50 feet down from the fire lookout. I took this picture, which shows the dog at the bottom, before we knew he was there. We were excited to know where he was, but he looked pretty well trapped by the fall risk. Luckily, I got cell coverage back, just when we spotted him. We were trying everything to get word to the owner, and to get the right people involved, to rescue the dog off the cliff. The ranger station referred us to Douglas County, who forwarded us to Douglas County Open Space, who forwarded us to Douglas County animal control. I think the county person got some rope climbing people involved. I also think they had finally got in touch with the owner, so the last I heard was encouraging news.

Update 8/23, 10:15pm: Great news! Jackie, from Douglas County open space, called tonight to tell me that Ranger, the lost dog, has been rescued and returned to his owners! She gave me credit for notifying the right people soon enough, for it to come together today, so that Ranger wasn't stranded on the cliff overnight. Apparently there was also a "National Geographic Wild" crew involved. They filmed the event, and it may air this Fall. I am so happy it turned out so well.

Total eclipse of the sun

Fun adventure! My friend Mike invited us to fly up North a couple hundred miles, to Douglas, Wyoming airport, to hang out on the ground, and watch the total eclipse go by. I guess I haven't had the energy, or motivation, or *something*, in recent years, to make the effort to do a lot of fun things I would've jumped on before. My hat's off to Mike, for providing this last minute opportunity, that was easy to accept.

We left early from Front Range airport, in the Denver area, to ensure that they would have room for us at the airport in Douglas, when we got there. We had a pretty flight up, on a nice clear morning. I've always enjoyed being in the air, when a lot of other folks aren't, as the airspace and radio frequencies are a lot less busy, and there's more time and energy available, to just enjoy the experience. We saw a great sunrise, although I only got one mediocre pic of it. There was a little haze, probably from wildfires upwind of us.

We crossed Highway I-25 shortly before landing at Douglas, and noticed that although the northbound traffic was heavy, it appeared to be moving well. That is, until just before Glendo Reservoir, where we heard over 100,000 people were headed for the viewing. They had closed the grass airstrip there, to make room for people to sit. We could see that the Northbound lanes of I-25 were completely stoppped for miles, before the Glendo exit, and we were feeling pretty lucky, to be flying over all that.

Here we are, the motley crew, immediately after arriving in Douglas. I was glad to have brought my windbreaker, as it started out a little chilly in the morning. The rest of the day was beautiful, though.




We got ourselves comfortably ensconced in our parking spot on the recently mowed grass at the Douglas airport, after about an hour and a half flight. We had bought our eclipse viewing glasses at the Boulder Planetarium, when Bob and his brother and sister and nephew were visiting in June. We figured it would be good to have them, so we could step outside and view the 92% eclipse in Denver. Little did we suspect at the time, that we were going to get to use them to view the total eclipse!


Although we enjoyed getting to see the various stages of partial eclipse, the total eclipse was amazing! For one thing, we were able to safely look up at it without any kind of filter, and see the corona around the outside edge. I tried taking a few eclipse pictures with my iPhone, using a cut-up eclipse filter, and was partially successful, at least until the total eclipse occurred. At that point, there was so little light, that the iPhone camera was completely unable to focus. So here is the series of partial eclipse pictures I took.

...but what we actually saw, was more like each of the images in this sequenced picture that was posted by the Smithsonian. You really need a *good* camera, if you want to take pictures like these!

I suppose I should've expected it, but I was pleasantly surprised, by the sudden coolness and stillness, when the moon's shadow came over us. What a really fun experience that was! And I'm so glad, to have been able to get up there and back home, in such a quick and fun way.

Fun visit with Sis

Mandy and I got back today, from a delightful two weeks visiting my sister on the northern California coast. Mandy did well, traveling in her pet carrier on all four flights. We went for lots of walks in fun places - the Arcata Marsh with lots of wild birds, the Redwoods, Humboldt State University, Sequoia Park in Eureka, the Arcata Community Forest, the Eureka waterfront, the beaches at Trinidad State Beach and Ma-le'l Dunes. We enjoyed a few meals with her friends. We watched the fun TV series Elementary and Foyle's War, and went to see the well-done movie Dunkirk and the so-so movie Valerian. I managed to smack my head into an overhanging tree, during one of our walks, and I'm pretty sure I'll be spending the next few months, recovering from a mild concussion.

Big memory day

Well, Mandy and I survived another momentous date. Kristan and I were married 31 years ago on this day.

Dad's Birthday

I got home this evening, after visiting Dad and Adele for a week in Florida, for his 98th birthday. He's doing amazingly well for his age. I enjoyed the trip, and seeing them, and their friends at the regular weekend bagels and coffee at the BallenIsles club. I went for a few evening walks, and really enjoyed the BallenIsles landscaping. Dad had a few close friends at his birthday party, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I missed my sweet pooch while I was gone, and when I got back, it was clear that she missed me a lot, too.

Impromptu Picnic

We had a tasty takeout quesadilla dinner on the grass by the river. Very pleasant in the shade of the trees, with a light breeze blowing. Couldn't think of anyplace else to go, on this 95° afternoon, where we wouldn't have to leave Mandy at home in the air-conditioned house. Jennefer is testing the folding lawn chair she gave me for my birthday last year. It's got some cool compartments - one in back to refrigerate a decent amount of picnic supplies, and even a cup holder built into the arm. Cool.

A LOT faster now!

For the past few months, Comcast has been gently reminding me that I need to replace my old modem with their newer one, for better performance, but I was sticking with the "if it ain't broke" approach. After they started warning me that the old modem will stop working soon, I gave up, and ordered their replacement modem "20 minute self-install" package. It arrived a few days ago, but I knew I'd be losing my Internet access during the installation, so I've been procrastinating on doing the switch. It's been my experience, that other people's time estimates aren't usually true for me, and my home network setup is a little more complicated than most, so I waited for a quiet evening, with nothing else going on. That happened last night, and sure enough, it didn't go perfectly, but it wasn't very difficult, either.

I used the Speed Test app on my phone, to check my Wi-Fi network throughput, before and after the upgrade, and wow! Download speed went from 20 Mbps, to 238 Mbps. Just...wow. I'm thinking that my future app updates and Foreflight map downloads are probably going to take a lot less time.

I remember back in the 1990s, coming up with a rule of thumb of 20 MB/Hr download speed for a 56K dialup connection. Today, I updated a 300 MB app on my phone through the house Wi-Fi, and instead of 15 hours, it took less than ten seconds. Times sure have changed!

Danube Cruise!

My younger sister Mikele and her husband Bob had so much fun on their Viking Rhine River cruise a few years ago, that they urged me to join them on a similar trip on the Danube in April this year. At the time - over a year ago - I was concerned about taking time away from work, but after I retired last summer, that became a non-issue. It was cold and rainy most days we were there, but we still enjoyed the trip quite a lot, especially the exemplary meals and other services provided by Viking. I took a lot of photos and posted them on my Facebook wall during the trip, but here are just a few selected pics, for my non-Facebook friends, along with a narrative of some of the things I remember from the trip.

Viking River Cruises booked my Lufthansa flights from Denver to Frankfurt to Budapest through United Airlines, which complicated things. I wasn't able to check in online, because neither United nor Lufthansa could find my reservation on the second flight, from Frankfurt to Budapest. I resolved to get to Denver airport a little early, to improve my chances of having my seat assignment and baggage check-in go smoothly, and I was glad I did, as the person checking me in, also had difficulty finding my reservation, but it was all resolved, eventually, and I headed confidently to the gate, with two boarding passes in hand. While I was waiting for my flight, I transferred the Denver-Frankfurt flight-planned route from my FlightAware app to my ForeFlight app. It was fun, to see what they usually show as a big loopy route, up over Greenland, as the straight-line route that it really is, when viewed from directly above in ForeFlight.

The flight to Frankfurt left fifty minutes late, which gave me very little time to make my connection to Budapest, as they had only allowed me an hour and fifteen minutes between flights. I tried as best I could to hustle through the Frankfurt airport, but with the delayed arrival, a long wait at the passport entry line, having to exit and re-enter security, then rush down several flights of stairs, and hurry from gate 1 to gate 68, the Budapest flight had left long before I got to the gate. The Lufthansa customer service office was back at gate 12, so I hustled back there, and they tried to get me on another flight that day, but it wasn't looking good, especially because they couldn't find my reservation in the system for 20 minutes. The agent kept complaining to the lady next to her, that having Viking book the ticket through United had made it more complicated. They finally found me a seat to Budapest on a flight four hours later, which gave me plenty of time to hang out at my new gate, call Viking to let them know my new flight number, and ponder my fate. It seemed touch and go, whether the ship was still going to be there, at my new arrival time. I tried not to worry, since there was not much I could do about it. My revised Budapest flight was also delayed a little, but eventually got me there. I was met by a Viking employee in a bright red parka, who helped get me to the shuttle point outside, and rode with me to the ship, which was moored by the Chain Bridge on the Pest side of the Danube. I learned that Budapest is really two cities, Buda and Pest, on opposite sides of the river. Long story, there.

I was so happy to find my ship, The Viking Var, still at the dock, and to hurry down the gangway and check in, just as it was beginning to get dark. I barely had time to drop my bag in my cabin, get to my seat at the dinner table with Mikele and Bob, and snap this mug shot of us, with the Parliament building in the background, before they cast off, the ship pulled away from the dock, and they began serving a delicious dinner. I suspect they were waiting for me, or else I was really close to being left behind. Mikele said she was following me with the Find My Friends app, and keeping the Manager up to date, on my progress through Budapest, and that was probably why they were willing to wait, knowing I was getting close. We had a pleasant, very pretty evening cruise, up and down the Danube river, with the lights of Budapest all around, as we were eating our dinner. Then we wandered the upper decks of the ship, discovering different angles on the view of the surroundings.

This is Heroes Square, in Pest. We were assigned the most delightful tour guide, for our bus/walking tour of Budapest. She was very knowledgeable, humorous, and opinionated. She had so many clever one-liners that livened up the day. Each one was supported by a long story about events that occurred in the history of Budapest and/or Hungary. Two that I remember, are "Politicians are concerned about the next election. Statesmen are concerned about the next generation." and "A Communist promise, is not a promise." She described the very small apartment that she and her family had shared for the past 30 years, talked about how fortunate she was, to get her son into an "elite" school in Buda. She was careful to emphasize that elite means they demand the kids pay attention and participate. So many other things she told us...

She took us to see a magnificent church on the Buda side, I think it was the Matthias Church. So many amazing cathedrals in Europe. This one of course had its own amazing story. I'm a big fan of stained glass, so that's where I was looking, most of the time.

The area surrounding the church had its own amazing and beautiful structures and statues. Because it was up on the hill, I was able to grab this mug shot of us, with our ship, the Viking Var, the long low white ship, on the river in the background. Looking at all the rooftops in the picture, I'm reminded that there is so much history to learn about this area, not unlike so many areas in Europe. The Roman Empire had a huge influence. I think she said that the Romans developed and protected their area on the Pest side of the Danube, and left the Buda side to what they thought of as the savage local population. Notice how flat the Pest side is across the river, and that we are at a much higher elevation. Our guide mentioned that the Danube is on the boundary between two tectonic plates, and the west one pushed up to form the hills on the Buda side.

I enjoyed our tour of the bridge, but the captain was clearly uncomfortable in a group, and left us with a lot of unanswered questions. I didn't make the effort on this cruise, to find a time when I might be able to start a one-on-one conversation and possibly drop in for an informal visit. One cool thing we learned, was that the bridge is mounted on hydraulics, so they can lower the entire enclosure, when approaching a low structure over the river, like the many highway or railroad bridges we passed under.

We saw so much beautiful scenery along the river, and moving along upstream on the river provided so much pleasant time watching the water and shorelines go by. We also had so many opportunities to see amazing clouds and shafts of sunlight.

We passed through our first lock on the second night. This is a hydromechanical facility that allows the water, and the ship floating on it, to change altitude without moving horizontally very much. Not unlike a lot of people, I've always been fascinated with the mechanics of transportation, and locks are right up there, on my high-interest list. We passed through 25 locks on this cruise, and were continually being raised up, until the very last one, just before Nuremberg, where they lowered us down, and it became clear we had passed over the high point in the interconnecting Rhine-Main-Danube canal between the North Sea / Atlantic Ocean, and the Black Sea.


The TV on the wall in my cabin had a channel to watch a camera in the front of the ship. I didn't use it much during the day, since I'd rather just be out there. But I left it on for way too long every night, before I fell asleep, as I was fascinated, watching the lights go by overhead, every time we went beneath a bridge, usually as we were passing through a city, sometimes cruising under several bridges in just a few minutes.
The low-light camera only showed black-and-white at night, but that was good enough for me. Some of the bridges were so low, that the captain had to take advantage of the ship's ability to lower its upper structures, to fit underneath them as we passed by. Passengers weren't allowed up on the Sun deck, when this was happening, because we would've had to lay down, to avoid getting hit by a passing bridge structure.

My cabin was on the second deck, just above the waterline, and came with a delightful veranda with a couple of chairs. With such easy access to the outside, it was so difficult to fall asleep, if there was anything going on out there. I saw all different kinds of water birds, ships passing by, people walking their dogs, pretty shorelines with lots of foliage, beaches, rocks, castles, towns, and a few bigger cities. In this pic, we're passing under a well lighted bridge.

We went on a walking tour through Vienna, passing through so many interesting places, such as the Spanish Stables, where the Lipizzaner stallions are trained, the homes of various famous people in history, and clean and beautiful courtyards and square, interesting animated clocks, and so much more. This slightly rounded panorama I assembled from six photos, shows St Stephen's cathedral in the center of a large square. There's a long story behind the construction of this cathedral, as there is for every church in Europe, I'm sure, and many of them have "they didn't finish because they ran out of money" and "they finished this part hundreds of years later" somewhere in the narrative.

We took a short planned break from the walking tour near St Stephen's, to enjoy some pastries at a very popular bakery and cafe nearby. I think it was called Aida. They had such a huge selection of tasty confections, and some very tasty coffee drinks. One needs to remember to carry individual Euro coins with them, as many of the restrooms we saw were guarded by a turnstile that required the 1 Euro coin, and me only carrying paper Euros. We saw so many clean streets and bathrooms, that it seemed like a reasonable cost of doing the necessary business, as it were.

The afternoon tour was to the Schonbrunn Palace, which is apparently a big part of the history of Vienna. We heard so many stories about Emperor Leopold and the family. I found the tour so interesting, and at the time I felt like I was learning a lot, but I eventually got overwhelmed by it all, and I confess I cannot remember much now.

Here's an evening view from the Sun deck of our ship, at our mooring in Vienna, before dinner. They cast off during dinner, and headed the ship upriver to Krems, Austria.

Our shore excursion in Krems was to Stift Gottweig, a monastery of canons founded by the bishop of Passau. This monastery supplements its income by selling various products from its apricot orchard, most notably bottles of apricot nectar that are really delicious! Mikele bought one, and it didn't make it much longer than our next day, as we all enjoyed glasses of apricot nectar with breakfast.

One of the most beautiful things at Stift Gottweig, was this ceiling fresco painting over the imperial staircase, by Paul Troger in 1739, which is considered a masterpiece of architecture in Austria. It represents the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI as Apollo. There are many stories told in these figures!

Another gorgeous view of magnificent architecture along the shore of the Danube, as we motored by, on our way to Passau, Austria. There so many similar things to see along the river.

We signed up for a walking tour of Passau, Austria. This city is at the confluence of three rivers: the Danube is joined by the Inn river from the South, and by the Ilz river from the North.

Being where they are, and three rivers coming together, Passau has seen way more flooding than anyone would ever think they could endure. This picture of our congenial and knowledgeable guide, also includes a tiny mark straight above her head, between the two rectangular windows on the second floor. The mark identifies itself as the high water mark during a flood in July of 1954. She said, "No one lives on the first floor any more."

No trip to Europe would be complete, without some mention of the beautiful cobblestone streets, that are still seen all over every city and town. There were many different styles, but I found this one the most interesting.

We were treated to a very short organ concert in St Stephan's cathedral in Passau. The interior decorations, were so ornate and beautiful. The organ, she said, has the most magnificent tones, and "of course there is nothing like it in America."

Bob and I decided to try to get to the top of a local hill in Passau, and investigate a local fortress Veste Oberhaus, before our ship was due to leave in the afternoon for Regensburg, Germany. Here is a view of our ship through one of the holes in the wall around the fortress.

We signed up for the Jewish walking tour of Regensburg, Germany. So much of Europe has such deep history, and of course the Romans factor deeply into that. In the center of this picture, you might be able to see how they integrated one corner of the old wall that enclosed the original Roman settlement that became Regensburg, into the newer structures.

One of the things our guide mentioned, was that after the Jews were "allowed" (forced) to leave Regensburg (they were killed in other cities) in the early 1500s, the remaining residents took possession of all their property. They even raided the Jewish cemeteries, and used the gravestones in their buildings, perhaps as a mark of triumph? If you're looking closely, you can still spot the gravestones integrated into structures, in locations throughout the city.

We cruised all night, and arrived in Nuremberg, Germany, in the morning, during breakfast. Home of the Nazi Party conventions and propaganda events, and later the World War II war crimes trials. Because of Bob and Mikele's great interest in history, we chose the World War II Nuremberg tour. We saw a lot of interesting places. This pics is of the grandstand across from the huge Nuremberg parade ground, where I'm sure we've all seen old movies of Adolf Hitler surrounded by thousands of soldiers, giving his hugely motivational speeches.

We toured what they called the Documentation Center, a place which documents Hitler's rise to power, and the various people, mechanisms, and events, behind how the Third Reich became so powerful, and committed the unbelievably atrocious acts they did. It's meant to be (and is!) a very moving reminder of something that mankind should never want to repeat.

One last look at our ship, the Viking Var, as she was tied up at the Nuremberg dock, on the last night before our cruise ended. They had a very nice goodbye dinner and associated activities, before we all retired for our last night in Europe. The next morning, we all headed back to our various homes. Mikele and Bob had to be on their way at 4am, but my flight was a little later, so I got to have breakfast in the dining room at 6am, before I caught my shuttle to the Nuremberg airport at 6:45.

I woke up on the cold, rainy morning of my travel-home day, with a really sore throat, which turned into a full-blown cold, with a runny nose, sinus congestion, coughing and sneezing, over the course of my flight home. At least I didn't have any trouble with my Lufthansa reservations, or the flights themselves, which were mostly on time. I was just glad that my ears stayed clear all day, so I didn't blow out my eardrums during the descent to landing. Part of me wished my ears were plugged up, because I was sitting next to a mother with her mostly well-behaved baby, and one row in front of a very unhappy baby, who screamed at the top of their lungs during the entire 10 hour flight from Munich to Denver. I was so glad to get home!