The Netherlands and Belgium – April 2026

Published on May 20, 2026May 21, 2026 by Jim

Day 1 – Arrival – Amsterdam

Ten days in The Netherlands and Belgium! We arrived at the Amsterdam airport about 7:00 AM local time. It felt like midnight to us, but the sun was out, so we carried on. We went through customs without a problem and went downstairs. The airport has it’s own train station on the lower level, where we caught a train for a 20 minute ride into Amsterdam Centraal Station, the main transportation hub in the city. In the Netherlands you don’t need to buy a train, tram or bus ticket. Just tap your credit card at one of the readers when you enter the station, get on the next train to your destination, and tap again when you leave the destination station. So simple, reasonable prices, clean, quiet and safe! Your credit card statement will list all of your transactions when you get home. You can use the train’s app to plan your journey and check times and platforms. It’s really easy.

Our meals were good, and they sure love their french fries, though they call them just fries. Whether in The Netherlands or Belgium, fries are served with everything. A sandwich or a fancy meal, always fries. And normally with mayonnaise. You can get ketchup if you ask. There are even shops that only serve fries. With a line out the door waiting.

Our hotel was located in Haarlem, a smaller town about 20 minutes away, by train of course. So we found a storage locker for our luggage near the Amsterdam station. Even though it was carry-on size, we didn’t want to drag it around (and we each had two bags) while we explored during our first day. There are many storage locations in the area. The most convenient ones are next to the train station and have metal lockers with electronic keypads and passwords. You can rent a small, medium or large size for 24 hours. We found a privately owned storage place across the street from the station. It is on a side street, smaller than an alley here, and it sold phone accessories. But we could leave our bags for the day for 5 euro per bag. We put number tags on each suitcase and had to carry our bags upstairs to the storeroom. The stairs, however, were more like a steep ladder twisted at the top. Any place not used, like an unneeded upstairs bedroom, was a storage locker waiting to make money.

Finally, we were off to see the sights. The sun was up, but it was a cloudy day, with a small chance of rain predicted. It was about 50 degrees and we were starting to feel some jet lag. The first thing one notices is the huge number of bicycles. They have the right of way. Do not step out onto the bike lane or you will get hit.

We decided a leisurely canal boat tour would be a good way to see a lot and take it easy at the same time. There were lots of tour companies near the train station, and with our research before we left, we knew which one we wanted. We purchased tickets, and had an hour to wait for the ride, which we spent walking around the area to explore. We found an information booth with maps and brochures. Also stopped at a café for a cup of coffee and some Danish apple pie. Our first experience with coffee was typical of later experiences. The cups are very small and there are no refills.

Houses are very narrow and several stories tall. In the old days, homeowners were taxed by the width of their house, so narrow was cheaper. But getting furniture up narrow, steep stairs was a problem, so every house has a beam at the top of the roof, with a pulley to pull up large items, then swing them in through a window.

We met some Canadians who were also waiting for the tour. After the tour, they invited us to walk with them as they walked one of the main shopping streets. It had been raining a little during the canal tour, and again during our shopping walk, but we saw a lot that first morning. Eventually, we split off from the group and headed back to get our luggage. Jet lag was catching up and we still had another train ride to get to Haarlem. And a 12 minute walk to the hotel.

Day 2 – Amsterdam

We had a 9:00 AM entrance time for the Rijksmuseum so we got an early start. Walk to the Harlem train station, train to Amsterdam, tram ride to the stop near the museum, walk a few blocks to the entrance. Not bad. We are not big art fans and wouldn’t know a Mona Lisa from a distance, but, “when in Rome”, we were able to see several Rembrandt and Van Gough paintings. And many other artists later in the trip. Some paintings we saw, that you would likely recognize, are the Night Watchman and Milkmaid. Some paintings were small, like a sheet of printer paper size, and some were huge, 24 feet by 8 feet!

Night Watch by Rembrandt
With scaffolding. The painting was being cleaned and restored.

We had time before our 2:00 PM entry for the Anne Frank House, so we walked to that area of town. Along the way we passed through the Nine Streets area, a nice neighborhood between some canals with plenty of shops, scenic views, bikes and people enjoying the sunny day. We bought a stroop waffle to snack on. It’s two layers of a thin crust with caramel between them, covered with your choice of toppings. Can’t go wrong with strawberries and chocolate.

The Ann Frank House is very popular and, like many other famous places, requires a timed entry ticket. In this case, the tickets become available six weeks before the date you want to visit. PIctures weren’t allowed inside, but the apartment, or annex, she hid in with seven others wasn’t very big. It covered three floors, including the attic.

Day 3 – Amsterdam – Keukenhof Tulips – Zaans Schan

Today was the big day for the Keukenhof Gardens visit to see the tulips in bloom. We had tickets that included transportation and entry. Transportation was conveniently (for us) at our local train station in Haarlem, only a 12 minute walk from our hotel. A nice bus took us on a half hour ride to Keukenhof and dropped us at the front entry. We were the first bus, at 8:00 AM and it wasn’t crowded yet. The sun was out, a light dew on the plants, quiet, cool air with a small crowd. Perfect to enjoy so many flowers. There are seven million tulip bulbs planted each year in that garden.

About noon we had finished strolling through the flowers and backtracked a little to visit Zaanse Schans, a village with working windmills and shops north of Amsterdam. The sawmill windmill was quite interesting. Workers had just setup a log to be sawed into boards by the wind. The engineering that was done hundreds of years ago is amazing to see.

Our final destination for today was the North Sea, about a 30 minute train ride from where we were, but only 10 minutes from our hotel in Haarlem. The town of Zandvoort is a resort town with plenty of restaurants along the beach. We had a great view of the sea while we ate sole and cod, fresh from the morning’s catch.

Day 4 – Antwerp, Belgium

Today we started our journey to Belgium. Our accommodations for the next few days were in Ghent, Belgium. Sometimes it’s called Gent. Ghent is the English spelling, while Gent is the Dutch and Flemish local spelling. Same nice town. Since we were leaving The Netherlands and arriving in Belgium, a different country, we had to purchase train tickets through an international company, but using the app was easy. We planned the trip so our route had a change of trains in Antwerp. This allowed us a few hours to look around the city. We stored our luggage in lockers at the train station again. The Antwerp train station is an attraction in its own rite. A few blocks away the city center plaza is a bustle of activity and we looked at many old churches and cathedrals along the way. They are full of artwork by famous and not so famous painters. They must have been almost mass producing their art, there is so much!

We took a 40 minute tour ride around the local area. Then collected our luggage from the locker and hopped the train to Ghent, Belgium.

Exterior view of the Antwerp train station

Day 5 – Ghent

Today we saw a famous art piece, called the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, or the Ghent Altarpiece at the St. Bavo Cathedral. It’s the most stolen artwork in the world, last found by the Monuments Men in an Austrian salt mine in WWII. The paintings were recently restored and are extremely bright and detailed. Painted by the van Eyck brothers in the early 1400’s, today they are in a $35 million display. Before actually standing in front of this masterpiece, we used virtual reality goggles to watch a presentation explaining the paintings as the virtual reality tour walked us around to view different historical items.

Later on, we ate Belgian waffles, in Belgium, of course!

Day 6 – Brugges

Brugges is 15 minutes northwest of Ghent and a similar sized town. We visited the Church of Our Lady and saw the Madonna and Child statue carved by Michaelangelo. Then we entered the Basilica of the Sacred Blood and saw what is purported to be a vial containing a few drops of Jesus’ blood. After a short city tour, it was almost 4:00 Saturday afternoon, so we attended Mass at the Cathedral. It was all in Dutch, but the same ceremony, readings, Gospel, etc. as at home. Even one of the songs played on the organ sounded familiar. After dinner in the Grote Market, or Great Market Square, we headed back to Ghent.

Day 7 – WWI Tour

We took the train back to Brugge to meet our tour group for today’s tour of the World War I battlefields near Ypers, or Iepers in the local Flemish. The famous In Flander’s Fields poem was written in a field hospital that we would visit later today. The battlefields and main sites are scattered around Belgium, so there is no one place to visit. We traveled with a small group in a large van. Very comfortable and a great guide.

We saw several cemeteries including British, Australian, German and others. Tyne Cot Cemetery, Hill 60 (where close range explosions, trench warfare and tunneling happened), Brothers In Arms Memorial, Flanders Field, and the Last Post Ceremony in Iepers were a few highlights. Farmers still turn up old weapons and bombs when plowing their fields every spring. Some bombs are still unexploded, and some are still charged with chemicals, from the chemical warfare used in the time.

One of our stops was in the country on a side road. Our guide parked the touring van next to a fenced in pasture with a donkey in it. The donkey was at the fence and seemed agitated, pacing back and forth and braying. As we got out of the van, our guide explained that he always brings a carrot for the donkey, and he’s been doing this tour 6 days a week for 21 years! The donkey heard the van pull up.

The red poppies mentioned in the poem, and distributed on Memorial Day weekend are growing in various places in the area.

Day 8 – Brussel

Brussels is a big city, but like every other place, it has its old “city center” from the 14^th century. Full of historic old buildings and cobblestone plazas and streets. And bikes. Still lots of bikes.

Our hotel was just a couple of short blocks from the central train station and just around the corner from the Grand Place, a giant plaza of shops, restaurants and people. We hiked around a lot and saw more great churches, architecture and art. The hotel didn’t have an elevator and our room was on the third floor. They said our luggage would be in the room when we got back from touring the city, and it was. The hotel clerk told us that they would bring the luggage down when we left, as well. Great, because is was a steep stairs and I didn’t want to do it.

Another winding, narrow stairway. This one in our Brussels hotel, to the third floor.

This building was built in 1698. Still in use!

Day 9 – Brussels

On the Hop On / Hop Off tour, we discovered the European Union’s Parliamentary building. Where all EU countries debate and vote on the laws of the European Union. A very big, impressive and important place. Later in the Hop On/Off tour, we saw the Royal Palace, home of the Belgium King and Queen. As we watched, the guards began to line up, and soon some motorcycles blasted through the front gate, going from the inside to the street. They blocked traffic while a caravan of black SUV’s took off down the street. Probably the King or Queen on their way to an important engagement.

Day 10 – Leiden

We could have spent the last day of our trip in Brussels, but it’s a long way to the airport near Amsterdam. Our research before we left home suggested that a hotel closer to the airport might be advisable in case of train delays, track repairs (it’s construction season over there, too), etc. And a hotel near the airport might be pretty drab and un-exciting, so we chose Leiden, a small town about 15 minutes from the airport. We took our time leaving Brussels in the morning, changed trains in Rotterdam, checked in at Leiden and explored the town. We toured a grain miller’s windmill and walked through the town, discovered a farmer’s market and bought some snacks, and chocolate. After a nice meal it was time to repack our suitcases for the trip home in the morning.

Day 11 – Departure

It was an uneventful ride to the airport. The train station is right below the airport, so its very handy. We arrived with plenty of time to clear security and customs. No lines, no problems. We got to Minneapolis at 2:45 PM and drove home. Tired but a very good trip.

Trains

It’s the only way to go. There were three train apps we dealt with for transportation on this trip. An app for Netherlands trains, another for Belgium trains, and because they are two different countries and separate train companies, a third app for international train travel if you’re leaving one country and arriving in the other country. And of course, the airline’s app. Everybody’s got an app!

We also bought a Train + ticket for each of us for a month for our Belgian train rides. This gave us a 40% discount for rides during off-peak times. In Belgium, you can’t just tap in and tap out like The Netherlands. You have to buy a ticket, but it can be from the ticket counter or from the app on your phone. Then just show the ticket bar code on your phone when the conductor comes around. And they do. We were not checked every time, but several times.

Some random photos

Sedona – April 2023

Published on March 17, 2024April 5, 2024 by Jim

Sedona, Arizona – It was a great hiking week. Lots of red rock trails. We climbed and hiked as many as we could, but there are still plenty left to return again. Here are just a few photos. Of course, they don’t do justice to the real thing.

Ireland – Sept 2019

Published on October 14, 2019October 14, 2019 by Jim

8 days, 1,000 miles and a car on the wrong side of the road! Add a day at each end for travel time and you have a great trip to Ireland in September 2019. We went on our own, no package tours. We did take the Ring of Kerry bus tour one day, but were otherwise on our own. The weather was good. A little rainy the first and last couple of days, but sunny and clear during the middle of the week. The locals kept calling it their Indian Summer and were tickled to have a few days of sunshine in a row. We drove around the coast, from Dublin in the east, then south, west and north to near Galway, then back to Dublin, making a clockwise route around the country. We didn’t have time to venture into the north half of Ireland. Here’s a rough map of our route.

Other than the first and last nights, we stayed in Bed and Breakfasts and had great accommodations. They all included the traditional Irish breakfast, were in quiet settings and quite reasonably priced. As we drove through the next day’s sights, we knew about where we would be for the night and called ahead for a reservation. During the peak summer season, this might not have worked so well, but mid-September was no problem.

We started with departure from Minneapolis at 7 PM and arrived in Dublin at 8 AM, a 7 1/2-hour flight. After getting thru customs and retrieving our bags, we found an ATM machine to get some euros to start our adventure. While we were still in the airport, we stopped at a Spar convenience store and purchased a Vodafone SIM card for my cell phone. When installed in my phone in place of the Verizon SIM card, I now had a new Vodafone Ireland phone number and 5 GB of data. This was extremely useful in the next few days when we used the phone for Google Maps and making B and B reservations. 25 euros for the card instead of $90 if we stayed with Verizon.

Sunday – Dublin
A half hour taxi ride and we were at the Blooms Hotel in downtown Dublin by 9:30 in the morning. Our bodies knew it was almost 4 AM, but it was daylight, so we persevered. The check-in time wasn’t until 3 PM, but they let us leave our luggage in their ‘luggage closet’ so we could explore Dublin. It was Sunday morning in mid-September, and the crowds weren’t bad at all. It was a rainy, drizzly day, as we walked a couple of blocks to the info center that was across the street from Trinity College. We bought tickets for the Hop On, Hop Off bus. Our first stop was St. Patrick’s Cathedral. A beautiful old church that was undergoing some maintenance and construction. But still pretty cool to see.

Next stop was the Guinness Storehouse. The Guinness factory doesn’t have tours, but the Storehouse is the old factory and has seven floors of information and old equipment. They even teach you the proper way to draw a glass of Guinness from the tap, and let you draw your own glass for the tasting room.

After more travel on the Hop On, Hop Off tour, we found ourselves on the north side of the River Liffey. We walked across the Ha’ Penny bridge and were in the Temple Bar area, very near our hotel. We finally got checked in, then walked over to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. A magnificent hand drawn book of the Gospels drawn by Celtic monks around the year 800 AD. It’s the world’s oldest book! Photos aren’t allowed, so you’ll have to go there to see it yourself.

The next room is the Long Room that holds 200,000 of the college’s oldest books. Very impressive.

Hunger was creeping up on us so we walked back to the Temple Bar area for food. We caught the last couple of songs of a local performer in the Bad Ass Bar, where Sheila had beef stew and I had bangers and mash (sausage and mashed potatoes with gravy). Both were very good.

Monday – Wicklow Mountains – Wexford
After a good night’s sleep we stopped in the hotel dining room for a traditional full Irish breakfast: eggs sunny side up, bacon (rashers), sausage (bangers), white pudding (a sausage-like item with pork, oatmeal and spices), black pudding (same but with blood added for color and flavor), baked beans and a slice or two of fried tomatoes. And of course, toast or croissant and tea or coffee. Very good.

After breakfast we took a short walk to the Molly Malone statue, then on to St. Stephen’s Green, a nice city park in the middle of the big city.

Driving
We worked our way back to the hotel, grabbed our luggage and took a taxi to the rental car place, or car hire as they say in Ireland. Our taxi driver gave us tips on driving. Nice guy. Said there was no right turn on red. By 10 AM we were on our way out of town, on the left side of the road. Our rental was a VW Golf, diesel, with a manual transmission. Automatics were about twice the money. I grew up with manual stick shifts, so it wasn’t a problem. It didn’t take long to get used to driving on the other side of the road. Sheila did a good job of navigating from the passenger seat and keeping google maps honest. The gear shift is in the center, so you use your left hand, but the gears are in the same place. I didn’t mind it. The hard part comes when you start making turns. And the round-abouts. You go through them clockwise, or opposite from the way they are in the States. Making a right-hand turn requires you to focus, too. After a while it felt natural and we had no troubles. Sheila reminded me a couple of times to “keep left”. Keep left, and look right when pulling out onto the road.

The other big thing with the driving were the narrow roads. No ditches. Hedge rows or rock fences were right at the edge of the roadway, sometimes there were wide spots to use to pull over. Most of the time you could meet another car at highway speed, but there wasn’t much room left over. And often there were sheep grazing nearby, so you had to be careful to watch for them.

Just outside of Dublin is the Powerscourt Waterfall. Beautiful waterfall in a nice country setting. Got some good practice on narrow side roads getting here. The water in the stream at the bottom of the waterfall was brown from the peat in the soil and water. Leaving the waterfall, we got lost looking for the next one, but didn’t know it. We drove through the Wicklow Mountains National Park for a couple of hours and ended up almost back in Dublin. Curvy roads. Nice scenery. Very country and little traffic. When we saw that Wexford could be our nightly stop, we called a B and B and made a reservation. Got checked in and headed into town for dinner.

Here are some of the highlights and stops the rest of the week:

Tuesday – Cork
Rock of Cashel
Cahir Castle

Wednesday – Cobh – Kinsale
Blarney Castle (We kissed the Blarney Stone!)
Cobh Heritage Center (The last port of call for the Titanic. Also, the place most emigrants left Ireland for America.)

Thursday – Cork
Mizen Head Bridge

Talked to a dairy farmer in the country. (Saw his herd of Holsteins and him in the field with his tractor, so we drove into his farm driveway and talked with him about milking cows and farming. Nice young guy.)

Friday – Killarney
Dursey Island – Access to the island is via Ireland’s only cable car over Dursey Sound, a portion of the Atlantic Ocean. A small cemetery was located so it could be seen from the mainland. Generations ago, before the cable car, during winter months, the island was unreachable because of the rough seas. If an island dweller died, their casket was placed at the front of the cemetery where the priest on the mainland could see it. He said the funeral Mass from the mainland, and the dearly departed was buried on the island.

We took a shuttle van to the south end of the island and hiked to the top of the hill. Very windy. You could lean forward and the wind would hold you up.

Saturday – Killarney
Ring of Kerry bus tour – All the tour busses go counterclockwise around the Kerry peninsula so they don’t have to meet another bus on the narrow road. Saw a demonstration of sheep dogs moving sheep in the pasture.

Healy Pass
Torc Waterfall

Sunday – County Clare
Loop Head Lighthouse
Bridge of Ross
Cliffs of Moher – almost 700 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. One of the most impressive sights.

Monday – Dublin
At the airport – As we came into Dublin last night, it was late, rainy and we were tired. We missed an exit on the Motorway (their interstate-type highway) while trying to get to our hotel. Going through the automated toll booth was easy, our car was equipped with special equipment so we knew we would be charged for the toll from the car rental company after we returned. A week after getting home we got the email invoice for the toll. We went through three times looking for the right exit!

Scenery and Food – Such beautiful scenery. Pictures don’t do it justice. And we had great meals.

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For those thinking about going, here are a couple of travel notes we think are useful:

Learn how to make a phone call. Phone numbers look a little different than ours. And it depends if you’re calling out of your area or not. Learn which digits to dial or not. I had to ask a guy in a convenience store parking lot how to call.
The SIM card swap worked well for us. We could make phone calls for reservations and had data for internet searches (for B and B’s), Google maps and email. You won’t receive any calls from your old phone number. You still have all of your apps, pictures, etc. on your phone.
Keep a phone charging cable with you in the rental car. Maps uses a lot of battery. Be sure to find where the usb port is in your car. We had to look quite a while to find it. Ask before you leave the car hire lot.
Make reservation for at least the first night, so you don’t have to figure that out in Dublin when you’re jet lagged.

Hawaii – March 2017

Published on April 7, 2017September 9, 2019 by Jim

Oahu – Diamond Head, Pearl Harbor, Waikiki Beach, Sunsets

Maui – Sunrise on the mountain, Road to Hana, Snorkeling at Molokini Crater

What a great trip. First time in Hawaii and we really enjoyed it. We visited 2 islands, Oahu and Maui. We flew into Honolulu, Oahu, which was quite busy, like any big city. Maui was more laid back. Lots of beautiful scenery and things to see and do.

Tuesday – Arrival in Oahu– After a delay getting out of Minneapolis, another delay waiting for our connecting flight in San Francisco and the 5 hour time difference, we made it to our room at 9 PM, or 2 AM Iowa time. We flew into Honolulu and stayed a block off Waikiki Beach. We could walk to the beach easily. There was a McDonalds and an ABC Store just a block away from the hotel. McDonald’s breakfasts are quick and reasonable and the coffee’s good. Spam, the salty, spiced ham from Hormel is a big hit here. It’s even on the the McDonald’s “special local favorites” menu. One morning, the owner came in and was greeting all of his regular customers. It felt like a hometown coffee shop. The ABC Stores are everywhere. They’re a nice clean convenience store.

Wednesday – Diamond Head – We took the city bus to Diamond Head. Walked one half mile into the crater to the trail head, then another mile hike up to the lookout tower. Nice path, but a steep incline in places. Glad we did this in the morning, as it was hot. There was a water bottle filling fountain at the visitor center which we took advantage of. When we were waiting for the bus to take us to Diamond Head, we met a nice couple who told us about other things to see. They got on our bus and were headed for somewhere else. When we returned from our hike, we caught the bus back to town, and the same couple was on their return trip! Had another nice chat with them.

from inside Diamond Head crater. We’re headed for the lookout tower at top of the left peak.

We hit the beach next. After stopping for boogie boards and chairs from the hotel desk. Later we watched the sunset from Waikiki Beach. Beautiful.

Thursday – Pearl Harbor – We’re on our tour bus at 7 AM for the Day At Pearl Harbor tour. There was a short trip around Honolulu to show us some highlights, then to the Pearl Harbor Memorial. Our scheduled time for the Arizona Memorial was at 10:45, so we had time to look through the Bowfin submarine and other displays. At 10:45 we gathered with several other groups for a 20 minute video about the history of the attack. Then a short boat ride to the Arizona Memorial. It was like being in church, subdued voices, etc.. The Arizona is clearly visible in the water. In fact part of it is sticking out above water. You can see oil still leaking into the water.

USS Missouri, left; Arizona Memorial, right.

The wreckage isn't very deep. You can also see oil on the water.

We stood on this spot, on the Missouri, where the WWII Peace Treaty with Japan was signed.

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Friday – Drive around Oahu – Today we picked up our rental car for a drive around the island. We drove east on Diamond Head Road, stopping at scenic spots along the road. Although everything is scenic. Honolulu is on the south shore. When you get to the north side there are much bigger waves, and big surfing for the brave. The roads are good, part of the way is one lane. Shaved ice is popular, so we had some at San Lorenzo’s. Lots of roadside stands selling fruit and coconuts. We bought a $5 bag of assorted fruit slices to snack on. Can’t get any fresher!

We took the main highway back to the city from the north side, driving across the middle of Oahu. We’d heard about a nice hike with a waterfall at the end called Manao Falls. We found it with the help of our navigation app and started on the trail. Nice hike thru some dense forest.

Lots of climbing up and down hills covered with these large tree roots.

Up hill and down and over lots of large tree roots. We came across a guy that was waiting for his hunting companion and their dogs. They were out of sight in a ravine and were finishing up a wild pig hunt. The dogs catch the pig for the hunters. Interesting. As we came to a sign the said the falls were another 3/4 miles down a steep hill, we met another group of hikers on their way back. They said it has been too dry and there is no water going over the falls. Bummer! We decided to head back and try to get our rental car returned before we had to keep it overnight.

Very dense forest on the trail to Manao Falls.

By this time of day we were into some heavy traffic as we returned to Honolulu from the west, although not as bad as those on the westbound side leaving the city. But we still didn’t make it to return our car in time, so we paid for parking in our hotel ramp.

Saturday – Sunset cruise – Kind of an easy day. Got the rental car returned first thing, did a load of wash in the hotel machines, then walked to the beach again. We left early to get ready for our last night in Oahu with a sunset dinner cruise. Nice meal, watched another beautiful sunset from the water.

Sunday – Fly to Maui – The airport shuttle picked us up outside our hotel about 9:00 AM. They sent a text about a half hour before with a live map of where the shuttle was, so we could see it and be ready when it arrived. Quick ride to the airport and boarding on Island Air for a short flight to our next stop, Kahului, Maui, and only ten minutes from the Maui Beach Hotel. Kahului is on the north side of Maui, but its just a 20 minute drive to the south side, plus whereever you’re going from there. We caught the hotel shuttle from the airport (lots of shuttle rides on this trip!), but it was too early to check into our room, so we left the luggage at the desk and walked to the nearby mall. We bought a couple of city bus tickets for the Up Country bus route. It’s an hour and a half round trip that goes up the mountain to the first couple of towns, Pukalini and Makawao. Got to see some country, although without any narration or guide to tell us where we were. Maui is much more country and less big city.

When we returned it was time for a sandwich at a restaurant in the mall. While we ate, we discussed our plans for the next few days and realized we had to get our rental car today, for our early Monday morning excursion to see the mountain sunrise. So, it was back to the airport auto rental desk (good thing we bought a day pass for the city bus).

Monday – Mountain sunrise – Up at 2:30 AM! Dressed warm and took the blanket off the bed. On the road at 3 to the Haleakala Summitt to see the sun rise over the clouds. We expected a 2 1/2 hour drive, but we were lucky and missed the sunrise crowd, arriving about 4:30. The summit and viewing area is in a national park and you must have applied for a parking permit online weeks earlier. Sheila had this arranged. I showed my senior citizen national park pass and we rolled right in. I got the park pass last year on our trip to Glacier National Park. A one time fee allows me park entrance for myself and up to three others in the car I’m in, for life!

The road is very winding, but its all paved and in good condition. Very cold and windy at 10,000 feet, but so worth the view when the sun comes up above the clouds. After the sun was up we walked around a bit on the hiking trails but didn’t go too far. The terrain looks like a moonscape, lots of volcanic rock, etc..

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After driving back we continued around the north west end of Maui, some narrow roads but lots to see. We stopped at the Nakalele blowhole. It was a short climb down a rough trail to see the blowhole. We saw the heart shaped opening in the rock on the way back to the top.

Had to climb down this to get from the road to the Nakalele Blowhole.

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Tuesday – Rode to Hana – This all day trip started with a nice continental breakfast of fruit, muffins, coffee and juice. We boarded yet another shuttle bus with ten others and were off to the small town of Hana, on the east side of Maui. Many people drive this road with their own vehicle, but we opted to take the shuttle for the color commentary and so we could enjoy the views. It’s only 48 miles, but it takes hours to get there. Partly because of the winding one lane road, and partly because our driver made several stops so we could get plenty of photos. One stop was at Aunty Sandy’s Banana Bread for a freshly baked, still warm mini-loaf, which didn’t last long. As we drove, our driver pointed out a gated driveway and said Woody Haroldson lives there. Later, he pointed out Kris Kristofferson’s driveway. Also discovered that Charles Lindbergh lived on Maui. We saw his grave in another one of those small cemetaries that are everywhere.

Molokin crater seen from the road to Hana.

Bought some fresh baked, still warm, banana bread here.

We saw many small cemeteries like this throughout Hawaii.

Charles Lindbergh is buried in Maui, on the rode to Hana.

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Around noon we stopped at one of the many roadside stands and had a warm lunch of pulled pork, potatoes and salads set up just for our bus. As we continued around the island, we could see where the fresh water from the mountains met the salt water in the ocean. There’s a distinct line in the water. Soon the road became more rough and turned into just a rough, dusty dirt road for a few miles. Eventually, we got back on pavement and returned to our hotel at 6:30 PM.

Wednesday – Snorkel at Molokini crater and Luau – Another early morning so we could be at the Maalea Harbor by 6:30 AM, about a 20 minute drive. Our snorkeling trip was on the Four Winds catamaran and included another continental breakfast. Just right to start the day, but not too much for a 45 minute boat ride. On the way we saw a whale with it’s calf, an escort whale and a porpoise.

Molokini Crater is a partially submerged volcanic crater. The crescent shaped crater provides a protected area for snorkeling. Even though the weather and the water was warm, we each rented a wet suit jacket. It just made it more comfortable. We also rented an underwater camera. One of us can’t swim! So I used one of the many life belts provided on the boat. With this and the salt water, I felt like I might float ok. The crew handed out snorkel masks, and I was able to get a prescription mask. The mask won’t seal if you wear glasses. Without glasses I wouldn’t have been able to see the water, let alone any fish or coral. They have a few masks with prescription optics so I was able to see without my glasses.

Those of you that have snorkeled before know how different it looks just under the surface of the water. If you’ve never snorkeled, give it a try at your next opportunity. What a feeling for someone that can’t swim, to jump into the Pacific Ocean and look down through 150 feet of clear water. The 2 hours of snorkeling went quickly. On the way back we enjoyed lunch on the Four Winds.

[Click to view slideshow]

We were back in the harbor about noon and made our way back to the hotel to clean up for our last night in Hawaii. We attended a luau in Lahaina, a 40 minute drive along the southwest coast of Maui. We had plenty of time so we looked around downtown Lahaina’s Front Street. The 3rd largest banyan tree is located in the courthouse square. It looks like many trees growing together, but it’s one root for everything you see.

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The luau was a nice open air stage show with a meal. The show described the history of Hawaii. Of course this included grass skirts, hula girls and a roast pig. As a parting gift at the end of the show, our table’s server brought everyone a bag with a small loaf of banana bread.

Thursday – Charlie’s and home – Today we slept in. Our flight home is at 10 PM, so we had all day to take it easy. We drove along the Wailea beaches. We found our way back to Paia, a small town near the beginning of our Road To Hana trip the other day. We had a late lunch at Charlie’s, a bar/restaurant owned by Willie Nelson. We returned our car to the airport and waited for our flight.

With the late night flight, the time change and a layover in Los Angeles it was a long day. Left Hawaii at 10 PM Thursday night and arrived home at 7 PM Friday night, local times.

Image Mackinac Island – 2015

Published on September 15, 2015April 7, 2017 by Jim Leave a comment

Mackinac Island, Upper Peninsula of Michigan, has no automobiles, except for fire and ambulance vehicles. Travel is via horse, bicycle or walking. Snowmobiles are allowed for those few hearty folks that stay over the winter.

To reach the island requires an 18 minute ferry boat ride. You can see the long bridge on the mainland connecting Mackinac City to the other side of the Straits of Mackinac. An hour’s drive north is another bridge, almost 2 miles long, leading into Canada from Sault Ste. Marie. We took a ride on a tour boat and went through the locks.

Back at the island, the Grand Hotel is grand in every aspect. The longest porch in the country, and very upper class.

Arch Rock. Sugar Loaf Rock.

A tractor parade on the mainland, crossing the bridge.

Sometimes I thought I’ve been close to the edge, but this actually puts a number on it!

It’s really just before a nice waterfall about an hour northwest of Mackinac.

Image Germany – December 2013

Published on August 8, 2015April 10, 2024 by Jim Leave a comment

My original post for this trip was accidentally deleted. (Well, it was my fault for not having a backup when changing hosting companies.) BTW, it was a great post!

Here’s a quick re-creation of our 2013 trip to Germany.

First stop was Weilerbach, in the Kaiserslautern district

Cologne

Rothenburg

Rothenburg is a town with a stone wall around it. There are several Rothenburgs in Germany, so technically, this one is Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The stairs on the left leads to the top of the wall, where you can walk around the city.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen

A walk along the Partnach Gorge, just outside of the city, is refreshing in December! On this portion of the trail, in a short tunnel, the sidewalk and railing are visible on the left.