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| Sun setting in our rear view - Celebrity Apex - January 2024 Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
ALMOST EVERY year, I try to do a "year in review" type of blog at the end or right in the beginning of the New Year. Once again, 2024 was a full travel year, and we put 2 cruises and a major land-based trip abroad on the books. I have tried, in the past, to boil it down to one or two of my favorite images from each place we visit. This year, I couldn't do it. There were just too many "favorites." A warning, this will be a long post with lots of images.
For all these things, we are immeasurably thankful
I DIDN'T make my usual couple weeks in Michigan this past summer, due to a number of "logistics" issues. Our trips abroad included a short Caribbean "holiday," a long (nearly 3 weeks) trip to Japan which included circumnavigation of the main Island of Japan on our Holland America Westerdam cruise ship (I new line for us - not our first choice, but I have always said it is about the itinerary, and this was a good one), and and a 16-day "jaunt" to central Europe.
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| Sunset Sail-away on Celebrity Apex Copyright Andy Richards 2023 - All Rights Reserved |
FOR THE most part we think our move to the Tampa Bay/Clearwater, Florida area has been a resounding success. For the 10th or so time in as many years, I will be outdoors, poolside on our lanai on both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. We moved here as much as for any other reason for the weather. We don't miss the snow and ice.
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| Celebrity Apex - 2024 "Holiday" Cruise - British Virgin Islands Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Rserved |
IRONICALLY, THE only downside has been the weather. 😶 This year Mother Nature decided to hammer us. We had 3 full hurricanes: Debby, Helene and Milton. Each had its impact on our area - differently, but devastatingly. Over the years, we have mostly dodged the proverbial "bullet" right here in Palm Harbor. For whatever reason, they seem to initially target us, but before making landfall, nearly always have turned their wrath either north or south of us enough that we really haven't had any ill affects.
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| Tokyo, Japan Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
NOT THIS year. Debby hit the northern Florida in August. As seems to be the pattern, it turned away from Tampa and up north into the "Big Bend" (where Florida turns westward on the northern beaches of The Gulf of Mexico), where she swept across northern Florida as a Category 1 hurricane. She did a lot of damage to our neighbors to the north of us. From Debby we learned something new to us. It is not unusual when a hurricane sweeps across the northern part of Florida and enters the Atlantic for it to re-develop, turn northwest, and make landfall a second time. Debby did that and hammered the Atlantic coast, causing substantial coastal flooding, and heavy rainfall in the southeastern coastal states. As hurricanes go, a Category 1 is the lowest rating to earn the name "hurricane." One would think that was a "mild" one. But none of them really are. Our experience has been that even though we refer to it as "hurricane season," once we get one, we breath a sigh of relief and think we are done for the year.
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| Koishikawa Garden - Tokyo Japan Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
NOT THIS year. We had already seen Beryl develop in the Caribbean, strengthen to a Category 5 (as high as can be) in the Gulf, and sweep north into eastern Texas, causing lots of damage over there. What many of us didn't anticipate (though anyone who lives here always knows they call it a "season" for a reason - I put my hurricane protection up at the first real prediction of a strike and leave them up usually until well into November) was that we would entertain not just another one. We would instead get hammered 2 more times, less than 3 weeks apart.
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| Seiryu-Ji Shrine - Aomori, Japan Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
ON SEPTEMBER 26, Helene made landfall just north of Tampa Bay, once again in the Big Bend area as a Category 4. It had one of the biggest storm centers in recent history. Unfortunately, Helene also dragged the most significant coastal storm surge in modern history. That surge impacted the Florida coastline from well south of us (Sarasota and the barrier islands - Anna Maria Island and Siesta and Longboat Keys), all the way up into the Big Bend. We have friends who own a home just under 2 miles west (toward the Gulf) of us and they had 4-5 feet of water in their single story home. They gutted it and are in the process of completely rebuilding the interior. 100's of homes were similarly damaged. Maybe even worse, this quirky storm brought unprecedented rainfall to the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina, creating disastrous flooding as swollen rivers flowed down and into towns which nobody ever dreamed would happen. For our own part, we had high winds and our only damage was one screen out of our lanai. Helene may have been statistically the worst of them to hit the west coast of Florida. Given the damage caused by Milton a few weeks following, I would be hard pressed to call one worse than the other. I suspect east Texas, Tennessee, and North Carolina residents would agree that the worst one is the one that lands near where you live.
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| Ikuta Shrine - Kobe, Japan Copyright Andy Richards - All Rights Reserved |
ON OCTOBER 8, Milton made landfall just a little over a week and one-half; this time south of us on Siesta Key. Still reeling from Helene's impact, coastal regions and barrier Islands of Sarasota (Siesta, Longboat) and Bradenton (Anna Maria) were hammered. As high as a category 5 storm while approaching land in the Gulf, Milton had dissipated to a Category 3, still a devastating storm (winds to 120 mph). Again, a substantial storm surge contributed to the problem. What may have made Milton even worse though, was historical and unprecedented amounts of rainfall. While we did not get the full hurricane winds impact here in Palm Harbor, we got more rainfall in the space of a few hours than had ever been historically recorded.
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| Sorakuen Garden - Kobe, Japan Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
WE HAVE been personally fortunate. Perhaps beyond what we deserve. Our home is in one of the highest points in Florida and is 2-plus miles away from the Gulf. We have had several hurricanes threaten us and we have been spared from the brunt of every one so far. We only worry about wind and we think our wind mitigation is sufficient to withstand anything but perhaps a dead-on Category 5 strike. Ironically, the 3 that have come closest to that all occured while we were gone. We commonly travel in September - October; right in the heart of the hurricane season. We left for Zurich, Switzerland on September 25, just a day before Helen struck. We returned to Tampa on October 10, just 2 days after Milton!
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| Sorakuen Garden - Kobe, Japan Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
TURNING TO more positive things, we have only not been in our Palm Harbor home one time to usher in the New Year since we bought it some 10-plus years ago. in late December, 2023, we joined our close friends, Paul and Linda on the Celebrity Apex in Ft. Lauderdale shortly after Christmas to spend 7 days in the Caribbean. I recently blogged about that "holiday" cruise over on my other (cruising) blog: "I Am A Celebrity." It was probably the most fun and relaxing New Year celebration in my recent memory. It was cool to see a ship we have sailed on multiple times all decked out for the holidays. It was also nice that we had great weather and "endured" some spectacular sunrises over the ocean.
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| Yokohama - HAL Westerdam Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
IN APRIL, we joined two couples we have gotten to know here in Florida (one we actually met during a cruise) on a 14-day cruise around Japan's main island, on the Holland America Westerdam. Our grandson currently lives in Tokyo and we went over a few days early and spent a few fun days in Tokyo; a very photogenic city.
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| Fukuoka, Japan - HAL Westerdam Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
WE CRUISED from Yokohama, where we boarded the ship and set sail around Japan. It was a fun cruise with many great sites. We had a couple private tours - perhaps the best of them in Kobe. There were many rural destinations as well as a couple pretty interesting cities.
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| Sokcho, South Korea Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
JAPAN MAY have a similar law to the U.S. "Passenger Vessel Services Act" (commonly mistakenly cited as "The Jones Act"), which requires that a ship originating and terminating in the U.S. to stop at at least one foreign port. Whatever the reason, we had one stop in South Korea. I really liked that one and it was certainly a favorite on the trip, especially views of the port from our ship, as we sailed into the harbor.
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| Sokcho, South Korea Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
APRIL IS pretty much during the cherry blossom season - especially in the northern part. Fortunately for us, the blossom was slightly late in Tokyo, giving me a chance to photograph many of them. The best, however, was on our last day, and was unfortunately only a "snapshot" opportunity. A little Photoshop work made it probably my favorite image of the entire trip.
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| Cherry Blossoms - Hakodate, Japan Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
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| Octoberfest - Munich, Germany Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
THE "ANCHOR" for this trip was Munich in terms of geography, and Oktoberfest in terms of timing. We traveled with our great friends and neighbors, Bruce and Joyce. Oktoberfest has been on Bruce's travel destination list for a long time. We have talked about it off and on over the several years we have known them, but it seems like we always opted for some other trip (we have done a North Sea/Iceland/Ireland/U.K. cruise, a trip to Portugal, and a long weekend in New Orleans). I think it was about time for us to give a nod to Bruce's wishes.
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| Zurich, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
OF COURSE, our viewpoint is that we don't spend the money or take the time to do a single-destination trip. We planned about 15 days for this one, and while we were in the area, we decided to do Switzerland and end up in Berlin. We vacillated between Vienna and Prague. The swell of opinion seemed to be Prague and in a lean toward my desire to find a truly photogenic destination, we chose Prague. We were not disappointed!
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| Zurich, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
WE SPENT 2 days traveling around Switzerland. One day was in the "storybook" town of Lucerne. It was beautiful, but unfortunately, we had unrelenting rainfall while there, making photographs less than optimal, and making for an overall "soggy" experience.
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| Rainy Lucerne - wet, but happy - travelers |
WE STILL wouldn't have missed it. It is definitely "bucket list" material.
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| Kapellbrucke - Lucerne, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards 2024 |
ANOTHER DAY, we hired a driver to take us up (actually southwest - but up in altitude) into the Swiss Alps in an area known as the Bernese Oberland. Again, rain seemed to be the dominant factor, but on this day, we did get just a few "peeks" at some sunshine. The "grand landscape" shot of (or from) the mountains never really materialized, but I still made some nice area shots.
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| Bernise Oberland - Swiss Alps Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
PERHAPS THE highlight of that day was an almost peripheral experience. When we were in Interlaken, we stopped for lunch and our restaurant was adjacent to a large park in the center of town. Even though the skies threatened to open up at any time, the paragliders were hard at it. As always, bright colors draw my eye. This may actually have been a time when the overcast skies created a beneficialy photographic atmosphere, rendering the colors bright and contrasty (where sun and/or blue sky might well have degraded that). I was able to make some cool images of the gliders as they came in for their landings in the field.
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| Paragliding in Interlaken, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
INTERLAKEN IS known to be the center of the Swiss outdoor recreation center, with hiking, fishing, boating, skiing, climbing and of course, paragliding. The whole Bernese Oberland is much like that. At the end of our day we stopped in Grindelwald. I haven't ever seen that many outdoor outfitter shops in the same tiny little town. I would guess there were about 20 of them, all full of boots, down and fleece, gloves, hats, socks and on and on. Some of them were popular brands we have in our U.S. markets and some I didn't recognize. Looked like nice stuff and there were some tempting sale prices - except that I live in the Tampa Bay area. 😐
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| Grindelwald, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
OUR DRIVER was just that. He was not a guide and his English appeared somewhat limited (though the advertizement said: "English-speaking driver"). Don't get me wrong. A very nice guy. Took us to all the right places. And we knew from the "get" that we weren't getting a professional guide. We didn't learn some of the local interest and world history tidbits we often get from a guide, but we got exactly what we paid for, so no complaints. Had to do some of the research on my own (mostly after we returned home and I started writing blog posts). Grindelwald is a base for one of the most famous mountaineering spots: Eiger. There are three spectacular, tall sheer faces of the Alps here. Eiger is famous for its "North Face," one of the most difficult climbs in the world. There have been a few deaths of climbers here over the years. It is popularly thought that the Eiger "North Face" was the inspiration for the popular outdoor outfitting company. A bit of research reveals that that is not wholly true. But it is one of the inspirations. On most of these climbing destinations, the north face of the mountain is typically the most challenging because - well -it faces north (where the worst of the weather mostly comes from).
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| Somewhere in the Bernise Oberland - Swiss Alps Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
WE HAD one final day in Zurich. I haven't said much about Zurich, but it is a very interesting town. We were particularly impress with how clean, well-organized, and modern things were in a very old city. Our hotel was right on a short bridge and road that crossed the river. The main train station was accross that bridge. The tram system was wonderful. Lots of the city is walkable. That all made getting around a snap. Every country has - more or less - its own food and traditions. On first glance, Switzerland isn't really notable, but they do have some of their own traditions. My friend, Bob (more below) says that the "gourmet" of Switzerland is "peasant food." Before modern Switzerland emerged, the country and region was mostly agricultural and rural living. The two remarkable "entrees" we had in Switzerland were the relatively well known cheese fondue (we found a great spot in Lucerne), and Raclette, which is mainly meat (usually) - like our "cold cuts," potatoes, and melted cheese. It might sound kind of plain, but trust me, it is delicious.
The two remarkable "entrees" we had in Switzerland were . . . cheese Fondue . . . and Raclette
ON THIS last day, I had an experience I had been waiting a long time (years) for. My law school roomate recently retired from his job as assistant General Counsel for a worldwide pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Zurich. By now a long-time (dual) Swiss resident, Bob owns a beautiful home in suburban Zurich. We spent a good part of the day visiting him and his delightful wife in his home, where they we had our first experience with Raclette, along with some fine wine. The Swiss have a machine they put in the middle of the table that has accomodations for multiple users to melt the cheese. You can bet I have a raclette machine on my Amazon list. 😋 It was great to catch up - and it was literally as if we had seen each other regularly over the years. It was the first time in probably 25 years! Certainly a highlight of my 2024! The next morning we headed across the street to the Rail Station, headed for our second (perhaps the main event) destination: Munich. The "balloon" hanging prominently in the middle of the station is supposed to be a protector of sorts.
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| Zurich Haouptbanhof "Protector" Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
EUROPE BEING much older than the U.S., most of these cities date back many hundreds of years (I often think that we in the U.S. don't appreciate this fact). Most cities have an "old town" dating back to at least - and often well before - Medieval times. This made all of them have photogenic components. Munich's history is strongly tied to beer - and secondarily to food which, not surprisingly, pairs well with beer. Roasted chicken, roasted pork (especially the knuckle) and a large variety of sausage seem to be the staples in Munich. We sampled our share of all of that. One of the most popular eating establishment are the brewery-sponsored "Beer Halls."
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| Munich, Germany Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
OF COURSE there was Oktoberfest. the festival goes on for at least a week. It draws huge crowds and for the most part the best way to partake is to purchase a ticket to one or more of the tents. We did that for one of our days. It is one of those "you want to say you have done it things." Afterward, my personal take is that it is somewhat overblown. Cool, but not maybe living up to the hype. Lots of commercial touches with souvenir shops (certainly mostly made in China) and prices. Having said that, I surely do not regret it having checked it off and being able to say: "been there, done that."
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| Octoberfest - Munich, Germany Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
MUNICH WAS fun. We saw most of the obligatory tourist sites, like the Glockenspiel in Marienplatz and the Viktuellianplatz. Once again rain seemed to be the weather du jour.
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| Old City Hall (with its famous Glockenspiel) Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
ONE OF our 4 days in Munich was taken up by a trip to the Bavarian Alps - and mainly to two famous castles built by King Ludwig: Linderhof and Neuschwanstein (famous for being Walt Disney's inspiration for the castles in his movies and at his theme parks). Both were ornate. Both were photogenic.
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| Nueschwanstein Castle - Bavarian Alps Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE was especially fun to photograph because of its setting. It is perched high up on a mountainside with spectacular views from the castle. At a spot about the same height there is a walking bridge (Marienbrucke) some distance away from the castle that is a magnificent viewpoint. I made multiple (repetitive) shots from there. I wasn't going to walk away without some choices later. It was high on my "bucket" list and I was glad to be able to check it off.
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| Linderhoff Castle - Bavarian Alps Copyright Andy Richards 2024 |
IN THE heart of (and fittingly the capitol) Bavaria, I wouldn't hesitate to visit Munich again. Indeed, I would probably schedule even more time up in the Alps on a second trip.
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| Oberammergau, Germany (Bavarian Alps) Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
AFTER OUR 4 days in Munich, we again boarded a train for Prague, Czechnia (Czech Republic), where we stayed yet another 4 days. For photography, it was clearly the apex of the trip for me. This mostly medieval "flavored" city is full of both "traditional" and creative photographic opportunies. We stayed right in the heart of the city across the river from the main old town. We were literally steps from the Charles Bridge with great and walkable access to all parts of the city. Prague has a great public transportation system, consting at its center, of the tram system. One great visitor perk: all modes of public transportation is free for anyone 65 or older. Rather than try to narrate each day, I will just post a series of Prague images below.
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| Charles Bridge at morning Twilight Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
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| St. Vitus Cathedral - Prague Castle Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
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| Prague Castle - St. Vitus Cathedral Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
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| Old Town - Prague Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
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| Malastronska (Lesser Town) - Prague Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
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| Under The Charles Bridge - Prague Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
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| Spiral Staircase - Kubist Museum - Prague Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
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| Bridges over the Vltava River - Prague Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
LEAVING PRAGUE was hard. I could easily have stayed longer. We were in a great location. There was more to photograph. There were more sites to see. We had taken a food/walking tour on our first day and there was more food to sample. I was (and had been even from the planning stage) "lukewarm about our next destination: Berlin (wrongly, it turns out). Time doesn't stop. Onward.
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| Berlin, Germany Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved. |
OUR FINAL destination was Berlin. I was prepared to be underwhelmed. It was a good thing I had spent some hours doing research and watching You-Tube videos, or I might actually been shocked. The difference between Munich (Bavaria) and Berlin is pretty stark. Munich is a traditional, old German (Bavarian) city with lots of medieval influence in architecture and design. Berlin (having been largely destroyed in WWII) is a much newer, more modern city. Most of the architecture reflects a modern approach. Berlin is one of the largest cities in Europe. It is also very cosmopolitan. While there is much history there, it doesn't impress so much as a "German" city, as it does an "international" modern, metropolitan city.
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| Checkpoint Charlie - Berlin, Germany Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
OF COURSE, I wanted to see the wall, including the famous "checkpoint Charlie." What really impressed me though, was the amount and variety of visual subjects in the city, from the grandiose buildings, to street art.
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| "Mr. Gorbachev! Tear down this . . ." (well; you know the rest) Berlin, Germany Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
FITTINGLY FOR a capitol city, Berlin has many grandiose elements - particularly the governmental buildings; and many uniquely modern, but still grandiose structures. Unfortunately the Brandenburg Gate is under renovation and the construction equipment made it not only difficult to approach, but much to cluttered with equipment to make any images I thought would be pleasing. During our first day, we took the hop-on-hop-off bus for a tour of the city. We have learned that it is usually best to take the entire loop on these busses without getting off. We saw much of the city, including the massive and impressive governmental center/buildings, but alas, we did not get back there. Geographically compared to all the other cities we spent time in, Berlin is huge.
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| Commercial Office Building - Berlin, Germany Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
SURPRISINGLY TO me, the "hugeness" made for lots and lots to do and see. Even with 3 days in the city, we left many things behind. When we arrived in the Berlin Train Station the first afternoon, we found a travel office and purchased one of the "Berlin Passes" (there are a couple different variations, so it behooves you to do some research first - which we had done). We concluded that the pass was worth the cost to us because of its diversity. The pass covered all modes of public transportation, including trains, subway and trams within the city (there is another one that will add destinations outside the city, including the airport if you want that). Being able to get on and off the subway and trams without an worries about fares made it worth it to us. In addition, our pass gave us a river tour, a day on the hop-on-hop-of, and discounted and/or free entry to museums (we, unfortunately, did not have time to hit any of the museums - so that will be a priority next time).
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| Berlin, Germany Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
EVEN WITH the 35-some odd years since the wall came down and reunification was begun, West Berlin and East Berlin have some very different character. We learned, for example, that there are no trams (or tracks) in West Berlin. Presumably when it was rebuilt they went with the subway system instead. Too bad. I have really liked the trams in every city we have been where they are prominent (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Zurich, Prague, Munich, and Tokyo to name a few). In East Berlin, on the other hand, trams are a prominent feature. There was a slightly more "old Europe" feel to East Berlin. While we really enjoyed our hotel in West Berlin, I think if/when we return, I would like to stay in, or much closer to, East Berlin. In my upcoming (2025) Blog posts on our days in Berlin, I mention a word that kind of fits
Berlin: "eclectic." I think the image below, with its touches of Asia, Old European, and modern art and architecture might best illustrate the city.
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| Berlin, Germany Copyright Andy Richards 2024 |
I MENTIONED food earlier in reference to Switzerland. The food culture in both Bavaria and Prague were - to me - remarkably similar. Both places focus on beer and often "heavy" foods like meat and potatoes that match up well with beer. Both have a tendency to claim they are the world-center of beer. Foods were good and hearty and "german" in my view. Sausages, chicken, pork, schnitzel. Not gourmet-remarkable, but good. We learned, though, not to expect "german" food to be a big part of Berlin. As a city with a large international mix and influence, there are a lot of other "ethnic" cuisines; or at least ethnic-influenced. One such ethnic-german fusion food is a uniquely Berlin food, though: curryworst. Not being a fan of curry (for numerous unrelated reasons), I did not go out of my way to find or taste this. My bad. On our first evening, we did a "food" tour around central Berlin (including parts of both West and East Berlin). One of our stops was a curryworst restaurant, so, of course I tried it. Loved it! Had it for lunch at least one other time. If you are in Berlin, you must have the curryworst!
AS LARGE as Berlin feels, our tour the first afternoon/evening took us to some onclaves that were cozy, and we found some wonderful street art that was clearly part of a planned space. I may have made my most memorable photos there.
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| Berlin, Germany Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
EVEN THOUGH modern and largely re-built, there are still many old, pre-war buildings mixed in with the new and modern; most notably churches.
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| Berlin, Germany Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
OUR BERLIN hotel was mildly quirky, with a markedly modern exterior. Much like our Munich hotel, it was set in a quiet, "neighborhood" setting with a bustling restaurant scene one street over, and close proximity to a subway station. The modern, commercial/retain area of West Berlin was maybe a 15-minute walk away. Bruce and I enjoyed a couple "cigar walks" around that neighborhood and of course, I toted my camera.
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| Near our Berlin Hotel Berlin, Germany Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
NOT FOR the first time, Berlin was a place where my low expectations were really kind of blown away. I found it to be one of those cities that just keeps giving photo-ops around nearly every corner. Given time and opportunity, I would go back in a heartbeat.
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| Nollendorf Subway Stop near our Berlin Motel Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
THE EUROPE trip was a fitting crescendo to yet another eventful year. It was really the end of our traveling for the year. We are already looking forward to the next year, as we have travel plans to London and Norway already on the calendar. We will also be joining some good friends on a Caribbean Cruise in March/April. I have a springtime photo trip with tow of my best friends and fellow shooters in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in April. Who knows what/where else we will be?
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| One of my favorite Berlin Images - "Street Art" Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
WE HAVE been very fortunate over the years, and no more so than in 2024. We have crossed both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans to visit new places, and experience new cultures. We have our good health, and have eluded the terrible forces of nature. We were favored with the month-long visit from our one and only grandson and his mom over the Christmas and New Year's holidays. We are blessed with family and many wonderful friends all over the world. For all these things, we are immeasurably thankful. We wish all of our friends, family and acquaintances a prosperous and above-all, happy 2025!
