Day 1 – Tuesday, April 10, 2012 – Depart Denver, CO to San Francisco, CA We spent a beautiful day in Colorado getting the house ready for our friend Tim who will stay with Buddha while we are on this new travel adventure. We had planned to leave at 3:00 but by 2:30 we had finished our final preparations and we left for DIA. Our travel agent Emma from Exito Travel in Fort ...
Go to From Vietnam To China!
Day 1 - Friday, March 2, 2012 - Drive from Austin, TX to San Antonio, TX to visit the Alamo and River Walk During our Spring Excursion to visit our son Eduardo in Austin, TX we took a day trip to visit San Antonio. We left Austin in heavy fog and drizzle at 8:30. Eduardo negotiated traffic and in no time we were on I-35 heading south, south west through several cities and rolling cattle ...
Go to South to San Antonio!
Day 1 – Monday, December 12, 2011 – Depart São Paulo, São Paulo, BR for Salvador, Bahia, BR After a long evening of food and conversation with the family and a very short night, our alarm went off at 3:45. Tia had arranged for Nilson, her usual driver to take us to Guarulhos Airport. He arrived at 4:40 and we made excellent time on the roads. There were a few cars and many ...
Go to Salvador, Recife, FdeN!
Day 1 – Saturday, December 03, 2011 – Depart Denver, CO; Transfer in Atlanta, GA; Flight to Santiago, Chile The snow began at midnight and by the time we woke up at 5:30 to check the weather we had horizontal snow and at least six inches of the white stuff on the ground already. We went out as soon as it was light to plow and shovel and by 7:45 we had made a path to the road. By ...
Go to Unique Uruguay!
Day 01 - October 12, 2011 - Wednesday - Delta Flight Detroit-Albany We woke up to a beautiful Indian Summer day on Palmer Divide. The next week is supposed to be sunny and dry and it was 38° this morning. It made us wonder why we were leaving Colorful Colorado. Driving out of the house at 8:00, we were right on our schedule as we had completed most of our travel routine the night ...
Go to NY, NE, NB, PE, & NS!
Day 01 - September 28, 2011 - Wednesday - Palmer Divide, CO; Drive to Thermopolis,WY Summer is over and we decided to take a Road Trip to The Central Wyoming rolling hills. We left Palmer Divide on a beautiful fall day and headed north on I-25 just after 9:00 am. Thinking that traffic and morning rush hour would be light by that time, we were surprised to find the Denver Freeway ...
Go to Quest for the Waters!
Day 01 - July 6, 2011 - Wednesday - Palmer Divide, CO - Drive to Rapid City, SD - Crazy Horse Memorial At 6:58 we left Elephant Rock in our rental Toyota Sienna 8 passenger van. With Vic driving and Jesper as the co-pilot and navigator, we headed north on I-25, E-470, and then back on I-25 and straight north into Wyoming. The weather had cooled during the night and it was 63º. ...
Go to Black Hills & Wyoming!
Day 1 – Saturday, April 16, 2011 – Depart Denver, CO to Los Angeles, CA Odysseys Unlimited Our “Down Under” adventure with Odyssey Unlimited began with our trip to Denver International Airport. Because we have a late evening flight, we were able to have a relaxing day and get many last minute things done before leaving for the airport at 3:30. Gennie made sure our friend Tim ...
Go to Exploring Australia&NZ!
Day 01 – Wednesday, December 22, 2010 – Fly from Panama City, PA to Bogotá, Colombia and then to Cartagena, Colombia Our wake up call was at 6:00 but we were up earlier and all packed for our Post-Trip to Cartagena in Colombia. We had time for breakfast and to say good-bye to Gustavo. The taxi van took seven of us to the airport at 7:00 for our 10:00 flight. Sherry from ...
Go to Colonial Cartagena, CO!
Day 01 – Sunday - December 12, 2010 – Flight to Atlanta and Panama City, Panama It was a Denver Bronco sunrise, orange and blue – perhaps an omen that the team will do better under a new coach today. As we finished our last minute chores and then said goodbye once again to the cats, we were off at 6:30 for another OAT trip (Overseas Adventure Travel) or as we learned in Israel, Old ...
Go to Panama and The Canal!
Day 01 – Friday, November 26, 2010 – Trip to Lockhart, Texas and Lunch at Smitty’s Market – PART 1 Black Friday when most of the people in the USA were shopping for early Christmas bargains, the Garcias drove south to Caldwell County and Lockhart, Texas. Lockhart was only about 40 minutes south and east of Austin by the back roads through flat cattle and small ranch country. ...
Go to Smittys-Lockhart, TX!
Day 01 – Monday, November 22, 2010 – Trip to Texas and Visit Palo Duro Canyon State Park – PART 1 A full moon greeted us as we got up at 3:00 am and packed our Accord to set out for Thanksgiving in Texas. We were out of the house and on I-25 by 4:00. The traffic was light, which was good as there was ice on Monument Hill. It was 31º with a brisk wind. While Gennie napped, I ...
Go to Palo Duro Canyon SP TX!
Day 01 – Friday, October 15, 2010 – Flight from Denver to Atlanta, Atlanta to Tel Aviv, Israel The sky was dark but with bright morning stars when we woke up at 6:00 to prepare for our travel day. After making sure the house was all ready for Tim and saying goodbye to the cats we left the house at 6:58 right on schedule. It is wonderful to have our friend and colleague Tim who ...
Go to Israel - Holy Cultures!
Day 01 – Monday, October 11, 2010 – Trip to Southern Colorado’s Highway of Legends – PART 1 What a wonderful fall day for a day trip to Southern Colorado! We left home at 9:09 under cloudy skies and about 46°. We made a brief stop at Costco for gas and we were on our way south on Interstate 25. There was a dusting of snow on Pikes Peak and the golden cottonwood trees along ...
Go to Highway of Legends, CO!
Day 01 - Friday - 10-05-28 - Alaska Airlines Flight – Denver to Seattle to Anchorage to Kodiak, Alaska The first early morning light was just peeking over the Black Forest when we left the house at 4:45 am. It was a beautiful Denver Bronco morning with the sky orange and blue. It always amazes us how many people are up and about at this time of day. The Pikes Peak Parking area ...
Go to Kodiak, Alaska-Martin!
Day 1 – Thursday, April 29, 2010 – Please Read Denmark Day 6 As we traveled to Europe one week early, we have spent the last 6 days in Denmark and had no long flight from the USA as our typical Day 1 for the Highlights of Eastern Europe. Please check our adventures in Denmark.
Go to Highlights E Europe!
01 Day - Saturday, April 24, 2010 - Flight - Denver to Frankfurt, Germany Mother Nature has had us worried all week. Along with thousands of other travelers, we had been watching the news of the volcanic eruption in Iceland that grounded all European flights for 6 days. There really was no Plan B, but our trusty Travel Agent, Dan Kraft worked all week to keep us abreast of the ...
Go to Castle Poulsen Denmark!
Day 18--Day 01 PT - Friday, October 2, 2009 - Serengeti National Park/Fly to Arusha/Overland to Nairobi, Kenya to Begin Trip Extension to Victoria Falls This was our last day of the Kenya and Tanzania portion of the trip. It was the last day in a tented camp – and our last day with Bariki and Leonard. We were able to sleep in until 6:45. The porters brought the water for our ...
Go to Victoria Falls, ZW!
Day 01 - Tuesday, September 15, 2009 - Flight - Denver to Detroit to Amsterdam, Netherlands On the road and in the friendly skies again! Packing our bags for the Safari was interesting – it will be very warm during the day and cold at night in the African Bush. At 7:35 we said goodbye to our two cats and told them Mr. T. would be back to take care of them soon. They are really ...
Go to Best Kenya & Tanzania!
Day 01 - Tuesday, July 28, 2009 - Flight - Denver to Atlanta After an ear shattering electrical storm last night, we woke up to find that my computer would not boot up. With as much thunder and lightning as we had during the evening, we were not surprised, but not something I wanted to deal with before our journey. When we walked our morning route around the neighborhood we ...
Go to Brasil - SP&Pantanal!
Day 01 - Wednesday, May 20, 2009 -Monument, CO to Cortez, CO We left Elephant Rock under deep blue skies and bright sunshine at 8:52 am. It was 71º - a beautiful day to begin a road trip. We topped the gas tank at Fillmore Street in Colorado Springs and headed south to Walsenburg. Our trip through La Veta Pass was excellent. The road has been repaired and there were adequate ...
Go to Southwest!
Day 07-02 - Monday, March 16, 2009 - Arrive in Tunis/Welcome Drink and Dinner The flight back to Casablanca was at 6:15am. Our alarm went off at 3:30! It was a short night. The hotel had “breakfast” for us but it was only coffee and a few cookies. Both Adil and Jamal were there to pick us up at 4:30 for our break-of-day flight leaving Morocco. Surprisingly, the airport was ...
Go to Tunisia-Med-Sahara!
Day 01 - Tuesday, March 10, 2009 - Flight - Denver to NY JFK to Morocco With our new Daylight Saving Time it was still very dark when our alarm went of at 6:00 AM. We showered and finished our few remaining chores and said goodbye to our furry friends Kwai and Buddha. It was 14º and there was light snow as we closed the garage doors for our adventure to Morocco and Tunisia with ...
Go to Morocco!
Day 01 - Wednesday, December 3, 2008 - Flight to Miami, Florida and to Quito, Ecuador The weather held for us this morning! Instead of the predicted 3 inches of snow, we woke up to a light fog and 21 degree temperature. A very early alarm got us up at 4 AM. By 5:00 we had finished our last minute baggage check, fed the cats, and we were on our way to Denver International ...
Go to EC Amazon & Galapagos!
Trafalgar Tours - Day 01 - 08-10-03 - Friday – Denver Flight to Munich, Germany As our flight from Denver International Airport (DIA) was not scheduled to leave until 2:05 PM we had a nice and leisurely morning. We did our regular Friday chores, had some coffee, read the paper and played with our two cats Kwai and Buddha. After a short conversation with our son Eduardo about his ...
Go to Finland Russia Baltic!
Peak to Peak, Colorado Day 1 - Wednesday, September 17, 2008 - Monument, CO to Nederland, CO After our morning walk and doing a few last minute chores at home, we left the house at 9:45 for a Fall Peak to Peak road trip. The weather was beautiful at 70 degrees and with bright blue skies. There was a light dusting of snow on Pikes Peak, our Golden Eagles were soaring in the ...
Go to Colorado Peak to Peak!
OAT Day 1-01 - Sunday, April 6, 2008 - Flight from Denver to Los Angeles - Trans-Pacific Flight The luggage was all packed in the car when our alarm went off at 3:15 AM! By 4:10 we were on our way for another Overseas Adventure Travel journey. Ready with a new camera for Gennie, extra note paper, and lots of additional pages in our passports, we were off to China! Traffic at ...
Go to Imperial China!
OAT WORLDWISE The Exclusive Newsletter for Overseas Adventure Travel Members Volume 8, No. 4 – October 2007
IT’S A CELEBRATION
 OAT travelers love a party – be it a national holiday or a spontaneous gathering. Here, our readers share their favorites. When ...
Go to OAT Worldwise Article!
Post Trip OAT Day 1- Friday, December 14, 2007 - Santiago to Maipo Canyon and Winery - Fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina The wonders of a good night’s sleep - we woke up refreshed and ready for our last day in BEAUtiful Chile. We had time to post the last two journals and go through the remaining e-mail messages. After breakfast, we stored our luggage for the day and got on our bus ...
Go to Buenos Aires-Iguazu!
OAT Day 1 - Friday, November 30, 2007- Easter Island Catch Up with OAT Trip Please refer to Day 8 of the Easter Island-Santiago Trip. To receive $50 per person off your first reservation with OAT, mention the following information when reserving your Overseas Adventure Travel Trip: Mr. Victor Garcia Customer #673062
Go to Chile Fjords-Patagonia!
Day 1 - Friday, November 23, 2007 - Flight from Denver to Los Angeles to Santiago, Chile Our flight to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) was scheduled to depart at 7:10 on Friday morning so our friend Tim Templeton took us to Denver late on Thursday afternoon. What we did not count on was that all the restaurants were closed for Thanksgiving Day. We did find a Village Inn ...
Go to Easter Island-Santiago!
Day 1 - October 7, 2007 – Sunday – Denver, CO to Vancouver, BC, Canada It was cool and crisp in Monument when we left the house at 7:45 am. We stopped at Castle Rock for gas and then had open highways all the way to DIA! This was the first time we have flown United in a few years and found many changes at the check in counters. We were able to use one of the electronic kiosks ...
Go to Trans-Canada Rail Trek!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - Monument, CO to Childress, TX
We woke up at 5:00 and were ready to hit the road at 6:00. Taking the back roads through Eastern Colorado gave us a glimpse of the flat rural areas of our state. We saw many Lark Bunting, Colorado's State Bird as well as Canada Geese, antelope (prong horn), and several beautiful hawks. We drove through almost ...
Go to Austin City Limits 2!
April 30, 2007 - Monday - Denver, CO to Frankfurt, Germany
Our bags are packed and we're ready to go. We're leaving on a jet plane… We left our house at the top of Palmer Divide at 1:00 PM, made a quick stop in Monument at the Post Office and the bank. We went north to Castle Rock where we stopped at the Western Convenience in to fill the tank of the CR-V ($2.88) and then ...
Go to Crossroads of Adriatic!
February 7, 2007 – Wednesday – Denver, CO to Mayan Riviera Near Cancun Up at 3 AM Out by 3:50 AM Arrived at Denver International Airport at 4:45 for our 7:00 flight Dropped off Poulsens and Gennie Checked in at Frontier for Champion Air flight Went through extended TSA screening. Vic caught again in the red tape trap! Concourse A 52 for flight We were told that a flight ...
Go to Mayan Riviera!
Day 1 - November 22, 2006 - Monument, CO to Austin, TX Left Monument - 5 AM MST Stopped to take pictures
Sunrise over Colorado Eastern plains Raton, NM:
Welcome To New Mexico photo
Gas stop - high! Lots of road construction Texline, TX:
Welcome to Texas photo Sunny morning's drive through Texas Panhandle
Time for cotton harvest
Flat arid ...
Go to Austin City Limits!
Day 1 - October 1, 2006 - Depart from Monument, Denver, Atlanta, U.S. With an early departure from Denver, we were up and out of the house by 8:30 AM. Bob and Susan, my cousins, were also flying home to Seattle from their wonderful visit with us over the last four days. Sunday mornings are easy drives to Denver and Denver International Airport. The view of Pikes Peak was ...
Go to England and Scotland!
Ride To The Aspen - Part 1 September 29, 2006 -- Home to Wilkerson Pass I-25 Monument Hill to Colorado Springs Colorado Springs: Photo op at Kissing Camels and Pikes Peak Up Ute Pass to Green Mountain Falls Past Pikes Peak Woodland Park Florissant Stop at Wilkerson Pass for more photos and to stretch our legs
Go to Ride to the Aspen!
Day 1 - September 7, 2005 - Monument, CO to Billings, MT After our alarm went off at six o'clock, we were packed and ready to go by 7:15 a.m. It was 50° when we left Monument. We hit the commuter traffic going to Denver so we took the E-470 Tollway to avoid the congestion through the center of Denver. Even before Lincoln Avenue, traffic was backed up and at a crawl. How ...
Go to Glacier National Park!
Day 1 - 04/07/06 Fly from Denver The weather on Monument Hill was fierce - blowing snow and only 30 degrees. It had been 55 yesterday and was to be 72 on Sunday. What a difference a day makes in Colorado. We had our bags loaded and ready to go at 2 PM. As we went north the weather improved and by the time we got to DIA we had a sunny day with blue skies. There was not much ...
Go to Turkeys M Hideaways!
DAY 1 - 11/24/05 - Depart U.S./Arrive San Salvador, El Salvador Our alarm went off at 4 AM and we were up and had our last minute morning chores done quickly. It was very dark when we left the house at 5 AM with the temperature at 38 (4 C) degrees. Traffic was light as it was early to be out on the interstate on this Thanksgiving morning. Driving through Denver we saw a few ...
Go to Route of the Maya!
DAY 1 - Monday - 9-19-05 Depart from Denver We had a beautiful day in Colorado to walk in the crisp air and morning sun. We had time to do a few last minute chores and for Gennie to finalize her University of Phoenix online class. At 12:45 we said good bye to our cats, Buddha and Kwai, and left Capella Drive. We had a few errands to run in Denver and then had lunch Chipotle, one of ...
Go to Best of Burgundy!
Day 1 - September 6, 2005 - Monument, CO to Lander, WY We were able to get up at our regular time, Gen did her UOP weekly report, we walked, and got ready for our Teton-Yellowstone trip. Just as we were pulling out of the garage at 9:20, it started to rain. Although the sun was still out the rain was getting our little red car all wet! We stopped at Castle Rock on I-25 and topped ...
Go to Tetons and Yellowstone!
THURSDAY - AUGUST 25

Checked in 2 hours early for Alaska Air 10:44 flight.
We had to go through TSA special check.
Bob picked us up at 12:30 at baggage.
Went to Lunch at Taco del Mar.
Walked around SouthCenter of Westfield Mall.
When Bob was done with his meeting he picked us up at 3:30.
We went to the Derse house and Susan came home from school to join ...
Go to Seattle WA!
S2000 Colorado Sunday Drive - August 14, 2005 On Sunday, August 14, 2005, several members of the Rocky Mountain S2000 Owners from the S2K International met at the Loaf & Jug in north Golden. Gennie and I left our home on top of the Palmer Divide at 9:35 and after an hour we met Kyle, Luc, Denver, and Scott & Stephanie in Golden. We decided to take US 285 west as I-70 had had a ...
Go to Colorado Sunday Drive!
DAY 14 - May 18, 2005 - Denmark Borgo Di Tragliata Agritourism
Breakfast
Transfer to Rome Airport Flight on SAS
Terminal B - Gate 3
Flight to Copenhagen, Denmark Reception at the Copenhagen Airport
Ulla, Jesper, Cecilie and Maria
Danish and American Flags
Easy time through customs Drive to Frederikssund
Vic went with Jesper
Stopped at a ...
Go to Denmark!
DAY 01 - May 5, 2005 - Depart U.S. We woke up to a beautiful morning with a Colorado Blue sky. Gennie and I were able to leave the house about 1:15 PM and took a picture of Pikes Peak in its snowy glory. We made our way to Denver, where we met some traffic but it was moving at 80 MPH so we were on time. We stopped for gas at Castle Rock ($1.97), the lowest we have seen in months. ...
Go to Tuscan Hill Towns!
DAY 1 - March 14, 2005 Fly to San José, Costa Rica One of the nice things about flying north to south is the lack of time zone crossing. Flying to Costa Rica is one such adventure. As we leave Colorado, we are one hour earlier than San Jose, Costa Rica, our destination. We had been scheduled to fly American but OAT informed us just last month that everyone going to Costa ...
Go to Affordable Costa Rica!
Day 1 - Saturday, November 27, 2004 - Flight Amman, Jordan to Cairo, Egypt - Return to Cairo We arrived at the airport in Amman just at 5:35 and Samir, our Jordan Trip Director said goodbye and we were passed on the OAT representative who helped us through with all the paper work. It was quite easy when one knows what to do. We were taken to the departure room and waited for our ...
Go to Eternal Nile!
Day 1 - Saturday & Sunday, November 20 & 21, 2004 - Flight On Saturday afternoon Gennie was in constant communication with Charlie and Sylvia Emmons who were going to travel with us. We were concerned with the weather and the forecast snow that was supposed to hit us on Saturday night and Sunday. Gennie made reservations for a Park and Fly package at Days Inn at Tower Road, just 10 ...
Go to Petra & Amman Jordan!
Day 1 - September 3, 2004 - Flight from Denver to Chicago to Frankfurt We were able to do our regular Friday morning chores as our flight was not scheduled until 3:55 PM. We drove to Denver at 11:30, had lunch at Chipotle and were at DIA at 1:30. Pikes Peak Parking was running a lot of buses so we had a short wait. We checked in with United and went to the B Concourse to wait ...
Go to Best of Spain!
Day 1 - Friday, May 14, 2004 We are in Hawaii, our 50th state. We had a 7 hour flight but very uneventful. Good service but very mediocre food. We were greeted at the end of the jetway by a hostess who gave us a lei, hugged us and kissed our cheek. We were the only ones to get this. INTERESTING! She took us to baggage, put them on a cart, took us to a shuttle bus and we were ...
Go to Hawaii!
Day 1 - March 24, 2004 - Flight from Denver to Atlanta on to Shannon We departed from Denver on Delta at 12:45 for Atlanta and then to Ireland at 7:05. Pikes Peak parking was horrible - we had to wait over 30 minutes for a bus - people were irate. When we got to DIA, Delta had a sick out and had only 3 people checking in. They had the gall to tell us that if we did not check in ...
Go to Celtic Discovery!
DAY 1 - November 27, 2003 - Monument, CO to Narita, Japan Our long day started at 5 AM when Gennie awoke me to tell me that it had snowed overnight and we had to think about clearing the driveway before leaving. Together, we went out and in 20 minutes had cleaned it up. She went in to shower, I had a brief breakfast, fruit and coffee and then showered. We were out the door at ...
Go to Cambodia & Thailand!
Day 1 Saturday September 6, 2003 – Flight from Denver to Frankfurt, Germany At 6 AM we got up and were out of the house by 6:45 on our way to pick up Craig and Cindie at Highlands Ranch. We got there at 7:25, packed their luggage in the CR-V and were on our way to DIA by way of E-470. Clear sailing all the way. We checked in with American, asking to have our seats reassigned ...
Go to The Best of Europe!
Day 01 - Thursday, July 10, 2003 - Monument to Seattle EARLY, TOO EARLY! We woke up on our own, without the alarm around 2 AM and finally at 2:30 we got up and got ourselves ready to go. We took our time and the cats were wondering why they were woken up so early. Once we fed them, they were pleased. We left the house at 3:25 and the trip up I-25 to Denver was so easy. I had the ...
Go to The Northern Isles!
Day 1 - April 17, 2003 - Monument, CO to Flagstaff, AZ We got up this morning at 5 AM MDT and we were out of the garage at 5:57. It was a gray, with ground fog as we drove out of Monument and got on I-25 going south. As we got to Colorado Springs, the full moon was shining directly over Pikes Peak. It was an eerie sight. By the time we got to Pueblo we were out of the work ...
Go to Pacific Coast Highway!
Day 1 - Depart U.S.- Arrive Lima, Peru - March 27 & 28, 2003 We woke up this morning to beautiful sunny skies - a nice surprise as a snow storm was predicted. We took a short walk and then prepared for Charlie and Sylvia to pick us up at 8:30. We were ready for them and we had an easy trip to Denver and DIA. Our check-in was quick and we went to Concourse C for our flight to ...
Go to Peru!
Day 1 - December 4, 2002 Flight from Denver, to Miami, to San Jose, Costa Rica We got up at 5:15 and were out of the house by 6:01. We drove the Dodge van to Denver, Craig and Lucinda’s house, where we met Dave and Sue Pettygrew. We all got in their Chevy Suburban, went out Quebec and then took E-470 to the airport. We parked at Pikes Peak and took the shuttle to the airport. We ...
Go to Costa Rica!
Day 1 – September 3, 2002 – Flight to Frankfurt and Lisbon We left home at 11:30 or so and went to Denver to see Nanny, my mother in law. We took her some things, a plant and visited her for 15 minutes. We then decided to get on the road as we had no seats on the Lufthansa flight. We got to DIA and we were the second group in line. Problem: THEIR COMPUTERS WERE DOWN. It took us ...
Go to The Best of Portugal!
Day 1 - Wednesday - 2/20/02 Fly from Denver to San Francisco Fly from San Francisco to Tokyo, Japan
Go to Beijing City Tour!
Day 1 - Saturday, September 8, 2001 We got up early and as it was snowing in Monument, we went to pick up the Cropseys. We met the whole group at DIA and had a quick light breakfast in the little "French" restaurant at the terminal. We flew Delta to Atlanta where we met the final couple to our group, Teresa and Joe Knight who live outside D.C. The flight from Atlanta to ...
Go to Italy and Greece!