Gateway To Black Sea Day 1

What a beautiful Indian Summer day on Monument Hill! It was a bit overcast, but over 60 degrees when we hiked our 2.5 miles this morning. A stunning red tailed hawk landed on an electrical pole and watched us as we walked past, a great omen for our new adventure today!

Our flight was in the late afternoon so we had plenty of time to do a few preparations around the house. Gennie finished grading papers for her online class and Vic made sure the house was ready for our friend Tim who will live here for the next 12 days.

The ride to DIA was breathtaking with all of the fall colors ablaze on the hillsides! There was a lot of traffic but not unusual for this time of day. There is major construction on I-25 south of us. We are hoping that while we are gone they will complete the widening project and solve the US budget problems. Too much to hope for?

Our carrier for this Vantage Black Sea River Cruise is Lufthansa. We love the 5:40 overnight flight to Frankfurt. After parking at the Pikes Peak lot, we rode the shuttle to the terminal and checked our bags all the way to Budapest, our embarkation port on the Danube River.

Getting to the terminal early, we had enough time to stop in at the Star Alliance Lounge with to check our mail, have a soda, and then set out for the gate.

The boarding call came about 5:10, always nice to have on-time service! We got settled in and were ready to cross the Atlantic over the southern tip of Greenland.

Our flight crew took good care of us and we were off the ground in no time. Hoping for a restful night, we will be wide awake and looking forward to this new adventure when we reach Frankfurt, Germany in the morning!