Nomadic Texan

Originally I was going to post this blog as my first return effort in writing. Sadly a close friend and brother from a different Mother passed away and I preempted this blog with a tribute to him. “Eight Miles High” shares my adventures with Tim when he lived with me as a senior in high […]

For Tim McGee my brother from a different Mother.     We were into fast cars, beautiful women and classic rock n roll! We both loved the Byrds and found each other through their music. We bought all their albums and eight track tapes (don’t laugh that was the apex of music in your automobile […]

We docked in Honnigsvag with Viking Ocean Cruises, and unfortunately had our first really bad day of weather. I know that we had been substantially lucky before this, given Norway’s preponderance of rain.     As we traversed the countryside it appeared we wouldn’t experience good weather, as our views from the tour bus continued […]

We were lucky enough to sleep in this day and had a later tour into Tromso, named the Panoramic Tromso. We met at 9:55 AM. Tromso is filled with exceptional structures and genuine charm, in this island setting of green meadows. We met our local guide and drove through the city known as the “Gateway […]

As we sailed into the port of Leknes with Viking Cruises, this magnificent church was on the shore and caught my eye. Lofoten (Norwegian “lu:fu:tn”) is an enclave of islands and a long-established district in Nordland Norway. It is infamous for its astonishing rugged mountains, protected bays and a pleasant summer conditions. Even though it’s […]

I have traveled many places over my 56 years of traveling this world. I have to admit that none have been as strikingly gorgeous as Geiranger was with Viking Cruises. Obviously never having been to Norway and beginning with a Bob Dylan concert, I had no idea what to expect as we sailed into this […]

We spent our first evening on board the Viking Sun attempting to learn our way around the ship. The first day we remained in Bergen and took the included tour of the city. The city was founded in 1070 by King Olav Kyrre and was named Bjørgvin, which means “the green meadow among the mountains”. […]

Prior to this cruise our experience with Viking was only on a River Cruise. Since I have a tendency to become very ill at sea, I was considerably nervous about this sailing. We flew into Bergen and had a reservation at the Thon Orion Hotel. As we checked into our room, I noticed there seemed […]

“This post is sponsored by Lexington Law” I can’t tell you how many credit cards I have applied for to gain miles recently. I always try and take advantage of every card with 50,000 or more flight miles offered in exchange for flight miles. I wouldn’t be able to secure these cards if my credit […]

#epiXtrip Since my wife and I will be married 40 years this year and have dreamed of visiting Tahiti since we started dating 43 years ago, it certainly would be majestic if we were able to secure and win this glorious trip to Tahiti. If not here’s hoping one of our many traveling friends are […]

  The second day on a tour with Viking River Cruises we ran across a street performer blowing gigantic bubbles in Cologne Germany. Even though it was drizzling sporadically the bubbles were beautiful! A few were enormous and would cover a person’s upper torso. This young man surely kept the crowd entertained and proceeded to produce […]

As we walked through Breisach Germany, where Viking River Cruises stopped, we went on a self guided tour and visited the St Stephens Cathedral on the hill. On our return walk we came across this piece of history that stood out, literally from the side of the building. We were told the individual who resided […]

We landed after about 15 hours of flight and layovers, excited beyond all means, especially since I had never been to Amsterdam. We were given time to store our luggage, but I wanted to see the city. Obviously one cannot even begin to observe a metropolitan area in 6 to 8 hours, but we gave […]

Our first tour with Viking River Cruises was to a cheese processing farm in the Kinderdjik area of Holland/Netherlands. It was fantastic because I love cheese, especially Gouda, as this farm made. Holland is the largest exporter of cheese in the world. These Holstein cows are milked twice a day and their milk is the first […]

    For years I’ve admired the young men in the world that carried a manbag. I watched as they threw everything inside and tossed the strap over their shoulders. Being from Texas I was, to say the least, tentative about the possibility of carrying one myself. I generally thought I would receive snark remarks […]

On our Viking River Cruise a couple of years ago, we chose to extend our trip with a weekend in Lucerne Switzerland. The first place we stopped after arriving was at the Lion Monument, which was next to the Gletschergarten. I was able to photograph the entrance to the “Glacier Garden”. The garden is 20 million […]

Experienced in home and pet care? You can travel the world without paying for hotels. Here’s how… Exchange your experience in home and pet care for free accommodation by housesitting for home and pet owners all over the world. Yes really, it is possible. If you love animals, you’ll have a wide range of opportunities […]

There’s no question that baby boomers love spas. After all, what’s not to love? Spas offer a chance to relax, rejuvenate, and escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life. They’re also a great way to meet new people and enjoy some quality time with friends. As Baby Boomers age, their discretionary funds are more […]

We arrived in the double port of Strasbourg France and Kehl Germany. Having never been in France we decided to take the Viking River Cruises walking tour through Strasbourg. We loaded on buses and the first memory I have from this gorgeous city was driving by the European Parliament. My sincere apologies but I had […]

We disembarked from the Viking Eir with Viking River Cruises in Mannheim and all boarded a bus for Heidelberg. The journey was very short and after about only 25 minutes we arrived in the city of Heidelberg. The city of approximately 156,000 people is located in Southwest Germany on the Neckar river, which flows into the […]