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Chasing Travel Adventures to share with family and friends. Greg and Judy are Chasing Travel Adventures.

They met in 1997, married in 2000 and currently live in the suburbs north of Dallas Texas. They love to travel and experience new places, cultures and new adventures. While most of their travels have been transoceanic, their travels have included the US and Canada. Now that both are retired, they have ample time for Chasing Travel Adventures. This Travel Blog is in response to numerous family memb

ers and friends expressing interest in seeing pictures and videos of their adventures. When they returned from trips they were asked, “why didn’t you send any pictures.” While Greg was working numerous co-workers told him they wanted to hear about their travels and that they live vicariously through their travels. Together their travels have taken them to numerous countries primarily in Europe and Eastern Europe. They have visited China, New Zealand, Australia and the US Possession of Guam. Judy retired in November 2000 after working 26 years as a Customer Service Manager for SBC (now AT&T). After Judy retired, she started her passion project, for the next 18 years teaching Short Fiction and novels for Seniors Active in Learning (SAIL) in Collin County. Judy started her transoceanic travels in 1992 and has been on over 35 trips. Many of these trips have been with a Small Group Independent Guided travel group and has also been on a couple of large group Guided Tours, a couple of River Cruises, and a couple of large Cruise Ship voyages. She prefers the smaller group land based travels and when cruising she much prefers the personal touch afforded on the smaller river cruises. Greg retired in October 2021, for the second time, from AT&T after 21.5 years in IT Support. His first retirement was in February 1998 after serving 22 years in the US Air Force. During his time in the AF he was stationed in Turkey for three years where he enjoyed traveling in country meeting the local Turkish people, enjoying their food and culture. During these 3 years he had a number of opportunities to visit Germany. Greg started traveling with Judy’s Independent Guided travel group in 2006 and has been on over 20 trips. Anyone that knows Greg knows he is not a fan of flying, but has come to accept it is necessary in order to experience all the wonders out there.

04/10/2024

Total Solar Eclipse April 8, 2024 Allen, Texas

For us, this was truly a once-in-a-lifetime event. The morning started out cloudy but we held out hope for a little window of opportunity to see even a portion of the eclipse. Lawn chairs set-up in the backyard 12:20pm, wearing our solar glasses, leaned back in our lawn chairs, we waited.

It is hard to imagine the magnitude of this experience: everything aligned properly; the unbelievable speed of the planets; and for just a couple of minutes we experienced such a wondrous phenomenon, TOTAL ECLIPSE. There was about 4 mins of totality from beginning to end. Totality revealed a beautiful ring of light.

As the eclipse moved to totality the temperature dropped, skies darkened, birds stopped chirping, everything quietened. Once total eclipse manifested and started to pass, sunlight returned, temperature rose, a flock of birds started to circle above, song birds began chirping, and we felt the hot sun on our skin again. A short time later we sat, absorbing this spectacular afternoon.

05/13/2023

We had the pleasure of spending May 3 - 7, 2023, in Branson, MO. You might think that Branson is a destination primarily for older individuals, but it seems that Branson is transitioning into a more family-friendly location. There are a number of amusement centers in the area that offer exciting activities such as go-carts, zip-lines, coasters, Titanic Museum, Wax Museum, the Aquarium, Silver Dollar City, and much more.

Our group, the SSR Fanatics, consisted of over 60 trucks from 16 different states. We stayed at the Branson Hillside (previously known as the Lawrence Welk Resort), which served as our host hotel. We tried out a few of the local restaurants and we were not disappointed. The food was excellent and the portions were often large enough to share between two people. For instance, we had breakfast one morning at Billy Gail's Cafe on Hwy 265. If you're extremely hungry or with six of your friends, try splitting one of the enormous 14" pancakes. Another eatery we visited for dinner was the Farmhouse Restaurant, located in historical Downtown Branson. The three-piece Chicken Strips with two sides was our favorite dish and our server was friendly and knowledgeable about the Branson area. One afternoon, 22 of us went to the Keeter Center at the College of the Ozarks for lunch. The food and service were both fantastic and we couldn't resist trying some of their handcrafted ice cream while waiting for our table. It's a must-try!

College of the Ozarks is a private, non-profit college, established in 1906 and has a student enrollment of just over 1,400. Students are not charged tuition; instead, they participate in a work-study program where they work 15 hours per week on campus and two 40-hour work weeks during breaks.

We also caught a few shows while we were there. The Haygoods was our favorite of the three. This group of five brothers and one sister grew up in the area and have been performing together for over 30 years. Another family-oriented show, the Presleys, is a multi-generational group consisting of eight family members and seven additional performers. In addition to their music performances, the Presleys include some comedy skits throughout the show. Our last evening in Branson was spent on a Dinner Cruise and Show aboard the Branson Belle on Table Rock Lake. The Branson Belle is an enormous vessel, measuring 278 feet in length, with a 24-foot paddle wheel. The show consisted of music from various genres, performed by eight singers and dancers. The show's MC mixed in some magic and comedy for added entertainment.

The weather was a bit chilly with a little rain on one day, but overall, it was a lovely five-day trip with our fellow SSR owners. We departed Branson early Sunday morning, following another couple home to Dallas. While traveling through Arkansas on I-40, a rock hit our windshield, causing a star crack with one running 12-16 inches. Fortunately, the windshield did not shatter and there was no body damage to the SSR.

03/20/2023

On Friday, March 17, 2023 we headed to Palestine, Texas for the Dogwood Festival and Parade. First, we made a stop at the Local Diner in Coppell for lunch with friends who were also heading southeast of Dallas to Palestine. Friday evening we joined about 20 friends for dinner at Switch Brick-Oven Pizza and Wine Bar in Palestine. Most of us out-of-towners had stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites as we have in the past.

The Palestine Dogwood Festival Parade is an annual event held in the Historic Downtown and the Old Town district. This was the 85th Festival, making it the longest running Dogwood Festival in Texas. This year, parade morning was a little chilly, in the low 40s, so the crowd was not as large as in past years. There were still many adults, children, and toddlers bundled in jackets and blankets for parade viewing.

We have attended for the last 7 or 8 years with our SSR friends and joined in the parade. This year there were 11 SSRs in the parade. The crowds enjoy seeing the trucks and commenting on the look and colors of the trucks with some expressing their favorite color. Of course, if it’s not “Yellow” I am willing to lobby them to change their minds.

After the parade, we headed to Davey Dogwood Park where the Dogwood trees were in full bloom. Driving the 5+ miles of the park’s winding roads, we enjoyed one of the better bloom years that we have seen. After a couple of photo ops, we headed to the Bradford Cafe in the little town of Montalba. This cafe is known for its homestyle cooking. Many of our group enjoyed the hamburger steak with gravy and onions and others, including us, enjoyed a fabulous burger. We ordered a Bacon Cheeseburger with Onion Rings. After our lunch, we headed in different directions to head home.

Looking forward to the 86th Dogwood Festival.

Additional information on Dogwoods and the Davey Dogwood Park

Dogwoods are valued not only for their beautiful spring blooms but, their branches grow horizontally for a unique dimension. In the Fall the green leaves turn to a colorful orange-red, with clusters of bright scarlet fruit. In the winter, the scaly bark of the trunk looks like alligator skin. Typically an understory tree they can reach up to 40 feet tall and some can survive over 150 years. Dogwoods do best in a well-drained, slightly acid, sandy loam soil which is why they do well in East Texas. The abundance of blooms is related to the amount of sun received.

History of Davey Dogwood Park:

Two friends, Charles Wooldridge, power company manager, and Eugene Fish, bank president, having a casual cup of coffee in 1938, were talking about the unique beauty of the dogwood trees in the area. They agreed that Palestine should have a dogwood trail. They worked with the newspaper that day on publishing an article inviting out-of-towners to visit and view Palestine’s natural abundance of dogwoods. Over 20,000 visitors attended that year after an article appeared in a few Texas newspapers. Attendance doubled the second year. In 1944, local oil man, M.A. Davey, a nature-loving benefactor purchased over 250 acres of land where some of the trails were located and deeded it to Anderson County for a public park.

Legend of the Dogwood:

According to online sources, the dogwood tree has taken on symbolic meaning for many cultures. In Christianity, it is said that it was used by the Romans to make the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. Legend states that at the time it grew tall and strong oak-like tree. The dogwood was ashamed of its role and begged forgiveness of Jesus, who transformed it to have slender and gnarled branches that could never again be made into a cross. So that this would not be forgotten, he made the dogwood flower into a cross with blood-red stained nail prints at the edges with a crown of thorns in the middle.

Native American legend also gives testimony to the cultural impact of the dogwood. According to Native American folk lore, a powerful chief demanded rich gifts from suitors for his four daughters. The gods were angry with his greedy behavior and turned him into a small tree with low branches that would never grow tall. His four daughters are still attendant in the four petals of the blossom.

01/22/2023

Today was dedicated to Temple visits. Our first temple stop was Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat was constructed during the early to mid 12th century but never fully completed. It is a religious temple originally built for Hindu worship but later transformed into Buddha worship. The temple grounds are on just over 400 acres. It is an amazing feat of engineering. The ground base is sand and it is surrounded by a moat to help maintain support and structural integrity. It is constructed with sandstone and each are dry fitted with no mortar or other substance used. Our next stop, Angkor Thom, was just a few minutes away. Angkor Thom was dedicated at the end of the 13th century. Angkor Thom has a larger land area that was a city inhabited by up to 150,000 people. The Temple that we visited in Angkor Thom was much smaller that Angkor Wat and was falling down in places. The carvings in the sandstone were not as well preserved. Our final temple of the day was Ta Prohm Temple that we visited in late afternoon when there were less crowds. Ta Prohm Temple dates back to the late 12th to early 13th century. The sandstone blocks were directly stacked one on top of the other and not staggered like a brick pattern. The structure is also crumbling in many places. Ta Prohm Temple is probably best known for the many trees that are growing on top of the structure with many roots snaking along and down the temple. Many of these roots are creating extensive damage.

01/22/2023

Woke up to a beautiful sunrise this morning and disembarked from our boat at 7:30 for the trip to Siem Reap, about 4.5 - 5 hours by bus. At one of the comfort stops Judy found some eggs that were a light green color. They woman selling explained that was the natural color and the only explanation given for the color was “maybe what they eat”. Traveling closer to Siem Reap, about 60km, we stopped at the Kampong Kdei bridge. This bridge dates back to the late 12 century to early 13th century about the same period as the Angkor Wat Temple. The bridge is closed to all except foot traffic and scooters. Just after lunch we arrived at the Tara Angkor Hotel where we will be staying for the next 3 nights.

01/20/2023

This morning, our boat tied-off at the river bank and and we headed up an approximate 400 foot hill to visit the pagoda at Wat Hanchey and a Pre-Ankorian Temple dating back to the 7th Century. Walking around on top of the hill, we went over to tour the Monastery. There were a number of Monks at work planting in the garden as well as unloading a truck full of donated food supplies (rice, water, etc). The Monks live entirely off donations and they are willing to share with anyone needing assistance. It was explained that homeless, orphans, elderly with no other means are welcomed and cared for here. There is a lot of work to upkeep the area and the monks are constantly busy. The Monks and others that live on this hilltop Monastery total about 200 people. Once our visit was complete, we descended the 303 steps to return to the boat.

The afternoon excursion was a visit to an AMICA village. Funded by an NGO that provides free education to children, provides clean water to each residence, and teaches the village women crafts they can make to sell at the local village shop. When we arrived the children were excited and ready to show their exuberance. The teacher, a local villager herself, volunteers to educate the children and help the women learn a craft in order to make a modest wage. You could see the passion this women has for her community. After learning from the teacher about her work with the school and the village women, we were taken for a tour of the village. The kids eagerly latched onto a traveler, some had two kids to a person. It seemed as we walked, the number of kids increased exponentially. The first stop was a visit to a home where two weaving looms were set up, one cotton and one silk. Next was a stop at a local shop where the kids sang a couple of songs and our guide rewarded each with a bag of chips or candy. There was a women making bamboo spoons and another threading bracelets and necklaces for sale at the village craft shop. We headed back to the schoolhouse and boarded the bus for a short drive to the Wat Nokor temple, a 12th century Buddhist temple that was built on the ruins of an even more ancient temple. Walking through the ruins, damage from fighting between the Viet Cong and the American soldiers’ gunfire was prevalent. It’s unfortunate so much damage was caused to the site during the war. With these images in mind we headed back to our boat for our final night on-board and the Captains Farewell Dinner.

01/20/2023

Our afternoon excursion took us to the village of Ankor Ban. Ankor Ban is one of only a few villages that was not burnt or destroyed during the Khmer Rouge period. Again, the villagers were very friendly and happy to see the Americans visiting. Our guide stopped numerous times to greet and talk with them. We stopped at one of the houses and visited with an older woman that shared she had lived in this village her entire life except during the Khmer Rouge period. She was forced to move to a nearby village so the Khmer Rouge army could use her house for their people. She went on to tell us that the building next door was used for the re-indoctrination (brainwashing) of citizens. Once the Khmer Rouge were forced out, she was able to return to her village and home. She currently lives there with her daughter and family. She was happy to give us a tour of her home.

01/20/2023

Our morning excursion was to the island of Oknah They (Silk Island). Our first stop was Chong Koh Primary School where we were again greeted very enthusiastically by the children as we approached. Our visit was with a 2nd grade class that had 31 students. The teacher provided information on their daily instructions. The children sang their ABCs to us and then a song in Khmer (Cambodia’s language). We boarded TukTuks and were taken to the silk farm. The silk farm is a start to finish operation from raising the silk worms, growing Mulberry Trees for the leaves for the silk worms, removing the silk threads, and finally weaving Silk Cloth.

Our afternoon was originally scheduled for free time but after our visit the previous day to S21 many of us wanted to visit one of the Killing Fields. There are reportedly 400 Killing Fields in Cambodia but only 389 of them have been found. The one we went to today is where over 17,000 prisoners from S21 were taken. This is a memorial site to the victims. At this site, during its operation, between 20-40 people a day were massacred. Around 129 mass graves have been found and exhumed. In the center of the memorial is a Temple (tower building) where bones were placed after exhumation. The Cambodian government has since decided to not perform any further exhumations to allow the souls to rest in peace. Care must be taken while walking through this site to avoid bones exposed by recent rains. There are a number of spots around this site that document what happened. This is one of the most heart-breaking sites we have ever visited. More detailed information can be found through Google.

01/17/2023

Started the day with a visit on-board with the Cambodian Passport Control and Visa officers. Formalities out of the way and our passports stamped we are ready to visit Cambodia.

Our first location was the Royal Palace. We were very fortunate that we could visit the Palace as it had just opened from Covid lock-down 2-weeks earlier. Beautifully kept Palace grounds and buildings. There was a perfect view of the Palace Residence and a blue flag indicated that the King was in residence. We visited the Silver Pagoda built for the King in 1897. The floor is covered in 5,329 solid silver tiles about 10” x 10” and weigh about 2.5 pounds each. At current silver prices, it is estimated to be worth $5 million US. Photos were not allowed in the Silver Pagoda. We also visited the Royal Regalia building where we were allowed entrance on the first floor that has replicas of the King’s Golden Crown and copies of the costumes worn during Royal Visits and on certain days of the week. There is one for each day of the week. Our next destination was the National Museum that houses one of the largest collections of Angkorian art. There were a large number of old sandstone statues in very good condition based on their age. Also on display, was a Royal Boat Cabin from the 19th century and an old wooden loom that holds the Guinness World Record for producing the longest hand woven scarf of 1,149.8m (3,772ft 3in) in Phnom Penh Cambodia on 1 July 2018. We ended our morning excursion with a visit to the Central Market. The Market is well organized and a lot less chaotic than the markets visited in Vietnam.

The afternoon excursion was to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, better known as S21. Originally, this site was a school that was converted into a Torture Detention Prison. This was a heart-wrenching visit because of the genocide that was committed against an estimated 1.7 - 2 million Cambodians by Pol Pot and the Communist Party of Kampuchea. Out of respect to the real people who suffered here I will avoid posting explicit details and photos. You can research further information by a Google search for this museum and the Killing Fields. The movie “First, They Killed my Father” by Angelina Jolie and “The Killing Fields” directed by Roland Joffe are based on this event.

01/17/2023

Our excursion this morning was to the island Vinh Hoa via a small boat. We docked at the bank and climbed ashore where our guide led us through a small village. He was familiar with the village residents and gave us insight to their daily life. Their houses are raised on stilts for ventilation during the hot months and as protection during the rainy season when the river will flood most of the island. During the dry season the ground floor is used for storage and during the rainy seasons the storage is moved upstairs. There are a few high spots for the cattle or they have to be moved to family/friend farms on the mainland. The chickens and goats are kept in pens above the water level. Throughout the walk, we were greeted by islanders that were very happy to see us. Younger children came outside or hung out their windows to wave and say hello. Stopping at a farmer’s house, “Uncle Five” (uncle is a term of respect and five is his birth spot in his family; it is disrespectful to use formal names when not familiar with them), age 74, invited us into his house. We were seated on the ground floor under the house where it was very cool and he provided details of his life. He lives with his son and family and they work the family chili farm. He wakes at 5am and heads to the farm at 6am to work until about 10am when it becomes too hot to work and heads home. At 8pm they retire for the night. His current house was built in 1991 to replace his house that was burnt by guerrillas trying to force the residents off the island. We spent about 20 minutes with him before he invited us to see the upstairs of the house. The islanders live in modest simplicity. I didn’t see anything larger than scooters on the island. The island has electric and water. The children must cross over the bridge to the mainland in order to reach the school. Continuing through the village we boarded our little boat and headed to Tan Chau were we stopped at a mat factory where they use old cloth weaving looms that have been converted to use reeds in order to make the mats. They color dye the reeds in hot water as needed for various designs of mats. After the reeds are dyed they have to be rinsed to remove excess dye and dried for 2-3 days so they are color fast. The ladies running the looms are very skilled at keeping track of what color reed to use. Mats have a very large market in Vietnam being used in place of mattresses for coolness, table mats, and floor mats. There is even a special wedding night mat with with a colorful design. Across from the mat factory was a Silk Co-Op where numerous silk related products are sold. The local people provide their items to the Co-Op for sale in a convenient location. We boarded rickshaws and we were taken to a family run silk mill. It has been a family run operation for 4 generations. We were toured through the mill to see the looms in operation and had an opportunity to see the black silk this mill is famous for. Back on rickshaws we were taken back to the dock to meet our small boat for our return to our ship.

Our afternoon program was presented by the ships Chef who provided instructions on how to make Pho (Vietnamese soup) and Spring Rolls followed by a demonstration on decorative vegetable carving. He carved a fantastic fish from a dragon fruit and a very intricate flower from a watermelon.

We travelled up river and crossed into Cambodia. There is no definitive marking to identify the boundaries, but the difference is noticeable. The shoreline in Vietnam is lined with small family farm plots and farm raised fish pens. Also, traffic on the Cambodian side is markedly less than it was in Vietnam. Where Vietnam uses the Mekong River to transport goods, Cambodia uses truck trailers to move products. The most significant indicator of a border change was a text from Smart (T-Mobile partner) that you are now in Cambodia on their network.

01/16/2023

Our day started with a morning excursion to Cai Be, a village of close to 300,000 people. We focused on an area close to the Catholic Church. Our first stop in a quiet area of the village was a family run candy shop that specialized in coconut caramel sweets, rice paper, rice cakes, and sticky rice wine. The only automation that I saw in any of these process was while stirring the coconut milk and sugar to make the coconut caramel sweets. This saves someone from having to stand over a hot vat constantly stirring until the caramel is the correct color and consistency. Once the caramel is ready, it is formed into small balls and then placed into molds to be stretched and shaped. Once cooled, it can be cut into bite size pieces, wrapped with a piece of rice paper to help prevent sticking to the wrapper during the long hot summer months, and finally hand wrapped to be sold. We watched a couple of ladies in the shop making rice paper. They take a thin rice paper batter, spread it evenly over the cooking surface (similar to crepes) and steam for 30 seconds. Once cooked, it’s moved over to a cooling table, then placed on a rack and set outside to dry. The ladies make about 600 of these every day. We were shown a still for distilling rice wine and were given a taste. It is very strong! Probably the most interesting of what we saw that visit, was making puffed rice treats. They start out with a hot vat, add sand to it and heating to high temperature. As they stir the sand, the coconut oil is added to prevent sticking and work it throughly. Then the fun part! Then rice is added and the hot sand allows the rice to heat and start popping like popcorn! Once the rice has finished popping, it is dropped into a sieve to remove the sand then another sieve to remove the rice hulls and then added to a big bowl with coconut syrup and coloring, and finally added to a big mold. It is then evenly rolled out, measured, cut and packaged. Outside the candy shop, there was a public works project to add a concrete road/walkway and adding rock and wire netting to slow river erosion. There was a barge loaded with 6,000 tree poles, with a group of 8 men to unload the barge. They are paid the amount equal to $270, split between them, to unload these poles. They said it takes about 7 hours to unload and they had just started around 10am and the temperature was 80+ degrees with over 70% humidity.

Back on our water taxi, we headed to the Cai Be Catholic Church built between 1929 - 1932. This church has the tallest bell tower in the region. It’s a beautiful church that still has the original pews and stain glass windows inside. During the war, the church was used as a hiding place by the guerrillas as they launched attacks on the Americans from there. The American helicopter gunships would eventually fire at the gorillas. Some damage to the church still visible today with bullet holes in the walls and in some of the windows

Our afternoon excursion was to Sa Dec visiting a Caodaist temple, the local market and the “House of the Chinese” made famous in the book “The Lover” by Marguerite Duras. Caodaist is a newer religion dating back to the 1920s that drew from the beliefs of Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and Christianity. The local market has everything anyone would need from fruits and vegetables, meats, seafood, clothes, shoes, housewares, and more. If it was needed a shop or stall in the market had it. The market was packed. Not only did you have to weave in and out of the crowds and dodge the shoppers stopped to buy, you also had to watch out for all the scooters going up down the rows of shops.

01/15/2023

We met our guide this morning and headed for the Mekong Delta. About 2.5 hours later we arrived at the river and boarded our river boat for our trip up the Mekong for the next eight days. After all the information meetings were completed, we started sailing up river. The crew has been fantastic, making sure we have everything we need. First day meals were delicious. The river appeared to have a lot of vegetation floating in it. We later found out that the vegetation is Water Hyacinth! It has many purposes, but primarily, it is used to slow riverbank erosion. It is also helpful in water purification in that the roots trap impurities, thus keeping the water cleaner. And finally, as an edible crop with the leaves and flowers used in salads.

Meals on board are like clockwork, 7am - breakfast, 12:30pm is lunch, and 7:30pm is dinner. The meals are very good and the service has been exceptional!

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