Swanson's Travel History (1987-1992)
Introduction
This is part of the Swansons' travel narrative
history. This section covers our travels together during
the years:
1992
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1991
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1990
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1989
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1988
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1987
1992
February of this year found us on a plane from Minneapolis to Munich, and then by bus to Innsbruck, Austria. It all started back in late 1991, when we found out that a local Twin Cities ski club was sponsoring a trip to Innsbruck. The deal was too good to pass by, even though we don't ski. We had a pre-paid hotel room for a week, so we enhanced our experience by buying two Eurrail passes. Every day, instead of hitting the slopes, we got on a train to a different alpine (or nearby) destination. One day it would be Venice (clear and cold!), another day Salzburg (so cold that our cameras froze up). We also made it to Munich (great museums!), Zurich (fun boat ride, using those Eurrail passes), and Garmisch-Partenkirchen (gemuetlich). The rail trips were the greatest, with fantastic scenery, and the trains were nearly always empty.
Before the big layoffs, during the period around Labor Day, we drove out to Seattle from Minneapolis. Sandi's mother rode along with us for most of the trip. We did not know it at the time, but this was her last car trip with us. It was a very different experience to travel as adults, unlike those long, long trips we took as children.
This trip included the Black Hills (for us, a previously undiscovered gem), and Yellowstone (my first time). Mount Rushmore was awesome, and the setting is remarkable.
We drove into Montana, and took the Beartooth Pass highway, south into Yellowstone. If you like to drive, and enjoy the mountains, this drive is for you! Don't look down too often, however. Take a lot of pictures. Yellowstone was great, especially after we had received some good advice on the Net about visiting the "lesser" geysers and hotsprings. Wonderful, but be sure to wear good walking shoes. The worse part of Yellowstone was the hordes of tourists who would stop their cars whenever they saw an animal (any animal). The scars left by the big fires were awesome, but you could see plenty of new life poking through the ashes already.
Seattle was great! We particularly enjoyed taking the ferry boats to and from outlying areas. One highlight was our trip to Bremerton and back (we didn't get off, just enjoyed the very inexpensive "cruise"). Another visit that we had never done before, was to walk around the Ballard Locks. We were able to chat with the deck crew of an Alaskan-bound cargo ship, as it was lowered down to sea level. We later traversed the same locks on one of the local cruise boats, and found the entire trip to be fascinating.
Of course, Seattle is an important place to eat and drink. The local boutique beers are great, and the salmon is not to be missed. We indulged several times in our favorite Chinese deem sum at some very good restaurants. The height for us was dinner at Iver's Salmon House. Not only was the food excellent, but the views of the many, many yachts passing by our window were awesome in their own way.
After Sandi was laid off from her job in Minnesota, we took our second trip to Hong Kong. We had trouble getting air tickets for early December, which turned out to be a blessing. We were forced to take one leg of the flight on Cathay Pacific Airlines. I've simply never been on a more luxurious Coach flight! I sometimes wonder how they treated the 1st Class passengers, considering how royally we were treated in the cheap seats! Now that is a real airline!
Needless to say, Hong Kong was cool, misty, and illuminated by millions of Christmas lights. All the high-rise buildings had enormous holiday decorations, and many people (including us, of course) walked along the promenades every night, gawking at the lights, and enjoying the harbor views. This trip included an experience we has passed up the first time: The Land Between tour. This tour, organized by the Visitors Bureau, is well worth the day it takes to see the many outlying parts of the "colony". On the food front, we were a little more savvy this time, and found out the best cheap places to eat. Our splurge was at the Regent Hotel "coffee shop" in the lobby. The windows in this lobby rise up many stories, and the views of the harbor, especially at night, are unrivaled. We have to go back!
1991
Our special trip this year was our October journey to Hong Kong, the first time either of us had been in the "Orient". Nothing could prepare us for this experience, but we loved every minute. Not only did we become familiar with the "colony", but also took side trips. One was to Macao, which was far more "exotic" than Hong Kong. The big side trip was a quick day trip into the Mainland. The culture shock of being in the strip between Hong Kong and Canton was pretty heavy, but we had a bus to ride (hide?) in, and we took lots of pictures. By the way, we were the objects of long stares of disbelief far more times than we gawked at, and snapped pictures of, the locals.
We originally decided on a Hong Kong visit, because we like to make and eat Chinese food. The opportunities to eat there were beyond measure, and the food was fantastic. On this trip, we walked around the Peak area, enjoying the wonderful views. The air was quite clear, which is more common in October. On a later trip (see 1992), the mists were too thick to see much of the views. We fell in love with Hong Kong harbor. The endless procession of boats, from the tiniest one-oar dinghy, to the biggest cruise ship, was unbeatable. The show goes on continuously. Oh, and the lights..... Hong Kong must has a bigger light bill than Las Vegas.
1990
In December, we had to get a leased car back to California from Minnesota. We decided that this would be a good time to have a vacation in the "warm and sunny" west. We dropped off the lease car in Southern California, and rented a car to take us north up the Gold Coast. Another evening in Cambria, and then Highway #1. Our final destination was the Beltane Ranch in the Sonoma Valley. We enjoyed our B & B experience just sitting and reading, but added plenty of winery tours and good food to the mix.
However, the "warm" part of the trip was not necessarily to be. It never warmed up, driving from Minnesota to Texas, and we woke up to 40 below zero weather in Gallup, New Mexico. In California, all of the citrus and palm trees had died. It was a strange feeling to revisit an area that was previously so green in winter. Now it was all nearly uniform gray.
1989
We drove (and trained) around Great Britain for a couple of weeks in the fall. We had a very nice pass called a BritRailDrive pass. During the two weeks, we had 7 days of rental automobile, and 7 days of rail travel. During this trip, we found out about renting boats on the River Thames (which we finally were able to enjoy in 1993).
Our first train trip took us all the way from London to Inverness on the overnight sleeper. We drove around some of Scotland, enjoying the rough scenery and the beautiful western seacoast. We took the train out to Mallaig through some awesome landscapes. I had been in Glasgow many years before (1972), but an attempt to revisit this interesting city proved fruitless, since the area had become so crowded and congested. We fled there and spent two wonderful days in Edinburgh. During our stay in Scotland, we got to watch the awesome results of the San Francisco earthquake on British TV. Taking the train from Edinburgh to York was great, and our driving trip of the Yorkshire Dales was not only scenic, but punctuated by the warmth and friendliness of the people we met. The car we picked up in York was so great, that we drove it (fast) down the motorway, into Wales (more spectacular scenery), and all the way south to Torquey. Our final stage of the trip included several day trips to London by train, but the big city had lost its luster. The people and landscape in the country had taken our hearts.
1988
Our February trip to relocate to the Twin Cities (Minnesota) should probably not be considered "travel", but we managed to make some great stops. For instance, we spent an afternoon at the Grand Canyon, and saw both the great scenery, and the smoke that was obscuring the Canyon (caused by coal power plants in the 4 Corners area). Using the book "Road Food" (now titled "Eat Your Way Across the USA") by Jane and Michael Stern, we found fantastic Chicken Fried Steak in Oklahoma, and celestial ribs in Kansas City. We don't leave home without this book (or later versions), and we've never been disappointed with their suggestions.
Had a Christmas car trip to New Orleans from the Twin Cities. We discovered that everything closes down both on Christmas Day and Boxing Day (following). Thus, we had to wait 3 days to get any oysters. Had a great time, and then drove home back through Arkansas to see family.
1987
In March, we revisited our favorite island, Kauai.
Spent two weeks and really got to know the place.
Our previous visit had been only a few days. Time,
and a major hurricane have not changed our opinion.
In the fall, we visited the East Coast for family reasons.
Not to be tied down, however, we rented a car and struck out
for New England. Stayed one night in Salem, Mass., in a very
spooky old B & B (just 2 days after Halloween). A couple of
days in Boston were lots of fun, and we really dug into
the oysters and other goodies at Durgin Park. Our path took
us up into Maine, going as far as Boothbay Harbor.
The return trip saw us driving back through Boston, down
Cape Cod, and into Rhode Island. We enjoyed
the coastline in that area that included Rhode Island and
Connecticut. This trip was over much too soon for us.
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