June 8, 2026 Missoula MT to Flathead Lake MT

Deb here. Not too surprising, but we slept well, even in a hotel. We decided to pass up the standard Super 8 breakfast and find a real-live bagel joint. This is something we miss in Bisbee! We found 3B Bagels in downtown Missoula and had great bagels, coffee and delicious Earl Grey Blue tea. I liked the tea so much, which was from the Lake Missoula Tea Co., that I set off to find some downtown to buy. Downtown Missoula is a fun town, very reminiscent of Burlington, VT.

On in the van out of town to follow Rt. 93 north, and what a gorgeous stretch of road once again. Mountain views, sunshine, some wildflowers and ultimately views of Flathead Lake. 

Our first goal was to stop at the Miracle of America Museum near Polson, a quirky spot that Cooper had recommended. 

We pulled into the museum parking lot and spent about 2 hours wandering through the huge collection of stuff. From old farm equipment, to dolls, to beauty parlors, to guns… everything you could imagine and then some. Very quirky and very fun.

From there it was on to Finley Point State Park, where we hoped to score a campsite. Once again luck was with us and we were given site 16, right on the water. What a beautiful little state park. 

We made some lunch then opted to walk a nature loop through the woods. The loop was really fun because a local resident hid painted rocks along the trail, making it into a sort of scavenger hunt. Lovely woods and a cool idea.

After our walk I put on my suit and headed to the beach with a chair and reading material and John opted to read in the van. I had fun watching grandparents and their six young grandkids navigate kayaks. I finally screwed up my courage and went into the super cold water. No swimming, but a couple of dunks. Brrr!

In the evening we drove into Polson and had a great dinner at The Shoe Lakeside Dining in Polson. Beautiful views over the lake and good fish and chips and cobb salad.

Back to our campsite to end another great day on the road.

June 7, 2026 Indian Trees USFS Campground to Super 8 (Missoula, MT)

 

We drove out of the forest and once we got cell service again, we had a note from Shelly Meyer, who we have not met before, who lives in Missoula and is the mom of our daughter's friend Melissa from years ago backpacking in Peru (wow, that’s complicated). Shelly and her husband Skee have lived in Missoula forever and offered to show us around. We decided it was time for a hotel night and to do laundry so we were going to stay in town anyway.

We met Shelly and Skee at their home and they drove us around town, took us on a walking tour of town and took us out to lunch in town at Cafe Mimosa. Missoula is a great college town with lots of energy and no boarded up storefronts like a lot of towns these days. The new library is gorgeous and the college has around 11,000 students. It’s a very vibrant town.

After our grand town tour (thanks again to Shelly and Skee) we contacted Celia, who’s a friend of our friend Carter in Bisbee, and we met at The Missouri Club (locals call it the Mo Club) for a beer and a burger. Kind of a dive but it’s a local institution. Great burgers. We had a nice catch up with Celia and then headed to the Super 8 to do laundry and sleep. We are coming back to Missoula for sure.

June 6, 2026 Craters of the Moon National Monument (Arco, ID) to Indian Trees USFS Campground (Sula, MT)

Deb here. Once again we slept amazingly well. We’d lost an hour yesterday jumping to Mountain Standard Time so maybe that had something to do with it?

We packed up and drove the park 7-mile or so loop. The road was excellent, with several stops that led to paved trails. We stopped at a few pull-offs and hiked a couple of the trails. It’s kind of cool that all of the trails are paved in black, as are the sidewalks, probably because it looks like the lava that’s everywhere. Very bizarre landscape, and particularly strange that wildflowers manage to grow through the hard lava rocks. Beautiful in an unconventional way.

By the time we finished exploring the driving loop it was time for breakfast. We headed up Rt 93 (of course), stopping in the small town of Arco to eat a late breakfast at Pickle’s Place. The diner was hopping but the service and food were good. Arco has the distinction of being the first town in the world to be powered entirely through nuclear power, and it has a few quirky attractions.

From Arco on up Rt 93 the drive was incredible. First up was passing snow covered mountains in all directions, including Mt. Borah, a 12,000+ foot montain that’s Idaho’s highest. The landscape then changed, Rt 93 became the Salmon River Scenic Byway, and we were winding our way along the Salmon River through canyons with spectacular rock faces. 

We passed through the charming little town of Salmon and then eventually we started to climb and left the dry mountains and fields for much more green. The terrain started to feel more alpine and the road was beautiful, taking us to the top of Lost Trail Pass. Lots of Lewis and Clark info along the way, since we’re following in their footsteps along this route.

Down the other side of the pass to our destination, Indian Trees USFS Campground. I’d read good reviews about the campground and they were spot on. A paved road through the campground, big sites, campground host, and a half mile walk to Lost Trail Hot Springs. When we pulled into the campground at 3 or so there were lots of empty spots. After settling into #8 we put our suits on and walked to the hot springs.

The hot springs turned out to be a great pool at the perfect temperature ($7/person), and even better we had hot showers (with shampoo) after our time in the pool. Quite a treat after several nights of camping with no showers!

Back to the campground for dinner, plotting our next destinations, reading and bed.

June 5, 2026 Thomas Canyon Campground (Elko NV) to Craters of the Moon Lava Flow Campground (Arco, ID)

Well we are completely digitally detoxed after 2 days up in the Ruby Mountains. This is the kind of place you could come back to over and over. Snowcapped mountains, mountain streams, great hiking trails.

We went into Elko and found the Coffee Mug restaurant where we had been a couple years back. Still great, full of people half of which looked like they were in town for the mining trade show.

After breakfast we went east on I-80 to the turnoff north to RT93 at Wells. Then across the border into Idaho at Jackpot NV. Then Twin Falls, ID where the Snake River runs, north to Shoshone where we turned east to stay on RT93. Craters of the Moon National Monument it right on Rt93 and we got into the park free with the geezer pass and found a nice campsite (for all of $7.50).. It was 3:00 and there were a lot of campsites left. As I write this around 7:00 there are just a couple left so it paid to get here early.

We walked to the Visitor Center, watched the movie and looked at all of the displays, bought a couple of trinkets and then back to the van for dinner. Sausage, carrots and rice. We’d stopped at a Walmar in Elko and picked up a few things including a couple of  pte-mixed margaritas, which turned out to be ok, but we had no ice. We will try again tomorrow.

After dinner we walked on a trail across the lava fields and then took the auto-road back to the campsite. We’lldrive the 7-mile park loop in the morning. Temperature was around 80 when we arrived and the weather guy says we should see 58 tonight so perfect sleeping weather. Another great day. 

June 4, 2026 - Thomas Canyon Campground

Deb here. The temperature dipped to 36 degrees overnight, but all was well in our van with our cozy heater. I didn’t put coverings over all of the windows since it was so dark last night, and it was so nice to wake up this morning and see the blue sky, mountains and rushing brook. Pretty perfect.

We decided last night that we’d hike the Thomas Canyon Trail this morning. Last time we were here we hiked the trail at the end of the road and it was spectacular, leading up to a series of alpine lakes. I learned last night from a woman in a nearby campsite that there was still a lot of snow up there, but that the Thomas Canyon hike is a winner. And to make it even better, the trail departs across the road from our campsite.

After leisurely coffee, tea and breakfast, we took off up the trail by about 8:45 am.

The trail is an out and back, going up about 1,300 feet in elevation over 2+ miles (one way). It was a constant up but oh so beautiful. Wildflowers were just starting to pop, so I took lots of photos along the way. And then there were many waterfalls, blue sky, aspens, sunshine and snow covered mountains. All in all an absolutely perfect alpine hike.

We took our time and arrived in the big meadow underneath the snow capped peaks at the end of the trail by 11 or so. I found a big rock and we hung out for quite a while, enjoying our snacks and talking with a couple of other hikers. The couple we met live about 70 miles from here and just came for a day hike. They’ve been hiking around Nevada for 40+ years and confirmed that the Ruby Mountains are among their favorites. They also suggested checking out Jarbridge, an old mining town with lots of great hikes and camping on the Idaho border, northwest of here.

We eventually headed down the mountain, returning to our campsite by 12:30 or so. The afternoon was pleasantly spent reading, napping and hanging out. There’s something to be said for our enforced digital detox!

Later in the afternoon we drove to the end of the road, about 5 miles beyond the campground. There’s a large parking area there with several trailheads, and we talked with a couple of men who’d tried to hike up to the Dollar Lakes (where we’d been in 2023) and had turned around due to the snow. We definitely made the right decision to hike in Thomas Canyon.

Back to our campsite for happy hour and then dinner later (grilled cheeses and corn chowder). More reading before bed. What a relaxing day!

June 3, 2026 - North Las Vegas to Thomas Canyon Campground in the Ruby Mountains, NV

Deb here. We slept great last night and La Quinta even threw in a great breakfast this morning. Any breakfast that includes a pancake machine keeps John happy!

Our goal today was to head north on Rt. 93 and find cooler weather for camping tonight. We quickly got out of the Las Vegas busyness and went through a whole lot of beautiful nothing. Once we reached Ash Springs, Rt 93 turned into the Great Basin Highway and it was all lovely. There was construction at one point in the middle of nowhere, and we stopped for a long time waiting for the pilot car to guide us through. We chatted with a young flagman who’s the father of a 9-month old, as well as the driver in the car behind us. Fortunately the temperature was in the 80’s, so the wait wasn’t too painful.

Eventually we came to the towns of Caliente, then Pioche. Our deviation on Business 93 into Pioche turned out to be a winner, since the town is an adorable old mining town. We kept on going, eventually arriving in Ely. By this time it was 1:30 and we decided to stop at a Subway and split a sub for a late lunch.

Back in the van to put some more miles in with the hope of making it to a Ruby Mountains campground. In September 2023 we first heard about the Ruby Mountains and drove the paved road to its deadend, then did a great hike to several alpine lakes. I remembered the road up through the canyon as being absolutely stunning and also remembered seeing a campground part way up the road. I’d checked the Forest Service website and learned that many of the sites were first come/first serve, so we decided to give it a try.

Google Maps took us on a cool shortcut off of 93, first on Rt 229 followed by 18 miles of well maintained dirt road to get us over to Lamoille and the start of the Ruby Mountains Canyon Road. We arrived at the campground at 5:15 and found a bunch of available sites for the high price (not) of $19/night or $9.50/night with John’s national park geezer pass. We scored Site 31, which backs up on the river and montain views in either direction and made the decision to stay here for 2 nights. Ahhh….

Walk around the campground, dinner of cheese, crackers, veggies and yogurt and enjoyed the rustling aspens, roaring river, blue skies and cool temperatures. I’m actually wearing a sweater for the first time in ages!

Jun 2, 2026 - Bisbee AZ to Las Vegas, NV

 

We were supposed to leave yesterday, Monday, but we were having some plumbing done which turned into more than we thought. So we got on the rod this morning at 6:30am, stopped in Benson for $4.66 gas, the McD’s for our usual celebratory sausage muffin breakfast. Traffic was smooth all the way on I-10 through Tucson and Phoenix and then turned on 303 and then Rt 93 which is our theme this trip. Rt 93 goes all the way from here to Canada via AZ, NV, ID, MT. We have been in the southern part but not way up north.

It was toasty all day and the goal is to get to Las Vegas, get a hotel tonight and then cam the next night when the temperatures will be cooler. It was 98 to 100 most of the day and when we landed in Las Vegas it was 103, so the hotel plan was sound.

We stopped for lunch in Kingman at a Jersey Mikes (sub chain). Nice clear day with beautiful mountain scenery, a nice drive by Hoover Dam and Lake Mead (which was pretty low). We stopped just across the Nevada line (from Arizona) at Boulder City where the workers who built Hoover Dam stayed when it was being built. A lot of nice old motels. We will come back and stay when the weather is cooler.

Dinner tonight a few miles away at BJ’s Restaurant and Brew House. Tomorrow we get north far enough to get 70’s temperatures.

Monday Jan 26, 2026 Napier to Hamilton

It was nice in Napier (no rain), worthy of a last walk downtown to the Sunrise coffee shop for tea, coffee and a shared almond butterscotch muffin. Then we plotted the course for Hamilton after a stop to fill the tank. We are seeing gas here for $2.50 per liter which equates to about $5.50 USD per gallon. But the Prius C (Aqua down here) gets 50-55 mpg so it's not too expensive.

We downloaded “The Hobbit” as an audio and played it today since we are in Hobbitland. Maybe we will watch it on the plane tomorrow?

We stopped part way and had coffee and tea and pies for lunch.

Goodbye Flat Whites..

Deb found a museum in Hamilton (Classics Museum) which has some beautifully restored trucks, motorcycles, scooters, toys, garage stuff, you name it. Obviously someone spent endless money and time restoring these old cars and trucks. A little hurt by them restoring a 1972 Datsun B110, but I guess I gotta deal with that.

We had a little time so we went to the Hamilton Zoo, which was very high quality. Lots of exotic animals that are very well kept. We heard the new polite term for being old enough to get a discount. It’s called “Premium Youth Pass”. The guy taking the money was very funny. And you bet we took the discount!!

After the zoo we found the hotel (Hamilton Motel) and checked in and then walked a little down the street to The Helm Bar and Kitchen which was great. After dinner we looked in the local Pak & Save store (mini Costco) to find some local chocolate assortments but no luck. We tried another corner store but no luck there. Maybe tomorrow.

Back to the room where we are getting everything packed for tomorrow where we hope to drop off the car, get a shuttle to the airport to check our bags, then get an Uber into town to catch a museum. Stay tuned..

Sunday Jan 25 2026 Napier day 2

It felt good to stay put today. Our scheme to stay out of the rain has been successful. Slept in and walked down the street to a coffee place (there is one on every corner here) and got coffee and tea and split a muffin. Today’s adventure is to go to the town next door, Hastings, to the weekly Sunday Hawkes Bay farmers market. It seems a very popular spot since there were a couple of hundred cars parked in the field next door and hundreds of people milling around. The musicians were just setting up so we were a little early. This farmers market has a focus on fruits and veggies with some local honey, cutting boards, baked goods, meat, cheese, you name it.

Deb picked up some fruit and some kettle corn (remember we pack our suitcases in two days..) which we promise to eat before we leave.

We then drove to a local winery for a wine and beer tasting. The ginger beer was pretty good but the others were so-so. Deb found a wine or two she liked but not enough to buy a bottle (remember the airplane thing). They had a couple on stage providing music and within an hour of when we arrived the place was packed with friends, families, kids, a real local event. We decided to order a flatbread pizza and soak in the nice vibe here.

Then back to Napier where Deb hit the info center and did some gift shopping in town while I walked up the Marine Parade (walkway next to the beach) and soaked in some sun.

After some down time we walked to an Irish pub (The Rose) and had a nice meal and drinks, then a walk down the beach to see the sunken garden and our last view of the ocean before heading back inland tomorrow.

Every place we go we're impressed with the “public wealth”, that is, clean working public bathrooms, well maintained walking and biking trails, town centers with plants and flowers. Nicely done New Zealand.

Then off to bed. Tomorrow we drive to Hamilton partly using the same twisty road we came into Napier on. Goodbye ocean!!

Saturday Jan 24, 2026 Ohope to Napier

Deb here. So this morning the big discussion was where to go next, given the weather. Unfortunately Ocean View was fully booked tonight, so one way or another we had to move on. 

We walked to the Quay Cafe in town for a flat white, chai latte and date scones while we pondered our options. We met a lovely younger couple who owned a house in Ohope Beach and lived there for many years, but now their permanent residence is Auckland. They’d raised their daughters in Ohope and plan to move back at some point. We talked with them for some ideas, thinking maybe we’d go north to Tauranga, although the recent devastating landslide that tore through a campground means a lot of chaos. As we looked at the weather it looked like driving to Napier might be our best option. The other couple gave us some ideas of what to do along the way, suggesting a walk around Blue Lake (Lake Tikitapu). They also filled us in that Glynnis, the owner of the Ocean View, is mom to the most celebrated Kiwi Olympian ever, a kayaker named Lisa Carrington. Once back at the Ocean View we talked with Glynnis and sure enough, her daughter has won 8 Olympic gold medals and will be competing again at the LA Olympics in 2028. Who knew?!

By about 10 am we were on the road. We decided to take our cafe friends’ advice, and made the short detour to Blue Lake. It was about a 4 mile walk around the lake and beautiful in the bush. There were lots of people out and about since it was Saturday, in spite of a bit of rain along the way. There was also a triathlon for all ages that morning, so many families were around.

By the time we finished it was after 1, so we stopped at a cafe attached to a gardening store for a late lunch. Boy, do I love toasties! Such a comfort food, this one with ham, cheese and tomato. John was excited about “breakfast all day” on the menu, so he tried the pancakes with fruit.

Back on the road, we took the 160km, twisty road to Napier. There were no services on this road but we had enough gas to make it. The road was beautiful and partly flat paddocks with sheep or beef grazing and partly twisty mountain road. New Zealand has very good roads. We passed a lot of stands of trees planted for commercial harvest. Our tour guide the other day said it takes 30 years of growth before they harvest the trees and ship them to China.

We arrived at Napier by 5. I’d reserved a room in The Dome, an art deco building right across from the I-Site we’d visited on our ship stop. We have quite a luxurious spot for a couple of nights and it felt good to know we’d have a day not to travel anywhere too far.

By 6:30 we walked out looking for dinner, and John found a pasta restaurant called Ilona Pasta and they were booked until 7:15, so we went down the street for a drink. I found the Peach Bomb on tap and John ordered an IPA. Fun to sit on the street and watch the action. At 7:15 we went back to the restaurant and had a great dinner. Salad to share, garlic bread and two pasta dishes. It’s a family run place, the two daughters of the owners (Ilo and Ona) were taking orders and waiting tables in the small restaurant while their dad cooked and their mom managed the front of house. One of the daughters is only 8 and the other’s 13, but they were both really charming.

A walk back through town and bed by 9 pm. Glad to see the sun again!

Friday Jan 23, 2026 Tongariro National Park Village to Ohope

 

OK, time to find some sunshine. The news is full of reports of mudslides, flooding and closed roads all over the island. A mudslide destroyed a campground under Mount Maunganui just outside the town of Tauranga with a couple dead and several missing so far.

 We checked the weather on the entire north island to see where we might find some sun and the east coast seems the most likely, and the most likely place is in the Bay of Plenty where Deb found a nice, inexpensive hotel, the Ocean View Motel, right on the beach in a little town on the east coast called Ohope Beach. The only bright spot in this foul weather is that many Kiwis are not out and about and there are plenty of vacancies.

We left on the early side and planned on a breakfast stop somewhere on the way. We also needed gas. The little Prius is getting about 55 mpg so the tank is small. Taupo is a good sized city and we filled up the car and found The Garden Cafe, a nice little cafe for an eggs and toast kind of breakfast. Sure enough as we got further east, the rains slowed down and by the time we arrived in Ohope, all the rain had stopped and the sun came out.

We got settled in and then walked down the beach in the warm sunshine and a steady but comfortable wind. The beach is very wide here and probably 4 miles long or so. We walked 2 miles or so down the beach into town and got a cider and a beer, then walked back to the hotel stopping at a couple of restaurants along the way to see what we could do for dinner tonight. 

After a little rest we took the car back into town to the Mexican restaurant, Cadera's, which had very nice tacos. After dinner we found a short trail up a mountain nearby to get a birds eye view of the shore and surrounding bays and mountains. After that we toured the rest of the peninsula which makes up the town and then back to the hotel.

Tomorrow morning we will look at the weather again to determine where to go. Stay tuned.

Thursday Jan 22, 2026 Tongariro National Park Village

Deb here. Yep, another rainy day again. This was supposed to be my big Tongariro Alpine Crossing hike day but no chance of that! We had a great breakfast in the Lodge at 8:30, and then packed up for an excursion. We spoke briefly with a British man at breakfast, who’d hiked the Tongariro Crossing on Monday and said he saw absolutely nothing due to the heavy fog and mist. And apparently the trail wasn’t considered safe yesterday so it was closed. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.

First up was a short walk into Tawhai Falls, the site that was used for Gollum’s Pool in the Lord of the Rings movies. In spite of the rainy day there were 2 large buses parked at the trailhead as well, so it must be a popular spot for LOTR fans. With all the rain the falls were really roaring.

Next we went to the National Park Visitor’s Center in Tongariro Park and it ended up being a great visitor’s center. Lots of info about volcanic activity in New Zealand, including a really good movie giving an overview about volcanoes on the island.

From there we drove about half an hour down the road to Tokaanu for the thermal pools there. Along the way the skies briefly cleared at a lookout over LakeTaupo and we took in the scenery. Once at the thermal pools, we reserved a private hot pool for 20 minutes, which entitled us to a dip in the larger pool after. All for $12 NZD ($7 USD)/person. Not a fancy place, but pretty nice to have 2 soaks.

By this time it was 1 p.m. and we decided to get a coffee/tea. We went into nearby Turangi and found a cafe called Hydro, where we had a flat white, iced chai latte and a ham/cheese/tomato toastie. Once again really tasty and very reasonable.

 We stopped at the nearby historic train station on the way back to the Lodge and learned it’s now a cafe serving dinners several times a week. Once back we took advantage of the free laundry service to do a load of clothes and John caught up with his brother.

Closer to 5 p.m. we walked the .4 miles (yes, still in some rain) to The Station Cafe for a really delicious dinner. Salads, a split chicken burger and fries, local beer and wine, followed up by an excellent (shared) roasted banana pudding with butterscotch sauce, coffee and tea.

Back to the Lodge (yay, no rain on the way back!) for the evening. Fingers crossed we’ll find some sun tomorrow!

Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 Auckland to Tongariro National Park Village (Tongariro Crossing Lodge)

Deb here. After enjoying the breakfast buffet at Auckland City Hotel (John was thrilled to try an automated pancake maker!) we took an Uber to our car rental spot near the Auckland Airport. By 10:30 a.m. we had the keys to a Toyota Prius C, same car we drive at home. This made the whole driving on the left side of the road thing a bit easier to handle for John.

The weather here is actually pretty comical. We are in the midst of heavy rains, all over the country, which is pretty unexpected for this time of year in NZ. The locals are frustrated because this is supposed to be the height of their summer, and instead there’s flooding, roads getting washed out, mudslides, etc. Nothing we can do to control the weather, but our goal for our remaining days in NZ is to seek some sun.

The only plans I’d made for our last week in NZ was to reserve a place at Tongariro Crossing Lodge for 2 nights. The Lodge is near the trailheads for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a 12-mile spectacular hike that’s listed as one of the best dayhikes in the world. As it turns out, this weather makes the hike out of the question, but off we headed for our accommodation.

We had about a 3.5 hour drive from Auckland, and although it was a rainy and cloudy day, the countryside was beautiful. Lots of rolling, green hills with so many cattle and sheep. We stopped at a roadside cafe along the way at lunchtime and split a meat pie and enjoyed a flat white and chai latte. Cell service was pretty good and we chatted with Hannah along the way. She and Erick had hiked the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in 2019, so she knew the area we were traveling into.

Heavy rain and wind when we checked into the Lodge at 3:45. The Lodge recently built a series of 6 efficiency apartments in 3 duplexes and we’re in one of those. Really sweet accommodation with simple design but well thought out. We finally had a chance to facetime with Jake, Nath and the twins.

In the evening we went to dinner at Schnapps, kind of like a ski lodge bar, just down the road. By this time it was raining and blowing so hard that we took the car instead of making the short walk. We each had a pint (mine with Monteith’s cider and John’s with a local IPA) and had their soups of the day (mushroom/blue cheese and pumpkin/feta) for dinner. Perfect on this cold and rainy evening.

Back to our place for a bit of TV watching and bed. We checked out weather in the area and think we have a plan to find the sun on Friday, fingers crossed. 

Tuesday Jan 20, 2026 Off the ship in Auckland

Today they booted us off the ship. Our bags disappeared last night and reappeared on the dock this morning. We got our last breakfast and then our last coffee, said goodbye to a lot of new friends and new acquaintances and walked off the ship around 8:15.

Our yellow van pulled up around 8:45 and there were three other people on the same tour, Dave, Vanessa, her son Sebastian, us and the driver/tour guide Mike.

Mike had a whole day planned for us today in spite of the constant drizzle. It seems we ended the trip with a solid week of rain ahead of us, bummer.

But Mike did not disappoint and everyone on board was up for the soggy challenge.

We got an all day tour of all the beaches and neighborhoods and fancy houses and simple houses all around Auckland. 

We visited the glass houses that had beautiful flowers and plants inside. Mike took us to a volcano where we had to hike in the rain to the top and get an up high view of the Auckland skyline, including the iconic space needle.

We stopped at a high hill where in the 1800’s they dug tunnels to house giant retracting guns for fear of Russian ships bombing the city (a false fear of course).

We did a wine tasting at a vineyard followed by lunch where we got to catch our breath, dry out a little, and get to know each other. Dave is on his honeymoon to his second wife. His first wife passed away a few years past and he found a new love. Very sweet. Vanessa and her son are from Mexico City and the 16 year old son is starting school in Auckland for three months so mom is spending some time here and then going home.

Mike was a salesman for 30 years and this is his retirement gig.

On the way back we stopped at the sailing place where the Americas Cup team is based. There are three thousand boats here, none of them out today because of the high winds.

Mike dropped us all off in town at our prospective hotels mid afternoon. We're staying at the Auckland City Hotel and we rested and dried out a bit and then went downstairs for dinner then bed. This next week we will seek the sunshine somewhere on the North Island, we hope.

A fond memory..