Category: Uncategorized

First Quarter 2026 Update

As usual for Buddha & Buffy, it’s been a busy first quarter.

Mazatlan

We started 2026 with a trip to Long Beach, CA and a 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise.

We had just enough time after we got back from California to do our laundry, catch up on the mail and repack for our first trip to Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas.

Once again, we got back from our 4-night trip to Nassau, got the laundry clean, checked mail, and then packed up for a 7-night cruise from Galveston, TX on the Regal Princess with friends Reba and Vernon.

Roatan Island

Since then, we’ve taken care of physicals, dental, and eye appointments, celebrated Lent and most recently Pascha (Orthodox Easter). And as is our custom, we’ll be on an 8-night cruise from Galveston starting Saturday.

We’ve been busy and besides our cruise this week, we have two more cruises coming up in May, one to Alaska in August, and our big transatlantic cruise from Barcelona in October/November!

We’ve decided to start, or restart, our video adventures on our Buddha ‘n Buffy r Cruisin’ YouTube channel. I’ll be putting together some videos on our past travels as well as adding new travel videos and adventures as we go. Come and see!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsxzoqi7v-fblr7bl1AF7xw

Family, Freebies & Fun in Las Vegas: What We Learned on Our Quick Trip

Buffy and I just got back from a short trip to Las Vegas after spending a few days visiting family. The main reason for the visit? Our youngest granddaughter’s 10th birthday! Between school, work, and shared custody schedules, it wasn’t easy to coordinate, but we were grateful for the chance to celebrate with her and enjoy some quality time.

Along the way, we picked up a few new travel tips—and had a lot of fun (and food!) in the process. Continue reading Family, Freebies & Fun in Las Vegas: What We Learned on Our Quick Trip

What a Year So Far!

It’s late 2025, and I can’t believe it’s been over a year since I last posted. But hey, life does get in the way sometimes.

Let’s do a quick recap since my last post.

ASTA Conference 

Ilene and I attended the annual American Society of Travel Agents Conference in Dallas, Texas. This was our opportunity to rub elbows with friends, colleagues, and suppliers for our travel business.

Las Vegas & Colorado

We flew to Las Vegas, and five of us climbed into a Toyota Prius to head for Colorado and our niece’s wedding.

Introduction to JGOOT (Just Get Out of Town)

We became aware of a group of like-minded travelers who’ve broken the code on using the minimum amount of credit cards to get the maximum amount of travel essentially for free. Oh, and I’m not talking cheap travel either. Continue reading What a Year So Far!

Has It Been Two Plus Years?

Has It Been Two two-plus years?

Yes, it has been two years PLUS since I last updated this blog…but in all fairness, Ilene and I have been a BIT busy.

How busy? Well, since we last posted on our blog we launched our travel agency and have been on THIRTEEN cruises, vacationed in Las Vegas, Universal Studios, Nashville, Saint Martin…whew! What a whirlwind!

We’ve concentrated most of our postings on our business blog at www.barnstormerstravel.com and in our Facebook group, Travel Vacations by Buddha & Buffy. We figured with nearly 50 years of traveling together what better way to share our love of travel than by becoming travel professionals! Continue reading Has It Been Two Plus Years?

We’re Expecting!

That’s right! These 60-somethings are expecting a new addition to the family and it’s due in September 2019. On September 16th Ilene and I will be picking up our new Oliver Legacy Elite II Travel Trailer.

While traveling full time over the past two years we’ve kept our eyes open for just the right place for us to eventually settle into. We think we’ve found it with Fredericksburg (FBG), Texas. Continue reading We’re Expecting!

Playing It Loose

 

I attended a watercolor workshop a couple of weeks ago put on by Nan Henke, a local artist here in the Texas Hill Country. As I am a self-taught artist I try to attend as many workshops that I have time to attend and money to spend.

Nan’s workshop was informative and fun! Focusing on basics and painting a loose landscape made everyone feel comfortable and successful at watercolors.

My personal takeaways were:

        1. You don’t need expensive brushes to get good results
        2. Dab, wash, dab when cleaning a brush or adding water
        3. Practice, practice practice
        4. Have fun and experiment—It builds confidence

Continue reading Playing It Loose

Willkommen in Fredericksburg

Willkommen in Fredericksburg, or Welcome to Fredericksburg!

Limestone buildings unique to the Texas Hill Country line Main Street in Fredericksburg and give one the feeling you’ve left the good old US of A and entered a country filled with cowboys and Indians, princes, and barons. This is the Texas of the mid 1800’s before the Civil War and not so soon after Texas won its independence from Mexico. Continue reading Willkommen in Fredericksburg

A Change of Plans for 2018

Well we thought we were going to winter in Las Vegas and Mesa this year but after heading East to Texas for our National RV Inspectors Association Conference we got to thinking…

We’d already driven from Florida to Vegas then up into Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington this year and worked our way back to see the Reno Air Races and visit the kids. By traveling to Texas then back to Vegas only to turn around in April and travel all the way back to North Carolina for our Workamper job at Moonshine Creek Campground seemed a waste of time and money. Continue reading A Change of Plans for 2018

Enola Gay Hangar

Well our time in Winnemucca was pretty much uneventful so we left the next morning for West Wendover, NV. Wendover Army Airfield was where the crew of the Enola Gay trained in their B-29 to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

A nice museum with plenty of photos and memorabilia is located in the restored John T. Brinkman Service Club. There’s an informative seven minute long video about the base that we’d highly recommend watching as well as several rooms dedicated to the young men who trained at Wendover as well as the civilians who supported them. Continue reading Enola Gay Hangar

A Week in McCall, Idaho

McCall RV Resort

We arrived at the McCall RV Resort in McCall, ID after a drizzly, rainy drive from Baker City, OR. The nice thing about the rain was it cooled down the temperature and once we arrived, the rain stopped.

McCall RV Resort is one of the best laid out RV resorts we’ve been to so far and truly lives up to the moniker of RESORT. Sites are spread out, wide, long and well-manicured. Amenities included a pool, showers, laundry and clubhouse. The workampers here are helpful and friendly and a joy to meet and talk with. One of the top “likes” the resort gets on its critiques is the daily trash pickup. Continue reading A Week in McCall, Idaho