Sprenger Reunion, Sept 2018

Paul and Iris Sprenger make all the arrangements and it is no easy task to find someplace where everyone, young and old, can have a good time. What better place to go than to Mogg's Circus?

Sprenger Family Reunion, Sept 2014

In 2014 we attended our first Swiss Springer Family reunion.
We had just hardly unpacked from our trip to Italy when we headed off to Europe again for
The Annual Swiss Sprenger Family Reunion.

Fran decided that this was the year we would attend the festivities with her brother,
Charles, and sister, Mary. So off we went. Of course you don't go to Switzerland just
for an afternoon picnic in the mountains. We started a few days early with a trip to
Iceland and then met Fran's cousin Murial and her husband, Ron, in Flaach, close to the
family farm, and spent two weeks traveling through Heidi's* country.

For now I only have pictures of the reunion portion of our trip on these pages.
More to follow so come back again.

[*Scroll down to the story about Fran's mother's trip to the "The Holy Land"
in 1935 and you will understand the story. Fran's mother was a missionary in Egypt and
in 1939 returned home for a visit with her Minnesota family. She traveled from Egypt
to Italy by boat, up the boot of Italy by train and into Switzerland. On the way she
traveled to Flaach to the old Sprenger homestead and met her Swiss family. She then
traveled by train to Hamburg, Germany, and then by ship to New York. That trip through
Europe must have been an experience in itself. At that time there was a new book that had
just come out about a girl growing up in the mountains of Switzerland. Fran's mother was
never able to return to Egypt because of the outbreak of WWII shortly after her return to
Minnesota. She married and raised her family in Minneapolis, MN. When Fran was a little
girl in the 40's she remember's her mother reading Heidi to her and her younger sister
- it had become a classic by then. When we returned to Minnesota Fran bought a copy of
Heidi and re-read it. You can imagine the memories it brought back of her mother
reading to her and now it had so much more meaning having just visited the country.]

Italy, 2014

In celebration of our 50th Wedding Anniversary we repeated the trip we took to
Italy with Grand Circle Tours to Rome, Florence and Tuscany in 2001. This time we were
with our grandaughter, Abbey, our daughter, Suzanne,and her husband Rob. What a way to show a
14 year girl something of the world she had only seen in pictures when she followed our earlier
travels via postcards as she went through the Kindergarden to the Eight grades. Our tour
included a pre-trip to Rome, then Orvieto, Florence, Siena, San Gimgnano, Pisa, Potafino,
Cinque Terra, Verona, Balzono, Innsbrook and was capped off with a wonderful post-trip to Venice.

Our night tour of Rome included a stop in front of the Vatican.

We left Rome and stopped in Orvieto, one of our favorite cities for shopping. Fran got two ceramic plates to grace our table.

The beauty of this tour is that we spent four days in Florence - not near enough time - but it allowed us to get out of the rain and enjoy lunch on the Piazza della Signoria as well as taking side trips to Siena and San Gimgnano

Who would not recognize this scene? No trip to Italy would be complete without pausing in front of the Leaning Tower

We visited Potofino but the jewel on the Italian Rivera is Cinque Terra

Rob, Suzanne, and Abbey took ut out to dinner in Venice to celebrate our 50th Anniversary. It started with a gondola ride down the Grand Canal. On the way to Venice we also visited Verona, Bolzano, the Dolomites, and Innsbrook, Austria. It was good we took the three day post-trip to Venice because you can't see it in one afternoon and evening.

The Page is currently under construction so you will have to

be satisfied with these few snippets of this trip.

Come back again.

Frazee Reunion in Bird Island, MN
July, 2010

Genealogy of The Frazee Family

You Are Invited To Follow Our
Adventure to Thailand,
January and February, 2010.

>In January, 2010, we took our long delayed trip to Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), and Cambodia with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT). We had originally booked the trip for January, 2009, but cancelled it when the financial markets were in turmoil. "Cut back on your expenses for a year," we were advised, "give the market some time to rebound". We could wait no longer so off we went.

Sukhothai Ruins

Having grown up with a background in Western Civilization, the culture of southeast Asia and the significance of Hinduism and Buddhism were really uncharted waters for us. I found everything so exotic and wonderful that I was constantly reminded of Oliver Wendell Holmes' statement, "The mind, once expanded by travel, never returns to its original shape." This is why I love traveling so much, but, I also realized I knew so little about these two major religions. I took thousands of pictures, some of which are shown here, and when I got home I wanted to learn even more about what I had seen. I suppose everyone who has ever seen the fat little elephant headed Hindu god has wondered where he came from. What really sparked my interest, and one of the highlights of our trip, was a puppet show in Bangkok, The Birth of Ganesha. Just remember, this is my rendition of the wonderful story.

Buddhism is the main religion in this area and once again I find my education lacking. To solve this problem I have been working hard at learning about Buddha and his teaching. Never being one to fear to rush in where calmer heads might steer clear I have prepared some simplified Summaries of Buddhism as I experienced it and understand its main beliefs. I know there are people who have spent their whole live's trying to understand this religion/philosophy but I am just trying to give a short, but accurate, primer.

The Holy Land and Israel
1867, 1935 and 2003
Not Much Has Changed

Bob taking a mud bath in the Dead Sea

In 2003 Fran and I traveled to Israel as part of our pre-trip to Egypt. Recently Fran was given a copy of a letter written by her mother to her Zumbro Falls, MN, family after a three week trip to the Holy Land in 1935. Considering how ageless that part of the world is we found we visited many of the same shrines and locations. I have put her letter on my web page with my pictures and commentary so it could be fully enjoyed.

To make matters more interesting, this spring I read Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad, written in 1867, when he also visited the Holy Land. It is uncanny how he saw many of the same sites and had some of the same experiences 136 years earlier. His comments are most interesting and I have added them to add some spice to the commentary. I hope you will find the web page interesting.

You are also invited to follow up with reading about our two week Egyptian tour in 2003.

You are invited to follow our adventure in 2008.
The Best of Kenya and Tanzania

Lions on the Serengeti Plain

In May, 2208, we traved with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) to Africa taking The Best of Kenya and Tanzania tour. I have two criteria when scheduling my travels: I want to see ancient civilizations and exotic cultures. Both criteria were met and our Tour Director, Ed, was extremely patient in answering my many questions about the culture in a land which most Americans know little about. Kenya was especially relevant considering its recent political turmoil following the 2007 elections. Besides seeing exotic wild animals roaming freely on the Serengeti Plain we learned much about the culture and traditions of the Maasai people. Everyone was so friendly and we felt very welcome.

I have created a page of some movie files of wild animals roaming freely on the Serengeti Plain and the Maasai people. These files are very big so you may want to think twice about looking at them unless you have a high speed dial-up or cable connection.

This page is just getting started so you will have to return often to see the updates.

Grand Cayman Islands, B.W.I

In March, 2008, Fran managed to get our two children, their spouses, and two grandchildren to Grand Cayman. Phillip and Laura were there for two weeks with Elle Monet who is 19 months old. while we baby sat Elle Monet on the beach Phillip and Laura renewed their love of diving "the wall" on the north sound. This was Suzanne, Rob, and Abbey's second year of spending their spring break in Cayman. They all love the beach and snorkeling and sailing with the pirates. Fran was so proud of the twin sun dresses she made the two grand daughters from material she had purchased in Cayman over 15 years ago.

As we head into May, 2008, Fran and I are packing our bags for another trip. This time to Kenya and Tanzania. Hopefully I will get some great wild animal pictures.

You are invited to follow our adventures for 2007.
Imperial China, Yangtze River and Tibet