Don Stiles (Electronic Engineering, 1988) just returned from a trip to Europe. He spent several days in Belgium traveling to Bruges (the best-preserved medieval city in Europe), Antwerp, and then to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, where he boarded a ship to cruise over 2000 miles through Germany, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. They passed through 72 locks on the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers. He visited several towns in each country, attended a concert in Vienna, had a hosted lunch with a family in Osijek, Croatia. He disembarked in Constanta, Romania on the Black Sea. He then spent several days in Sinaia in the mountain landscape of Transylvania with a visit to the Bran Castle, often referred to as Dracula’s Castle built in 1377. The last few days were spent in Bucharest, Romania, before returning home.

Harold and Jan Pfeifer (EPD, 1993) recently returned from a visit to Chicago for sightseeing prior to taking the AMTRAK Empire Builder to Seattle. The train stopped at various locations including Minneapolis-St Paul, Fargo, Minot, Havre, Whitefish, Spokane, and Seattle. The weather enroute was clear and sunny. Views included extensive grain fields recently harvested; large round bales of straw; intermediate small train stations/stops, and a variety of game; i.e. deer, elk, antelope, and jack rabbits. After a forty hour train ride, they arrived in Seattle. Their first class accommodations were comfortable, and meals (included in ticket price) were of a good variety and tasty. At Pike’s Place Market, in Seattle, they watched the tossing of fish (before being wrapped for sale). The market is big, and has all kinds of fresh market produce, including flower stalls, and many seafood restaurants. They stopped at the original Starbucks. It is reported Starbucks opens 12 new coffee shops daily around the World. Recommendation: "take the train; it’s comfortable, scenic, relaxing, and altogether enjoyable."

There is no luncheon in October because the annual Retiree Dinner-Dance, one of our most popular activities, will be held on Saturday, Oct. 28 at the Robert Livermore Community Center on East Avenue in Livermore. The doors open at 6 pm for hors d’oeuvres and refreshments. Dinner starts at 7 pm, with music and dancing starting about 8. Retirees must pay in advance ($25 per individual, $50 per couple) by mailing in a form that has been sent around by email and also can be found on the Retirees website. Note that we must have your check by Oct. 23, five days before the dance.

Please send any news or input (please include the date and department from which you retired) to Jane or Gus Olson. E-Mail: Jane@LLNLRetirees.org or Gus@LLNLRetirees.org.