TRAVEL TALES

Young Chang

In September, it was a bus trip to Colorado Springs.

Last month, Lee and Betty Ziegler visited Ohio, Missouri, West

Virginia and also stayed in Pennsylvania for one day.

In January, the Balboa Island couple plans to go to the Claremont

Candlelight Theater, a day trip via bus.

A senior citizen program through Mariner’s Church affords them the

luxury of monthly trips, whether they’re instate or around the country.

“It’s wonderful,” Lee Ziegler, 77, said. “I worked for 46 years at one

job, so now that I’m not working at the job anymore, I decided it’s a

good time to go do these things that I never had the opportunity to do.”

Like watch shows all day in a city made famous for its theater:

Branson, Mo.

“We were there for four days and we went to three shows a day and they

say you could spend a couple weeks there and see three shows a day and

not see them all,” Betty Ziegler, 75, said.

Both travelers agreed that Shoji Tabuchi, a fiddler who is also a

singer, gave the most entertaining act.

In Marietta, Ohio, Betty Ziegler learned about the city’s history --

that the pioneer city was first settled by Yankees and everyone still

gets around with one main street in town that is bordered by strips of

old, preserved buildings.

“But the fall colors were the most impressive,” she said.

The colors spread all the way to West Virginia, where the couple

visited a church that was surrounded by leaves.

“That’s what I zeroed in on,” confessed Betty Ziegler, a retired

teacher. “The red and rust and brown and green and gold.”

She and Lee got around most the time aboard the Mississippi Queen,

which traveled the Ohio River. They found out, mid-cruise, that the

cruise company had just announced bankruptcy. The captain didn’t make

anyone get off though, allowing the Zieglers the last official cruise

aboard the vessel.

Where else do they hope to visit?

“Nova Scotia,” said Lee Ziegler. “I’ve heard so much about the area

and I’ve heard so much about the various fishing areas up there. I love

scallops, I love lobster, and both of them are quite prevalent.”

* Have you, or someone you know, gone on an interesting vacation

recently? Tell us your adventures. Drop us a line to Travel Tales, 330 W.

Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; e-mail young.chang@latimes.com; or fax to

(949) 646-4170.