March 18, 2025
Dear Fellow Travelers,
I hope you have had a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day! Let’s keep the luck going as I have a plethora of upcoming travel information for you.
I’ve attached the following flyers:
– Information on Norway cruise. We have almost used up our cabin allotments, so please pass the word to those who may be considering the cruise. Rates for the cabins have gone up, but we are locked in at our lower group rates.
– Information on the optional London pre-cruise tour. Please note that we are limited to one motorcoach of 50 individuals. We will start a cancellation list once we are full. The pricing may go down slightly if we reach full capacity. See flyer for more detailed information.
-Registration form for the pre-tour. Please fill out the form and email or mail it to me. We will fill the tour on a first come first serve basis. The deposit can be in the form of a check or Venmo. If you want to pay the deposit by Venmo, please email or text me (801-358-1130). Click here to download the registration form as a Microsoft Word file. (Note, this link works best in a Microsoft Edge browser.) Click here to download the registration form as a PDF file.
– Iceland cruise – For those of you who have had Iceland on your bucket list, this is an opportunity not to be missed. The flight from London up to Iceland is about 3 hours. Those interested will fly from London to Iceland on the day our Norway cruise ends. We will start the Iceland cruise the following day! If you are not on the Norway cruise, fly from your hometown and join us in Iceland.
Future Travel Ideas:
There are many more tours & cruises in the works. Some of those upcoming plans include:
Sept. 2027 – Splendors of South Africa & Victoria Falls. This will be a 12-day tour of South Africa including Cape Town, Johannesburg, several game reserves (photo safaris), and VIctoria Falls. This small group tour will be limited to 24 and cost will be around $7,000 per person. More information will be coming. I will be taking names for those interested and you will have first right of refusal for the tour.
Fall 2028 – Our Cardon friends and family tour will likely be a fall cruise leaving from Boston and going to St. John (Newfoundland), Halifax (Nova Scotia) and more. Additional information will be coming.
Sept. 2030 – It’s back to the Piedmont region of our Cardon homeland. We will then have a tour of a beautiful area of Germany including Rothenburg (one of my favorite towns), Nuremberg, and Oberammergau to watch the Passion Play which is held only every 10 years. More information will be coming in a couple of years.
Please contact me for questions, concerns or to book one of our upcoming trips or cruises.
It’s always a great day to think about traveling!!
Becky Cardon Smith
801-358-1130
Becky Cardon Smith – beckysmithtravel@gmail.com
Lisa Coombs – LCtravelplans@gmail.com
Planning a trip to our ancestral homes?
A note from Lorenzo Cena, the son of our PFO genealogist Giovanni Cena:
I just wanted to let you know that if you receive inquiries from groups or families who are traveling to Italy and want to visit the Waldensian Valleys in Piedmont where their ancestors lived, my sister Marieli is available to provide tours. She lives in Torino and speaks English fluently. She attended the tour with my dad in 2022, and she is very familiar with the region. She would be happy to make arrangements and discuss the length of visits and costs.
With my dad living in Spain, it would only be worth it for him to guide the large groups when he has a planned trip to Italy, but my sister can also make arrangements for smaller groups at pretty much any time of the year. She is copied on this email.
Her email is: marieli.cena@gmail.com
Recent Tours
2024 Alaska Cruise
This tour began June 12th (pre-tour of Vancouver) followed by a cruise to Alaska starting on the 14th. It ended on the 21st of June.
2022 Tour Italy
If you participated in this tour and have a travel log with pictures, we’d love to post them on this website.
2020 Tour
Updates on Boston Trip
We officially cancelled the Boston Trip which was scheduled for June of 2020. We apologize to all those that signed up for the tour. We know you are disappointed, and we do apologize. Unfortunately, we just didn’t get the numbers that we needed to make the trip viable at the price posted.
In hindsight, the COVID19 pandemic would have cancelled any plans we did have.
2018 Italy
This tour began September 19, 2018, and ended October 2nd. It included the Piedmont area where our ancestors lived and extended on to include Milan, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, Siena, Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri.
2016 Church History
This tour began September 15, 2016, and ended September 25, 2016. It included: Palmyra, Harmony, Niagra Falls, Kirtland, Liberty, Independence, Far West, Richmond, Jamesport (Amish area), Adam-ondi-Ahman, Carthage and Nauvoo.
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2014 Italy
This tour began September 4th, 2014. It included the Piedmont Valleys in Italy, then we went north: Montreaux – Berne – Brienz – Schilthorn – Zollikofen – Lucerne – Neuschwanstein Castle – Linderhof Castle – Oberammergau – Salzburg – Berchtesgaden – Konigssee – Dachau – Munich
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2012 Wyoming
This was a three-day tour, June 28th, 29th, and 30th.
Logan UT – Evanston WY – Piedmont WY – Fort Bridger WY – Lander WY – Sixth Crossing – Independence Rock – Martin’s Cove
2010 Italy
September 15, Wednesday – September 30, Monday. This tour started in the Piedmont Valleys then concluded with sites throughout Italy. Torre Pellice – Prarostino – Rora – Venice, Cinque Terra, Pisa, Florence, Rome, Napoli, Pompei, Amalfi Coast, and Capri.
The outdoor oven on the right was photographed at Cardonera Superiore.
2008 Mexico
The main tour was 4 days, October 10 – 13, with and extended tour of Copper Canyon
El Paso TX – Columbus NM – Palomas Mexico (MX) – Colonia Dublán MX – Colonia Juarez MX – Mata Ortiz MX – Hacienda of San Diego – Colonia Dublán Cemetery (to dedicate graves of the newly marked graves of our ancestors that died while living in the colonies) – Colonia Dublán (homes of Aunt Kate, Lous Paul, Susette Stalle, Bob Cardon and Mary Naylor) – Casas Grandes – Copper Canyon (optional).
2006 Church History Tour
The Tour included: Palmyra – Peter Whitmer’s Log Cabin – Fayette Chapel – Smith’s Log Home and Frame Home – Sacred Grove – Martin Harris Farm – Lake-Stone House – Palmyra Temple – Niagara Falls – Morley Farm – Kirtland – Johson Farm (Hiram OH) – Oliver and Rosetta Snow Home – Kirtland Temple – Stone Quarrys – Nauvoo – Temple – Mansion House – Carthage Jail – Amish Community – Jamesport – Adam-Ondi-Ahman – Haun’s Mill – Far West – Richmond – Three Witnesses Monumnent – Independence – Liberty Jail