Lott (L) and Rottler(R) in front of Montmorency Falls just northeast of Québec City.

Dianne Andries Rottler (BA Journalism 1980) and Angela Andries Lott (BS Pharmacy 1984) took advantage of the December 2025 alumni trip to Montréal and Québec City for the German Christmas Market. The proud UH grads (and sisters) said the trip (hosted by Premier Tours) gave them the opportunity to see as much of the two cities and the surrounding area as anyone could imagine.
The trip coincided with unseasonably cold weather in the area; but, the two Texans were undeterred and properly layered. Not only did they see every highlight listed on the itinerary; but, they worked in much more during their unscheduled free time. The ladies saw the two scheduled Basilicas on the bus tour and an additional three Basilicas on their own.
According to Lott, the hotels were so conveniently located that the ladies were easily able to walk to see many other sights.
The Montréal Underground was connected to the lower lobby of the Fairmont Hotel where the tour booked rooms. Marie Reine du Monde Basilica was next door to The Fairmont and the famous Ring was across the street.
In Québec City, the guests stayed in the famous Fairmont Le Château Frontenac. The German Christmas Market was visible from the front door and the funicular into Old Québec City was at the back door, which also overlooked the St. Laurence River.
The tour guides were entertaining and knowledgeable. The food was wonderful. The travel was safe, comfortable and convenient. Most importantly, the opportunity to see as much as possible in a short period of time was unmatchable. Every stop was well-planned.
Rottler said they had a fabulous time and highly recommend it to others in the future.

We were pleased that the trip ran just as advertised in the brochure we received. We really liked that we stayed in one hotel for 5 nights and all the tours ran daily by bus from the hotel. Each day we had the same tour guide, bus driver and travelers on our bus. We toured a variety of local sites and landmarks – Mission San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, the Tournament of Roses Parade, lunch at Lawry’s Restaurant in Beverly Hills, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Rodeo Drive, the Floats on Display exhibit, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library with docents for our group, an evening in Downtown Disney, a San Diego harbor cruise and city tour including Coronado Island and a farewell dinner at the Prado Restaurant in Balboa Park. The trip was a good mix of on-bus/off-bus tours and group/personal time.

We think that some of the areas we visited were impacted by the California fires later in 2025, but we don’t think any of the specific buildings we toured burned. Knowing that so much of the beautiful scenery we saw is now gone is very sad and the devastation to homes and families is tragic.

I was lucky enough to take a balloon ride at the festival which was absolutely thrilling. All of the balloon riders received an authentic certificate for balloon riding, a lapel pin of the balloon festival and a champagne toast after the ride. It was quite an adventure!

We were able to get a private mini-tour of the Taos Pueblo, another UNESCO site.

In Los Alamos, we toured the Hans Bethe House and got an outside glimpse of the J. Robert Oppenheimer House who were the early pioneers working on the Manhattan Project. We also were able to tour the Bradbury Science Museum.

And in Santa Fe, we toured their capitol building. There are many pieces of art on display on all three levels of the building. It was quite impressive!

After graduating with a degree in Electronics Technology, I worked with industrial wired communications in the oil/chemical/offshore industry and then in medical diagnostic computers until I retired. I got married in 1980 and we raised two children who have gone on to successful carriers in medical research and internet server providing.

This Class Note is from Larry McClaugherty:

Allan Young from Illinois came in for the Final Four weekend. He was a member of the UH Freshman football class of 1967 as was I. He wanted to get together some of that fall 1967 class when he was in town. It was a busy weekend with final four, Astros, and all of us scattered.

However, four of us were able to make it. The picture includes l-r: Bill Manahan, Gary Heflin, LMc, and Allan Young. Bill played at Galena Park & now lives in Porter. Gary played at San Angelo with Gary Mullins and now lives near Floresville and Allan who played in a small town near Springfield, Illinois. He now splits time between Illinois and Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. We met for 3 hours at Demeris BBQ on the West Loop to reminisce and the stories flowed. They might have been embellished a “little” or maybe a lot.

Jim Fulenwider (’68) recently returned from a two-week classic photographic safari in Kenya and Tanzania, along with his brother, David Fulenwider (’67). Their adventures began in Nairobi, Kenya where they explored the Giraffe Conservation and Elephant Orphanage. Next, they traveled to Amboseli National Park in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro where they photographed the East African Elephant, cheetahs on the hunt and other wildlife. Day 6 found Jim and David crossing into Tanzania in the coffee country to the city of Arusha beneath the twin peaks of Mt. Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro. On Day 7 they crossed the Great Rift Valley to the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area, where agriculture, wildlife conservation and tourism co-exist in one of Africa’s first experiments of multiple land use.

By Day 9 they entered the Plains of the Serengeti and en route visited Olduvai Gorge and learned about its early history and the research and discovery of the earliest known species of humanoids. Their last stop in Africa was Lake Victoria and the Maasai Mara National Reserve. In the Maasai Mara they experienced via a balloon ride scenic vistas of the great migration of wildebeest and zebras and enjoyed interacting and learning from the Maasai people about their culture and traditions.

By the end of the trip their cameras had found, among varied wildlife, lions on the hunt, hippos, giraffes, crocodiles, baboons, monkeys, just to name a few.

Jim comes from a legacy of Cougars. His mother, stepfather, and brother got degrees at UH. Last month Jim and his wife Charlotte established the Jim and Charlotte Fulenwider Scholarship Endowment for the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Jim is a committed Cougar with a long history of spirit and pride.