On January 2, 1996, corkscrew-balloon.com didn't yet exist ... but on that day, National Public Radio presented a feature on the previous month's Elephant Polo Tournament in Nepal, including an interview with Alf.

The corkscrew-balloon.com domain name was formally registered on February 29, and The House of Corkscrew Balloon Dot Com began. In March, the first few visitors began to stumble into these pages.

From June 20 through July 11, Alf and a group of adventurers were off on a ballooning and bicycling jaunt through Italy. The details of that trip have been documented in Denise's Journal: 21 Reasons Why Denise Quit Her Job. You are invited to share with her the pleasures of summer ballooning in Italy!

After the Italy trip, Alf just didn't feel ready to head back to Florida ... so he didn't! Here's what he did instead.

The month began with the Canadian Corkscrew Collectors Club meeting for three days in Southbury, Connecticut.

From August 17 through 31, the Corkscrew Balloon was once again in flight over Europe. This time, Stephani Weaver attended to most of the journal-keeping duties. Her complete Swiss-Prague Journal, along with several dozen photos, is available here.

In late September, the ICCA held its Annual General Meeting in Barcelona.

"Fourteen Reasons Why Denise's Original 'Twenty-One Reasons Why Denise Quit Her Job' Proved to be a Terribly Smart Thing to Do' ... or "Why it is More Fun to Play than to Work ... Anytime!" ... In other words, it's Denise's Second Journal, this time from France in October.

This trip was unique among those reported here: As a complement to the Official Denise Journal, there is also an Alternative Journal by David and Adriana.

December brought the 15th Annual World Elephant Polo Tournament in Chitwan, Nepal. Screwy Tusker Laurie provided all the details and color commentary in her extensive coverage of the event. Also: Annie snapped a marvelous gallery of photos, showing the beauty and character of the people of Nepal.