Travel recommendations

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We're headed on a road trip starting Friday.  There's a new Toyota Corolla in the family and it gets much better gas mileage than the other vehicles.

First destination:  Yellowstone, via Denver.  I've never been to Wyoming or Montana.

After that:  then off to Boise, Idaho.  I went there on an interview trip (I interviewed at Idaho Power back around '93 or '94). 

After that:  then off to Lake Tahoe.

We might swing by Salt Lake City.  It depends on our time.

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The road trip starts after work today.

My friend that used to work for Storage Tech up in the Denver area recommends the path through New Mexico instead of the one through Kansas.  I'm still mulling that one over.  We still need to go through Denver on our way to Cheyenne, WY and on to Yellowstone.

The pathway after that is fairly straightforward until we get to Lake Tahoe.  If we don't go through Salt Lake City (aka SLiCk city), we might head towards Los Angeles and see our niece and family.

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Well, now I can say that I've been in 40 states.  I added Wyoming yesterday and added Montana today.

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Here's the trip so far:

• Fri: Abilene, TX
• Sat: Longmont, CO
• Sun: Dubois, WY
• Mon: Idaho Falls, ID
• Tue: Boise, ID
• Wed: Carson City, NV (gambling at the Casino hotel)
• Thu: Pasadena, CA
• Fri: Tucson, AZ

We connected with old friends in Boise.  We gambled at the hotel in Carson City and saw Lake Tahoe.  In northern Nevada and on into California, the haze from the fires in Northern California was pretty bad and it was difficult to see the mountains.

Gasoline along US 395 in California hit $5.19 a gallon at several small towns.  We've seen gas here in Tucson for $3.73 a gallon.

Gasoline in the Lake Tahoe area was $4.09 in Carson City, but $4.79 up in the mountains on both Nevada side and California side.

It's been an interesting trip, but we're headed home now.

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I always wanted to do a cross country road trip.   I live in the East in Pennsylvania, so it would literally be a cross country trip.  I'm thinking that I'll either do that one of these upcoming summers or after college. 

And, I want to go to Hawaii.  I love warm weather, and I'm afraid of snakes.  I heard that Hawaii doesn't have any native snakes there, so I want to see that.  Snakes don't hinder my travel plans, but still, it's a good enough excuse to visit a tropical island! 

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And, I want to go to Hawaii.  I love warm weather, and I'm afraid of snakes.  I heard that Hawaii doesn't have any native snakes there, so I want to see that.  Snakes don't hinder my travel plans, but still, it's a good enough excuse to visit a tropical island! 

Aruba is an island formed from a coral reef off of the coast of Venezuela.  It was nice and you don't get sick drinking the water (comes from desalination).  It is too far south to be in hurricane alley.  I wouldn't mind trying either Bonaire or Curacao as alternates for a trip back.

I hit Pennsylvania when I was working in the DC area in the late 90s.  I worked for a supplier of Pepco, the electric utility in DC.  I drove over to the coast in Delaware, north into Pennsylvania.  West into West Virginia (going out I-68 through Maryland).  A lot of great scenery in that part of the country.  Mountains and coast in relative close proximity.

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They reported in the paper today that overall car mileage in the US continues to drop, even as gasoline prices hit values not seen in 4 years.

Total miles driven has dropped 12 months in a row and the drop started just about the same time as the recession hit.

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I found out this week that I was eligible for 4 weeks of vacation LAST YEAR.

I'll definitely be taking the extra week off this year and hope to talk them into allowing me to take the other week this year, although technically I lost it.

Too bad the economy is in the tank.

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Ok, we're looking at travel plans this year and there are some specials.

Austin to Paris:  $500pp.  We're looking at the 2nd half of April 2009.

Might get a train pass.  I'm only interested in maybe a couple of days in Paris.  We're looking at 8+ days over there.  Any recommendations for an itinerary?

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It looks like this trip is going to happen.   I'll make updates as we firm up our plans.

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We've flip-flopped several times since this first came up.  I just don't know if we're going now.  I guess we still could.

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We'll be in Paris March 31-April 2 (morning).  Take the bullet train underneath the English channel and over to London April 2 and will stay there until April 5th.  Take a bus+ferry over to Amsterdam overnight for not much more than hotel rooms the night of April 5 arriving Amsterdam April 6th.  Spend one night and then head south to Brussels for a couple of hours and then on to Lille, France for the evening.  We'll spend most of the 8th in Lille then take a train over to CDG airport that night and fly back on the 9th.

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We got to see the British police in action.  They had to forcibly evict some drugged out crazy from the McDonald's at the Liverpool Street Station, which is both a stop for the London Underground and a regional train station.

Greetings from Lille, France!

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I actually was happy about the trip to Europe, although I still haven't gotten my refund from National Express for the train/ferry ride from London to Amsterdam.

This weekend (Saturday),  we're leaving for the next vacation:

We fly up to Vancouver, British  Columbia.
We board a HAL cruise ship in  Vancouver sailing towards Alaska.

We have stops in:

• Ketchikan, AK
• Juneau, AK
• Skagway,  AK

We'll arrive in Seward,  AK and take a bus up to Anchorage, AK,  which is where  we'll pick up a rent-a-car and drive up to Denali National  Park,  On the way, we'll stop in  Wasilla and take a look at Russia, which is supposedly visible from Wasilla, AK.  When we get up to Denali, we'll spend  a couple  of "nights".  During this time  of year,  it doesn't get  dark in  Denali.  There is only extended twilight from the time that the sun goes down (after midnight) to around 3:30 AM.

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I need to catch up on my travels.

We loved the cruise from Vancouver to Seward, AK.  We took a bus up to Anchorage airport and then rented a car and went to Denali.  Incredible scenery there.  The photos are on my FB account.

Last December we took a road trip to California.  This was the first time that we went out there near the holidays.  That was a cool trip.  It was interesting to see leaves changing colors in  the LA area.  Pics on FB account.

On the way back I took a picture of the snow in the desert and won a photo contest on ctr.lv.

We're soon to head on our 2010 vacation: Spain.  We leave on Wednesday and will arrive in Madrid on Thursday.  We'll be in Madrid 3 days and then head on a bus to Toledo, Cordoba, Seville, Granada, Valencia, and end up in Barcelona.

Once I get back from the trip, I'll be starting in a new department up at work.