Anyone got any travel planned?

[HFWR]

Pretty full year ahead, though nothing exotic. In a couple of weeks I'm meeting a lady friend for a weekend in Memphis. Then, a week or so in Kentuckiana, or Indyucky, as a friend calls it, for some Derby festivities. July is the annual houseboat extravaganza on Dale Hollow Lake. Late August is a trip to Yellowstone. Then, in November, a short road trip to Austin to see John McLaughlin and Jimmy Herring, purported to be McLaughlin's last American tour, which will include some Mahavishnu Orchestra material.

That's enough travel for one year...

[MichaelB]

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Originally Posted by braumeister Heading to Switzerland in a week or so. Never spent any time there so we're looking forward to it. We'll be near the Victorinox (Swiss Army) flagship store in Zurich, so I suspect I'll be the proverbial kid in a candy store.

That sounds pretty cool. No concerns about getting your purchases back home in unlocked luggage?

[braumeister]

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Originally Posted by MichaelB That sounds pretty cool. No concerns about getting your purchases back home in unlocked luggage?

Oh, definitely an issue, but I've never had anything stolen from my luggage so I'm optimistic. I've heard the prices at the flagship store are much lower than anywhere else, so it should be a fun shopping experience.

[Lsbcal]

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Originally Posted by Mango1956 We are planning a road trip to Escalante, Utah in early-mid April and will camp and mabye cabin/Airbnb along the way. We are investing in camp cots, larger tent and better stove to make camping more comfortable. Utah and Nevada tend to have showers in the parks-big plus! Will go out Hole in the Rock road, and do a night or two dispersed camping (self contained, byo water, etc.) The skies out there are supposed to be so beautiful at night, and we're hoping the weather cooperates so we can sleep under the stars. Hiking Coyote Gulch, and maybe a few others off the road if we can manage to not get lost. I figure that's where the GPS comes in. :-) The desert beckons!

We have driven through there when going between Bryce and Capital Reef National Parks. The weather can be quite cool to cold in April I think. May might be better timing. Perhaps others here have an opinion. Here is one weather source but only gives Bryce not Escalante. https://weatherspark.com/averages/29...-United-States

[Mango1956]

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Originally Posted by Lsbcal We have driven through there when going between Bryce and Capital Reef National Parks. The weather can be quite cool to cold in April I think. May might be better timing. Perhaps others here have an opinion. Here is one weather source but only gives Bryce not Escalante. https://weatherspark.com/averages/29...-United-States

Yes, we're having the conversation about going in May instead for that very reason. Watching the extended forecast closely and hoping for a warming trend. Nothing worse than camping and being cold. We visited Escalante twenty years ago right after the establishment of the Grand Staircase monument. Did some day hikes, and loved it. Now that we have high clearance AWD, we can venture out farther on the non paved roads which access the more remote hikes.

[grasshopper]

Looks like we are booking a https://www.countrywalkers.com/ SF to Point Reyes CA trip, in the fall to preview a trip to Italy with them. A little walking in a place we have been, but a new experience for us.

[athena53]

I haven't even told anyone this in real life yet- since I'm already headed for Panama and Costa Rica next month I feel a little greedy. Yesterday was the first day of Spring and I chose that day to break into the plastic bag with DH's ashes, launch my kayak into the lake behind our house, and put some of his ashes into the lake.

Some will go into the Panama Canal and I'll find another beautiful place in Costa Rica to deposit another packet (wrapped in a tissue secured with twine- biodegradable). More will go into the Ganges a year from now when I take my planned tour to India. BUT... it got me started thinking about the other places I want to deposit his ashes, with Edinburgh and Reykjavik at the top of the list.

So I looked at the airfares and hotel costs. And I looked at the finances, and can manage another trip and still keep the withdrawal rate at 3% this year with some room for an "oh, crap" event like blowing through my health insurance deductible. And I'm going to Iceland in August. Woo-hoo!

[exnavynuke]

Just booked my trip to Vegas for Memorial Day week.

[Huston55]

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Originally Posted by Huston55 Headed to LA next month for a Van Morrison concert.

Fantastic concert!

Sold out Ace Theatre in LA; set included many of my favorites. Smooth ride down & back from SF. Lots of energy and even a bit of audience interaction.

First time in LA in forever; downtown seems to be gentrifying. Got to check out the night scene a bit.

All in all, a wonderful trip.

[mpeirce]

We recently got back from our Atlantic crossing, It was not just a crossing, but include a few ports of call: we started in San Juan, then went to St. Martin, then spent six days at sea. Then we stopped in Madeira, another day at sea, then Casa Blanca Morocco, Cadiz Spain, a day at sea, then Valencia and Barcelona.

The sea days were nice. We had great weather. Mostly sunny and calm seas. One night a front passed by, but we were asleep for most of it. Since we enjoy quiet days anyway, we fell into a routine of relaxing in the morning watching the sea go by while reading on the pool deck. After lunch we’d use the gym to get our activity level up. It was kind of like being at home except we didn’t have to cook or clean up or do any other chores. Since they cleaned our room/bathroom twice daily a second shower after the gym always had fresh clean towels!

We had a stern cabin. Each stern corner had a suite on it with two “veranda” cabins in between. This worked out great on this trip since it sheltered us from the wind (the ship was crossing at 18 knots). We saw beautiful sunsets each evening since we were headed almost due east. One evening we had a room service dinner (no charge) on the veranda as the sun was going down. Pretty darn nice.

We enjoyed the ports of call too. Madeira was our favorite. We walked along one of the Levadas and could imagine going back there for a long visit sometime.

The ship was the Viking Star, the same ship we took on a cruise of the western Med last year at the same time. It was in great shape and we really enjoyed it. With the extra time on board we tried a couple of things. After exercising I tried the “thermal suite,” a set of hot tubs, cold plunge tub, a sauna and a snow room (yes they made snow each day). It was very refreshing. One evening there was star gazing led by one of the lecturers (a British astronomer). He got the captain to dim (most) of the lights and the views of the sky were awesome so far away from land.

The food was excellent and although you can eat as much as you want, they serve it in very reasonable portions at the restaurants. With all the activity I returned home down 1 lb. Not bad.

I liked how all inclusive it was too. The price included unlimited wine or beer with dinner. Some folks opted for the “drinkers package” with included upgraded wine and unlimited cocktails, but the wine was fine by me. Pretty much what we drink ourselves at home - i.e. middling wines. The two specialty restaurants are also included. We ate in each a few times and they really are a notch above the regular restaurant. There’s always a decent included excursion at each port. We spent extra for visits to a madeira tasting on Madeira (of course) and a sherry tasting in Jerez.

We added a couple of days on either end of the trip. So we enjoyed the sun in San Juan and lucked out with nice weather in Barcelona as we wandered the city. It seemed like half the town was out in the parks on a beautiful Saturday in the 70°s.

I think we'll try another similar cruise in the future.

[mpeirce]

One one other thing. We had dinner one evening with a couple from northern England (we meet a lot of nice people at meal time) and we mentioned that we were considering walking Hadrian’s wall from Irish Sea to North Sea. They live nearby and enthusiastically supported us doing the walk. Some good ideas too - leave time in the schedule to visit some of the various museums and not to push to hard. Lots of people over do it I guess.

After that conversation we’re a lot closer to doing it.

[Koogie]

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Originally Posted by mpeirce One one other thing. We had dinner one evening with a couple from northern England (we meet a lot of nice people at meal time) and we mentioned that we were considering walking Hadrian’s wall from Irish Sea to North Sea. They live nearby and enthusiastically supported us doing the walk. Some good ideas too - leave time in the schedule to visit some of the various museums and not to push to hard. Lots of people over do it I guess. After that conversation we’re a lot closer to doing it.

I've done sections of Hadrians Wall. Mostly near the town of Haltwhistle.
The Roman fort and museum at Vindolanda is near there.
Great fun, if you like Romano-British history and hiking.

[Nemo2]

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Originally Posted by mpeirce One evening there was star gazing led by one of the lecturers (a British astronomer). He got the captain to dim (most) of the lights and the views of the sky were awesome so far away from land.

It's truly amazing what we don't get to see when in the more populated areas.......down in the Kalahari in Botswana we saw more stars than even in other parts of Africa.......we wanted to put our camera on time lapse out on the deck of our rondavel...but there were lion sightings, with big pawprints only a few feet away.

[Lsbcal]

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Originally Posted by mpeirce One one other thing. We had dinner one evening with a couple from northern England (we meet a lot of nice people at meal time) and we mentioned that we were considering walking Hadrian’s wall from Irish Sea to North Sea. They live nearby and enthusiastically supported us doing the walk. Some good ideas too - leave time in the schedule to visit some of the various museums and not to push to hard. Lots of people over do it I guess. After that conversation we’re a lot closer to doing it.

We saw just a part of Hadrian's Wall some years ago. Had a rental car then.

Any pointers on how you'd arrange such a trip? We don't generally walk more then about 7 or 8 miles per day in the Sierras and cannot carry backpacks. We just carry a few pounds each for day hikes. In good shape for late 60's.

I saw this site that discusses some details from Newcastle in particular.
Getting There | Hadrian's Wall Path | National Trails
I haven't read and reviewed all the details. Seems like a real logistical exercise.

[mpeirce]

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Originally Posted by Lsbcal We saw just a part of Hadrian's Wall some years ago. Had a rental car then. Any pointers on how you'd arrange such a trip? We don't generally walk more then about 7 or 8 miles per day in the Sierras and cannot carry backpacks. We just carry a few pounds each for day hikes. In good shape for late 60's.

There are a number of companies that will transport your luggage from Inn to Inn each day. You can pace the walk at a variety of paces - six days means roughly 15 miles day (no thanks!) while about 10 miles a day takes 10 days, give or take.

Our diner companions recommend walking it west to east - with the prevailing winds.

[Hershey102]

Leaving in 3 weeks to walk Hadrian's Wall, east to west. My high school latin classes instilled a life long curiosity about all things Roman. Used Mickledore to make B&B reservations and move a bag between B&Bs so that I can get by with a small daypack. The B&Bs will also pack a lunch each day. Total distance is only 85 miles so that means a comfortable 10 or so miles per day. Will walk 4 days, take a day off near a Roman fort and army museum, then walk 4 more days. Carpe diem!

[Nemo2]

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Originally Posted by Hershey102 Leaving in 3 weeks to walk Hadrian's Wall, east to west. My high school latin classes instilled a life long curiosity about all things Roman. Used Mickledore to make B&B reservations and move a bag between B&Bs so that I can get by with a small daypack. The B&Bs will also pack a lunch each day. Total distance is only 85 miles so that means a comfortable 10 or so miles per day. Will walk 4 days, take a day off near a Roman fort and army museum, then walk 4 more days. Carpe diem!

Have fun.....cave Idus Aprilis

[Hershey102]

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Originally Posted by Nemo2 Have fun.....cave Idus Aprilis

Veni, vidi, vici!

[Alan]

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Originally Posted by Hershey102 Leaving in 3 weeks to walk Hadrian's Wall, east to west. My high school latin classes instilled a life long curiosity about all things Roman. Used Mickledore to make B&B reservations and move a bag between B&Bs so that I can get by with a small daypack. The B&Bs will also pack a lunch each day. Total distance is only 85 miles so that means a comfortable 10 or so miles per day. Will walk 4 days, take a day off near a Roman fort and army museum, then walk 4 more days. Carpe diem!

That sounds great. We've walked many sections of the wall but never done the thing from start to finish in one trip. If the weather is reasonable you are going to have a wonderful time.

Last year our daughter joined us from Santa Monica where she plays beach volley-ball a couple of times a week and is an outdoors type person. We had 3 days there and day 2 we were eating an ice cream at Housesteads and she asked if I had brought any sunscreen. Sure I had, but I and my DW had applied it before leaving the parking area where we had left the car several miles back - and the sunscreen. She was already sunburned and was certainly embarrassed that a Southern California should get sunburned on the Roman Wall (Lattitude 55°N)

[Lsbcal]

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Originally Posted by Hershey102 Leaving in 3 weeks to walk Hadrian's Wall, east to west. My high school latin classes instilled a life long curiosity about all things Roman. Used Mickledore to make B&B reservations and move a bag between B&Bs so that I can get by with a small daypack. The B&Bs will also pack a lunch each day. Total distance is only 85 miles so that means a comfortable 10 or so miles per day. Will walk 4 days, take a day off near a Roman fort and army museum, then walk 4 more days. Carpe diem!

Sounds exciting. Let us know how it goes.

How did you decide on Mickledore ?