Anyone got any travel planned?

[Nemo2]

Sounds absolutely wonderful and I would encourage you to do that.

Thanks!

So, (as of today), this would (likely) be the three B2B cruises:

Tue May 9 Puerto Limon, Costa Rica 4:00pm
Wed May 10 Colon, Panama 7:30am 3:30pm
Thu May 11 Cartagena, Colombia 9:30am 8:00pm
Fri May 12 At Sea
Sat May 13 At Sea
Sun May 14 St. Maarten 10:00am 6:00pm
Mon May 15 Antigua 8:00am 6:00pm
Tue May 16 At Sea
Wed May 17 At Sea
Thu May 18 At Sea
Fri May 19 At Sea
Sat May 20 At Sea
Sun May 21 At Sea
Mon May 22 At Sea
Tue May 23 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal 8:00am 6:00pm
Wed May 24 At Sea
Thu May 25 Lisbon, Portugal

Thu May 25 Lisbon, Portugal 1:00pm
Fri May 26 Vigo, Spain 8:00am 3:00pm
Sat May 27 At Sea
Sun May 28 Cherbourg, France 11:00am 8:00pm
Mon May 29 Paris (Le Havre), France 7:00am 6:00pm
Tue May 30 London (Harwich), England 8:00am 8:00pm
Wed May 31 Amsterdam (IJmuiden), Holland 9:00am 5:00pm
Thu Jun 1 At Sea
Fri Jun 2 Copenhagen, Denmark 7:00am 2:00pm
Sat Jun 3 Berlin (Rostock), Germany 8:00am

Sat Jun 3 Berlin (Rostock), Germany 10:00pm
Sun Jun 4 At Sea
Mon Jun 5 Stavanger, Norway 9:00am 7:00pm
Tue Jun 6 Haugesund, Norway 7:00am 5:00pm
Wed Jun 7 Flam, Norway 7:30am 6:00pm
Thu Jun 8 Skjolden, Norway 7:30am 4:00pm
Fri Jun 9 Alesund, Norway 8:00am 5:00pm
Sat Jun 10 Bergen, Norway 8:00am

 

[braumeister]

That is one of the greatest ways to spend a month I could imagine.

Here's hoping you enjoy it as much as I think you will!

 

[audreyh1]

Well - I finally "published" the detailed itinerary (with plenty of built-in flexibility) for our upcoming Europe trip to DH. I put a huge amount of work into this over 3 months (non continuous - we had other travels too while I was working on this big one). Thus my sig line below.

We'll be gone just over a month, mostly southern France and Barcelona and surrounds. Flying into Amsterdam to visit family for a week, then flying into Lyon for a couple days, travel to (bases) Avignon, Nice, Aix-en-Provence, quick stop in Carcassone on the way to Catalonia base Barcelona. Returning to US from Barcelona. All public transport. Quite a few small group mini-van tours set up, some private.

We have a great trip outlined and I'm very excited about it. I'm not sure I'm willing to do this amount of work next year......

 

[powerplay]

has anyone ever driven through the Palouse?

We went to CDA last week and drove around the East side of the lake through Plummer and down to Walla Walla. One of the most beautiful drives I've ever done.

Yes, it's beautiful country. I lived in Spokane for 7 years back in the 80's so had lots of opportunity to enjoy the area.

 

[explanade]

has anyone ever driven through the Palouse?

We went to CDA last week and drove around the East side of the lake through Plummer and down to Walla Walla. One of the most beautiful drives I've ever done.

What is CDA?

I searched Google Maps and I see a town called Palouse, just west of the border with ID and north of Pullman.

Are these hills around the town, north, south, west, east?


BTW, that website looks terrific, placestoseeinyourlifetime.com.

 

[explanade]

Well - I finally "published" the detailed itinerary (with plenty of built-in flexibility) for our upcoming Europe trip to DH. I put a huge amount of work into this over 3 months (non continuous - we had other travels too while I was working on this big one). Thus my sig line below.

We'll be gone just over a month, mostly southern France and Barcelona and surrounds. Flying into Amsterdam to visit family for a week, then flying into Lyon for a couple days, travel to (bases) Avignon, Nice, Aix-en-Provence, quick stop in Carcassone on the way to Catalonia base Barcelona. Returning to US from Barcelona. All public transport. Quite a few small group mini-van tours set up, some private.

We have a great trip outlined and I'm very excited about it. I'm not sure I'm willing to do this amount of work next year......

For me, the planning and research is part of the experience. It is work but I do it in bursts, some right after deciding to go and then save research in Evernote and finally finish it off in the last couple of weeks before departure.

Heavily use tripit.com and Kayak My Trips. Before that, it was a bunch of word processing docs, with screen shots and text from web sites pasted in.

I put in stuff or list of places that I never end up going to but put in as contingency or for future trips to the region. I've used my previous itineraries for some places I've visited before. For instance, I just booked a trip to Vietnam and HK. I've been to the latter before so I'll use the itinerary I had before as well as the custom Google Maps.

I used to print these itineraries out but they fill up about 15 pages for each 7-9 days of travel so now I just save it in PDF and view them in my iPad.

The web has gotten so good for travel research that I don't buy guide books nor use travel agents. DIY is a lot of work but if I ever go on one of those package t ours again, I wouldn't learn as much about the places.

 

[Nemo2]

What is CDA?

Coeur d'Alene?

 

[audreyh1]

For me, the planning and research is part of the experience. It is work but I do it in bursts, some right after deciding to go and then save research in Evernote and finally finish it off in the last couple of weeks before departure.

Heavily use tripit.com and Kayak My Trips. Before that, it was a bunch of word processing docs, with screen shots and text from web sites pasted in.

I put in stuff or list of places that I never end up going to but put in as contingency or for future trips to the region. I've used my previous itineraries for some places I've visited before. For instance, I just booked a trip to Vietnam and HK. I've been to the latter before so I'll use the itinerary I had before as well as the custom Google Maps.

I used to print these itineraries out but they fill up about 15 pages for each 7-9 days of travel so now I just save it in PDF and view them in my iPad.

The web has gotten so good for travel research that I don't buy guide books nor use travel agents. DIY is a lot of work but if I ever go on one of those package t ours again, I wouldn't learn as much about the places.

Yeah - I agree. The planning is part of the experience. Although I would have preferred about half the time on it, but I am inclined to be very thorough. We'll see how well it pays off. I didn't spend this much time last year.

Yeah - my detailed itinerary is in a PDF form to be used on our iOS devices. I also used the Apple Calendar as the primary tool. This is shared among all our iOS devices as it is a shared calendar with DH. It has the fixed information like hotels, tranport, scheduled tours and related confirmation numbers and other details like times and locations, etc. but I still needed to layout our options of what we might want to do any given day and any constraints such as local trains schedules or which days sites are closed. And which days could be swapped around in our schedule, etc.

I also use the Google maps app to mark all the locations of likely interest ahead of time. Makes navigating easy, as well as helping me despcide what works bunched together.

 

[explanade]

Well TripIt lets you link to your calendar.

As a result, TripIt is generating events in both my Google and iOS calendars, with multiple notifications.

Way back when, there was a way to link it and I never bothered to change it.

 

[audreyh1]

Another nice feature of the iOS calendar besides alerts and sharing is that you can attach relevant docs for a given entry and thus see them on other devices. Also notes and urns and shows location maps which links to Apple maps for routing. That's why the iOS calendar has become my primary organizing mechanism for trips.

 

[DrRoy]

Fickle folk that we are, we're now looking at dropping the Vision of the Seas loop in favor of staying on the Monarch and following this itinerary:

Sat Jun 3 Berlin (Rostock), Germany 10:00pm
Sun Jun 4 At Sea
Mon Jun 5 Stavanger, Norway 9:00am 7:00pm
Tue Jun 6 Haugesund, Norway 7:00am 5:00pm
Wed Jun 7 Flam, Norway 7:30am 6:00pm
Thu Jun 8 Skjolden, Norway 7:30am 4:00pm
Fri Jun 9 Alesund, Norway 8:00am 5:00pm
Sat Jun 10 Bergen, Norway 8:00am

Thence the ~ 7 hour train ride to Bergen (which sounds wonderful)......(we've only visited Bergen previously, so the other ports are part of our unfulfilled wish list.)

This sounds like a great itinerary. I'm going to be hitting many of the same places in Norway from the land side next month.

 

[Nemo2]

This sounds like a great itinerary. I'm going to be hitting many of the same places in Norway from the land side next month.

Hope you'll give us a report with pics - the lady next door to us says the train ride, Bergen-Oslo, is 'fantastic'.

 

[38Chevy454]

Just got back from attending Bonneville Speedweek (at Bonneville Slat Flats in UT) and then some days camping around CO. Drove the motorhome, dry camping at Bonneville, then state park or private campground in CO. Was a real nice time, especially since Speedweek has been cancelled due to weather the previous two years. Saw several friends, lots of nice race cars and hot rods, and some beautiful scenery through UT and CO.

 

[ripper1]

Going to Mackinac Island from Chicago in September. Heard it is a nice drive up there. I was there with my family 50 years ago. It was summer and hot. We stayed at the Grand Hotel at which time had no air conditioning. Has anyone been there recently? Looking forward to it. Thanks

 

[ivinsfan]

Thanks!

So, (as of today), this would (likely) be the three B2B cruises:

Tue May 9 Puerto Limon, Costa Rica 4:00pm
Wed May 10 Colon, Panama 7:30am 3:30pm
Thu May 11 Cartagena, Colombia 9:30am 8:00pm
Fri May 12 At Sea
Sat May 13 At Sea
Sun May 14 St. Maarten 10:00am 6:00pm
Mon May 15 Antigua 8:00am 6:00pm
Tue May 16 At Sea
Wed May 17 At Sea
Thu May 18 At Sea
Fri May 19 At Sea
Sat May 20 At Sea
Sun May 21 At Sea
Mon May 22 At Sea
Tue May 23 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal 8:00am 6:00pm
Wed May 24 At Sea
Thu May 25 Lisbon, Portugal

Thu May 25 Lisbon, Portugal 1:00pm
Fri May 26 Vigo, Spain 8:00am 3:00pm
Sat May 27 At Sea
Sun May 28 Cherbourg, France 11:00am 8:00pm
Mon May 29 Paris (Le Havre), France 7:00am 6:00pm
Tue May 30 London (Harwich), England 8:00am 8:00pm
Wed May 31 Amsterdam (IJmuiden), Holland 9:00am 5:00pm
Thu Jun 1 At Sea
Fri Jun 2 Copenhagen, Denmark 7:00am 2:00pm
Sat Jun 3 Berlin (Rostock), Germany 8:00am

Sat Jun 3 Berlin (Rostock), Germany 10:00pm
Sun Jun 4 At Sea
Mon Jun 5 Stavanger, Norway 9:00am 7:00pm
Tue Jun 6 Haugesund, Norway 7:00am 5:00pm
Wed Jun 7 Flam, Norway 7:30am 6:00pm
Thu Jun 8 Skjolden, Norway 7:30am 4:00pm
Fri Jun 9 Alesund, Norway 8:00am 5:00pm
Sat Jun 10 Bergen, Norway 8:00am

Are you finding a great price on this trip and are prices still dropping? I'm curious since you now appear to have a chronic health issue that might need sudden attention, if you feel confident about getting good medical help on a cruise ship.My DH has a new chronic condition that is well under control and medicated, but things can change and in the back of my mind this is a little bit of an issue to my peace of mind when so far away from home.

 

[DrRoy]

Hope you'll give us a report with pics - the lady next door to us says the train ride, Bergen-Oslo, is 'fantastic'.

I won't be taking the train. I want to be on my own schedule to allow for photography. Going to go around by rental car.

 

[DrRoy]

Going to Mackinac Island from Chicago in September. Heard it is a nice drive up there. I was there with my family 50 years ago. It was summer and hot. We stayed at the Grand Hotel at which time had no air conditioning. Has anyone been there recently? Looking forward to it. Thanks

Mackinac Island is fun. Get a bike to go around the island, visit the fort, and have some fudge. There's a butterfly house too if you're in to that.

 

[Nemo2]

Are you finding a great price on this trip and are prices still dropping?

Should be able to provide the cruise costs shortly; for the 3 B2B cruises we currently have 2 different interior cabins, and 1 oceanview for the Norwegian section...will see what a little juggling can come up with. As to pricing, these fares are comparatively low (I believe basic beers/wines are included in the price), and we're not sure (actually we just don't know), if they'll drop further. Will provide more info when available.

I'm curious since you now appear to have a chronic health issue that might need sudden attention, if you feel confident about getting good medical help on a cruise ship.My DH has a new chronic condition that is well under control and medicated, but things can change and in the back of my mind this is a little bit of an issue to my peace of mind when so far away from home.

I have two health issues, (for the price of one ); there's the aneurysm, for which I'm having a Cat Scan on September 09 - if it hasn't grown (substantially) we should be good to go.

If/when these things blow (and hopefully it won't), the chances of making it to a hospital (or anywhere, even if one is at home) appear to be slim and none, so being shipboard isn't really a concern. (I've told DW that, if we're overseas and I clutch my chest and keel over, to just grab my bag, keep walking, and don't look back.)

The second issue is back arthritis/sciatica......I've purchased a cane, and will take painkillers as/when necessary......worst comes to worst I might spend a fair bit of time sitting on deck reading and looking at the ocean.....which ain't so bad. So, in either case, onboard healthcare isn't a primary concern for me.

 

[Nemo2]

I won't be taking the train. I want to be on my own schedule to allow for photography. Going to go around by rental car.

Waiting to see the pics regardless - enjoy!

 

[COcheesehead]

Going to Mackinac Island from Chicago in September. Heard it is a nice drive up there. I was there with my family 50 years ago. It was summer and hot. We stayed at the Grand Hotel at which time had no air conditioning. Has anyone been there recently? Looking forward to it. Thanks

Mackinac is fun, but the harbor town can be crazy busy on the weekends and not everyone knows how to ride a bike.
The "real town" is in the center of the island. Make sure you take some time to hike into the interior. It is peaceful and you can catch a glimpse of how the year-rounders live. There is also a very good German restaurant, The Woods, tucked behind the Grand Hotel. You need to take a carriage to it. I recommend it. If you stay on the island some of the hotels have a DVD of a documentary about the people that live there year round. Very interesting to watch, if you can track down a copy.

 

[ElizabethT]

I spent a nice weekend up in Santa Ynez with some girlfriends.... Sampled some wonderful wines and ate some awesome food. Did not get chased naked through the ostrich farm. (Sideways reference.)

Where did you eat that you enjoyed Rodi? Hubby and I will be RV'ing there in the fall and having already done Hitching Post II, are looking for someplace new.

 

[ElizabethT]

DD just invited me to accompany her on a four day trek along the Inca Trail in Peru up to Machu Picchu. Having been to Machu Picchu previously by train, I am excited at the idea of returning via the Inca trail, the total trek about 26 miles. The daily mileage is totally manageable; it's the altitude that will be the kicker. I have three days to decide, but am leaning strongly toward 'Yes.'

 

[2017ish]

DD just invited me to accompany her on a four day trek along the Inca Trail in Peru up to Machu Picchu. Having been to Machu Picchu previously by train, I am excited at the idea of returning via the Inca trail, the total trek about 26 miles. The daily mileage is totally manageable; it's the altitude that will be the kicker. I have three days to decide, but am leaning strongly toward 'Yes.'

If you do it, please report back. This is on our list of things to do in early years of retirement.

 

[Nemo2]

but am leaning strongly toward 'Yes.'

What, is there any other viable option?

 

[ElizabethT]

If you do it, please report back. This is on our list of things to do in early years of retirement.

Will definitely do so.

What, is there any other viable option?

LOL! Yes, you are quite right that there really is no other option. As soon as DD asked, the ball was set into motion . . .