Blow That Dough 2025

My wife and I had a chef’s pairing dinner at the Little Nell in Aspen. Each course was prepared just for us, not off the menu. Each with its own wine pairing as well. I think with tip it cost us $475. It was not only a great meal, but a great memory. Other guests around us inquired about each course. We met a couple next to us who told us they owned 18 homes. That in and of itself was memorable. So it was a cheap price to pay for something we’ll never forget.
 
COcheesehead said:
My wife and I had a chef’s pairing dinner at the Little Nell in Aspen. Each course was prepared just for us, not off the menu. Each with its own wine pairing as well. I think with tip it cost us $475. It was not only a great meal, but a great memory. Other guests around us inquired about each course. We met a couple next to us who told us they owned 18 homes. That in and of itself was memorable. So it was a cheap price to pay for something we’ll never forget.
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Wow. 18 homes. That IS impressive. I wonder if they have staff to take care of the homes while they are gone. Now that's BTD on steroids.
 
Koolau said:
Wow. 18 homes. That IS impressive. I wonder if they have staff to take care of the homes while they are gone. Now that's BTD on steroids.
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I don’t know. They were super sweet. She looked like a trophy wife, but about 20 years ago. He looked pretty old. I didn’t ask about how they obtained them all, just where they all were. Interesting couple.
 
timbervest said:
  • Amtrak Empire Builder Train Trip Seattle - Minneapolis, luxury cabin. Never been on an overnight train.
  • Maui in May for DW's signficant birthday. Taking DD and DS and their SOs.
  • Danube Viking Cruise in July - Three days in Prague and then 10 days Passau to Budapest.
  • Still planning possible Christmas Markets in early December
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Took the Amtrak Empire Builder from Seattle to Minot ND last month. I had never been in an overnight sleeper car before. BTD for a roomette which was nice although the dining car was out of commission so we ate in our rooms (disappointing). Beautfiul scenery through MT. Chose Minot as destiniation as 1) schedule arrival and 2) I had never been to ND before (check it off the list). Ate at some nice restaurants, sampled the local craft beers, bought gifts at the Scandanavian Heritage Center, drove to Rugby ND (geographic center of North America) and the International Peace Garden on the Canadian board, and flew home FC. All in all a nice trip.
 
timbervest said:
Took the Amtrak Empire Builder from Seattle to Minot ND last month. I had never been in an overnight sleeper car before. BTD for a roomette which was nice although the dining car was out of commission so we ate in our rooms (disappointing). Beautfiul scenery through MT. Chose Minot as destiniation as 1) schedule arrival and 2) I had never been to ND before (check it off the list). Ate at some nice restaurants, sampled the local craft beers, bought gifts at the Scandanavian Heritage Center, drove to Rugby ND (geographic center of North America) and the International Peace Garden on the Canadian board, and flew home FC. All in all a nice trip.
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That sounds awesome. I've watched a lot of YT videos of people doing the Empire Builder route end-to-end. One thing on my to-do list is a train trip through the Canadian Rockies, though I need to do something shorter first to make sure I don't get motion sick.
 
Errollyn said:
That sounds awesome. I've watched a lot of YT videos of people doing the Empire Builder route end-to-end. One thing on my to-do list is a train trip through the Canadian Rockies, though I need to do something shorter first to make sure I don't get motion sick.
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Do it! I took a train trip from Vancouver to Calgary back in the early 80-ies and it still ranks among my top 10 all time travel experiences.
 
The second new bike of the year arrived yesterday. This one is a carbon fiber gravel bike. Just waiting on a top tube bag and it’s ready to roll.
IMG_6329.jpeg
 
timbervest said:
Took the Amtrak Empire Builder from Seattle to Minot ND last month. I had never been in an overnight sleeper car before. BTD for a roomette which was nice although the dining car was out of commission so we ate in our rooms (disappointing). Beautfiul scenery through MT. Chose Minot as destiniation as 1) schedule arrival and 2) I had never been to ND before (check it off the list). Ate at some nice restaurants, sampled the local craft beers, bought gifts at the Scandanavian Heritage Center, drove to Rugby ND (geographic center of North America) and the International Peace Garden on the Canadian board, and flew home FC. All in all a nice trip.
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That sounded great. I bet it was a nice of the beaten path adventure.
 
ArmchairMillionaire said:
Ordered 4 new tires for my El Camino.
~ $775 mounted & balanced.
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Update:
More like $950 with mounting/balancing, including taking one of the old ones and mounting it on a full-size 15X7 aluminum wheel for a spare. Plus a 3-year replacement warranty and limited free repairs and rotation.

Here's some photos:

tires1.jpg


tires2.jpg


Spare.jpg


This BTD is in preparation for a BTD (for us) trip at the end of July to Nappanee, IN to participate in an all El Camino/Caballero car show. Google Maps says it's around 850 miles round-trip.
That will be the longest trip I've taken in the El Camino since I bought it back in 2000 and drove it home to Wisconsin from Phoenix, AZ., which was around 2200 miles one way.
The only caveat with this El Camino show is that it will be at the end of July and the El Camino has no A/C. (or cruise control) We might break the drive up into 2-days there and 2-days back. We could try to do the driving in the mornings, but motels don't like to let people check in until after 3 pm usually.
 
Nice BTD purchases. I love them all.
 
Koolau said:
Wow. 18 homes. That IS impressive. I wonder if they have staff to take care of the homes while they are gone. Now that's BTD on steroids.
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One of my ROMEO friends (West Point Army Colonel - retired) and oil company retiree, owns 53 single family rental homes here in the north Houston area. The business is run by his two middle age sons. Very successful business.
 
aja8888 said:
One of my ROMEO friends (West Point Army Colonel - retired) and oil company retiree, owns 53 single family rental homes here in the north Houston area. The business is run by his two middle age sons. Very successful business.
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The folks I talked to in Aspen had 18 private homes. Not rentals. 18 places where they kept a tooth brush. Crazy.
 
A big BTD for us! DH was previously driving a 2007 Lexus and just bought a 2025 Mercedes E450. Very nice car. It will take us a while how to use the technology built into it. Probably DH’s last car based on how long we keep them.

IMG_1620.jpeg
 
A less significant but still substantial BTD for us has been joining Freedom Boat Club. Much less significant than buying, storing, and maintaining our own boat, and also very convenient. We book a boat online, it’s ready for us when we arrive at the dock, and when we bring it in, we just pay for the fuel we used and tip the dockhands. Having a lot of fun with it since the weather finally warmed up in SW FL.
IMG_1697.jpeg
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Wow... how much does the boat club cost? Do you have access to all locations with what you pay?
 
Sunset said:
Just returned from a trip to Japan for 10 days, plus took a 26 day Viking ocean cruise to return as it went all the way down Alaska.

Not sure I should post here as the total cost was only ~$13K
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That is actually fairly inexpensive for what you did....Viking is not cheap nor is Japan.....
 
Finally got air tickets for our annual pilgrimage to the mainland. Last year we tried two one way tickets. It w*rked out but was twice the w*rk, so this year we went with round trip. Glad to have that decision made. We started late in the process (usually plan 45 days out) but medical issues have slowed us down this year. We finally decided "We're going" and got our tickets. Not cheap but about the same as last year in total.
 
Scuba said:
A big BTD for us! DH was previously driving a 2007 Lexus and just bought a 2025 Mercedes E450. Very nice car. It will take us a while how to use the technology built into it. Probably DH’s last car based on how long we keep them.

View attachment 55715
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Very nice.
 
Just paid almost $7K for a couple of timeshares in Aruba from other owners. For some reason we couldn't do a trade (free) and needed a 2 bedroom and a 1 bedroom. A one bedroom from the resort was $8K for a week :yuk:.
 
deserat said:
That is actually fairly inexpensive for what you did....Viking is not cheap nor is Japan.....
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It surprised me how little we spent.

It was a hot deal from Viking. We also found Japan was cheap. The most expensive site we went to cost only $9 each to enter, and our 4 star hotel including an enormous breakfast buffet was only $214/night and it was just 2 blocks from the Kyoto train station.

To be fair, we did also stay in Narita at a hotel for 3 nights and it was booked on points.
 
My super-big splurge was some cosmetic surgery I'd been wanting for decades and seriously considering for at least the last 8 years. Though I've been pretty slender all my life, my neck was always very thick and I had no jawline to speak of - I always hated my profile - even when I weighed 110 pounds - I had a hard time looking at my engagement and wedding photos!

So I found a great surgeon in Chicago and had a deep plane neck lift / lower facelift done a couple weeks ago. It cost a pretty penny but typically takes 10 years off your face and lasts for 10 years, so considering that it wasn't so bad...ha. It's still a little early to see the full effects and if I get brave I might even post some before and afters. Folks on here seldom mention cosmetic surgery, maybe because of the preponderance of males in the community? I waited a long time and am glad I finally went for it - vanity be d****d!
 
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