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Panama Canal Cruise
Early 2017 found me happily retired and planning adventure after adventure. As we were planning our trip to China (in March and early April), I noticed a fantastic deal on a cruise through the Panama Canal with one of our favorite cruise companies, Holland America. (Yes, its for people like us who don’t stay up late partying and like some of the more “genteel” entertainments — cooking classes, academic lectures and classical music.) Anyway, the deal was so good, that I thought, “heck, why not?” and I booked our 20 day cruise and added an extra few days on our own in the Florida Keys since we landed in…
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China
We booked out trip with a Diamond Bar, CA (local for us) company called Intertrips. We got such a great deal, I sometimes wonder if the Chinese government subsidizes tourism. We started our China vacation on the Metrolink train from Rancho Cucamonga in to Union Station in Los Angeles. From Union Station to LAX, we had to get on a BUS. The “Fly Away bus isn’t too bad, but there really should be trains that go to all of the airports. I’ve heard that the reason trains like Metrolink don’t go to the airports is that the taxi unions opposed them for obvious reasons. Well, their business is becoming history…
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Our September in Hawaii
I began a tradition of taking our college graduate daughters on a trip a few years ago. (I think we gave Danny money for Lasik surgery — buy Danny, get that PHD and, we’ll take you somewhere cool too.) I took Heidi to London and Paris back in early 2003 and April and I went to New York City when she graduated a few years later. Hayley graduated with a Bacherlor of Science degree in Nursing from Loma Linda last year. Her first priority was getting a job, but we knew after she got a few months in, we’d like to take her somewhere as well. Last year at our…
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Our Cruise to Mexico
Here are a few highlight of our Mexican Riviera Cruise on the Crown Princess Puerta Vallarta We had a blast in Puerta Vallarta Zip-Lining, Rappelling, Water Sliding The day in Puerta Vallarta started with a boat ride to a hidden cove south of the city and port. After the boat ride, we all loaded up in these yellow Mercedes climbers to get high up in the mountains to the rain forest. We’re kissing because we’re glad to still be alive and we have no idea what’s coming up for us. After the yellow vehicles, its on to a mule to make it to the true outback. The first line…
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Weekend in Northern Utah and Bryce Canyon National Park
On Friday night, we started our weekend out with a quick stop at Smith & Edwards (on our way out to Brigham City). Smith & Edwards is part army surplus, part thrift store and a whole lot of Wal Mart. They have some unusual candies too….if you want an “Idaho Spud” this is your place. And yeah, we picked up a couple….just because we could — and can’t in Southern California. We still haven’t opened one up to eat it yet, I’m not sure they’re even any good?! Because we were in Brigham City, we HAD to get some cherries and they’re ALWAYS good! https://www.facebook.com/UtahsFamousFruitWay/ And, the reason we were in…
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Las Vegas Baby
Weekend in Vegas One thing I’ve learned about going to Vegas is you’ve got to have a plan….if you don’t, you end up just wandering the streets and watching the fountains in front of the Bellagio with every other drifting tourist. So this time, I got tickets to a few events a couple of months ago. We started our weekend in Vegas on Friday afternoon with dinner at Margaritaville.….not so much for the food as for the outside table overlooking the strip. People watching in Vegas is an extreme sport and we were not disappointed — European tourists, exhibitionists, lots of flirting, and tons of tattoos. After our…
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Sleepy Hollow at Riley’s Farm
We’ve celebrated several of John’s October Birthdays in Oak Glen, California at Riley’s Farm for their Sleepy Hollow Dinner and Fun Activity Night! We always have an amazing time. On the scary hay ride with Ichabod Crane We participated in all the contests…..pumpkin seed spitting (Ned was the leader) Apple Bobbing Oh, the Todd Girls…I think our family wins most of the prizes any year we happen to be there. Pumpkin Carving Pie eating and more
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Zip Lining in Big Bear
On Saturday, John and I, along with Heidi, Ned, Ella and Asher; went up to Big Bear Lake for a zip lining adventure. We had purchased Groupon packages for Christmas and needed to use them before they expired. All harnessed up and ready to fly. Our Entire Zip-Lining Group Up 95 Feet Waiting for the Next Zip (as you can see, we were all harnessed in). We had a great time up in the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains. Here is a video of John coming down the final zip line.
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Our Balloon Ride — Up With 10 Passengers, Down with 6…What’s Up (or Down) With That?
All my life I’ve looked forward to someday going up in a hot air balloon. I think it all may have started with my early obsession with the Wizard of Oz. When we were kids, there were no videos and when this movie came on TV once a year, it was a big deal. We carefully laid out blankets in front of the black and white TV (we knew that OZ was in color but it didn’t matter to us), popped popcorn, and nothing could drag us away. Last year, I bought a prepaid discounted balloon ride package from Zozi (a now-defunct company like Groupon) and intented to use it…
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Washington D.C. and Virginia
To some people a vacation means doing nothing. If I want to lay around and do nothing, I’ll just stay home and save the money. To me a vacation means getting out and seeing new places, trying new foods, and, best of all, learning something new. Staying in bed beyond, say, 8:00 (at home or on the road) becomes kind of tortuous for me. I often just get up and leave the room for a walk, jog or to get a snack and read the local paper while my poor exhausted traveling companions snooze away. (Some of my favorite times have often been these little solitary reprieves.)So, with that, earlier…
