RE: O/T: Advance Planning

DC to VT is only half the 1200mi.

Reply to
krw
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AFAIK, the "car-train" only operates between (somewhere outside of) DC down to one location in FL. It's *not* cheap.

Real cost? I don't mind driving, up to about 12hrs per day, anyway. I haven't done it for more than two days (in a *long* time, anyway), though.

Reply to
krw

I don't find that surprising at all. It's difficult to live very far from family. Most don't want to do it. That's one reason so many are unemployed, while there are loads of jobs around the country.

Reply to
krw

Or take a cruise ship. I HATE sitting in the cramped seats of commercial aircraft for any length of time. I have more room in my buddy's '46 Aircoupe!!!! (and anyone who's flown in one of those knows that's saying something - for a 6'2" 220 pounder.

Reply to
clare

FLying only takes hours, rather than days and is *far* cheaper. If I'm going on a cruise (I don't want to - I'd be bored stiff), it'll be on one of the Alaska cruises.

Reply to
krw

We went on an Alaskan cruise. Only thing to do on board is eat, gamble, or buy stuff. The ports of call are solid gift shops for a square mile around the dock (OK, a slight exaggeration, but only slight).

The only things that made the cruise bearable were the scenery (for a few hours of the 6 days) and the storm that made even the crew seasick, but not us - yes, gloating is cruel, but it's fun :-). And because of the storm, we made an unscheduled stop in Vancouver and they have a great natural history museum.

I won't say my wife will never drag me on another, but I'd have consider whether a divorce would be preferable :-).

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

There's drinking, too. I don't touch the stuff (anymore) so that's out. Unless they have woodworking stores, I wouldn't buy anything, so there is another reason to skip the whole thing. ;-)

Good to know! I thought there would be a lot more scenery than that. I don't think I get seasick (never had an issue with motion sickness) but don't really want to know. I have no sensitivity to Poison Ivy but I'm not about to keep trying it, either.

I've sent my wife on a few cruises with her mother and friends. ...a double win! ;-)

Reply to
krw

If I want to go to a beach (Redneck Riviera in three weeks ;-), I'll go to a beach. There is no reason to spend a week on a boat to do it. I can eat at home and do too much of it here. Vacation diets are already a disaster - don't need more help. ;-)

Reply to
krw

I did too, but a lot of the time we were out of sight of the coast. One wave and/or pier looks a lot like another. We spent a few hours looking at places where glaciers used to be (no, I'm not kidding) and we took a side excursion from Skagway on the train. Those were the scenic moments.

To be fair, there were supposedly better viewing spots in Glacier Bay, but because of the weather the captain decided going to those spots was too risky.

P.S. He was a *cautious* Italian - apparently not the same one who wrecked the Costa Concordia :-).

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

Well, for me and my wife, cruising is a real holiday.We can sit on the deck, or on the balcony - in the warmth of the caribean when it's blowing snow and cold and miserable at home. We can visit different places and stay in the same hotel room every night, where my wife doesn't need to cook or clean. The alaskan cruise had LOADS of scenery and we lucked out and only had half a day of rain,and very little fog. We got out of the touristy souvenier shops as quickly as possible, and did a lot of walking and took public transit or grabbed a tour off-ship. Saved a bundle and had a good time. On our Mediteranean cruise (first cruise of the spring season) it was cold and windy and nasty for a few days, but Madiera and the Canary Islands more than made up for it - we rented a car on Tennerif and drove up Mount Tiede? -a drive of a lifetime. Rented a mini-taxi in Cassablanca, and walked around Marseille. Then took the hop-on hop-off tour bus around Barcelona. The flight home was HELL. Prior to the cruise we spent a week in Austria - 2 days on business in Gunskirchen then touring by rented car to Salzburg via Hallstatt, and then back to Vienna. Fantastic scenery, friendly folks, and good spring weather.

Much prefered any of our cruises to a week at an all inclusive resort

- but Cuba was definitely worth seeing once.

Getting to the ship and back is generally the worst part of a cruise vacation - and I LOVE flying. But not packed like cattle into a "flying school-bus" for several hours - or days.

I've done enough very long distance flying that consider the commercial flight portion of a trip a holiday any more. Can't move. Can't see anything. It's noizy and uncomfortable. Half the time it's dirty. The food is lousy - and did I mention - it's UNCOMFORTABLE for a long-leggedke me.

Wife wants to go to Hawaii. Wouldn't mind it myself. Flying to San Fransisco be enough flying. I'd drive it if I had the time - and enjoy it more than the flight even though at my age I need to get out and tretch every hour or so or my back and legs REALLY complain when I finally do get out. Would love to do the old Route 66 out, but would want at least a week both ways, added to the 2 week cruise, and another week in Cali. Been 22 years since I was last in Frisco and years since I last drove across the great plains (to Tulsa) Would want to finally drive the PCH (closed due to quake last time I was out), Redwood Canyon again, and Monterey.

A few days on the ship each way from Frisco to Hawaii sounds a lot better to me than a day each way on the plane!!!

Reply to
clare

If you ever do and want to do non-touristy things, rent a car and drive around Round Top and Mt. Tantalus (same road). In town, easily accessible from Waikiki. Great mountain forest, views of the town, etc. I lived there nearly 40 years and I liked that drive so much I'd do it at least once a year.

Another interesting drive is the old Pali Road. It went from the leeward to windward side of the island through Nuuanu Valley, up the mountain, then wound down a precipitous road carved out of the mountain side. Hairy. Most is gone, Pali Highway and a tunnel replaced it, but there is still a portion left on the Honolulu side, reached by a turnoff from Pali Highway. The attractions are jungle and views of Nuuanu Stream.

A third dadiOH recommendation is the Honolulu Art Museum. It is on Beretania Street (one way toward downtown) about a mile from downtown and two miles from Waikiki. About half of it is Oriental art, the other half "conventional" including Gauguin and Van Gogh. The building itself is - IMO - an extremely attractive one...a fine example of what tropical architecture should be.

There used to be a lot of other interesting things but most of what enchanted me has been razed in favor of high rises and traffic :(

I just thought of another. If you like to walk, go to the end of the road in Manoa Valley and hike up to Manoa Falls. It is an easy walk and Manoa valley is only about three miles from Waikiki.

As a bit of trivia, Manoa gets about 300 inches of rain annually, Waikiki, maybe 20. The reason is that the trade winds have picked up a lot of water; when they hit the leeward side they are forced up by the mountains; up=cooler, cooler=rain. You can sit in Waikiki and watch the clouds forming over the mountains; those clouds then blow toward Waikiki but rarely get there because they are dissipated by the ever dryer air.

Reply to
dadiOH

We do that with our toes in the sand on the FL beach. We have the car available if we want to go somewhere, too. She actually does cook, a little, and sure, there is a little cleaning. Very little, actually, in a week. We rent an entire four-bedroom (two masters) house for about $1300 for the week. My wife has a friend, who she sees only once or twice a year, come see us and this year the kid and his wife will join us.

I guess that was the other Alaska. ;-)

Yeah, flying is no longer a vacation. It's much more work than work. I'll be doing the VT run next Wednesday but it's only four hours end to end. Two days driving back won't be fun but it's my penance for wrecking the wife's toy.

I bet I know which side you're on in the great seat-back debate. ;-)

Sure. Skip the flight and Hawaii and I'll do the couple of weeks back and forth to the left coast. My ideal vacation has always been a class-A for a month in the west. Maybe some day.

I don't mind flying quite that much. My wife absolutely hates it, though. For Hawaii or Australia, she would probably get over it.

Reply to
krw

Well, I'm over 6'1" and I've gon my ass, so sitting in a plane is pure torture. Back when I flew to Zambia and back they didn't pack as many people into a plane as they do today - I'm sure I had 4 inches more leg room back in the seventiesorst ones today are the bloody charters!!!! Sunwing to Cuba or whatever the planes are set up for pymies with no legs, or possibly for Chinese tourists, who tend to be a bit more compact.

Reply to
clare

OK, I'm going to be called a net nanny, but c'mon guys, there were 127 lines in the last post and only 6 of them were new. Is cutting the excess really that difficult?

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

Only 127? Perhaps you should invest in a set of scroll bars. ;-)

Reply to
krw

Well, I clicked on "show article information" in Pan and it said 127 - perhaps it doesn't count wrapped lines as 2.

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

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