After an endless ride to Dulles Airport (the most ill-planned airport I’ve been in), we boarded our plane and had a safe New Year’s Eve flight home. Overall, it was a good trip, we missed a lot of nasty weather, saw a lot of the country, and have some good memories. – January 2008

SHORT VERSION OF OUR RV TRIP

Late last fall, Bob bought an RV. We meticulously planned a route and picked RV parks from various websites. On May 2, 2007 we set out on our adventure. Murphy (as in Murphy’s Law) tried to hitch a ride, but we soon got rid of him after a few RV repairs.

We left from Leesburg, FL where the RV was stored. We headed west on I-10 to Texas where we picked up US 90 and headed to Big Bend National Park. We stayed in the Park for two nights and a friendly roadrunner kept us company as did the turkey vultures and a javelina. We hiked here and there and relaxed. Then to Terlingua just west of the west entrance to the Park for three nights. We took an all-day canoe trip on the Santa Elena River and managed to tip the canoe twice…good thing the water was warm. The half day Jeep trip the next day was pretty tame by comparison. We then moved on to Carlsbad Caverns…greatly changed since the ‘50’s. One night we stopped at an RV park in the boonies just west of Magdalena, NM where a lynx walked by the RV. Outside of Alpine, AZ, we took US 191 south…DON’T ever try this road, even in a car! It’s very dangerous and Bob admitted he was scared driving it later that day. Had a nice stay in Benson, AZ, and then on to a day in Tombstone and a mine tour. Back to I-10 to I-8 and Borrego Springs, CA. Spent three days in a resort, played tennis, went through the Park, and relaxed.

After leaving Borrego Springs, we thought we’d head up US 395. Fine, but first we had to fight the wind on I-10 through the Palm Springs area and couldn’t wait to get out of ‘windmill alley’ and the ugly windmills on all the hillsides. Of course the smog made it look like 7PM dusk even though it was mid-morning. We had hoped to get to the Bodie Ghost Town site, but the Miller Mobile wasn’t quite up to the last three miles of the gravel and dust road. After a night in a crummy RV park, we wanted out of expensive California ASAP, so we thought we’d stay in Reno. Wrong again. After another less-than-delightful RV park in Winnemucca, NV we took the scenic route into Oregon. We gradually made our way over to the coast, but did make stops at the High Desert Museum and a Lewis & Clark fort. On the coast, we stayed in Pacific City just a block off the beach. We bundled up and walked it a few times for exercise. In a week’s time we had gone from 101 in the desert to 50-55 on the coast.

After a two-day stop in Portland, OR, including a tour of the Columbia Gorge (awesome!) and a stop at Camping World, we headed into Washington. We found a super state park on a lake and were happy to stay there for two or three nights. We walked the lake trail and Daniel Boone took us on a walk/hike to wherever. It was beautiful in the woods, the half-mile straight up hill was not so nice, but we eventually made it back to the RV. The Grand Coulee Dam tour was interesting as was running into (almost literally) two herds of cattle being moved from pasture to pasture on the highway in Washington and Idaho.

Three nights in West Glacier were enough. We rented a car, but couldn’t get through Glacier NP because the Going-To-The-Sun road was under repair from a flood last fall. So onward to Yellowstone. That was a major disaster, but Old Faithful did blow her cork for us shortly after we got there. OK, we’ll stay in Jackson for a few days and raft, see wildlife, etc. Wrong again! With a film festival in town that weekend, there was no room at the inn, out or anywhere. We ended up in a crappy town about 20 miles south in a crappy park. Guess that was it for Bob, since he then announced we were heading home.

We got to I-80 east and barreled towards Moline where we stayed for three nights. I/we visited with friends and Bob listed the RV for sale online. It took two more nights to make it back to Leesburg where we cleaned out everything and cleaned the RV. Although Murphy tried to hop a ride back to Florida, I kicked his butt off and wouldn’t allow him to hassle us anymore.

We had an overall good time, but were happy to get home. The icing on cake turned out to be the sale of the RV just two weeks and two days after it was listed.

Trip statistics: gone 47 days; stopped at 33 places, only 8 of which we had chosen ahead of time; spent $3,240 on gas for the RV; traveled through 22 states, not including FL.  -- June 2007

 HAWAII 2007

Day 1 was a travel day. Flights were blah and dull; however, I believe that’s how flights should be. Seeing the southwest from 38,000 feet was the only point of interest. A Princess representative met us right outside the secure area at LAX…a good sign. Got our luggage (another good sign), and boarded a bus along with several other arrivals for the Island Princess. LA weather was very windy and cold (60 maybe?).The boarding procedure at the ship was rather annoying, but we sure liked our stateroom. Dumped the carry-on bag and the laptop and searched for food. It was about 1:30 CA time (4:30 FL time) and our tummies were screaming for food since all we’d had up ‘til then was a muffin at the Fort Lauderdale airport and a turkey wrap we grabbed in Atlanta to ‘enjoy’ on the flight to LA. Our checked bags finally found their way to our stateroom; we got unpacked and tried not to nap too seriously. But getting up at 4AM and losing 3 hours to get to LA had taken its toll and we were tired.

The four days at sea were lackluster. We rocked and rolled the first twenty-four hours in rough seas. The seas were so rough those first two days it was hard to walk anywhere. The weather remained very cool, warmed up a tad by the third day and the fourth day it was in the low 70’s. We were finally able to sit on the verandah and walk around deck 7. We both had headaches that were hard to get rid of, so we sure weren’t the life of any party.

Land Ho! Sun and 80! We saw a whale while anchored at Kona and saw dolphins while tendering to and from the pier. First wildlife we’ve seen. We had chosen a short shore excursion that was OK. The driver never stopped talking about the area. Such facts as: 1) The Kona coffee industry will soon be extinct because the school board changed the school year. Yes, really. Plantation owners relied on their entire family to help harvest the coffee and the kids could help during the summer break--August to November. But summer vacation was changed to May to August so the kids could play football in the fall. 100,000 acres of coffee plants are now down to 2,000 thanks to football. A sorry statement of priorities. 2) Most homeowners in Kona have cisterns to catch rainwater; otherwise, they have to have water trucked in. That’s living in paradise? 3) A 1 BR home on lava starts at $400,000, and an earthquake any time will cause a tsunami up to at least 500’ in elevation- why live there? 4) Kona is the site of the annual Iron Man competition every October…whoopee.

Around the island to Hilo and it’s overcast, cool and rainy most of the day. But at least we didn’t have to tender like yesterday. Today’s excursion was a bus ride to a 4-wheel drive van pick-up point which took us down the steepest road in the US into Waipi’o valley where we boarded a mule-driven wagon for a ride in the valley. The valley was wiped out by a tsunami in 1945…the concrete steps to a long-gone church are all that remain of that era. But people are actually back and living in this valley that can be wiped out again. Why? Who wants to drive up and down that road every day? And you must only drive it in a 4-wheel drive vehicle or kiss yourself goodbye. This is the rainy side of the Big Island, the least visited by tourists, has cheaper housing and no beaches. Today’s fountain of knowledge (a/k/a the bus driver) passed along info like 1) There are no more sugar cane fields on the island because of increased costs…it takes 2,000 gallons of water to clean one pound of sugar. 2) Mongooses were introduced to get rid of the rats. Little did the early settlers know that mongooses hunt during the day, the rats at night, and never the twain shall meet. So they’re overrun with both. The highlight of the day was going into Hilo and seeing a whale breach twice and dolphins or young whales breaking the water.

Today we were docked in Honolulu at a nice area to get out and walk around. No guided tours today, just our own self-guided, $8, see-a –good-portion-of-Oahu-by-city-bus tour. We walked for a while, got on a bus and ended up at Waikiki Beach. We walked around the so-so zoo and got on another bus that zipped right along the coast, giving us great views. We transferred to another bus to return via another route. We saw about a third of the island this way, and I was surprised to see it’s all inhabited…no countryside at this end of the island. Diamond Head is kind of puny now that it’s extinct. The ‘mountains’ are a lush green and pretty in their own way. Weather today was back to sunny and 80.

Next stop was Nawiliwili on Kauai. It’s cool again and partly sunny on east side of this lush island. It’s so very different from the other islands we’ve stopped at so far…very green, small population, beaches, and agricultural fields. Unfortunately, the sugar cane industry has almost died on this island. We had pre-booked an excursion to Waimea Valley which was quite colorful and pretty. At a stop to see Spouting Rock—a geyser in the lava—we saw two whales breaching off in the distance. Again we had a very informative bus driver…this tour company obviously trains their employees well.

The humpback whale season is almost over, but we saw several while approaching Lahina this morning. Since we anchored on the west side of Maui, it’s sunny and warm again. Today’s shore excursion was a bust. We were supposed to go to Iao Valley and stop at a tropical plantation. The plantation was the first stop and much too long. Iao Valley wasn’t much after seeing Waimea yesterday and the Needle wasn’t terribly impressive. Of course, we had another informative bus driver, but most of the info is repetitive by now. This island isn’t as lush as Kauai; but there is some open space for the moment, unlike Oahu. Sadly, there is only one working sugar processing plant left in operation; Kauai has the only other plant in the state. Everywhere it seems agriculture is giving way to real estate—very expensive real estate—that people from around the world are buying. The end-of-the-day treat was seeing a young whale play as we were leaving Lahina and a short distance later an adult whale repeatedly slapping its tail in the water. Calling the kid home?

For the most part, the sea days returning to the mainland were much better than going to Hawaii. Sun and warmer temps were a big help. We sat on the verandah a lot and I walked deck 7 a few times…3 times around made a mile, so I tried to do 3 miles. One day was a little cool, but our last day at sea with a winner. Thanks to a stupid immigration law, we had to go to Ensenada, Mexico before returning to LA because any ship sailing within the US has to anchor in a foreign port before entering the US. Guess this is just another bureaucratic way of employing a few people and annoying many. The travel day home was long and dull once again; but we were safely home by 1AM.

Overall, this was a good trip. We like the Princess atmosphere, service and their excellent organization of tours, disembarkation—everything. We used the steps almost all the time to get a little exercise; we were five decks above the dining room, so we got a lot of steps in. We didn’t hit too many evening shows because the entertainment wasn’t too great, except for one comedian who had everyone laughing constantly all three nights he was on with his Relationships I, II and III monologues. And ladies, we can’t complain about kitchen duty any more. How would you like to cook 3,000 eggs, peel 1,500 pounds of potatoes, bake 5,000 cookies, and wash 13,000 dishes every single day? If you’d like to do that, just go to work on a cruise ship. If you prefer other housework, you could change a thousand or more beds every day, clean umpteen bathrooms, or wash all the sheets, towels, and table linen every day.

With the exception of Lahina, every port of call had a person from WalMart offering free shuttles to the local store. It’s a sad state of affairs if you have to spend big bucks to travel several thousand miles just to go to a WalMart. Fortunately, we were the only cruise ship in each port of call except Lahina where a smaller ship was in a different port. In fact, we never saw another ship on the sea until we were headed back to LA when we saw a freighter fairly close…must be a narrow ship lane out there.

After we and our checking accounts recover from our big RV trip, we may consider another cruise. And Princess will be our first choice based on this excellent experience. However, Holland America still wins the best chocolate chip cookie award.    -- April 2007

OUR SELF-GUIDED CANADIAN MISADVENTURE

It really wasn't all bad. Just a lot of little things that went wrong or just weren't what we expected and they added up to a big, expensive disappointment since we had paid for first class service all the way. However, we stayed in some very nice $400-$800 hotel rooms that we normally wouldn't stay in and saw wildlife from the bus and train – a few bears, deer, mountain goats, sheep, lots of elk and bald eagles. And the weather was sunny most days, but cold at Lake Louise.

We were under the silly notion that this was a guided trip. Arriving at the Halifax airport with no one to say "Hi" was the bad start. The hotel was nice and we would have liked to spend more time in the historic town than spend the next day on a dumb bus going to a frigid, windy cove with a lighthouse. Again, we remind ourselves: no more all-day tours.

The VIA Rail train ride to Montreal was pure hell…and it was allegedly a 'new' train. The cramped quarters passing for a deluxe room were a downer, as was riding backwards unless we went to the dome (doom?) car. The food was absolutely awful; after the lunch and dinner, we skipped the breakfast. Of course, arriving in Montreal at 8:30AM meant no room available yet. The desk clerk gave us directions to a great place for breakfast, so off we went…good food was definitely needed by now.

Montreal was a good stop after the lousy train…even though it cost us $83 CAD to get some laundry done. The big surprise here was the complete underground city…yes, shops galore UNDER the whole downtown area and buildings. This is because winters are so harsh and long; people can get off the commuter trains underground, do their shopping, etc. In fact, our hotel (the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth) is on top of the underground VIA Rail station.

The coach train ride to Toronto wasn't too bad. The wine never stopped flowing and the food was actually tasty. Another Fairmont hotel, but like all franchises, not all of the hotels are created equal. Overall, we didn't care for Toronto as much as Montreal, and the city tour wasn’t as good either. We did go up in the CN Tower and got a few pics and a good view.

Finally, some beautiful fall foliage as we head west on a VIA Rail train again (yuk). Kind of neat as the train snaked its way through the colorful trees. Two days of eat, sit, eat, sit, watch the scenery, eat, sit.

Next stop was Just Another Silly Place Extracting Revenue, arriving two hours late. Of course, we expected to be met at the station since we had a voucher for the cab.  Wrong.  Called for a cab that eventually showed up and were told they take care of the locals before the tourists! This from a tourist town cab driver. Are there really that many locals that use a cab?! Only one night here; then on the bus for the day sightseeing on the way to Lake Louise, stopping at the Athabasca Glacier for the ride onto the glacier…too cold out there!

Fortunately we had a room in the new wing at Chateau Lake Louise, but the first night's dinner was rather bad, especially since is was $125.00 (we were on the food plan, fortunately). The Fairmont breakfasts have been $25/each for the buffet or order off the menu. Here we both ordered off the menu (much to the waiter's disgust) and then he tells Bob his oatmeal might put him over the limit. Excuse me! We can have two $25 buffets, but a $20 item and $18 item off the menu means his oatmeal is over $12?! The waiter sure back-pedaled when presented with that argument, but this was the kind of crap we had to put up with the whole time. Dinner was in a different restaurant that night and much better than the previous night...and only $98. It's cold here, but we bundled up and took a few walks. We should have stayed two nights in Jasper and only one night here since there's not much to do.

On the bus ride to Be Aware Nothing For Free, we were told there are only 120 bears in Banff National Park – 60 brown and 60 grizzlies. Fences are now up on the highways to keep the animals from getting killed crossing the road to greet the love of their life. Now they use culverts or overpasses made just for them. The Banff Springs Hotel is truly a castle. We wandered all over it, kind of creepy in some spots and grandiose in others. A morning bus tour included a gondola ride for views of the area; then we just walked around town for a while.

The departure was absolutely a nightmare. Rocky Mountaineer had only two representatives outside (in just above freezing weather) to handle three busloads of people going on to Vancouver. Then we're told to find our bags, put these new tags on them, and take them to the driver for loading. (This is first class?) A kindergarten kid could have organized this better and I rated it poor on the RM form.

The Rocky Mountaineer train ride was quite nice and service was excellent. It only runs during the day (to enjoy the scenery), so that night we were in Kamloops, at a non-Fairmont hotel. The next day it was back on Rocky Mountaineer, on to Vancouver and the end of the unorganized trip. Bob's bag wasn't in the room with mine, but it did arrive shortly thereafter. And we were actually able to change the dinner plan from Friday night to Saturday night without too much hassle.

The day on our own in Vancouver was pleasant. We were at the waterfront and took a long walk and a half-day tour. The crowning event of this day was the notice when we got back to the room that the power would be off from 12:30AM to 5:30AM.   Wonderful…we have to get up at 4 to leave at 5 for our 7AM flight home.

Bob's comment the next morning was to wonder what American Airlines could do to mess up our day. He had bought our plane tickets and used some of his miles to upgrade us to first class. From Vancouver to Dallas we were crammed behind the on-board luggage compartment with less legroom than the coach passengers. Not all the first class seats were taken, so we moved. From Dallas to Ft. Lauderdale we weren't so lucky.

Needless to say, we're so glad to be home and rid of the group effect and trip problems.  So glad, in fact, that we've booked a cruise to Hawaii next spring.       -- October 2006

 MOVING - Part 2

I spent the winter of 2005-06 in my ‘new’ Florida condo and we did more rehab work…and played tennis almost every day. I did go to the monthly condo meetings that were nothing but shouting matches since no one can hear. Then throw in the after effects of hurricane Wilma and the shouting increased. It’s a very political association; it’s amazing anything gets taken care of. 

Anyway, back to Illinois in early April to put that condo up for sale. Little did I know at the time that the market had taken a dive since I had been gone. After two open houses, appointments to show the place and people just showing up out of nowhere to see it (do you have a phone and know how to use it?), it finally sold in late June. Hallelujah!! Movers came July 19^th and we were on our way to FL on the 20^th. Cleaning out what was left after my major cleanout in fall 2005 wasn’t too bad. I was very fortunate that good friends had bought most everything. Only needed a few trips to Goodwill, the Discovery Shop and the new women’s shelter.

A three-day drive to FL, unload the car, unpack the boxes and suitcases, and re-arrange cupboards and closets in anticipation of the movers' arrival. Since it would be a week before the movers delivered my stuff, I ran around to get driver's license, tags, registration, and title. Jumped through more hoops to get that stuff than any illegal immigrant would have to go through. But I was officially a Floridian by the time the movers arrived July 31^st. By the evening of Aug 1^st, 97% of the boxes were ready for the trash and the contents put away. Now to get ready for our celebratory trip! - August 2006

MOVING - Part 1

In April 2005, I went through trauma of buying a condo in Florida. I own a condo in Illinois and had no clue about the totally insane condo association rules and regulations in Florida. Suffice it to say that I did not comply with their ridiculous demands, but was granted a Certificate of Approval to buy the place and move in. Yes, a Certificate of Approval…as though I were a used car ready to be put on the lot. I didn’t give it much credence ‘til my realtor called me in IL needing that silly piece of paper. She was representing me at the closing, so I told her where to find it. Turns out it was actually recorded by the County Recorder! 

Then came the major rehab of the place, ably supervised by my Significant Other, Bob. The seller was not Ms. Neat & Clean and left some of her stuff for us to get rid of (another Florida tradition). The ‘before’ pictures Bob took were scary; the ‘after’ pictures I took when I returned in May looked much better. There’s still some work to be done, and we’ll get those projects taken care of eventually…at least the place is CLEAN now from top to bottom. 

Of course, I had to go through everything in my Illinois home and clean out really well because I can’t move everything to Florida. Fortunately, almost everything was spoken for by friends. Yea me! Now I just need a buyer. 

And then there’s all the financial and personal stuff to take care of here and there…driver’s license (hope I don’t have to take a test in Florida), car title and license, checking accounts, direct deposits, finding assorted new doctors, attorney, accountant…it goes on and on.  The good news: This summer I found a stylist to color and trim my hair! Hey, we women have our priorities.

Stay tuned for part 2  - December 2005

HOW I SPENT MY AUTUMN VACATION

My dear friend, Bob Miller, and I just returned from an 18-day cruise through the Panama Canal. We flew to Los Angeles to board the ms Oosterdam and cruise back to Fort Lauderdale. It was a fun, enjoyable trip and getting back to real life is not something we want to do. Eighteen days was not too long or boring and definitely makes a seven-day cruise seem not worth the trouble of packing or hassle of getting to your embarkation point.

We had a great stateroom with our own balcony, of course (the only way to cruise). Some mornings, we had room service; other mornings Bob brought coffee, muffins, fruit and cereal to our room (several gold stars for my guy!). Lunch offered many choices…the grill, the sandwich bar, or a full course meal. For dinner, we preferred the buffet to the dining room. The coffee was rich and strong, exactly as we like it. We ate tons of fresh fruit…why not, when someone else has done all the work? And it was all so very fresh and tasty. My only downfall was the chocolate chunk (not chip) cookies; but I did restrain myself some of the time. Spa treatments caused nasty blemishes, so no more money down that drain. I used the gym regularly to keep up with some weight workouts and jogging on the treadmill. Bob enjoyed the golf simulator.

For me, water is somewhat mesmerizing. I could stand or sit on our balcony for hours just watching the world go by. We had requested a port side room to see land most of the time. We watched for fish for hours it seems. Saw lots of flying fish and dolphins. Bob saw a shark (we weren’t together at the time, darn). But I did see some big fish jump out of the water. We couldn’t get over the small turtles we were seeing so far from land; we later learned they feed on jellyfish, but it’s still a long way from a beach to where we saw them. The best sight was a seagull standing on a turtle (really!) watching the ship go by.

Four stops in Mexico equaled plenty of Mexico. We got off in Guatemala for a short walk while everyone else spent time and money on excursions. Missed the planned stop in Nicaragua because of ocean swells that made tendering unsafe. The Costa Rica stop made us swear to never take an all-day excursion again. Curacao, a Dutch island, was a welcome sight after the Pacific ports…very European. Tortola, a British island, was another once-is-enough Atlantic stop. The last stop was HAL’s private island in the Bahamas where the long white sand beach was quite nice (why pay for a beach excursion when this is free?).

The highlight of the trip, of course, was going through the Panama Canal. We arrived at the southeast entrance (yes, the Pacific entrance is east of the Atlantic entrance) very early in the morning. Juice, coffee and rolls were offered on decks that never see food served on them. By 9 AM, those carts were replaced with the booze carts. 1800+ passengers couldn’t all get a good view heading into the locks, but I managed. How can a ship 106’ wide fit in that skinny little lock? We were behind another HAL ship and in front of a Celebrity ship, so we could see close up just what was happening to our ship as we watched the other ships. After going through the first lock, no one cared about the other two locks. Traveling through the canal was pretty in it’s own way with many islands and jungle growth down to the water. At both the Pacific and Atlantic entrances, cruise ships and freighters were patiently waiting for their turn to go through. Apparently cruise ships have priority during daylight hours…after all, that’s what we paid for. It cost the Oosterdam $200,000 to get through…so Panama must be making a good buck on the Canal these days.