The Day Before the Trip…June 2017

June 12, 2017, Monday, 0510

Altimeter Reading – 2733

High Desert Foothills in Palmdale CA

Miles today N/A , Mileage Gas prices $2.79(Costco),

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The sun is just coming up in a very cool 46 degree morning in the Antelope Valley.  Crazy to be wearing a long sleeve shirt and thick workout pants when the weather by this weekend is predicted to be 109.

Buy day today.  Bringing the Honda into the car wash for a wash, wax and interior cleanup.  Libby tells me I am a bit off as in two hours after take off tomorrow it will be covered with bugs and road grim anyway but, it is just my way.

Meeting with the folks who are watching our house and our animals while we are gone.  Setting up protections etc. 

Major packing will occur and final clean up around here will be done.  Getting the ice and filling the car with gas later this evening

Getting excited. 

 

Planning…Trip 4 of the Year 2017…Driving to Minnesota

I have often said, “Planning for a trip is at least as fun as taking the trip itself.”  That is what I have been doing the last few days for our two week driving trip to Minnesota.

2017 is the 100 year celebration for our family.  Dad will be 100 years old in November and he is really excited.  He was hoping he could celebrate it with Mom but she passed on  three years ago and will be celebrating in spirit with him and the family.

I am planning to visit Dad four times this year year if all goes well and the trip I am planning is a 14 day round trip from California to Minnesota.  Just got back two weeks ago from a four day turn around fly in visit to Dad with my son Jeff.  It was a great trip and even “enjoyed” the snow in May.  Dang that global warming.

Now about the planning for this trip.  Read an article about traveling in this year.  They recommended Europe as a good place as the dollar buys much more there than in the past.  Part of that reason is the ISIS terrorists are expected to be hitting Europe this year hard especially in tourist hotspots.  Americans will be staying home for vacation.

My planning, especially in hotels/motels, sure are showing that is true.  Our last driving trip cross country, October 2015, down highway 10 to New Orleans, had the cost of hotel rooms around $90 including tax per night for 2-3 star rooms.  This trip?  $120 per night.  At least a 25% increase.  I expect a 35% increase in the cost of food on the road as well.  The only thing that is less expensive will be gas.  Once you leave California, gas will be less than it was two years ago.  Plus, my gas powered Honda CRV gets and average of 35 MPG.

Getting my CRV oil changed and tires rotated next week.  Getting excited about this trip.

 

Packing Today…Gas Prices

Getting ready for the trip by starting packing today.  Traveling in the Spring/Fall always gives you a pain as you never know if it going to snow or be 75 degrees.  As they say “layers.”

I understand the cost of gas, which went up $1.05 a gallon in 30 days in California with no explanation, is going down again.  Wanna bet the decrease will not be as fast or far as the increase?  When the government(gas taxes and sales tax) are in cahoots with the oil companies(increased profits) against the consumer…be afraid, very afraid.

 

Twenty Days Away from France

We are well on our way for packing for our trip to France.  Its difficult to know what to pack in the shoulder season where it could be cold, warm, wet or dry.  We will do the best we can. 

Talked to some friends that spent a couple weeks in Paris recently.  They are a bit younger than we are but the husband said, “Trip was good but be prepared for things to move very sloooow.”  The wife said, “I just loved it.”

I have been doing a bunch of writing for TripAdvisor as of late.  For some reason, we have been hitting restaurants that have had exceptionally good service.  Couldn’t do enough for Libby and me.  We are interested in seeing if service in French restaurants meet up to American restaurants. 

Finally, we have been thinking about never ending instability in the Middle East and between Russia and it former satellites and how it could affect our trip, especially our flights.  We have decided to worry but to enjoy our trip.  What will be will be or  ce qui sera sera in French.

 

May 2014, San Diego Birthday Trip, Day 1, 2

Risa’s B Day and with the kids now in California for the very first time in 8 years, it was time to visit them and celebrate.  Celebrate a birthday and tour San Diego.

DAY 1

To San Diego by car.  186 miles.  Gas $4.06.  It was a Friday noon when we backed out of our drive way and stopped at one of our local fast food restaurants and split a patty melt and fries.  You heard the word split as that was more than enough for us even though we could have eaten the whole thing.  Gotta be good once in a while. 

We expected bad traffic on this trip but not the way it turned out.  Very light traffic through the Antelope Valley, moderate traffic through San Bernardino area and and that continued all the way into San Diego.  Going out of San Diego was a different story.  Forty miles of bumper to bumper going north for the poor saps. 

The 40 miles were filled with smoke from the 10 brush fires around San Diego.  The green’s were screaming global warming but now it is coming out that at least eight of the ten were set.  Must be global cooling of some one’s brain.   

Risa had big steaming bowls of tortilla soup waiting for us when we got there.  Not a bad day at all considering that all of our driving was in infamous SoCal traffic. 

DAY 2 

The kids live in a condo near the heart of San Diego just below UC San Diego close to their work.  It is surprisingly quiet there but not as quiet as our foothill hide-away in the Antelope Valley.  However it close to everything.  Breakfast on Mission Beach at the Mission Restaurant.  The Pacific ocean on one side…one block and one block on the side the San Diego Bay.  Not a place to be if a tsunami comes in but.great food!

The girls take off shopping and a snack at a French Bakery in downtown and the guys load up the bicycle’s and a 12 mile pedal to the embarcadero.  Two hours touring the “Surprise”, “Star of India”, and two WWII submarines. My eight year old grandson put me to shame!

Then the Birthday Dinner.  We all met at home, got cleaned up and headed out to the Cheese Cake Factory.  Immediate seating at 4 p.m. on the patio with 72 degrees and a cool ocean breeze.  What a life.  Good food and service. 

 

Seventeen Day’s Till Minnesota Time

We are getting excited about our upcoming driving trip to Minnesota and family.  We have done this so many times that that it is nearly impossible to find a way home that were we will see something new.  Thanks to Google maps we are heading home through Pierre, SD on highway 71 for the very first time.  We have very high expectations not only because it is the Capital of South Dakota but, it has the most expensive motels of any of our stops.

One good thing about the driving trip is that gas is cheaper any where in the United States over Cali.  Cali has a law that raises gas tax if people use less gas.  Can’t pay less tax in Cali.  Its against the law!!  We just raised gas tax 3 cents a gallon again last week.  Top in the nation.

We are going to take Libby’s Honda Accord this year as it gets between 37-40 mpg with its 4 cylinder on the highway.  With its 18 gallon tank we should be able to get through 3 states(California, Nevada, Arizona)  the first day before we fill it up in St. George, Utah for a late lunch. 

Well off to the hard days work of a retiree.  Breakfast at our favorite restaurant.