I just got back from a convention in Las Vegas. While I had an amazing time, and enjoyed seeing everyone I didn’t really care for the new Las Vegas at all It was the first time I’d been there in 10 years, and it has totally changed for the worst in that time.

Ten years ago, Las Vegas encouraged tourists and enticed them with inexpensive meals and hotels. Not today. I travel a lot but found this city to be one of the most expensive places to eat out of every place I have been.

Summertime is NOT the best time to see Vegas although you’d never guess that from the crowds of people everywhere. It reminded me of a packed Disneyland.

The heat coming up from the ground was horrendous. If you were staying inside, you were cool, but if you wanted to see or do anything I found it worse that Florida. It was hot and dry with no humidity at all. IF you’re not used to that be prepared to have bloody noses as it just dries you out.

If you’re not a gambler, there are plenty of shows to see. The shows were incredible and amazing. Other than shows and gambling I didn’t see much else to do in Las Vegas on the strip.

If you ever plan to go to Vegas and stay on the strip, be prepared to bring a ton of money. Food there was totally outrageous. Just a small coke is $4. Ten years ago they wanted people to come gamble so the meals were dirt cheap. Not anymore. Prices were totally out of sight.

By the time they added on taxes and tips you could easily drop $40-50 for a meal that would cost you about $15 in any other state. Hotels also have hidden fees. They advertise things like “free internet” then when you check in they tell you its $15-20 per night for “resort fees”.

If you are planning a trip to Las Vegas, and plan to stay on the strip bring a bank roll as you’ll need it. I did hear there were places away from the strip that were less expensive, however, we never found them nor did we have time to go hunting in the heat.

A few weeks ago, we took a trip to New York When you think of New York most people think of New York City or the big Apple. We didn’t even go close to the city. We visited upstate New York.

It was the 4th of July when we cam in so we stayed over night at Niagra Falls, and enjoyed the fireworks over the water. The falls were amazing and we learned they generate electricty with the power from the falls.

The next day we went to Buffalo. We were able to meet some amazng people from of our card team. We now have new friends we’d met thru the internet and now for real. We had dinner and visited with them and had a great time. One couple owns a candle store in several of the malls there. We had a tour of the factory and saw how they create all the candles by hand. It was amazing. The also sell online and have the most amazing candles in the world. Their store is called Pure Integrity. If you’re in Buffalo, look for them in the mall, or go to their online store if you’re looking for candles.

From Buffalo, we went upstate to New Hartford, and Utica area. We were taking out on a boat on the finger lakes, and had dinner on the 4th lake. I also met a wonderul woman blogger that was on twitter and facebook. We had a great time. We visited relatives as well as other members of our card team.

From Utica we went to the Syracuse area, and met with some relatives, as well as some of more of my team members. It’s great to be in a business where you can travel and have friends wherever you go.

The upstate area of New York has some beautiful lakes and rivers. The weather was warm but not hot and muggy. We had one hot day but with out the humidity we experience in Florida.

New York also has some of the best Italian food in the entire world. I wish some of the New Yorkers would move to Florida to open restaurants. There just is no italian food like New York Italian. We had Pizza, Calzone, stuffed shells, Lasagna and it was all wonderful. I guess we also gained 10 or 20 pounds in the time there.

If you’ve not yet visited upstate New York, I highly recommend it.

Happy 4th of July.

I thought Niagra Falls would be a great place to be on the 4th. With the beautiful falls, I thought they might have Fireworks over the Falls. I did some searches online and found an article about the falls. I found some of the Trivia facts quite interesting.

Here is the article I found:

You’ve probably heard of Niagara Falls but how much do you really know about it? You will learn about twenty trivia facts about the Falls. You will discover the answers to these questions and more – How tall is it? How deep is it? How high is it? What does it comprise of? Who owns it? How much does it erode? How much water flows over it? Where is it? What’s gone over it?

Here are some interesting facts about Niagara Falls, mostly taken from Metromap Publication’s Street Map Guide to the Regional Municipality of Niagara:

1. The Falls at Niagara cannot claim to be the highest or the widest in the world, or even to have the greatest flow of water. The Iguazu Falls on the Paraguay-Brazil-Argentina borders surpass Niagara Falls on all three counts. But Niagara’s are the world’s most popular.

2. From the water level to the crest, the American Falls are 182 feet high, the Horseshoe 176 feet high.

3. Ten percent of the water flows over the American and Luna Falls, 90% over the Horseshoe Falls.

4. There are actually three Falls: American (Rainbow), Luna (Bridal Veil) and Horseshoe.

5. The U.S. owns all, or part, of all three, while most of the Horseshoe Falls belong to Canada. Niagara Falls is located 23 miles northwest of Buffalo, New York and 79 miles southeast of Toronto, Ontario.

6. Today 50% of the Niagara River never makes it to the Falls: it is diverted for power. This percentage increases to 75% at night and in the winter months.

7. The Falls have eroded an average of 3.78 feet/year since 1842. Since the beginning there has always been a large spread of water on the approach to the Falls.

8. The Niagara River is not a river it is a strait.

9. One and a half million gallons of water flow through the Niagara River every second, or one cubic mile every week.

10. The Falls have taken 12,000 years to erode the seven miles from Queenston Heights, where they began, to their present position. But the Falls separated around Goat Island only 600 years ago.

11. The Niagara River drains 255,000 square miles of mid-continental North America.

12. With power requirements and anti-erosion measures, erosion has been reduced to less than one foot a year.

13. The whirlpool is 126 feet deep at the water level. The water spins around in a counterclockwise direction.

14. The water depth of the lower rapids is 45 – 60 feet, with currents of up to 30 m.p.h.

15. The drop from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario is 330 feet depending on seasonal water levels.

16. Seven people have gone of the Horseshoe Falls in a barrel. Four lived, three died.

17. Only two living things have been seen to go over the Falls safely without special protection – a dog over the American Falls in the 1800′s and a boy over the Horseshoe Falls in 1960.

18. Five large boats and innumerable small ones have gone over the Falls, many with people in them.

19. A free swimmer has never conquered the lower rapids.

20. Before his death in 1942, the famous Red Hill saved 28 people from death over the Falls and salvaged 149 bodies of those that didn’t make it. He accumulated more lifesaving medals than anyone else in the world.

As you can see, many facts have been compiled about Niagara Falls over the years but at least you probably now know considerably more than you did before about this amazing spectacle. You can either tell others that are planning to visit the Falls what you have learned, or you can plan to see it yourself now that you are an expert on the subject!

About The Author

Keith Valentine has been traveling throughout the UK, Europe and North America for years.

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Unfortunately I was unable to track down the author. The link he had on his article was a dead link from 2006. I will be checking out the Falls myself and will let you know more about what I find out.

Hope you have an Amazing 4th of July celebration!

While studying places to visit in Australia I came across the following article that talks about an area in Australia I’d not heard of called Adelaide. It also talks about hotel discounts in all of Australia. I thought I’d share it here:

Adelaide has always been a popular destination in Australia whether you are looking beauty or culture. Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and attracts large number of visitors every year. This city offers a delightful mixture of colonial buildings, beautiful parks and wide relaxing streets. Not only as a tourist destination but the city also has a reputation of educational hub. This city is famous for lively art scenes and is a terrific destination for festival enthusiasts. If you are looking for cheap hotels Adelaide then proper research and scheduling will help you to find cheapest hotel along with best holiday deal.

Booking your cheap hotels in Adelaide in advance is one of the best ways to grab cheap rates offer on hotel deals. The city offers number of attractions to visit like Art Gallery of South Australia, North Terrace Street, SKYCITY Adelaide casino, race courts and lots more. Majestic Roof Garden Hotel, Miller Apartments Adelaide, Plaza Hotel, The Sebel Playford Adelaide Hotel these are the names of the cheap hotels. These hotels offer relaxed accommodation, fine ambience and a long list of amazing facilities to the visitors. All hotel rooms are equipped with basic amenities like TV with cable connection, high speed internet access, coffee maker and telephone. Apart from all these facilities, there is a fine dining restaurants is also there that offer delicious food service.

For saving your hard earned money on accommodation you should make hotel reservation in advance or in off season. At that time there is a great chance of availing good discounts. Online booking is one of the easiest ways to look out for cheap hotels in Adelaide in a hassle free manner. Additionally, you have the facility of making comparison of all competitive hotels deals easily and carefully. This will help you to pick the most suitable cheap hotel Adelaide at a cheapest price.

Find the best hotel deal at a competitive rate and enjoy this city without hurting your budget.
About The Author

Grab the fabulous offers and deals on cheap hotels Adelaide and to book visit http://www.cheapdiscounthotelrooms.com.au/.

Since I’m in the market for a new vehicle in the next 6-12 months or so, I’m doing some reviews of different cars. I’m looking for a crossover or something that is versitale . I like to have a car that seats 7 or 8 if I need it, or has room for anything I want to buy when I shop.

One of the ones I was considering was the Chevrolet Traverse until last week when I rented one for 4 days to take a good test drive. It drove very smoothly and was easy to handle. It also had seats that could be folded down or you could seat up to 8 people if you needed to. That was the end of the pluses.

The drive was the best thing about it. Unfortunately, it was a base type vehicle. It did not have good climate control at all. There was no way to adjust the passenger and/or driver air. That would have been ok for the trip, however, the air also had a mind of it’s own. When you got into the car and started it up, the air didn’t chose to start up for several minutes. It would blow hot air which was quite annoying.

There was no way to tell what mileage you were getting since there were no dials. The features were extremely sparse. I’ll have to go into a dealership and see if there are other ones with better features, however, I have ruled this one out so there is no rush.

Talking to the rental car manager at Alamo, he indicated that was a complaint the received a lot from the Traverse, so I guess it’s a design flaw.

We did park next to a group that were driving the new Honda Odessy. I was impressed after talking to them so may look to rent one of those and test drive it. I wasn’t really in the market for a mini van, but when I watched them load up 5 pieces of luggage, a baby stoller, a baby crib and lots of other things and still have the 3rd row seat up on one side, I was impressed. They had more luggage than us, and other things we didn’t have and they had a lot more room.

I asked how they liked the vehicle and they gave me rave reviews. They said the had come to the hotel thru the mountains with it loaded down and they got 28 MPG. They also said that there was no hesitancy on the mountain roads. To me it sort of looked more like a crossover than a mini van. We own a year old Honda Pilot which we love, so I may have to add that mini van onto my list of possibilites.

If any of you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

Just got back last week from a road trip to North Carolina. I don’t do that often, however, I’m in the process of deciding what car I want to get next, so thought it a good idea to rent one of those I’m looking at and take a long test drive. I’m glad I did, as I ruled out the Traverse for sure. I’ll write more about that later.

It was an interesting road trip. We drove up to Savannah & stayed over. We visited the waterfront and had dinner at a unique little Irish Pub.

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The singer was very funny and we had an enjoyable evening.

The next morning we got up and continued on to Charlotte NC. We stayed at the Sheraton there with many of our good friends as we were attending a TER. On Sunday morning we started home and acutally drove the entire way back to Tampa, Florida.

It was interesting to see some of the sites along the way. We also found a cool little country restaurant outside of Columbia SC called Lizzard Gizzards (or something like that). If you’re in that area it’s a great place with real southern country food. It’s the road running from Sumpter to Columbia.

Road trips are fun, however, I do prefer flying or taking 3 or 4 days to go a few hundred miles and seeing sites along the way. They say with gas prices not many take long driving trips, however, there sure was a lot of traffic going somewhere. I guess the prices aren’t stopping as many as the press would have us believe.

I just returned from a trip to Minnesota. I was thinking how it’s just so different. In Florida it’s already in the 90′s most days, with high humidity. I really didn’t know how to pack as Minnesota is very different from Florida.

When you’re in Florida, with it being summer already, it is hard to imagine packing for the north. Last time I left Minnesota it was January and they had about 4 feet of snow on the ground. Somehow your mind remembers the last time you see things, and so I packed clothes that would be for a colder climate yet not winter.

I was surprised to get off the plane and find it was quite warm, with sirens going off warning of storms and tornados. That lasted just one day, and by the weekend it was 40 degrees and raining. Just happened that was the day my grandson had a baseball tournament. He had 3 baseball games between 8 AM and 4 PM so we sat out in wind and rain and froze.

The next day it was sunny and beautiful, yet chilly to those of us from Florida. It was in the 60′s and sunny. The rest of the time there it was 60-70 and cool crisp air.

When I flew back, it was like going to a different planet, again heat and humidity. It’s just so hard to picture in your mind the differences, when you pop on a plane, and land to different temperatures.

It would be kind of neat if we had a magic wand that made temperatures in all states stay about 70, with crisp air. Summer in Florida is not fun, unless you can stay at the beach for the entire summer. ))

Happy vacationing everyone.

I live in Florida. By May, we have temperatures ranging from 80-90 degrees. If you’ve lived in the south long, you learn that is the norm. It’s hard to think about packing when you are visiting different areas and places.

I spoke with my daugher the past week and asked her what their weather was like, thinking that it would proabably be at least in the 70-80 range by now. I was surprised when she said they had been having weather this week about 30- 40 degrees.

I really had to stop and think about that as it seemed to me, that it’s summer time everywhere, when that’s not true. If you plan on doing any travel, it’s always a good idea to check with people in that area, to see the acutal temperature so you can pack accordingly.

When you travel, weather can change abruptly for you, so don’t let it take you by surprise. There are some areas of the country, I’ve seen that weather can change 3 or 4 times a day. Don’t let it be a shock. Check, then pack and enjoy.

Travel is fun. I love seeing different places but always try to adapt and be prepared.

I just found the following article on Orlando,  and thought it was good for those of you thinking of visitng Orlando Florida.    Hope you enjoy it.

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If you have been to Florida, and still never had the opportunity to visit Orlando, then you have missed out on something special. The city of Orlando, Fl is considered as a major attraction in Florida, and not just in Florida, even people from across neighboring states come to the city of Orlando to have great vacation.

There are plenty of things you could choose to do in Orlando Florida, moreover, there are a number of free things you could take part in.

• Take time out and visit Disney market place. It’s absolutely free, and if you are traveling along with your kids, makes sure you go to Lego center. There is no charge to visit Lego center.

• Kelly Park is another location, which doesn’t change anything. Visitors could enter free of cost and enjoy to the hilt. You would love the various sporting facility available at the park.

Water sport at Kelly Park Orlando is one of the best sports to indulge upon. You would also be able to take part in rock climbing.

• Ocala natural forest is the best place to visit in the city of Orlando. No charge whatsoever, the forest is a perfect place to hike. It is also a very good picnic venue.

• Cornell fine arts museum is never to miss tourist destination in Orlando Florida, especially, if you are an art lover.

• The most remarkable feature of Orlando city is its offering of free concert for its people. Weekend nights would be perfect windows on your schedule to hear free concert at old town area.

You would also find exhibitions of vintage cars every weekend at the old town.

• Fort museum historical museum park is one of the best free places in the city of Orlando. You would-be able to view replica sized fort Christmas.

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Visiting Orlando does not only mean spending money on theme parks and dinner shows. Orlando FL local guide lists numerous superb free things to do in Orlando Florida for travelers.

I just returned from a great trip to Hollywood (Floridat that is).   It was a lot of fun and a great weekend.  I went with some wonderful people.

Things didn’t go as planned.  Arriving at our hotel, we found it was really NOT the type we normally would stay at.  Lesson learned.  Photos online can be deceiving.    Since we were meeting a few dozen others there, we were stuck as it would be hard to find 12-15 rooms when the event we came for was only hours away, so we made the best of it.   It ended up being one of the best trips ever and we enjoyed a lot of laughter.

We went out to dinner, getting lost a dozen times along the way.  Finally, the waiter at the restaurant we were meeting at came onto the phone and guided us there step by step for 15 minutes.   We though we were lost forever, but we finally found our way.     We laughed so hard tears were coming out of our eyes.  Later on we found we were right around the corner.

Hollywood is an interesting place.   It’s stuck between Ft Lauderdale to the north and Hallendale to the south and just a little above North Miami Beach.     I’ve been down to Ft Lauderdale many times on cruises as well as Miami but never noticed the little places in between.

We went to a fantastic event and mingled with some amazing people that night and the next day.

Coming back to the hotel, we were warmly greeted by the front desk folks.  The hotel was sort of yucky but the personnell were amazing.   We thought they should get a job at a high end hotel.   On the flip side, we were at a high end hotel and the personnel there were sort of rude and snobbish.

We spent time visiting and just had a fantastic time.   It goes to show you, no matter what the circumstances in your life if you can laugh about it, things go well.

Laughter is great medicine.  If you’re feeling down laugh.   Hollywood is a neat little place.   Visit sometime, just don’t trust the photos on the internet to be what you see when you get there.