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.

We flew out to visit Denver last month.  I’d been out to the area several years ago but only in the summer and for a quick trip up to the Ft Collins area, so had not seen much of the metro Denver area.

We visited the Lakewood area and took a trip up to the Evergreen Mountains and Red Rock area.  It’s a very beautiful area.

They have an outdoor section for concerts right in the mountain.  It was pretty cool

Of course, you’re not allowed to climb the mountains per the warning signs:

While going up to Evergreen, we saw real life “ELK”.  That may not seem amazing to those of you living out west, however, to someone from Florida I was surprised to see them just blending in with the traffic.   They even went to the corner, where the crosswalk was, and waited for the light to change, and all crossed the street.   It was fascinating.   Here they are waiting for the light to change:

I was amazed to see these Elk just grazing as they waited for the light to change to green.  When it did, they all linked up in the crosswalk and crossed to the other side as the cars stopped and waited for them.   It was so funny to see, almost as they knew it was their turn to go.

We also went and up and saw the tunnels they had built right into the mountains:

As you can see here the cars just drive right thru the carved out areas of the mountain.   Again, you westerners may not think a thing of that, but coming from Florida we don’t even have many hills much less mountains like this.

We visited just at the right time, it was chilly but not yet freezing.  The one thing I found about the weather at that time of year (mid November) is it changes 2 or 3 times a day.   One day it was clear and sunny, which meant COLD, and 3 hours later you’d see the black clouds headed over the mountain, winds picked up to 50-60 MPH and big snow drops came down.  They called it a “blizzard”, however, it lasted only about 1-2 hours.   Following that,  the sun came back out, winds stopped and the snow melted off right away.

The air is quite DRY and thin.   No humidity at all, so it does take time to adjust when you come from a humid area like Florida.

I was told that each day, there could be 2 or 3 different weather patterns so if you start the day in shorts,  better have some jeans or jackets with you as that changes almost instantly.

As you can see we had on jackets here at Red Rock.  It was chilly but not really extremely cold.   We saw on the weather reports the day before there were blizzards higher up in other mountain areas, but they day we drove up, you can see the snow was almost gone.

If you fly out for a visit,  please not  they airport is way out of the way from most places.  We did pass the football stadium on the way back to the airport.  We stayed in the Lakewood area, which was about 30 -45 minutes from the airport.   Traffic on the interstates was quite heavy, like a normal large city.

All in all I think Denver was a nice place to visit.  They have some beautiful scenery,  great restaurants,  and interesting things to see.   I don’t think I’d want to live there for good.

We’ve been making a point to see more of our own United States.   Having lived in the southeast all my life, I’m used to heat, hurricanes, and beaches.   I’m not too used to snow, sleet, and cold.   We also have flat land, no mountains.

One place I always heard about and wanted to see was Portland, Oregon.  We decided to take a trip and check it out.  We and found it was a very interesting city.

This is a city that seems to have a lot to offer.  While we were there I think we brought the sunshine and warm weather.  It was very hot but drier than Florida.   We heard from people there the weather was not the norm.

The city has lots of public transportation and we met people downtown that lived there without even a car.   The train runs from the airport thru downtown and into the suburbs.   We rented a car, but also tried out the trains and found them unique.   At rush hour they were very crowded, but other times they were interesting.

The trains downtown were free.  You only paid if you went out of a certain area.  We wandered all over down town, saw the water front, a haunted pizza place, and their city market.   We also decided to see what a beach was like on the other coast.   We found to get to the beach from the city, you had to drive about 1 ½ hours thru the forest and mountains.   It was noticeably cooler in that area.

Arriving at the town of Seaside, we found a quaint beach town, with shops similar to what you’d find in Florida.  The difference ended there.

Down on the beach the sand was much darker and the water was plain ICE.  I had to put my feet in the water, and it was like soaking in total ice water.  We also found it pretty to have mountains going into the water.   It was very different from Florida.

I thought it very neat to be at the ocean, and yet see mountains on the beach.

We visited other places like the Rose Gardens, the tram over the city and the Japanese village.  There are lots of things to see and do in the Portland Area.

If you are from the east and have never been west  Portland is a very wonderful city to visit.

A few years ago I took a Princess Cruise to Hawaii.   We left out of LA, not knowing what to expect in cruising the Pacific.  Most of my prior cruises have been in the western and eastern carribean,  Mexico or Alaska.

We arrived at  LAX a few days earlier to see some of the area we’d only heard of.

We were fortunate to get to tour the area prior to and after our cruise.  It was a very unique and interesting experience.    We saw Beverly Hills, Roddo Drive,  Venice Beach and all the places those that live on the east coast may only have heard of.

[caption id="attachment_222" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Bevery Hlls"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_223" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Colorful Venice Beach"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_224" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="An old Rambler in Beverly Hills"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_232" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Pearl Harbor"][/caption]

Leaving La, we boarded our Ship.   We had NO idea we’d not see Land again for 4 days.    Traveling the Pacific was rough and choppy but different than the Atlantic, in that it did not ROLL, but it was much choppier.

Here is a photo of our ship.  It was the Island Princess.    The Island Princess is the sister ship to the Coral princess.   Having sailed both ships I found the layouts inside pretty identical even down to the color of the carpets.

Our trip over and back took 4 days each way,  leaving 7 days for visiting the Hawaiian Islands one   more day on the way back to stop a few hours in Mexico.    We stopped at 5 islands,  Kona, Hilo,             Maui, Honolulo, and Nawiliwili.    My favorite was Maui.   Cruises are a great way to relax, visit different places, and then pick the ones you may want to go back and see on a land trip.

Here are a few places we visited in the Hawaiian Islands:

[caption id="attachment_231" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Beach in Maui"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_230" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Macadamia Nut Factory"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_228" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Diamond Head"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_226" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Naval Base"][/caption]

One of the reasons I chose to cruise to see Hawaii, was it was more comfortable than the LONG LONG flight.   It was a great way to go, meet a lot of new people, and enjoy having fun on board.    If you’re looking for a fun trip and have a couple of weeks to go this way, it’s a wonderful vacation, the cruise is 15 days plus the time you chose to stay in LA before or after.

[caption id="attachment_227" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Native Hawaiians"][/caption]

There are also cruises that just circle the islands as we saw other ships in port.   IF you decide on one of those, you’ll have to consider the long flights over and back.   Aloha!

This is one vacation, I haven’t tried yet, however, it does sound intriguing.  I’ve been hearing from more and more travel agents that are  me it’s a great thing to do.   I also must be on someone’s mailing list as I’ve been getting quite a few brochures and catalogs in the mail lately that sort of peaked my interest.

Of course, those sending them are hoping to sell me on something.  From what I’ve read you get to see beautiful places and spend time in unique places, on the inland waters of many foreign countries.  It looks like it would be beautiful and fun, yet a lot of the things seem to be just “walking” tours.

If you have ever been on a river cruise overseas I’d love to hear from you and let me know your thoughts, and some do’s and dont’s.   I’d also love to hear real life experiences from anyone that’s been there, and feed back from you.

Look forward to getting some feedback and opinions.

Flying these days has become a big ordeal.   Airlines are over crowded, and beginning to treat passengers as more of a nuisance.  Service has gone down, while extra charges and fees have gone up.   If you are flying plan to do your homework and know in advance, all the added fees.   Compare airlines.  Just because a ticket appears cheap, that airline may have lots of hidden suprises.  Be prepared.

[caption id="attachment_192" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="MOA Plane"][/caption]

I have found a lot of times, it’s worth the extra charge to go first class.  If you have never flown first class there is a huge difference.   First off, there are no added fees, all things are included.   You can check bags at the airport, and not pay the added $25-50  each away.   They serve you drinks, give you how wash rags, and most of the time a breakfast, lunch or dinner.   If there is a movie on the flight, your headsets are complimentary.  They also mark your luggage so it comes off first or priority.

The last flight I was on,  I heard annoucements of added fees for the passengers in the back.   I believe it was $3-8 for a “snack box”.   Headsets were $2,  there were extra charges for all sorts of things.  As of this writing Delta still gave a drink  free, however, I’ve hears US Air and some others started ripping off passengers for $2-3 for a drink.

Another plus I’ve noticed when flying first class, is if there is a delay, you get an apology letter in the mail from the airlines, along with bonus air mles for being inconvenienced.    About 2 or 3 years ago,  I wrote down on my wish list, that one of the things I wanted to do was go first class.   Last year we decided to just bite the bullet and do it.

While it does not make the security hassles any easier, they do send you to a shorter line.   They also seem to treat you better, and with more respect.   I guess they want to keep you coming back since you’re paying them double for your spot aboard the plane.

I love traveling, and seeing new places so flights are one of the things that go along with it.  Might was well  sit in the bigger seats and make the trip more comfortable if you can afford it.   We’ve found it’s well worth it.

The only airline I know of that does not have first class is Southwest.  They added a “business class” or a way to pay $10 extra for them to check you in.  That way you get on first and get first choice of which seat you sit in.   When I can’t find a first class, or a hub direct flight where I’m going, I pick Southwest.

Pick a place to go,  and try a first class trip and enjoy.   This comes with a warning….once you go first class you’ll never want to go back.

Over the past 3 or 4 years, I’ve been doing more traveling than I have my entire life.   I finally have the time to do that, and enough to afford it.  For that I’m very thankful.  I’m making up for lost time.

One of the things I like to do is cruise.   I like cruises because they are relaxing.  There is always something to do, and everything is taken care of.  They come make your bed, and leave chocolates on your pillow.  They pick up after you.  They feed you and do the dishes.    They entertain you.  You can usually find something to do for everyone.

The downside is you don’t get to stay ashore many hours, but it does give you enough time to find places that you’d like to see more of.  When you do you can always return on a flight and spend more time.

I was thinking back to some of the places I’ve been.

[caption id="attachment_145" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Alaska"][/caption]

I think the favorite of all times is when we went on a Land/Sea cruise to Alaska.    If you’re going on one,  I highly recommend doing the land portion first as it’s VERY busy.  By the time you finish it, you’ll be ready for a relaxing cruise.

We flew to Alaska.   We met at the airport by our cruise director.  She brought us to our hotel on a bus. We quickly learned, they didn’t keep the same hours we did when we found out we were to be ready to leave for a train at 7 AM.

We reached the train about 7:30 AM.  The train stopped to let us say goodbye to civilization, and we never saw another live person (other than those on the train) until we arrived at the wilderness hotel about 4 PM.

[caption id="attachment_151" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Wildlife in Alaska"][/caption]

We had dinner, and then next day went up to the top of the mountain to see Denali then came back and went gold mining on an airboat.  As soon as we returned it was time to get back on the train for Fairbanks.

[caption id="attachment_152" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Wild animals in Alaska"][/caption]

In Fairbanks, the next morning we went on a paddle boat.  We saw sled dogs and an Indian Village.  It was a great trip.  We were then picked on another bus that took us to an airport.

We boarded a plane that only sat about 50 people, and we flew across the mountains back to Anchorage.  We were taken on a tourist type bus for a trip down the coast, where we saw salmon spawning, and coastline.   It was a 4 hour trip. We were delivered to our ship.   By the time we boarded the ship we were ready for rest.   The land part is fun but it is definitely 4 days of non-stop moving.

[caption id="attachment_146" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Ice From a Glacier"][/caption]

The ship then took us to the standard Alaskan cities, of Juneau, Skagway and Seward.    We did the normal tourist things, shopping and taking tours.    We also went in to the glaciers and saw the ice falling.

We ever saw Eagles and all sorts of animials in the wild.  For a city person from Florida it

Our cruise ended in Vancouver BC where we stayed another 3 days and saw some of the sites there.   It’s a great city as well.

This trip we went on the Coral Princess.    One day we’d like to go on one of the small ships like Silver Seas, that can go up closer to things.

If you’ve been on the Silver Seas, I’d love to hear from you, pros and cons.

Vacations are fun.   I love to take vacations.   I take 7 or 8 a year, or more.   What about you?

My favorite place of all is Alaska.  I’ve been there twice and want to go again.  Once  I went on a cruise round trip from San Francisco.   The  other time was a land/sea cruise.   It was a lot of fun.  If you ever do the land/sea one be sure to do the land verision first.   It’s very fast paced.

I like cruises and going different place, then picking the places I saw to go back to for a land trip.  You can be choosy that way and not waste time going to the places you don’t like.   My favorite places are beaches.  I love the beach and sea.