OT: National Parks trip help
- Thread starter El-Jefe
- Start date
Hah. I just hit 30 countries right before the shutdown. At 44 states - plan to knock off the Dakotas in the spring
Don’t give up on your Zion/Bryce trip. My son and I visited Zion and Bryce in early November along with Arches, Canyonlands, and Grand Canyon. We ended our trip in Tempe, going to the PSU/ASU wrestling match. The crowds were light and the weather was very comfortable...chilly in the morning but warming up quick into the upper 60’s/low 70’s. The scenery in southern Utah is absolutely breathtaking! If I would go again, I would go the end of October, beginning of November. The fall foliage was probably a week or two past it’s prime when we were there.
NA - USA, Canada (BC, AB, QB, PEI, NS, NB), Mexico
Caribbean (or misc) - Bermuda
Central Am - Costa Rica (Guat is next)
SA - none yet - my next target as I’m learning Spanish)
Europe - Iceland, Ireland, Wales, England, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Monaco, Vatican City, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Austria, East and West Germany (Iron Curtain days), Poland, Greece, Czech, Andorra
ME - Turkey
Africa - none
Asia - none
Overnight layover in Doha, on a flight to SE Asia.
Strongly recommend the Qatar Air layover promotion (it runs frequently) -- includes free visa and deeply discounted hotels (think $50/night at the downtown Westin) for up to 4 nights. (IIRC it also includes airport transportation.) Plus it's a 5-star airline, really is much better than the US domestic carriers. They also fly 1-stops to many destinations that otherwise require 2 stops, and are comparable in price.
2 nights is likely enough in Doha -- folks should see the Museum of Islamic Arts (daytime) and Souq Waqif (night), and a boat ride in the harbor. Not a lot more for tourists, and most probably.don't need to venture into the desert. Plus it's like Phoenix, only hot. And there's a lot of haze (which has an eerie effect at night, but you probably don't want prolonged exposure.) And it's under constant construction, as oil-rich states tend to be.
All that said: we weren't quite that lucky. Our outbound flight from PHL was delayed by about 15 hrs because the original plane from DOH to PHL had to return mid-flight due to an on-board incident. This screwed up the connecting flight, so the airline gave us the free layover (except the hotel was more like the Ramada than the Westin, but it was free). With only 10 hrs on the ground, we did see the Souq.
Below are pics of Souq Waqif, the Islamic Cultural Center, and the ever-present haze.
Seconding the trip from Kalispell to Bonner’s Ferry. Epic driving
Overnight layover in Doha, on a flight to SE Asia.
Strongly recommend the Qatar Air layover promotion (it runs frequently) -- includes free visa and deeply discounted hotels (think $50/night at the downtown Westin) for up to 4 nights. (IIRC it also includes airport transportation.) Plus it's a 5-star airline, really is much better than the US domestic carriers. They also fly 1-stops to many destinations that otherwise require 2 stops, and are comparable in price.
2 nights is likely enough in Doha -- folks should see the Museum of Islamic Arts (daytime) and Souq Waqif (night), and a boat ride in the harbor. Not a lot more for tourists, and most probably.don't need to venture into the desert. Plus it's like Phoenix, only hot. And there's a lot of haze (which has an eerie effect at night, but you probably don't want prolonged exposure.) And it's under constant construction, as oil-rich states tend to be.
All that said: we weren't quite that lucky. Our outbound flight from PHL was delayed by about 15 hrs because the original plane from DOH to PHL had to return mid-flight due to an on-board incident. This screwed up the connecting flight, so the airline gave us the free layover (except the hotel was more like the Ramada than the Westin, but it was free). With only 10 hrs on the ground, we did see the Souq.
Below are pics of Souq Waqif, the Islamic Cultural Center, and the ever-present haze.
"Plus it's like Phoenix, only hot" - nice!
Thanks for the rundown El Jefe. I haven't been out in that direction yet.
All the Spanish you need to know (in order): Mas cerveza, por favor. ?Donde esta el bano? Mis cojones son grandes. La embajada americana, por favor.
Seriously, though: you might want to make South America second, not first. Given how badly the continent is being ravaged by the virus, and its poor sanitation and medical infrastructure, it'll likely be closed to foreign tourists for longer than other places. (Plus many of its popular destinations are remote, which means even less medical access.)
One of my neighbors is originally from Colombia. He said there residents are allowed to leave the house 2 days/week (the specific days allocated by your name). If you go as far as the front sidewalk, you get fined. It's like the 2020 version of 1979 gas rationing -- and that's in one of the better-off countries.
I'm pretty bummed about that. Have a very good friend who lives in Paraguay, who I've been wanting to see for years. That's off the table for a while. (Plus the other stuff I'd want to see "while in the neighborhood.")
That undersells the heat in Doha -- it's a blast furnace.
Stepping out of A/C, into the heat, was an immediate shock that knocked the air out of me each time. Even at night.
I would return -- want to see the stuff we didn't have time for. Can't justify a trip just to Doha, but definitely the layover package.
I'd also caution that this is a place you don't want to stay long at. Definitely not live/work there (unless you work for the State Dept). The legal system is stacked against foreigners, many stories of people being stuck there for years (if not forever) because of things that we take for granted here. You can't leave if you have any debt or any unresolved legal issues -- which effectively allows the locals to file frivolous complaints against you, knowing that you have zero leverage and they can wait you out. (Most people won't do that, but employers and landlords will.)
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Yah, I remember the first time I went to Death Valley. Open up the car door and the heat punches you in the face. I thought I had a plan.
Yeah, my next year is either completely domestic (Dakotas and maybe Great Lakes to knock out 3-4 of the 6 states I haven’t been to), or the Dakotas and maybe Newfoundland and Labrador in Sept. Need to hit all 13 provinces.
Targeting Ecuador and Peru as my first SA countries. Ecuador is a real easy flight from Austin. Peru is longer but it looks like a hiker’s paradise. Upon retirement, I’ll be spending a few months down in SA for sure.
Sounds like you're at about the same level I am on touching the continental states.
I'm missing Michigan, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Utah. The plan was for a summer road trip with a PSU tailgate buddy to catch at least 4 or 5 of those. Two retired guys looking for a tour of Americana.....what could go wrong?
Thanks, Covid.
This, I live in Grand Junction. We've had 200 ish cases total since the beginning. Everything (minus HS sports) here is open. Ive been to Moab twice in the last month. Crowds are way down, and if you havn't been to the Utah parks you are really missing out. The biggest issue with people visiting is the lack of time. Ive probably been to Arches and Canyon lands 50 times a piece and still havnt seen everything. Ive only scratched the surface at Zion. Ive been here a few years and absolutely fell in love with the high desert. If your in the area, don't sleep on Grand Junction. Very cool town, Colorado National Monument is miles away, and the Grand Mesa is an awesome getaway when the temps are up. I spent last weekend up there, 100 in GJ , 72 on the Mesa. Some great breweries in town for those who like to partake in an adult beverage or 10.
Thats funny. I had the same trip planned for May. I am now planning on going the second half of September. Hoping it happens...
Not giving up on it! Just trying to figure out where to fit it in. Father in law has never been to Hoover Dam and wants to get there. Might have to do a two-weeker and hit Valley of Fire and Muddy Mountains Wilderness.
If you’re ever in search of omnipresent haze/smog, go to Santiago, Chile. Worse than Beijing and anywhere else I’ve been. Miles thick in places.Overnight layover in Doha, on a flight to SE Asia.
Strongly recommend the Qatar Air layover promotion (it runs frequently) -- includes free visa and deeply discounted hotels (think $50/night at the downtown Westin) for up to 4 nights. (IIRC it also includes airport transportation.) Plus it's a 5-star airline, really is much better than the US domestic carriers. They also fly 1-stops to many destinations that otherwise require 2 stops, and are comparable in price.
2 nights is likely enough in Doha -- folks should see the Museum of Islamic Arts (daytime) and Souq Waqif (night), and a boat ride in the harbor. Not a lot more for tourists, and most probably.don't need to venture into the desert. Plus it's like Phoenix, only hot. And there's a lot of haze (which has an eerie effect at night, but you probably don't want prolonged exposure.) And it's under constant construction, as oil-rich states tend to be.
All that said: we weren't quite that lucky. Our outbound flight from PHL was delayed by about 15 hrs because the original plane from DOH to PHL had to return mid-flight due to an on-board incident. This screwed up the connecting flight, so the airline gave us the free layover (except the hotel was more like the Ramada than the Westin, but it was free). With only 10 hrs on the ground, we did see the Souq.
Below are pics of Souq Waqif, the Islamic Cultural Center, and the ever-present haze.
most exotic locale from a nature standpoint ? Antofagasta, Chile. Atacama Desert on one side of the hotel and the Pacific on the other. They plow the highway to the airport daily to get rid of sand dunes. My driver was about 40 and he could only remember rain three times in his life.
flying out of Santiago on a red eye once, I saw the sun set over the Pacific out the left side of the plane as a full moon rose out the right side of the plane over the Andes. Simply magnificent.
traveling teaches perspective.
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I had looked into Ecuador quite a bit before all of this hit -- there were some airfare sales from PHL to Quito, so I was doing research to strike if the iron got hot again. (In case it isn't obvious, I spend a lot of time doing travel research for exactly that reason.)
Would love to go, but my enthusiasm is tempered with the virus. Guayaquil got crushed -- apparently it's a major textiles center for SA, and Milan had large numbers of Quayaquil residents and Chinese working as cheap labor. (Plus it isn't the safest city, but that's another story.)
Quito has a lot to do, and Cuenca is a nice colonial town with a large English-speaking expat retirement community.
Otherwise, a lot of stuff to do there is in remote places with less medical access plus higher risk of other fun stuff like malaria, typhoid, and dengue. (Lower risk and mitigated a year ago, but now add the virus to the medical caseload ...)
Without digging up my notes, not remembering much about Peru other than the obvious. Recalling that one could easily spend a month there.
Anyway, my guess is that Chile will be the first country to re-open, that people will want to visit. It's the most prosperous country on the continent (per capita), generally safe and with better health infrastructure. And most of its remote destinations at least don't have jungle diseases.
BTW, Netflix has a couple great documentary series of interest: Street Food Asia and Street Food Latin America. They're about the lives of street food vendors (though the Latin America one somewhat gets away from street vendors and into mom & pop small restaurants). Both highly recommended.
Have heard Santiago has smog issues, but -- granted, was there only on a connecting flight, 2-hr layover on the way to Buenos Aires -- we didn't see any haze at all, from the terminal or the planes.
The morning departure at the foot of the Andes, climbing in parallel to the snow-capped mountains: absolutely spectacular. Something everybody should experience. If taking that flight, be on the LH side of the plane.
Most were a little of both. I travelled internationally for a few years in a former job. Most of the trips I would take were 12 days, with the weekend "off." Since I was coming from the mothership, the host countries took care of me on the weekends, with visits to the nearby attractions.
Some were because we had young kids, and my parents were living overseas, and wanted to see the kids.
So, strictly pleasure: Italy, Greece, Turkey, Costa Rica
Strictly business: Malaysia, Denmark. Essentially, one day of meetings in each. Although, I almost created an international scene at a rest area in Malaysia, where I just about walked into a Muslim prayer room, that I thought was the head.
A mix: Everything else.
Would have moved to Poland in a heartbeat, but Mrspa says I would have missed her.
PSU_Lion_Fan, I was at that ASU match also. I drove over from San Diego. Quite the atmosphere there. I sat a few rows behind Cenzo's parents. Mrs. Joseph's hat caught my attention! I introduced myself to Anthony Robles after the match. I mentioned that his cousin had been on my squad at one time. This cousin had encouraged Anthony to start wrestling. Anthony came across as a great guy. Overall, other than the outcome of the dual, it was a great experience.
Was your Turkey visit as part of a Mediterranean cruise? That's how I ended up there.
Funny story. On the cruise, there was a group of mostly older, deaf, Japanese tourists. The rest of our crew wanted to take a nap one day, and one of our kids was wide awake, so I stuck him in the papoose and went to the on-board casino. As I was pulling the lever a few times, there was a tap on my shoulder. Two of the Japanese people were standing there, and got across to me that the old man wanted to hold this little blonde baby. So, I handed my son over to him, and he literally stood there and cried. You'd have thought I handed him baby Jesus, or something.
From then on, whenever we would see that group, they handed us all kinds of candy and trinkets, and there was a lot of bowing and words I didn't know. As we disembarked, they got pictures with us, and gave us what seemed like the remainder of their gifts.
I would like to officially classify my time in Thailand as "vacation" and not "strictly pleasure."
El Jefe, sorry to be a pest, but will you please tell me how to post photos on this site? Rival's site talks about needing a URL to post, which threw me for a loop. Thanks in advance.Overnight layover in Doha, on a flight to SE Asia.
Strongly recommend the Qatar Air layover promotion (it runs frequently) -- includes free visa and deeply discounted hotels (think $50/night at the downtown Westin) for up to 4 nights. (IIRC it also includes airport transportation.) Plus it's a 5-star airline, really is much better than the US domestic carriers. They also fly 1-stops to many destinations that otherwise require 2 stops, and are comparable in price.
2 nights is likely enough in Doha -- folks should see the Museum of Islamic Arts (daytime) and Souq Waqif (night), and a boat ride in the harbor. Not a lot more for tourists, and most probably.don't need to venture into the desert. Plus it's like Phoenix, only hot. And there's a lot of haze (which has an eerie effect at night, but you probably don't want prolonged exposure.) And it's under constant construction, as oil-rich states tend to be.
All that said: we weren't quite that lucky. Our outbound flight from PHL was delayed by about 15 hrs because the original plane from DOH to PHL had to return mid-flight due to an on-board incident. This screwed up the connecting flight, so the airline gave us the free layover (except the hotel was more like the Ramada than the Westin, but it was free). With only 10 hrs on the ground, we did see the Souq.
Below are pics of Souq Waqif, the Islamic Cultural Center, and the ever-present haze.
Your experience with the Japanese tourists reminds me of when I was in Hawaii visiting my friend, who had four young and very blonde girls at the time. It was like the children were rock stars to some of the Japanese. It was very interesting.
No problem.
1. Click on the pic icon above the text box. (Next to the emoji icon.)
2. Paste in the photo URL.
If it's a pic from the web, right click on the pic, then "Copy Image Location", then do Step 2 above.
If the pic isn't on the web, you have to put it online. There are a lot of ways to do that. My usual method is is to post it on Facebook (as a private post if I don't want all my friends seeing it).
This gives me an excuse to post one of my all-time favorite pics -- from La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.
Gracias! Beautiful photo.No problem.
1. Click on the pic icon above the text box. (Next to the emoji icon.)
2. Paste in the photo URL.
If it's a pic from the web, right click on the pic, then "Copy Image Location", then do Step 2 above.
If the pic isn't on the web, you have to put it online. There are a lot of ways to do that. My usual method is is to post it on Facebook (as a private post if I don't want all my friends seeing it).
This gives me an excuse to post one of my all-time favorite pics -- from La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.
Ha!You can call it whatever you'd like.
Our Bangkok hotel was about 5 blocks from the Soi Cowboy red light district, yet we (wife and I) somehow never went (which would've been a walk-thru without stopping, and with all our money and phones in the hotel safe).
We could see Soi Cowboy from the Asok elevated rail station, and joked that we could contract an STD if we got any closer.
That joke wasn't too far off -- we saw a few ladyboys on the street just outside the Asok station at night.
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I saw your post on Chile, and believe me, that would be first on my SA list if I had more time now for vacations. There’s definitely a Chile trip of some length in my future - maybe start in Patagonia and head north and take my time.
As it is, I’m limited to about 10ish days max, so I don’t want my flights to be too long. Peru is a stretch, but better than Bra, Arg or Ch in that regard. So I’m focusing on the northern areas of SA for the next 3-4 years. Both Ecuador and, especially, Peru, have what I want in spades - amazing, accessible hiking, including some of the world’s classic short treks - some which can be DIY and others for very cheap even after hiring guides. As far as Peru, I’m looking at the Santa Cruz or Salkantay Trek. Both look awesome but are short enough to do and allow for adequate acclimatization beforehand in my time window.
Colombia also looks intriguing. I have an old college friend who’s some sort of Govt minister in Bogota that I might look up if I go there - seems to be a country where that might be really helpful.
I kick myself for not backpacking through SA when younger. I did 2 trips through Europe and saw a lot of cities, but, at heart, I’m not a city person. I had enough money on my second trip that I could have spent 8-9 months traveling instead of 3 given how cheap a lot of that continent is. Plus, there’s just so much more wild nature in SA - Europe is so much more tame. Oh well
It is awesome the amount of amazing trips many of you have been on. I will just keep quiet and vicariously enjoy your travel stories. My wife is an avid hiker, and would be so envious. My youngest is 14. My wife and I still have a few more years before we can head out on some of these adventures, at least internationally, although we did travel to Israel right before Covid. I hiked up Masada, which was fantastic.
Both daughters lived in Colorado for awhile (Denver and Colorado Springs), and are avid hikers, all seasons, and believe-it-or-not, nearly every weekend. On visits, we get to catch many of the local and shorter hiking spots. They drive hours, to do some serious hiking, then camp out. Oldest still lives in Denver (youngest moved to Connecticut), but I can say with our limited time hiking compared to them, with the many photos we've seen, Colorado has to be among the most beautiful states scenery-wise. When in Colorado Springs, we hit Pike's Peak, Garden of the Gods, and the Coors Brewery (Golden, CO) too. Drove Pike's Peak, but my daughter is training for a 14'er, and one she's considering is this mountain.
The Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon tour has been recommended to us too, but from Denver it's a short flight or a 9-hour drive, and we haven't taken it on yet. Someday.
I like hearing all the stories of others trips to foreign countries, whether by flight, cruise, whatever. Our last trip was to Eastern Europe (Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria), which was much, much different than our Western Europe trips. Not all use Euro's exclusively (we found ourselves buying crowns and forint!!), and there's a much more significant police presence everywhere. Still, it was among our favorite couple of trips ever.
The Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon tour has been recommended to us too, but from Denver it's a short flight or a 9-hour drive, and we haven't taken it on yet. Someday.
I like hearing all the stories of others trips to foreign countries, whether by flight, cruise, whatever. Our last trip was to Eastern Europe (Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria), which was much, much different than our Western Europe trips. Not all use Euro's exclusively (we found ourselves buying crowns and forint!!), and there's a much more significant police presence everywhere. Still, it was among our favorite couple of trips ever.
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You must have sat right behind us. We were one row behind the Joseph’s. Brody Teske’s grandfather and mother were beside us. The Lee’s were in front of us. I as well met Anthony Robles and got a photo of us. Yes, great atmosphere and a beautiful campus. Before the match while walking the campus, an older man and his wife noticed my PSU wrestling hat and shirt and asked if we were from PA. He both played football and wrestled heavyweight for ASU back in the early 70’s. He also played for the Dallas Cowboys for a decade. He was Bob Breunig. Three time pro bowler and played in three Super Bowls. He could not have been nicer and had high praise for our football and wrestling programs.
Bob Breunig was a tough LB. if I recall correctly, he may have worn one of those great, old-school horseshoe shaped neck pads
That’s a great story. I think blonds May be good luck over there, so they always try and get pics. Curly hair is also a draw. A friend of mine lived over there and had a daughter with Shirley Temple like blond curls. People went crazy over her.
I went to Turkey by hydrofoil from Crete. Landed in Marmara I think, bused to Selcuk for Efes, and then to Istanbul. Loved Turkey
Lived in Poland in 1972, then visited our old village and Warsaw on 1997. Polish women are stunning - which stunned me when I went as an adult. Capitalism has served them well - better diets, exercise and a positive outlook to go along with Slavic cheekbones.
My parents lived in Radom for a few years, and we visited them and toured around from there.
My eye opener, though, was my business trip. The guy I spent most of my time with was about my age, mid-30s in 2006ish. That means he was a kid pre-1989 and teenager when Communism ended. The thing that just stays with me whenever I think of that trip is him telling me, "I remember getting up before dawn and going with my Mom to stand in lines for bread and meat, hoping beyond hope that there would be some left when we got to the front of the line." He was so grateful for freedom and capitalism, you could just see it in his eyes. He said some of the older folks were still holding on to it, but the younger generations were very happy.
I concur with your comments on Polish women.
Yup - my mom called the local Meat Market the “Meatless Meat Market”. She had to scrounge up meals for 7 every day. I ate a lot of Peanut Butter (from grandmom’s care packages) on Matzah bread. Despite almost all of Poland’s Jews being wiped out, you could get Matzah bread everywhere.
We lived in a little village about 12 miles NW of Warsaw
I digress, but the Holocaust was more than a horrible event, it was such a loss to the world.
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