21 posts tagged “travel”
... Two cottages in one summer. We're shameless.
This time, it was the annual Muskoka visit. It was a shorter stay this year, since we're saving our vacation days. We didn't take extra time off work this year. But it was a long weekend all the same and we got to spend quality time with 7 of our closest friends. We had a blast. And more importantly, we had nice weather.
In this worst-of-all-summers, to have actually had three sunny days in a row was more than we could have hoped for. But through sheer force of will (thanks Greg and Krista, for clearing those clouds with your minds) the only rain came overnight on Saturday. Otherwise, the weather was perfect for swimming all day - provided you had a little body fat, of course. We even got to do a little night skinny dipping. What could be better?
The only trouble we had was on the drive back home. We hit serious traffic when we got to Renfrew. The 417 was backed up and pretty much at a standstill. Thankfully we had a GPS and we found a country road that led us through Arnprior, allowing us to sidestep gridlock. We lost about 30 minutes, but judging by the delay on the 417, it probably would have been a lot worse if we had stayed put. Oh well. All's well that ends well.
Big thanks to Steve for sharing this little piece of paradise. It's a highlight for both Junkii and I every year. For those who haven't been to the cottage, here's a little video from the top of the boat house to show off the surroundings
We made a pilgrimage to Waterloo, NY this weekend for a clothes-shopping excursion at the outlet mall. Not as much for ourselves as for our friend, who wanted to renew his entire wardrobe. What great timing too. Most of the outlet stores were offering sales of 30, 40, or even 50 percent off merchandise, in an attempt to help spur sagging sales figures. The fact that it was father's day weekend probably didn't hurt either.
We arrived at 1pm on Saturday, ate our lunch, and proceeded to wander from store to store until about 8:30, just before the mall closed. Seven hours! That's a lot of shopping! Junkii and I did okay - each buying a couple of pairs of shoes and a few small items - but most of our time was spent helping our co-traveler outfit himself in new couture.
Once we finished, we faced a new challenge: where to eat. None of us wanted another dose of food court (I had already had my Arby's fix at lunch). So despite our rumbly tummies, we decided to suck it up and wait for dinner until we drove back to Syracuse, where we spent the night.
A New Default Chain?
Now, we didn't want to spend a lot of time or money at a nice restaurant - nor were we dressed for fancy fare - so we elected to go to one of the many chain family restaurants on offer in the US. In the past, Junkii and I have had disastrous luck with such places. Friendly's, Chili's - they've all promised yummy food, but they've all delivered over-salted, over-sized, over-cheesed, otherwise unmemorable meals. We've nicknamed Appleby's Crappleby's because it's so dismal. Nope - from our experience, chain eateries tend to be sub-par at best. Still, they're quick and cheap, so we decided to try our luck at one we hadn't tried before (for food, anyway) - TGI Friday's.
Maybe it was because we were so hungry, but honestly the food was good. A little over-salted maybe, but we ordered off the "reasonable portion" menu and received a good-sized plate of tasty food. My crusted pork chop was tender and juicy, with a yummy sauce and some particularly good mashed potatoes. Junkii had a perfectly cooked (medium rare) 8oz steak that was like butter. We left satisfied, overjoyed that we now have a chain restaurant option that we can turn to in times of need. Huzzah.
Of course, there is another chain that we rely on. We visit one every time we go to the States, and this visit was no exception. Breakfast at IHOP! It was the highlight of day two, and really, there was nothing else to report on.
well, maybe one other thing...
No Go Hotels
Junkii and I now have a total of 4 hotels that we won't use in Syracuse anymore. we long ago concluded that the Red Roof Inn was dirty and the bed was too hard for another stay. And we found Motel 6 too smokey to bother going back. But we added two more to the list this weekend. Mel likes the Days Inn, but I find it feels old and dirty. I've always liked Super8, but on this trip Junkii found it gave him the creeps on cleanliness. So we agreed not to use either anymore.
Our co-traveler's experience this time also helped change my mind about Super8. His room had an odor so bad that he couldn't stay there. Unfortunately they had no extra space to move him to. He wound up sleeping in our room on the floor (well, on a couple of comforters and some sheets. It was a hard bed, but at least it didn't stink. They comped him his room in the end, but there's no call for such poor quality cleaning.
So far, the only hotel we agree on is the Quality inn. It's comfortable, clean, and with a friendly desk staff. That will probably be our default hotel. It's pricier, but it's worth the extra $20 a night for the peace of mind.
I got a speeding ticket on the way down to NB last month. Sorry I didn't tell you, Dad, but I was a little embarrassed by it. But I've had a little time to think about it, and there was really nothing to be embarrassed about. I feel that I was in the right, and the cop was just a jerk to have set up a speed trap where he did.
What really burns my pants (burns my pants?! what does that even mean?) is that I was being very careful not to speed.
A few years ago, I got a speeding ticket coming home from Toronto. It was justified too. I was going about 120 km/h on HWY401. I can't complain about that ticket. At least the cop was nice enough to reduce the speed he clocked me at so I didn't get any demerit points. He explained that it was deer season and they were simply trying to discourage high speed collisions with deer; to prevent deaths. I thanked him and went on my way, but I gained a greater respect for the dangers of driving, and since that time I've really tried to keep my speed down - both on highway and in the city. I no longer have the same sense of urgency, and that's helped with my "road rage" issues. It makes driving much nicer, I have to say.
Cut to present day. Here I am zipping along towards NB. Now, I won't say I drive at the speed limit. 100 km/h is just way too slow. But I don't generally push it beyond 10-15 km/h over the limit. The exception is wh1en I'm passing in a two-lane situation.
From Rivière du Loup, QC to Edmunston, NB, there's a stretch of two-lane, and every so often, you get a third lane in which to pass slow-moving vehicles. They're usually uphill stretches so you can pass the big rigs (which have trouble climbing). Of course, when you're driving in the lane that doesn't have that third lane, you're headed downhill, right? And in that situation, if there's no oncoming traffic using the passing lane, you're allowed to pass. There's a broken line and everything.
That's where I was. I had just crested a hill and saw that, while there were two oncoming cars, they were both in the non-passing lane and so I could zip around the one car I had been following. Of course, I wanted to get out and get back in as quickly as possible, in case one of the oncoming cars decided to make a move. So I hit the accelerator. Downhill though, acceleration picks up quickly. So I got up to 125 in a snap. It's faster than I should have gone, or even meant to go, but I wanted to get back in line.
Of course, right at that instant I spotted the cop car. And in my rear view, I saw him pull a U and snap on his flashers. Yargh!
I was gonna try to explain it to him, but his English was spotty, and my French not good enough to clarify such a complex situation. Thankfully, he also reduced the speed on the ticket - maybe because I did try to give a cursory explanation - but it still cost $130.
It hurt the pocketbook, but honestly, I feel I wasn't in the wrong. I would do the same thing again (well, maybe not quite so fast, but that was just a misjudgment of the car's downhill acceleration). But what hurt worse was that this happened when I was deliberately trying to maintain a reasonable and legally acceptable speed.
I can't tell you how many incredulous looks I've received over the past week or so after informing someone that I was traveling / had traveled to Moncton. "You're driving?!" They ask me, as if it were wholly inconceivable.
I don't get it. Sure, it's a long drive - 12 hours - but it's kind of a nice drive. And Junkii and I split driving duty, so it's not nearly as bad as it used to be. And besides, on the way East, we stopped overnight in Lévis, QC, which broke up the long haul. We took our time the next day and turned up on the folks' doorstep around 5pm local time - just in time for a nice Easter dinner. What a treat: good food, good wine, and great company.
The next day, Junkii and I disputed the option of driving to PEI for the day, but given the time of year and the fact we had just spent 12 hours on the road, we both agreed to put that off for another time. Instead, I gave Junkii a tour of Moncton and Riverview. We visited the neighbourhood where I grew up, my old school, my high school haunts. It was a great memory trip for me, and Junkii seemed to enjoy hearing about the exploits of my youth.
We grabbed a photo of the old homestead. Most of you won't care, but my family members will recognize it, despite the fact that it's run down and covered in a hideous blue/grey vinyl siding. blech. How disheartening to see your childhood home go to ruin. (Admittedly, the photo doesn't look as bad as it did in person, and it also has my memories to contend with.)
During our drive, we also decided to grab some lunch at Greco. Donairs are a delicacy for me. Junkii and I have tried finding a decent donair in Ottawa, but to no avail. They just don't do the sauce right. No. Here we're limited to Shawarma. Which is fine, but if I want Mediterranean fast food, it would be nice to have a third choice beyond shawarmas and gyros. So any time I get to Moncton, a visit to the king of Donairs - Greco - is in order. Mmmm, sweet sauce.
We also took a little trip to Magnetic Hill. For those who are not familiar, this is THE Moncton tourist attraction. The Hill is basically an optical illusion. You drive down the hill, throw your car in neutral, and sit amazed as your car rolls backward up the hill. The attraction usually costs $5, but since the International Curling championships were on in Moncton, they decided to open it to the public for free. Sweet! I was never terribly impressed by the hill, but this time it struck me as kinda cool. Maybe it was cuz we didn't have to pay.
Sunday morning, we woke to the sound of a snow blower, and immediately knew something was wrong. Upon throwing open the curtains, we were greeted with snow-covered trees. Evidently winter wasn't done with NB just yet. There must have been 30cm before the snow stopped on Monday (well after we left for home). So Sunday was pretty quiet. Apart from brunch with our hosts and a few beers with a high school chum, we just stuck around home. We were productive though, and picked through some possessions Dad was planning to get rid of.
We grabbed some nice bone china teacups to add to the collection. I now have a collection of cordless power tools. And my collection of vinyl LPs is now a little bigger. But even aside from the parting gifts, Junkii and I both feel that the trip was time well spent. We got in some real quality time with Dad and Louise, and it just felt comfortable being home again. Sure, we were faced with hours of life-threatening driving conditions on the way home, But we both agree, the pros far outweighed the cons.
Okay, one more air travel rant, then I'll call it rest.
I was shocked to discover that airlines are now charging flyers for their luggage. Sure, they've always charged for additional pieces, but not for a primary bag. WTF?! We were each charged $15 for our bags. What a rip off. Why is this not included in the price of the ticket? Everyone needs to carry luggage of some sort. It's assumed.
I would rather see the airlines charge flyers a premium for carry-on bags. Have you seen the size of some of those things? It's getting out of hand. You can't squeeze a steamer trunk into an overhead bin!
I realize there are people who will disagree with me - that there are those who extol the benefits of not having to wait for your luggage on the carousel. And I'm not blind to the fact that there is less cost associated with carry-ons, what with removing the need for extra ground crew. But there's a principle here. Flying is a service industry, and part of that service is taking care of your bag so you don't have to lug it around. If you remove the giant carry-ons, you cut down the time it takes to board the plane (and therefore the number of delays). You also remove a level of stress from the flight attendants who have to help find space for everyone's stuff.
I've always held that people who travel with giant carry-on bags are jerks. A little knapsack is one thing, but there's a limit. Still, I might need to change my tune and start carrying-on myself if they're just gonna tack on another charge.
The flight back from Phoenix turned out to be a real hoot, if (slightly) life-endangering.
We were seated right at the back of the plane, very near the lavatories and, just beyond that, the galley. We were literally inches from the flight attendants for the entire flight. That fact would eventually play a huge role in the closing seconds of our descent, and the thrill ride yet to come.
At the beginning of the flight, while taxiing for takeoff, the standard safety video played and, as usual, I was cracking wise with Junkii about it. As I was voicing the kid waiting for his father to put on his own mask before helping others - "Daddy, I can't breathe!" - I felt a good-natured slap on my arm from the flight attendant. She had been standing over my shoulder listening. "That's not funny," she said, before proceeding to slag the lead actress for her silicone lip injections. From then on, the three of us were a regular MST3K, bonding using humour.
The video ended and off went the flight attendant to continue her duties.
The flight was bumpy. We had some mild turbulence for close to an hour during the flight, which kept people in their seats (well, most people. there's always one or two who feel unrestrained by the seat belt sign.) And bladders were filling, so when the seat belt sign finally went off, a loo-line quickly formed right beside our row. The queue made it tricky for the flight crew to get in and out of their galley. So there was a lot of scooching. The flight crew and I (sitting in the aisle seat, as I was) bonded even further.
Okay, now for the drama:
Maybe 20 minutes before the descent started, an old francophone lady went to the washroom. Now, because there had been so much traffic around the toilets, no one took any notice that she was in there. Evidently she decided to use the lavatory to take a rest! when it came time for final descent, the flight crew realized she was still in the lavatory. They knocked, but eventually had to force the door to wake her and urge her back to her seat.
Well, she wasn't having any of that!
The crew tried frantically to get her to return to her seat, but she was stubborn and wouldn't budge. They tried reasoning with her. They tried leading her by the arm. They tried pulling her. They tried yelling at her. Nothing worked. She seemed quite perturbed. Didn't they know who she was?!
The whole affair was starting to cause quite a commotion, with people craning their necks for a better view. The crew phoned the captain, who said he had committed to land the plane. He couldn't stop his approach at this point, so they better get her seated.
The attendant spotted me and asked if I would move to the lady's seat so she could sit in mine. I was happy to do it and high-tailed it towards the front of the plane. I just got nicely seated when the attendant approached me again. The lady refused to sit in any seat but her own. But there she was, finally creeping her way back up the aisle towards me.
Of course, she was blocking the aisle, so I had to wait for her to get back to her seat. And here we are, near to landing! The flight attendant was darting up and down, look out windows to see how much time we had before touchdown. The lady finally reached her seat and the plane erupted in applause as I ran back to my seat, fastening my belt just in time for touchdown. What a ride!
It sure made for a memorable flight. We commended the Delta crew and had a nice chat with them as we were waiting to de-plane. They all thanked me profusely for trying to help. I hope all Delta crews have the same sense of humour and camaraderie about their work. We were thoroughly entertained by the crew.
In fact, the crew chief made some great jokes during his announcements. They were delivered with a marvelous deadpan. Here are a few gems:
- The cabin crew will be passing through the cabin to collect trash, cups, cans... wallets, jewellery, AIG Bonds, Lehmann Stock - really anything that you want to dispose of.
- Please make certain to check your seat area before leaving the plane. If you forget something you can always check Delta's award-winning lost and found website at www.ebay.com. Check under the seller "DeltaCrewPensionFund" to see if your things are there.
- Please remain seated until the plane comes to a full and complete stop at the terminal building. Throughout history, no passenger has ever managed to beat their plane to the gate, so you might as well remain in your seat.
Gems. Sure makes flying more fun when the cabin crew isn't grumpy. Take note, Air Canada!
We're back from a one-week visit to Phoenix to see my folks. They were sick with colds the entire time we were in town, but We had a wonderful time regardless. And thankfully, neither of us seems to have caught anything from them.
It certainly wasn't as busy a trip as the last time we visited - no big road trips to Vegas or the Grand Canyon - but then again, we didn't plan for that anyway. We were only there for one week and we just wanted to relax. Mission accomplished! We shopped, we sat by the pool, we ate out, we drank wine. What more could we ask for?
We did manage to get in a few trips to the big city (My parents live about 30 minutes south of Phoenix).
- We traveled in to do some shopping - and found surprisingly few deals. I would have thought, with the economy the way it is, shops would be falling over to get customers in their doors.
- We paid a visit on my Aunt and Uncle (on my father's side, from Alberta). They also winter in Arizona - nearer downtown Phoenix. It was nice to see them - I don't see that side of the family often enough.
- We checked out the Tempe Festival of the Arts - and saw some fantastic things that would look great above our sofa.
- We got to see our first ever Cirque du Soleil show - Cavalia. Acrobats on Horses!
Check out some of our photos from the trip.
Or, An Open letter to the morons that sat behind us on the flight from JFK to SYR
JFK in New York City is a busy airport. Well, NYC is big after all, so I'm sure it won't shock you to learn that JFK is, in fact, one of the world's busiest airports. There are no less than eight terminals at JFK - each with a good many departure gates. Planes are coming and going all the time. Let me just make this abundantly clear: There's a huge volume of air traffic in and out of JFK - and for that matter, with two other major airports, in and out of NYC in general.
Logically, given the air traffic situation at JFK, one would think most people would expect delays while awaiting takeoff. Clearly, however, you're a little more dense than most people, and you don't think logically.
Let me put this simply. To avoid accidents, planes need to give one another a wide berth. They can't simply take off one after another. They have to wait a minute or two so that they don't crash into one another. So if you've got 20 planes in line, you can expect to wait 40 or 50 minutes for your takeoff. I assure you that complaining will NOT move you ahead in the queue. It simply keeps your mind on the issue at hand, and time will crawl for you. I recommend instead doing some light reading to help pass the time, rather than spouting bile that clearly shows your own sense of self-importance. That approach only serves to irritate those in your vicinity. Let me assure you, you are not THAT important.
No, you are no more important than the people on the plane in front of you. No, it's not feasible for your plane to cut in line and take off before the others already in queue. You clearly felt it was your prerogative to be able to take off first. It's not.
In the future, should you wish to continue using the airlines for your transportation needs, I would recommend you consider flying through another airport. Flying through somewhere less congested - Cincinatti, perhaps, or Detroit - might help you lower your stress level around flying. One thing that won't help your stress level is confrontation. Becoming surly with the flight attendant and misbehaving - turning on your cell phone and making a call just before takeoff, for example, when you were clearly told to turn it off - will do nothing to make your experience any better. Nor will it endear you to your fellow passengers.
Now I know what you're thinking: I barely know you. Really, apart from the hour I had to sit and listen to you gripe to one another about how hard done by you were for having to wait 50 minutes for takeoff, I've never had any interaction with you at all. Perhaps selfishness and assholery have gotten you quite far in life. But if I may share my own experience, let me advise you to, Instead of getting upset, enjoy the ride. there's a reason why they say patience is a virtue. After all, if I hadn't shown it myself, you probably wouldn't have arrived at your destination with all your teeth.
Kind regards
This vacation was a totally different experience from any we've taken before.
Usually when we travel we want to do lots of sight-seeing - museums, temples, landmarks - but this time our trip was all about relaxing. About sitting on a beach and staying put. And it was fantastic!
The day we landed in Liberia, Costa Rica, the pilot announced on the loudspeaker that the temperature was 36 degrees (97F for our US reader), and we both looked at each other and squealed with glee. Our friends picked us up at the airport and we headed off to Samara (about 2 hours away on the pacific coast). They had rented a condo for 6 weeks and we were crashing their pad for 7 days.
Their condo was a 5 minutes walk from the beach and that's pretty much where we spent our time - relaxing in the sun, or swimming, or body surfing the big waves. There was only one day that we left Samara. We went to nearby Nicoya - a larger city with more restaurants, a few sights, and a farmers market. Aside from that it was all beach time.
We did get our share of exercise though. We rented boogie boards a couple of times, to help with the body surfing. We rented sea kayaks and rowed out to a nearby island (you can see it in the background here - it was about 30 minutes away) which was crawling with hermit crabs! We even took surfing lessons - and both of us managed to get up on our own without the instructor!
In the evenings, we'd have a quick shower and a drink (courtesy of the house bartender) before wandering into Samara for a meal, then back home to bed so we could get up and do it all over again.
We did manage to check out the night life around Samara. No photos, but we went for a few drinks at the local night clubs, and one evening we were up at a club that overlooks the town and were there just in time for sunset. It was beautiful.
We've selected about 60 photos that should give you a sense of the place. you can check them out by clicking on the image below.
I'm slow sorting through photos and hope to have a few to show you shortly. In the meantime, I thought a good way to start would be to show you where we stayed in Costa Rica. Here are two short video tours of the condo where we stayed in Samara, Costa Rica. Our friends Steve (AKA Baby) and Krista, who rented the place, are still there. Lucky bums!
Let me apologize in advance for the video quality. The original vids were too big for the blog and when I shrunk them, I went too far. And now I'm too lazy to re-do it. Oh well - you can still see everything pretty clearly. First, a brief tour of the inside of our condo:
