Category Archives: Florida

Good Bye Hertz or How to lose a Customer

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Bye Bye HertzGood Bye Hertz

Do you want to know how to lose a customer in less than an hour? Hertz lost me and as I stood at the counter waiting my turn I watched and listened as another customer was left stranded. It did not give me a good feeling. I should have listened to my gut. By now I’d been up and awake for 12 hours. I’d just done a marathon through the Miami Airport and was rapidly melting from the exertion. And now I was standing in line while the Hertz rep turned away the customer in front of me.

So Why Hertz This Time?

Hertz has never been my favorite car rental agency. I usually only use them as a last resort. They always seem to be overpriced. You can get a better deal with another rental agency and I have. I use Enterprise regularly and I’ve used Thrifty and Dollar. I used Payless once. Bad experience and won’t use them again. Hertz has worked deals with my Timeshare so they encourage us owners to use them. It still didn’t save me any money. So why did I reserve a car with them this time? I booked the car when I reserved my flight and Hertz was the only option on the Delta website.

It’s My Turn

The customer service rep motioned me forward and I dragged my wilting , dripping body to the counter. I handed over my reservation form, license and credit card. My experience was totally different from the poor guy ahead of me. My rep was super nice and got me through the verification process in minutes. She passed me my contract and a map and directed me to the 3rd level. Once on level 3 I was told to pick any car in Zone 2. Sounds good. I breathed a sign of relief, boarded the elevator and headed to level 3.

So what went wrong?Bye Bye Hertz

On level 3  I was looking at all those lovely cars in Zone 1 and Zone 3 but Zone 2 only had 2 cars. Big choice. One was a humongous combination of SUV and minivan, certainly not a compact. I didn’t even recognize the make. The other car was a little red number. Cute but written in soap across the windshield was ” no inspection sticker”.  So no cars and no attendant to help. Its all self serve. By now I was very much afraid I was going to have to drag my luggage back to the counter again when I spotted a Hertz employee.

No Speak English

Turns out that the friendly and willing employee had one problem with me. He did not speak English and I did not speak Spanish. What we had here was a failure to communicate. Finally another customer stopped and acted as translator. After much back and forth I was told to wait there. The other customer left, the employee left and I was left to stew. I was just about to give up when Mr. employee returned with a Nissan Sentra.

Bye Bye Hertz

Getting on the road I needed was easier than escaping the Hertz section of the parking garage. Once on the road I breathed a sign of relief. Only 70 miles to my destination. Note to self: Put Hertz on the bottom of the list of  rental car agencies. This rental is costing me close to $900 for a week. That seems a little excessive to me. A nice RAV 4 or Chevy Equinox would be more in line. I’ve rented both from other agencies for less than $500.00 with less aggravation. And that’s how Hertz lost me as a customer in less than 1 hour.

 

Oh the Places You’ll Go

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Maui flowersWhat Places need a visit?

I’ve been some great places and had some amazing adventures. But where do I want to go next. I haven’t made it to all 50 states but I’m finding that I’m not interested in seeing every state any more. I’ve developed some favorite places and I like returning. There’s Florida and Hawaii to name two. I’m pretty sure I’ll continue to visit both of those states.

Go West, Young Man, Go West

I’ll need to rephrase that famous line. How about go west old lady go west? I like Wyoming. I’m tentatively going back again to finish visiting Yellowstone. I’d prefer to get accomodations in Idaho as it’s closer to the West Entrance but if that doesn’t pan out I can go back to Jackson. That was a really good vacation.

Moulton Barn with Tetons in the background

Red Rocks of Sedona

Sedona was nice too. The red rocks are beautiful. I took my first helicopter ride there. Sedona was my base camp when I made both visits to the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is truly amazing. Everyone should see it at least once. The first time it’s almost overwhelming. My mind kept telling me it wasn’t real!

Mount Rushmore

What’s in South Dakota

What’s in South Dakota was the question I got and asked when my sister and I planned our trip. Everyone knows about Mount Rushmore but it turned out that there was a lot more to see and experience. We visited a real dinosaur dig, observed wild mustangs running free, were surrounded by bison in Custer State Park. 

 

Alaska, The Great Land

We cruised to Alaska. Unfortunately we did it in the rainy, cold spring. I want to go back. I want to see the bears at Brooks Camp during the salmon run. I’d like to cruise past the glaciers again and even experience the midnight sun. Maybe I need two trips because I’d like to see the Aurora Borealis, aka the Northern lights and those are in the fall and winter. Ugh…cold.

Magarie Glacier

Any Suggestions?

So my friends, family and loyal readers, where do you want me to go? What adventure would you like me to experience and write about? The only stipulation is that it must be in the USA. I’m not ready for international travel yet. Maybe someday.

 

Cruise Dos

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Poolside (c) Dusty Roads Photos

Cruise Number 2

The 2nd cruise was a few years later, 2013 to be more specific. Once again I was teamed up with my BFF. This time it was just the 2 of us. The other thing I did differently was plan the excursions in advance so that both of us were on the same page. We were doing another 4 day cruise, this time to Cozumel, Mexico.

Leaving from The Port of Miami

This cruise seemed to get off to better start. I flew down to Orlando the day before departure. We drove to Miami together to board the ship. Once on board we checked out the state rooms. This one was larger than the one I shared on the last cruise.

Sunset at the Port of Miami (c) Dusty Roads Photos

Cruise ship in Key West (c) Dusty Roads Photos

First Port of Call- Key West

Our first port of call was just down the coast in Key West. Joe had lived and worked in Key West at one time so he was very familiar with it. I’d had the opportunity to visit him so it wasn’t new to me either. We wandered around playing tourist just the same. It was a nice, relaxed day.

Beware of Thieves

I don’t remember which day it was but we decided to take our breakfast plates outside to a deck table.

Sneaky Gull- (c) Dusty Roads Photos

The morning was beautiful. The gulls seemed to know the cruise guests would be out with food and some were quite aggressive. Do not leave you plate unattended as a gull will be in that food in a heartbeat. One of the funniest moments (for me) was when a particularly determined gull decided it wanted Joe’s breakfast. Even though Joe was seated right there I watched the sneaky bird creep up the rail behind Joe. It was obvious the bird knew exactly what it was doing. Joe had no clue what was about to happen. When the bird swooped over Joe’s shoulder to raid the plate I laughed until I cried. Joe was not amused!

Tulum

Mayan Ruins, Tulem

Photo by Dusty Roads Photos

When the ship docked in Cozumel we took a shuttle to the Mexican mainland. That was one wild ride as the seas between Cozumel and the mainland are extremely rough. The crew of the shuttle were handing out seasick bags! But once on land we connected with our tour guide and got to explore the Mayan ruins of Tulum. These are both beautiful and  fascinating. Well worth the discomfort of a rough channel crossing.  I never expected to be surrounded by such history in my life.  This cruise was more to my liking!

 

Experience Rating

 

Pandora After Dark

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Disney’s Pandora at Night

I returned to Pandora on my last night in Orlando. This was the big test. Pandora at night. I met up with Jr for a dusk Safari. Disney leaves nothing to chance. They even have  a fake sunset over the savanna. But that was just the first act. Pandora was the headliner. We passed the Tree of Life, barely slowing down to see the “Awakenings”.

Tree of life at night

This centerpiece of the Animal Kingdom has been endowed with a wondrous nighttime show. It runs every 10 minutes so there’s plenty of opportunity to take it in.

High Priest of the River of LightThe River of Light

The reason for the rush was that we wanted good seats for the River of Light Show. This is a fusion of lights, color and water. Images play on the sails of the ships and fountains burst from the floating lilies. Animals of light play across the the dark, splashing orcas, racing cheetahs. This is a celebration of life in light. Watch closely as you are transported across Asian jungles and tropical oceans to African savannas and North American mountains.

The Sound is OverwhelmingFloating lotus flowers

As if the imagery were not enough the music is loud. Very LOUD. That was one thing that I found distracting. The images were mesmerizing but the music was overwhelming. Its just my opinion but the sound was not in balance with the visual effects.

I made it my challenge

Capturing some of the brilliant scenes on camera became my focus. My favorite things were the floating Lilly pads. The show is only 15 minutes but it will totally immerse you. When the show ended it was time to check out “Pandora at Night.”

finale

Last stop, The World of Avatar at Night

As you approach Pandora at night you begin to see the sparkling luminescence on the tree trunks. But there’s more when you approach than when you get inside the world. The walk ways do not light up as you walk as described in the Disney promo. It’s obvious that much of the effects are black lights, so 1960’s. The Na’Vi River Journey is interesting but that’s about all I can say about it. We only waited about 5 minutes for the last ride of the evening. I wouldn’t wait in line an hour. It isn’t worth it. We didn’t get to take the Flight of Passage. There was still a long line. That ride might have been worth the wait. But it will have to wait for next time.

Is Pandora worth the Hype?

My opinion? Fun, interesting but just as good in daylight as the dark. Not up to Disney Standards.

sprays

Mystic Dunes Resort

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Mystic Dunes Resort and Golf Club

Mystic Dunes is a family resort in Orlando Fl. I’m creating this post for my sister. Sandy always wants to see what the resorts are like and where I stay when I travel. Since I am a Timeshare owner through Diamond Resorts International I’ve always found the resorts to be top notch.

Diamond Resort Logo

 

Mystic Dunes is no exception. Its located close to all the family attractions, Disney World, Universal and SeaWorld. If you try to squeeze everything in you’ll be singing “And I Had The Time of my Life”.

Mystic Dunes and Hurricane Irma

tree down

My scheduled trip coincided with Hurricane Irma’s visit to Florida. With the Orlando Airport closed it was clear my trip was on hold. A few phone calls later my new dates were 2 days after Irma. I had no idea what to expect. Was I headed to a disaster area? The Golf course was closed but not because of the hurricane. It was just getting a face lift.

Entrance

My home away from home at Mystic Dunes

No Phone, no Cable, no Internet

Livingroom & Dining room

Living area of the condo at Mystic Dunes

The first thing I noticed when I arrived was that reception had no air conditioning. The second was the large hole in the ceiling. But the resort personnel were intrepid. They sat at card tables with lap tops checking in the guests. My unit had A/C. in fact it was downright cold but the tables and chairs for the deck were in the corner of the living room. The phones, cable and internet were down but expected to be back on corner tubsometime before I left.

Amenities

I didn’t spend much time at the resort but I made a check of the grounds to see what damage there Grill areawas. A few trees were down. Grounds keepers were busy cutting them up and repairing the decorative fountains. The club house restaurant, Kenzie’s,  was open for business.

 

Pool

 

 

 

The pool was clean and waters flowing. Even the grill area was all set up and ready to go. By the time my brief vacation wrapped up, the hole in the ceiling at the reception area was repaired and the A/C was on for them. They were still on generators but it was business as usual. Kudos to the dedicated staff. They made sure the hardships of Hurricane Irma never touched their guests.Bedroom

Kitchen