Category Archives: Travel
Always Something
It won’t be long now before I’ll be in the air and winging my was south to warm weather. My 2nd annual winter migration to escape the snow and cold of New England. Cat sitter has been secured. Extra cat food, treats and kitty litter brought in so at least the furry children will be well cared for in my absence.
My own preparations have been a teeny bit more challenging. My tripod wouldn’t fit in my suitcase. Why bother you ask? Because the 2nd half of my trip is the Florida Everglades and if I want to use my telephoto lenses I need a tripod for stability. I haven’t mastered the monopod yet but it makes a great walking stick. So it was off to the store to find a 27 inch suitcase instead of my 25 inch.
Next step was to log onto Carnival Cruise line’s web page to do my online check in and set up my “on board account”. Carnival is “cashless” while on board. That part actually went pretty smooth until I got to the part where I had to print the documents. The luggage tags printed , the cruise documents printed but not the boarding pass.
I thought it might be because my sailing partner had not set up his on board account yet so I sent an email off to him to get going on his docs. Good thing I did. Apparently the Carnival web site has issues. When he tried to access his booking it told him there was a problem and to book again. As he struggled with Carnival I went back into my account and could now print my boarding pass so I was all set. Not so my buddy. It was 2 full days before they told him the problem was corrected. I haven’t heard yet if it really was.
Tomorrow I’ll check my flight to see if that’s all set and finish packing…carefully…so I don’t get a furry stow away.
To be continued…..
Posting Schedule
I’m about to embark on a little jaunt and I am not sure how much access I’ll have to the internet. I have 2 more days on the 21 day Photo Challenge. I promise I’ll take at least one picture a day and share them as soon as I get “plugged in” again.
I’ll also give you a full report on where I’ve been and what I’ve done. (Hint) Cruise/ Mexico/ Mayan Ruins/ Everglades…So stay tuned. I’ll try not to be out of touch too long!~ Dusty
Packing Time
It’s been a few months since I did any traveling. Sometimes I just need to take some time to recharge that way I appreciate my trips more. I found last summer that one trip after another was exciting but draining. By the time I was headed out on my last trip I was worn out. It was so easy when I reached my sister’s house for the Adirondack Balloon Festival to just kick back. The weather helped because it rained so several launches were canceled.
It’s a new year now and my travel schedule is just getting started. The first thing I found was that my new and improved tripod with it’s “ball head” doesn’t fit in my old suitcase. After much debate I decided to get a new suitcase rather than leave the tripod home.
It was also time to replace my luggage tags. The old ones were starting to fade and I’d even managed to break the corner on one.
Rocky was ready to perch on my suitcase for a new portrait for the new tags.
(I’ve covered up the name and phone # on the tag for obvious reasons)
But one thing hasn’t changed. I’ll still have the suitcase with the most cat hair on it. Rocky immediately took his place on top of the suitcase. I can see packing is going to be its usual challenge!
Rain Rain Go Away
And what do you know…it did! Seems like every day I have off it rains. The weather report was for rain starting Sunday and going into Monday then followed by another storm system that would roll in with more…you guessed it…rain. That would last into Tuesday with heavy downpours at times. I pleaded with the storm gods to clear out for just 1 day because I had 2 young children to take to Edaville Railroad. Tuesday was the only day that my schedule fit with the children’s mother’s schedule. Rain would make it miserable so please , please go away…if just for a day.
I met Nancy (The Mom) for lunch at noon on Tuesday. It was a light drizzle so she said it would be ok. After lunch we “sprung” the kids from school for early release and ran back to their house for coats and hats because it was bound to cool off after dark. Edaville doesn’t open until 4 pm so we stopped for a snack at McDonald’s about 3. That killed 30 minutes which had us pulling into Edaville at a few minutes past 4. Perfect and as if the storm gods had heard my plea the clouds began to clear and the sun came out if only for about 20 minutes before it set for the day.
Alex knew where we were right away. I think it took Dawn a minute or two to get orientated then it was into the park.
While we waited for it to get a little dark we explored Santa’s workshop with model trains, toysets and Santa!
The kids sat with Santa and got candy canes then it was time for the kids to ride the rides and me to try to get some holiday light pictures before full dark.
Edaville almost closed down 2 years ago but something happened and plans changed. It’s back with refurbished rides and a full schedule. Holiday-themed lights are everywhere. Lighted animal sculptures roam the savannah that the train chugs through. ( The savanna is actually a Cranberry Bog) Sometimes they use a diesel engine but tonight is was steam.
I remember coming here years ago with my family when my niece (now a mother herself) was just a few years old.
Alex, being all boy, liked the bumper cars and he was tall enough this year to drive one on his own. Dawn was very brave and rode the huge ferris wheel that is almost as old as I am! The ferris wheel was built in 1953. Edaville itself has been operating in Carver since the 1940’s with occasional stops and starts for financial reasons.
The night flew by. Before we knew it they were calling all aboard for the last train. The kids were still flying high or so we thought but not long into the ride home quiet descended in the car. The kids were asleep in the back seat. What a peaceful end to a full evening of fun!