Sedona Trip Update

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Good morning.

Yesterday I told you my sister and I would conference call for plane tickets. We did it! We got our tickets and the  flights aren’t too bad but I will tell you that it was one of the most challenging bookings I’ve ever done. I had both my desk top and lap top going to check the different sites. Twice we went to book a fare only to be told the price had changed. The fares were jumping up right in front of me!

I have Kayak.com set to send fare alerts for the trip and I didn’t get one until today and that one is still over $100.00 more than the flight we booked.  All I can say is I’m glad that’s done. We are flying Southwest. I haven’t been on Southwest in years but their  “got to getaway” online price was better than anything else I could find besides, “Bags Fly Free” on Southwest 🙂

While I had Sandy on the phone I reserved the rental car. We were in for a shock there. The base cost of the rental was reasonable but then the taxes and miscellaneous charges kicked in almost doubling the cost of the rental! I’ve rented many times before and don’t remember this. I’m not sure if Arizona has extra fees or if I just never noticed it before. This may bear looking into for future reference.

After that call I got back on the phone and booked the Grand Canyon Railroad. I tried booking online but it never asked if there were seniors  in my party and it didn’t let me add the Rim Tour so I called. I got a wonderful agent who applied the appropriate discounts, Senior and AAA and waived the National Park fee of $16.00 because I have a  National Parks Pass.

That done I moved on to the Verde Canyon railroad and the Blazin’M.

We lucked out with that call because they said they were running a special on first class on the train when you combine  it with the Blazin’M. The cost for first class and dinner was only a couple of  dollars more than the coach cost so of course we’ll go first class.

2  more tours to book.

I moved on to the Bottom of the Canyon Tour. I pulled up the reservation page on the Native American journey’s web page and filled it out. I haven’t heard back or paid anything. It seemed to me it was kind of  “up in the air”. I will give it a couple of days to get a response and it if no luck  I will call them. Since I don’t know if we got the day I requested I held off booking the trail ride.

It’s coming together.

I’m going to sign off for now. We have snow on the way and I want to run down to New Bedford to the Whaling Museum. I still need to collect my stamp from my last visit and it’s in the New England National Park Challenge so I can get my first stamp in the challenge. I’ll let you know how I make out in my post tomorrow.

Another Challenge~ New England Passport

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I was mentioning to one of my co-workers that I would love to have an Irish post for St. Patrick’s day next year and she said she knew someone who was going to Ireland.  She said one of our co-workers from another department was going over for about 2 weeks. I asked if she thought he’d let me get an interview to post and she said if she spoke to him, she’d ask.

Well, she got back to me and said his exact words were…Bring it on! So we’ll have a real Irish adventure to look forward to!

The title for today’s post is Another Challenge. When I was at the AAA Marketplace I stopped by the National Parks booth. I am a great fan of the National Parks. I’ve mentioned before that I collect the stamps in the National Parks Passport. Well they have a regional Passport. So I accepted one.  I just got around to reading it and it covers National Parks in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts , Connecticut and Rhode Island. Altogether there are 23 parks listed in the New England Passport. The challenge is that to complete the book you have to visit all of them before December 31, 2011. If I succeed I will get the 25th Anniversary Passport.

Well, I love a challenge and some of these parks are close together so I may be able to go to more than one in a day but Acadia National Park in Maine is a hike. I’ve had it on my list for a couple of years now. I really think it deserves more that a “quick hit” so I’m going to have to do some planning to get there before the end of this year.

 I wonder what the weather is going to be like on Wednesday. If this snow clears I might just head down to the Cape. I love Cape Cod and that’s where I can collect the stamp for the Cape Cod National Seashore.

www.nps.gov

But for now I will sign off. I need to check airfares so Sandy and I can book our flight to Phoenix.

This and That

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Good Monday Morning!

I don’t have much to offer today. Getting excited about the upcoming Sedona trip in May. This is the last phase before we leave. The planning is done. Now it’s just the booking process. I always have mixed feelings about the booking process. First, it’s exciting because it’s no longer just a plan. Now I’m committed. On the other hand I hate, really hate watching my bank balance shrink. Of course, I do get over that part quickly. I’ll be posting our progress each day securing reservations so you, my readers will be a part of the process too!

Other than that I’m heading to work today. I picked up a few hours of OT. It will help toward the costs of the trip.

Saturday night was the “Full Worm Moon”. Nice name huh? Anyway, it’s been called a supermoon because it was closer to the earth than it’s been in 8 years and it was something like 14% brighter. I went out to try to get a picture. I envisioned a beautiful portrait of the Man in The Moon like you see on the news when they talk about it. Nope, my skills just weren’t up to it. I’d love to blame the camera but I think it was the person holding the camera (me).

I took one series of pictures in the parking lot of my office. Then I took another series in the park in Plymouth right on the harbor. I went there twice. Boy it was cold. But I can tell you, they light Plymouth Rock with colored lights and The Mayflower is back in out of her winter dry dock.

Well, that’s about all I have for you today. Hi Ho Hi Ho, it’s off to work I go!

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Reservation time~ Grand Canyon

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Oh boy…It’s time to start booking the trip we all planned over the last couple of months.

My sister and I are going to conference call on Tuesday to get our flights. Last time I checked there was a big difference flying out of Harford instead of Albany. I was surprised by that because there usually isn’t that big a difference.

If we fly out of Hartford we have to deal with 2 cars and a room. If the savings are enough it’s something to consider but the rates were changing hourly. I was checking them on my web page…www.netTrav.com/travelplace and on www.kayak.com  and of course, www.Southwest.com. It will be interesting to see what the fares are on Tuesday.

I want to start lining up the tours we want to do too. Grand Canyon Railroad with the Rim tour and lunch was one and the Bottom of the Grand Canyon was another.

Verde Canyon Railroad followed by the Blazin’ M dinner show is also a definite so we want to lock up those reservations too.

I just know this is going to be a great trip!

Better Late than Never!

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In my excitement to share the Mexico interview with you I totally forgot it was St. Patrick’s Day. I had a little St. Patty’s Day post to share with you. I would so love to have an Irish Interview for next St. Patrick’s Day but for now a day late and a dollar short, I send you Irish Blessings.

An Irish Blessing :     

(A Blessing from St. Patrick)

 

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
May the rains fall soft upon your fields,
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

(Traditional Irish Blessing; origin unknown,
although some attribute it to St. Patrick.)