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Joined December 2019 Message
  • Two to TravelCoronavirus Pandemic
    Day379

    Celebrating in Monument

     April 3 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    After I got my second jab of the COVID-19 vaccine this morning, we went off to enjoy the delightful spring day ... mid-70F ... blue skies ... sunshine ... a light breeze. Our destination? Monument ... just a short ways north of Colorado Springs.

    First ... lunch on the patio @ La Casa Fiesta ... delicious Mexican food ... mixed fajitas for me; carnitas for Mui.

    Next ... dessert @ Lolley's, a creamery we heard about on the local news (they do a daily "Rebound Colorado" segment to promote local businesses during the pandemic). As promised, the ice cream — especially the caramel pecan — was "scrumpdillylolleylicious." Yes, I know, that's not a real word. But it fits.

    A quick stop to check out Monument Lake wrapped up our visit.

    All in all, a short but delightful outing on a lovely spring day.    Read more

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  • Two to TravelCoronavirus Pandemic
    Day379

    Got My Second Jab!

     April 3 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    I received the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this morning. Yay!

    Feeling good so far. That said, Mui's side effects — a general listlessness and achiness — did not hit until the day after he got his shot. I'm prepared for whatever might come my way ... no plans scheduled for the next few days.Read more

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  • North to Alaska By RV 2021
    Day0

    Before & After Logistics Part II ✅

     March 26 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 45 °F

    With the decision made to spend our time waiting for the vehicles northbound in Alaska and southbound in Washington State, today we focused on finding accommodations for those days.

    If we're going to be in one place for just a day or two, we're OK staying in a hotel. For stays of longer duration, however, our preference is to book a place through AirB&B or VRBO ... or similar. Having our own place is a lot more comfortable and brings with it the advantage of self-catering at least some of our meals.

    For our week-long stay in Anchorage, we booked a property listed as "Charming Historic Cottage." It's located downtown ... walking distance to restaurants and such. Looks cute as a button in the photos.

    Before we could book a place in Washington, we had to decide where to base ourselves for about a week. We settled on Leavenworth. No, I don't mean the US penitentiary in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

    Rather, we'll be heading to the Bavarian-styled village in the Cascade Mountains of Washington. Though we lived in Tacoma for a little over a year when we emigrated to the US in 1982, we never made it up that way. We're looking forward to exploring a new-to-us area.

    AirB&B came through for us once again ... this time with a property listed as "Lily House." The place is in a quiet residential neighborhood in Leavenworth and within walking distance to restaurants, shops, and such.

    We've also booked rental cars to get ourselves around in both Anchorage and Leavenworth. That pretty much takes care of the logistics for "before & after." Now, we can focus on the logistics of getting our vehicles to and from Washington.    Read more

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  • North to Alaska By RV 2021
    Day0

    Before & After Logistics Part I ✅

     March 26 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 45 °F

    With the "where to spend the waiting time before we are reunited with the RV and toad" question answered, it was time to book flights.

    I had some spare miles languishing in my Delta SkyMiles account ... returned to me due to a pandemic-related trip cancelation earlier this year. So, I used those miles to book roundtrip SEA-ANC-SEA flights ... 19,500 miles each + a few dollars in taxes and fees ... not bad for the Comfort+ cabin. Our seats are already selected.

    Our northbound flight departs around 7:30a and will require an o'dark hundred arrival at the airport. Southbound, we have a decent departure time from Anchorage, but we have a late arrival at SeaTac — around 9:30p — due to losing an hour for a time zone change. So, I booked us into the Crowne Plaza near SeaTac at either end of the trip.

    With these logistics details taken care of, it's time to find accommodations for our "waiting time." But that's for another day.    Read more

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  • North to Alaska By RV 2021
    Day0

    Before & After

     March 26 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 36 °F

    Before and after what? Let me 'splain.

    Since Tote Maritime does not take passengers, our RV and toad will be cruising to and from Alaska without us. How long will that take? About five days ... give or take a day ... what with loading, unloading, the transit between the Lower 48 and the 49th state, and whatnot.

    We'll be flying to and from Alaska. That will take us just a couple of hours each way.

    What that means is that we will have time to kill before the vehicles arrive in Alaska and again after we ship them back to Washington State at the end of our road trip.

    What to do with that waiting time?

    Well, we decided to head up to Alaska on the outbound trip in May ... spend a few days in Anchorage ... revisit some old haunts.

    Then, when we reverse course in July, we'll spend time in Washington ... where is TBD ... probably somewhere we didn't get a chance to visit when we lived in Tacoma in the 1980s.

    Let the details unfold as the planning progresses.    Read more

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  • North to Alaska By RV 2021
    Day0

    The Plan!

     March 25 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 46 °F

    This is going to be a fluid trip. Meaning that we’ll have a “framework” bounded by a start date and an end date. Reservations where necessary ... but mostly footloose and fancy-free. The idea is to be fluid enough to jiggle things as weather and other considerations warrant.

    So, here’s the “barebones plan” calendar as things stand right now. Everything between these dates ... well, all that will be fleshed out during the planning process.

    (You can click the calendar for the details.)    Read more

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  • North to Alaska By RV 2021
    Day0

    Cruiser & Toad A-Cruisin’

     March 25 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 45 °F

    Mui and I may not be able to cruise out of US ports yet, but our RV and toad [tow vehicle] sure can. And that’s what makes our plan to explore Alaska this summer with our Phoenix Cruiser possible.

    Here’s the backstory ...

    It was a chance comment about Tote Maritime in the “RVing to Alaska 2021” Facebook group that had us once again putting Alaska on our travel map for this year. Can’t drive the RV to Alaska? Ship it instead!

    I’d already checked the Alaska Marine Highway to ship ourselves and our vehicles to the 49th state. But the fare was cost-prohibitive. Would Tote, the shipping company that makes twice-weekly supply runs between Tacoma, Washington and Anchorage, Alaska similarly be a budget-buster?

    The only way to find out was to shoot off a quote request. I did that yesterday afternoon. A couple of hours later, I had a quote. One that we could live with ... especially after Mui agreed to remove the hitch and spare tire to reduce our vehicle size to fit within the 21-30 foot pricing range. Of course, we’ll need those “accoutrements” for the road trip in Alaska, so we’ll just put them inside the trunk of the toad for the cruise and re-install them in Anchorage.

    So, now we have a plan. I’ll share the details in another footprint.    Read more

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  • North to Alaska By RV 2021
    Day0

    North to Alaska

     March 25 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 27 °F

    A last-minute decision for our summer RV trip ... but one we are very happy to have made!

    In case you missed it in the title of this “Trip,” we will be exploring Alaska with our RV.

    How is this even possible with the US-Canada border still closed? Details coming soon to a footprint near you 😉Read more

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  • Two to TravelCoronavirus Pandemic
    Day367

    Another March Snowstorm

     March 22 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 36 °F

    Someone told me recently that March is the snowiest month in Colorado. I believe it.

    This snow event lasted just one day ... started around noon yesterday and ended around noon today. By the time it was all said and done, we had about 8” of accumulation.Read more

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  • Two to TravelCoronavirus Pandemic
    Day367

    Visitor on a Snowy Morning

     March 22 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 30 °F

    We had a visitor at breakfast time ... a female American Kestrel that spent some time on one of the deck pylons even as it continued to snow.

    Having never seen this bird in person, at first I thought it was a baby hawk. But research proved otherwise. With its feathers all fluffed up and snowflakes clinging to its face, the poor thing looked awfully cold. But I let it be ... as we should with wild animals.

    Even though I had no choice but to photograph the kestrel through the glass, trying to stay hidden so as not to scare it off, I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera and clicking the shutter a couple of times. I was surprised at how well the photos turned out.    Read more

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