The Travel Thread

[GoSlash27]

I haven't been much into traveling until this year. My best friend died this spring, and it jolted me out of my complacency. Now I'm planning trips almost faster than I can schedule them all.

 I just took a road trip to New Mexico to see all the cool nerd stuff. Didn't get a chance to see it all, so we need to go back.
 I have a trip laid on for August to ride my scooter over the Loveland Pass and visit the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado.
 October/November (not fixed yet) I'm going down to KSC to see a Falcon Heavy launch.
 Early May is a train ride to Promontory Point, Utah to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike.
 Next summer, A trip to Nevada to cruise the Extraterrestrial Highway, watch a Red Flag exercise, and visit the gate to Area 51.

 Pretty much every time the thought pops into my head, it goes on the schedule. Life is short and tomorrow's not promised

Best,
-Slashy

[tater]

On 6/13/2018 at 3:26 PM, GoSlash27 said:

I haven't been much into traveling until this year. My best friend died this spring, and it jolted me out of my complacency. Now I'm planning trips almost faster than I can schedule them all.

 I just took a road trip to New Mexico to see all the cool nerd stuff. Didn't get a chance to see it all, so we need to go back.
 I have a trip laid on for August to ride my scooter over the Loveland Pass and visit the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado.
 October/November (not fixed yet) I'm going down to KSC to see a Falcon Heavy launch.
 Early May is a train ride to Promontory Point, Utah to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike.
 Next summer, A trip to Nevada to cruise the Extraterrestrial Highway, watch a Red Flag exercise, and visit the gate to Area 51.

 Pretty much every time the thought pops into my head, it goes on the schedule. Life is short and tomorrow's not promised

Best,
-Slashy

All that matters in this life is experiences.

As an older forum member, take my word. Spend money on experiences. A friend of mine is an artist in NYC, his day job? He's a waiter. He goes on a 2 week trip abroad (at least) every single year. My wife and I met him in Morocco, and we still keep in touch. So we got the travel experience, AND a friend. Score.

Now that our kids are old enough to realyl appreciate things, we're going to do more and more overseas travel with them (something I never got to do as a kid). Seeing new places, and meeting new people is always cool, and it's even better vicariously seeing it through the eyes of kids with even less life experience/baggage to mess it up.

Edited June 25, 2018 by tater

[benzman]

23 hours ago, GoSlash27 said:

I I just took a road trip to New Mexico to see all the cool nerd stuff. Didn't get a chance to see it all, so we need to go back.
 

Did you go to the Museum of Space History at Alamogordo?  If so, I hope you paid your respects at the grave of Ham, the first Astrochimp, because I certainly did.

 

[GoSlash27]

1 hour ago, benzman said:

Did you go to the Museum of Space History at Alamogordo?  If so, I hope you paid your respects at the grave of Ham, the first Astrochimp, because I certainly did.

 

We did, and we did. My son noticed that the little flag beside his marker was broken, so he bought him a new one.

We also hit up the Los Alamos history center, the Bradbury Museum, the VLA, and the Trinity marker out on 380. It'd be cool to visit the actual Trinity site some day, but you have to jump through a lot of hoops to make that happen.

Best,
-Slashy

[benzman]

1 hour ago, GoSlash27 said:

We did, and we did. My son noticed that the little flag beside his marker was broken, so he bought him a new one.

 

Very glad to hear it, especially about replacing the broken flag.  Tell your son he gets a long-distance high five from me in Melbourne, Australia.

 

 

Edited June 14, 2018 by benzman

[GoSlash27]

benzman,

 I've passed on your comment. Also, I kept the old flag and gave it a place of honor in my "nerd shrine".

Best,
-Slashy

[tater]

5 hours ago, GoSlash27 said:

We did, and we did. My son noticed that the little flag beside his marker was broken, so he bought him a new one.

We also hit up the Los Alamos history center, the Bradbury Museum, the VLA, and the Trinity marker out on 380. It'd be cool to visit the actual Trinity site some day, but you have to jump through a lot of hoops to make that happen.

Best,
-Slashy

The only hoops to jump through are to be at Stallion Gate on the first Saturday in April, or October. Then you just drive in and visit.

BTW, the latter tends to coincide with the Balloon Fiesta (1st full Saturday to Saturday week in October)

Edited June 15, 2018 by tater

[GoSlash27]

Funky... I was led to believe we had to apply as part of a group (25 members minimum), reserve a spot years in advance, and pass a security clearance. All we have to do is show up??

Edited June 15, 2018 by GoSlash27

[tater]

43 minutes ago, GoSlash27 said:

Funky... I was led to believe we had to apply as part of a group (25 members minimum), reserve a spot years in advance, and pass a security clearance. All we have to do is show up??

Yep!

(Last October)

http://www.wsmr.army.mil/Trinity/Pages/Home.aspx

 

Quote

The first Saturday in April and October.
Stallion Gate Hours: 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Trinity site closes promptly at 3:30 p.m.
This event is free and open to the public. No reservations are required.

 

[tater]

Another thing to see in (southern) NM that is absolutely worth it is Carlsbad Caverns. I had been caving in an "unimproved" cave with a serious caving guy once before, and didn't think I ever needed to visit a cave with an elevator... Then I finally went to Carlsbad Caverns. I can't believe I let anyone I know visit NM without going there, it's spectacular.

[GoSlash27]

Next time . I still have a lot to see down there. We haven't seen Roswell or the dinosaur museum yet.

Best,
-Slashy

[LordFerret]

On 5/11/2018 at 11:33 AM, tater said:

(my wife with the Thorong La (a 5400+m pass) in the background)

How did you get her to carry all that stuff for you?!?

 

[Chelsey]

I have been to Hong Kong and Singapore on vacation

[tater]

22 hours ago, Chelsey said:

I have been to Hong Kong and Singapore on vacation

Haven't made it to Singapore yet, but I really liked Hong Kong. It would be better now, perhaps, since when I was in HK I was doing the backpacker thing, and stayed at Chungking Mansions---which was fine, but budget travel gives you a different view of a place. I remember walking around HK, stunned at the number of Rolls Royce cars I was seeing, and even wearing a shirt with a collar (instead of a tee shirt), I felt like a bum (just as I would in midtown Manhattan). Blending in in a cosmopolitan city is not that hard, but how you dress matters. Shorts, etc, peg you as a tourist in most cities (unless you're actively running/exercising). Never occurred to me as a backpacker to have a jacket and tie with me, but there were times when that would have been pretty useful to experience a different side of a city in Asia...

[TheSaint]

What a vacation! As promised, here's a trip report for you all. Map is here, photos are here.

We left on Friday morning and drove straight through to Oklahoma City. Fourteen hours of driving, 950 miles. Ate lunch in the car on the road, stopped in Amarillo for dinner. Crashed at HoJos in OK City that night.

Second day we got up at the crack of dawn, ate the free breakfast, and made tracks for Memphis. Got there at about 2:00 in the afternoon. Graceland is very different than I remember it from when I visited in 2000 (and bloody expensive). They have a huge museum complex across the street from the mansion now. We did the tour, paid our respects, it was still very cool.

Got up the next morning and drove to Mammoth Cave, spent the whole next day walking on cave tours. Six miles, over 1,000 stairs. Carlsbad Caverns is smaller but prettier. But Mammoth was still impressive. 

The next day we drove the 12-hour drive from Mammoth to New York. Bit frustrating, since it is summertime so every road north of the Mason-Dixon line is under construction. But I have a bit of theological revelation for you all: Baptism does not bring you closer to Jesus. Communion does not bring you closer to Jesus. Driving in New York City brings you closer to Jesus. We almost died so many times that "Almost dying" became our default state of mind. We were staying with my wife's cousin and his wife and two kids in Jackson Heights. Thankfully they had a parking space we could use, so we parked the car there and used the subway for the rest of our stay. We had one full day, so we did the essential tourist's New York: Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, and the 9/11 Memorial. 

So then we were off to Rhode Island. Drove up to Portsmouth, got to the campground, pitched our tent, and met up with two of my cousins. So good to see them again. It turned out they were off to see one of their daughters and spend some time with the grand kids the next day, so we decided to take that day and go see my old stomping grounds down in New London. Went to the Submarine Force Museum and the Nautilus, and Mystic Seaport. The next day after that was the big reunion with all my cousins, so we spent the whole day at the campground with them. Just a great time with family.

And then we were off to Boston. We stopped at Plimoth Plantation on the way, had lunch in Plymouth, saw the rock, spent some time on the beach. We toured the USS Constitution that evening, since it was closed the next day. The next day we walked the Freedom Trail, which was fun, but crowded. Lots of very noisy tourist tours and construction.

Now it was time to make all of Thing Three's dreams come true. Hershey, Pennsylvania. I have to say, they exceeded my expectations. I was expecting a roadside tourist trap with a big chocolate-themed gift shop, but it was really impressive. As I put it to my wife, it was a Disney-level experience. Great food, too. We had lunch at the food court and it was excellent. We had dinner that night with a couple of my wife's college friends who drove up from Baltimore to see us.

And then Dayton. I could have easily spent two days at the USAF museum. As it was we were a bit rushed because my wife wanted to get to the Wright Brothers memorial nearby before it closed because it is the only place in the country where the kids could get Junior Ranger Wings (as opposed to Junior Ranger badges). But I just wandered and wandered for six hours, taking pictures and just taking it all in. Amazing history.

And then we had to get home. We were 14 hours on the road from Dayton to Oklahoma City on Friday. We stopped for a leg stretch in St. Louis to see the Gateway Arch. It was probably 90% humidity right there on the river, the kids thought they were going to die. The next day was the last leg, OK City to home, and it took almost 16 hours thanks to a rollover accident we were stuck behind for over an hour on the 40 just past the Arizona border. We got home at about 10:00 on Saturday night and promptly collapsed. 15 days, over 5,500 miles, one of the best vacations I've ever had.

[munlander1]

Leaving Germany on the 28th

[NSEP]

12 hours ago, munlander1 said:

Leaving Germany on the 28th

I will be entering Germany July 10th.

Im going to Berlin on a school fieldtrip. Its like a 6 hour journey, not that much compared to the 13 hours to Bristol in will take in August to visit family.

Edited June 25, 2018 by NSEP

[LordFerret]

@TheSaint

Holy what the.....

The map gave me your entire trip, turn for turn. lol

[LordFerret]

@TheSaint

Those are some nice pictures, looks like everybody had fun. Thanks for sharing!

The sailing ships, Constitution included; From time to time those ships are all taken out under sail for a turn-around. Last I knew of, you could sign up for a ride along on a turn-around. I was going to try and sign my dad and myself up for one, but dad ran out of time and passed in 2012. Wish I'd know about it sooner, he was all Navy and had a serious passion for ships under sail.

I'll throw one more here; When I was about 8 years old, we did a vacation in Boston as well. At the time, the old North Church was undergoing some repairs. The original brickwork on the (I believe it was) back left corner was being redone, some of the bricks had cracked and broken off (time? vandalism?). The repair crew allowed me to take a piece of original brick, one which was in too many broken pieced to be reused. I still have it to this day.

Edited June 26, 2018 by LordFerret

[TheSaint]

12 hours ago, LordFerret said:

@TheSaint

Holy what the.....

The map gave me your entire trip, turn for turn. lol

The trip you are viewing is real, only the addresses have been changed to protect the innocent....

11 hours ago, LordFerret said:

@TheSaint

Those are some nice pictures, looks like everybody had fun. Thanks for sharing!

The sailing ships, Constitution included; From time to time those ships are all taken out under sail for a turn-around. Last I knew of, you could sign up for a ride along on a turn-around. I was going to try and sign my dad and myself up for one, but dad ran out of time and passed in 2012. Wish I'd know about it sooner, he was all Navy and had a serious passion for ships under sail.

I'll throw one more here; When I was about 8 years old, we did a vacation in Boston as well. At the time, the old North Church was undergoing some repairs. The original brickwork on the (I believe it was) back left corner was being redone, some of the bricks had cracked and broken off (time? vandalism?). The repair crew allowed me to take a piece of original brick, one which was in too many broken pieced to be reused. I still have it to this day.

Yes, the Constitution has a lottery for its cruises, I hear it's pretty popular. The Mystic Seaport ships don't sail, at least regularly. In fact they put the Charles W. Morgan under sail when they took it back from a restoration in Boston in 2014 and it made headlines because it was the first time that an American whaling ship had been under sail in over 90 years.

Yeah, the last trip I made with my Dad was when he came out to see my boot camp graduation in 1987, he passed away about a year later. He's been gone thirty years now, still think about him every day.

That brick is an amazing piece of history to have. Very cool.

[munlander1]

On 6/25/2018 at 1:04 PM, NSEP said:

Its like a 6 hour

It’s a 9 hour flight, the hastle free, beautiful American customs, another 1 hour flight, and a 20 minute drive home.

It’s so cool how you guys can travel Europe and encounter so many different cultures.

[The Minmus Derp]

South Africa is the best in terms of wildlife. Also, GO AFRICAN WILD DOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Spacetraindriver]

Well I did fly across the states over to Florida like a month or so ago...

Spoiler

it was super surreal that you know it actually was the KSC yknow? Especially with those trucks stuffed to the brim with probably highly volatile fuel just passing our tour bus. The actual place where actual rockets are actually launched into actual spa..you get the idea. Only disappointments were that besides the tracks signs of the NASARR were no where to be seen, and they scheduled a launch the night I was leaving...

[NSEP]

On 6/27/2018 at 12:46 AM, munlander1 said:

It’s a 9 hour flight, the hastle free, beautiful American customs, another 1 hour flight, and a 20 minute drive home.

It’s so cool how you guys can travel Europe and encounter so many different cultures.

Whoopsy daisy. Bus trip extended to 10 hours, because the bus driver has to take breaks i geuss. Oh, and the driving time is 7 hours, not 6. 

I understand why the bus driver has to take a break now and then, but 3 hours in total is way too much for a 7 hour journey i think. 1 hour in total is probably enough to recover, maybe even half and hour. The journey starts at 6AM, so i do get why he probably needs a little bit of rest, but i think 3 hours is way too much.

After all, the 3+ extra hours could also include traffic, but i don't see how there would be many traffic jams, at least not ones caused by tourists.

Most tourists from Europe go south, not so much east, in our travel direction. Most Europeans seek for the sun and go to the Mediterranean.

[Dfthu]

Took a ride a C-130 up to Duluth Minnesota then following the north shore and opening the back ramp. After circling around they closed the door and flew down to the Apostle islands before opening the ramp back up again and circling. CLosed the ramp and flew south into Wisconsin before landing on 12L at MSP.

https://imgur.com/gallery/F4hnXhu

Edited June 29, 2018 by Dfthu