Can you cross the street?

Author: stormy

Having fun flying with little kids

I loved airports and airplanes with my kids when they little. Now at 8 and 14 years old, they are jaded.

But at 1.5 years old they were awesome fun. We explored airports, rode the moving sidewalks, ate fast food, and watched airplanes.

And we checked out the airplane safety card. You know that one you always tell the flight attendant you’ve read when you sit in the emergency row but you’ve never really looked at? My oldest still loves the airline catalog with all the crazy gadgets that you can buy.

What a waste! A business class seat for a one year old!

My partner says I’m the only person who gets excited when they sit next to a baby on an airplane. I’ve let them sit on my lap to see out the window. And on a long flight to China, I helped a frantic mother with a toddler and an infant. I took the baby, who promptly fell asleep and drooled all over my shirt. The three grandmothers behind me said it wasn’t fair I got to hold him. None of us offered to chase the toddler around.

And yes, sometimes kids get upset. And sometimes they cry. And sometimes people around you get upset. But I figure usually the parents are more upset than the kids. And the more upset the parents, the more upset the kids become.

And to that guy in the window seat … the one that made us get up 4 times during a 2 hour flight … just as my toddler fell asleep each time. And then you dared to say that you gave him a “B”. I give you an “F”!
by

November 4, 2014
Where to stay for the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Fiesta
Albuquerque Balloon Festival 2014

We went to the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival for the first time this year and had a great time.

We spent a lot of time in the car, in shuttle bus lines and on buses. Don’t stress though! Even though everyone tells you that you should be there at 7:00 (and you should if you can – watching lit hot air balloons take off in the dark is pretty spectacular!) if you miss that part, there are still hours of balloons to watch. You can walk right up to them, talk to the folks working on them and take tons of pictures. And most of the fancy shape balloons went up later.

If you have kids, have them ask for cards – the kids with us had a blast collecting the trading cards.

I think you could really change your trip depending on where you stay. I see a couple of strategies for your hotel stay at the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival. (I looked for Airbnb options too – either there aren’t many or you’d have to book way in advance.)

When it comes to hotels you could …
1. Just stay at your favorite hotel and not worry about how long it takes you to get there. You could:
  1. Drive to the festival every day. Be sure to allocate a lot of time as traffic is bad and there will be a lot of people trying to park. I think it took us a couple of hours the first morning to go about 5 miles. The good news was that by the time we got there, they were no longer charging for parking!
  2. Drive to the park and ride and then take the shuttle.
2. Stay at a hotel near one of the official park and rides and ride the festival shuttle. The tickets are $12 in advance, $20 the day of. The lines for the shuttle can get very long, especially in in the evening. We waiting for a long, long time in the line to get the shuttle after the evening show. We watched most of the fireworks from the line.
3. Stay at a hotel that offers direct shuttle service to the festival. Our friends did this the previous year and said it worked really well.
4. Stay at a hotel that will shuttle you to the park and ride. This is what we did for the evening show after our experience driving in during the morning.
Next time we’ll stay at a hotel that offers direct shuttle service.

What’s been your experience?
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November 3, 2014
Best day of the week to travel to avoid crowds

If you are looking to avoid crowds, the best day of the week to travel is Tuesday or Wednesday.

TSA lines are short and airplanes are as empty as they come these days.

An empty flight doesn’t always mean a peaceful flight though. On my flight to Denver on Wednesday, the man seated across the aisle from me drank two half bottles of red wine. He then fell asleep and snored loud enough to keep even the soundest sleeping babies awake.

My flight on Wednesday to London.

Empty flight to London on a Wednesday

My flight on Tuesday back to Denver.

Empty flight to Denver on a Tuesday
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November 1, 2014
Life in the Big Smoke

I just spent a week in London, nicknamed the Big Smoke. In the 1950’s, the smog would make visibility so bad that cars couldn’t even drive, as Jennifer Worth describes in Call the Midwife. But London these days is beautiful, sunny and clear. The city made a big effort to clean things up and the Thames is thriving with fish, birds and other wildlife as the city thrives with people!

I stayed right in Covent Garden in a cute studio that I rented through Airbnb. (Here’s a $25 Airbnb coupon.) If you want to be some place close to all the restaurants, theaters, nightlife and main tourist attractions, it was a great location. It felt like I was in the London of all the stories and movies.

Speaking of great location, there were lots of dine in and take out options. If you get take out from a restaurant, it’s called “take away”. I recommend Food for Thought. I was a bit disappointed when they handed me a small styrofoam container but the vegetable ragout was awesome.

This courtyard was right around the corner from my Airbnb. It’s called Neal’s Yard.

This courtyard was right around the corner from my AirBnb.

My Airbnb was also on a courtyard which made it quiet at night. If you are going to stay in this part of London and you don’t plan to stay out late visiting all the cute little pubs, I’d recommend finding a quiet place. Coming back at night I felt safe walking back to my room – I just had trouble in some streets getting through the crowds that were standing around drinking outside of the pubs! In the US we can’t drink in the street, so it looked a bit strange to have large crowds of people standing around with pints of beer. I was glad my apartment on an inner courtyard and not over one of the pubs.

You definitely don’t want to drive in London – and you don’t need to. The Tube was great and takes you every where you need to go very quickly.

Driving a garbage truck in London would be no fun.

Covent Garden is a good home base for a London visit. Close to the Leicester Square (pronounced “Luster”), theaters and restaurants.
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November 1, 2014