We spent 5 days walking along the wall the Romans built in AD 122 to keep the northern tribes away. There’s not much of it left as many of the stones were carted off to build other things once the wall was no longer needed. We had dinner one night at our bed and breakfast with two German cousins in their 70s who were quite disgusted with the “ruins.” They said they had real ruins in their country. (But they were still very much enjoying the hike.)

The rhythm of the days

Every morning we got up, packed our suitcases, and set them out for the luggage transfer service. Then our bed and breakfast host served us homemade, made-to-order breakfasts. Everything from yogurt and fruit to a hearty full English breakfast of eggs, beans, and sausage. They packed us a lunch too. Usually a sandwich, chips, a piece of fruit, and a candy bar. But some went above and beyond - one day we got something like 5 homemade sweets.

We started walking around 9am and were usually done by 2 or 3, with stops to explore and eat lunch along the way. Along the trail there were “honesty bars” that ranged from full-blown huts with fridges and snacks to just a cooler sitting on a wall. You took what you wanted and left cash.

The scenery (and the sheep)

The weather was often cloudy and sometimes rather wet, but always a luscious green full of rolling hills and stony cliffs. And lots and lots of sheep and cows. Very friendly sheep and cows. At one point we had to google “how to get a cow to move” because we couldn’t get a herd of them to give us space to walk through.

We watched ranchers with working sheep dogs tending their flocks. And one day we passed a couple of guys headed the other direction who had somehow inherited a dog they couldn’t get to go back home. He was just … hiking with them.

The dog guys weren’t the only ones going the other way. We kept crossing paths with people walking and running in the opposite direction. Some were so focused they barely noticed us. Some looked like they were trying to run but were barely moving. I managed to get a few of them to chat in the 30 seconds we crossed paths and learned they were doing the Montane Summer Spine Race, 268 miles along the Pennine Way, which crosses the wall path. The 2026 women’s winner, Jenny Hartley, finished in almost 105 hours. She was moving at nearly our hiking speed. For 105 hours. In a row.

We saw pieces of the wall, remains of the milecastles (built every mile) and turrets (built every third of a mile), and lots of stone fences, stone houses, and castles that looked exactly like I imagined homes in the UK should look.

The evenings

One of the best parts of every day was arriving at our bed and breakfast, taking a shower, and having a good pint. Either at the B&B or at the local pub.

Our accommodations varied from a room in someone’s house to a garage apartment to a room above a brewery. Always clean, often small, and never air conditioned. Always extremely friendly and helpful. One went on my list for future vacations.

If you want to do it

We signed up with one of the 17 (!) companies that arrange all your accommodation and transport your bag every day. We picked a 6 day moderate option: 5 days of hiking, 6 nights of accommodation, about 10 miles a day. For people who don’t normally walk all day - people with desk jobs - it was the perfect amount. We didn’t cover the full 73 miles of the wall, but we felt like we got the most scenic pieces.

We hiked with 20L day packs carrying rain gear, water, and our lunch. Plus blister treatment and hiking poles. The poles earned their keep on the really rainy day with a lot of downhill on very slippery rocks.

We had an awesome adventure - I’ll share the highlights with you. If there is one thing I would do differently, it would be the time of year. We were constrained by my business trip and my son’s school schedule, but if you have a choice I would highly recommend not going in mid-August! It was very hot, and that ultimately cut our trip short.

We encountered incredibly friendly people, like bikers stopping to give us ice-cold waters, and locals helping us find hotels. The food was amazing. For the most part, we ordered by pointing or just indicating we wanted some food. We were never disappointed. We even appreciated the convenience store food which was new to us - wrapped rice with various toppings for the most part.

Day-by-Day Journey

Day 1: Seoul to the Trail

Yesterday was mileage day! We flew across the ocean on a 12-hour long flight, got our bikes, and hit the trail!

The trail is fantastic. Lots of extremely friendly bikers. One even stopped my 18yo because he saw his water bottle was empty and gave him an ice-cold bottle. Extremely well-marked bike lanes including roundabouts, speed limits, and sirens that either talk to you in Korean or blare at you if you exceed the speed limit. Everyone shouted encouraging things at us on the hills. At least it sounded encouraging!

More details: We arrived at Incheon, Seoul’s airport, at around 4am. We had to kill time until things opened. The non-express train doesn’t run until 5:30, and ATMs don’t work until 6am. We made the hour-and-a-half journey to the bike shop.

Our bikes were ready for us and it was self-service, no employees on site. My 18yo and I and 3 Korean guys got our bags loaded. We rode 2.5 hours to the start of the trail, got our trail passports, and then rode approximately 50 miles on the trail.

We have a passport that we stamp at red booths along the way to earn a medal at the end.

Our bikes are terrific except for the seats. I wish I’d brought my bike seat!

It was 95 degrees and extremely humid. We went through gallons of water. And never stopped to use any of the really nice public restrooms along the way.

Day 2: Tunnels and Canopies

This morning was my favorite part so far. Beautiful landscapes, trees making a canopy over us, little shops and cafes on the trail, and best of all - tunnels! I’ve always been fascinated by tunnels; today I loved them, nice and cool! One even had music playing inside! People were super friendly. My son says I was being unfair to day one, which was pretty spectacular too. Maybe. Maybe it was the full night’s sleep too.

The afternoon got much harder. First, they stopped digging bike tunnels and we had to climb hills like the cars. Then it got really hot. Then we filled our water bottles from a place where my 18yo translated a sign saying the water wasn’t good! So we took a long break in an air-conditioned cafe and enjoyed cold smoothies. The barista filled our water bottles with ice when we left! After that, we lost the trail for a bit. Most locals don’t bike on the trails between towns.

I had joked that if we didn’t find lodging one night, we would sleep in a park. We came awfully close to that tonight. (Problem is there are a lot of bugs!) None of the Korean map apps could find us anything. Google Maps took us to a place that was no longer a hotel, if it ever was. Thank goodness for a Korean-American guy who was weed-whacking out front for his aunt. He found us a room about a mile away. He called the inn, and they waited out front for us and called him to translate. They even had a spot inside for our bikes. There’s another Korean couple doing the trail staying here as well. The Korean-American guy gave me his number in case we have trouble in the future, and I realized I don’t even know his name!

I think we did about 50 trail miles and a lot of extra miles.

Day 3: Rice Paddies and Honorary Baby Mountains

It’s still 95 degrees and 80% humidity!

Today’s ride took us through rice paddies and fruit tree orchards, then mountains and trees. It was beautiful but we were ready to be done with the hills. We did 40 miles before 11:30, before hitting the hills. We were pretty excited about that!

I picked this trail because it’s supposed to follow rivers and be pretty flat except for a good climb on day five. We went over several hills today that I’ve decided deserve honorary baby mountain status. For each, we climbed about 3 miles, much of it at about 10% grade. The gnats took advantage of our slow uphill pace to hang out with us. But it was beautiful!

Other than tiredness, I feel pretty good, except for my hands. I think when the seat bothered me the first day or two, I leaned on them too much and pinched some nerve. I can’t use my hands normally. This is awkward but manageable, except in a world of chopsticks. I now look like a very novice chopstick user, not that I ever looked like an expert!

18yo took charge of most logistics today! He tracked our mileage, followed the trail without getting us off track, found our lunch restaurant, and found us a hotel right off the bike track! Remember, Google Maps doesn’t work here!

Oh, and 18yo had at least 3 smoothies today that I remember.

We did about 63 trail miles today.

Day 4: Seoul to Gumi (Formerly Seoul to Busan)

Sad news, we need to rename this trip Seoul to Gumi. We’re calling an end to the biking portion. (Although I think we’re both second-guessing, so we may change our minds tomorrow.) We’ve had 4 beautiful days of Korean countryside biking. Nothing happened; we just realized our afternoons haven’t been that enjoyable as they’re scorching hot, yet to make it to Busan, we’d have to maintain this pace. 70 trail miles today! And neither of us has visited Seoul before, so we were hoping to have a few days there.

Today was our most trail miles but also our easiest day. I think we’ve found our rhythm, got an early start, and were baby-mountain free!

This morning was gorgeous. We left with the sunrise and the trail was my favorite part, tied with the morning of day 2. (Notice that hot, humid afternoons are never my favorite!) It was a raised bike path along a small river and rice paddies. Lots of groups of serious bikers. All very friendly. A couple of very short 15% grade uphills. I walked most of that. We also visited the Nakdonggang History Museum. They were very excited to have us and spent time finding the English version of their brochure. We passed more duck and cattle farms this afternoon.

The bike trail was better marked today. Some signs were confusing, but if you went the wrong way, it was usually obvious quickly. We left at sunrise and the temperature was nice until about 10am. We reached our hotel just as it started to pour.

This evening we’re in the nicest hotel so far and… drumroll… it doesn’t smell like smoke! Our hotel rooms have varied between $25-45/night and they include all amenities from toothbrushes and combs to mini-fridges full of water and phone charging cables. Plus slippers because each has an entry room where you leave your shoes.

Day 5: Back to Seoul

We got an Express bus back to Seoul. It was super easy, comfortable, and cheap. When we were putting our front tires back on our bikes, several bus station employees gathered around to examine them and ask questions. All I understood was “Trek good” and they thought the tread on my tires was low.

Hotels in Seoul are not $25 a night! To get two rooms, we booked an Airbnb in a very old part of town on a narrow street. I have the cutest little fridge in my room, and we have a nice patio with cats that come and watch us through the doors.

My hands still aren’t working right. I’m hoping they’re more functional before my work lunches and dinners next week!

We have a couple of adventures planned for tomorrow!

Day 6: Language and Food

We took a Korean language lesson in the morning. We learned the alphabet, which was fascinating and might enable us to read business signs. I find the sounds really tricky, like when they say, “this makes a sound like the letter B. Listen, puh, puh, puh” and I say “like the letter P?” and they say “no, no, that’s this one.”

In the evening, we went on a food tour of the night market, which was really interesting to learn what we were eating and how it fits into life here. We also had fun with our tour group. My 18yo pointed out that it’s the first time all week we’ve had a real conversation with words with anyone else. The group included a couple from Israel, a couple from Iraq, a woman from London, a guy from Mexico, a guy from Brooklyn, and a guy from Longmont!

A lot of my pictures are foggy because my plastic screen protector and sunscreen don’t play well together. I’ll have to upgrade.

Airbnb Fruit

Our Airbnb host had a box of fruit delivered to us! Shine muscat grapes, melons, and plums. Then we had a very confusing conversation about checkout dates, but I think we agreed we’re on the same page. Auto translators can do strange things. Combine that with written communication and it’s ripe for misunderstandings!

No idea how we are going to eat all this in 2 days!

Day 7: Palace Tour

We had the cutest tour today.

We showed up at the Gyeonghuigung Palace. A man asked if we wanted an English tour. We asked how long, he said 40 minutes. He said it’s free.

We said sure. 18yo whispered to me, “We’re getting abducted.”

The guy emphasized, “It’s free. English only! No cost! No tips!” He made a big X with his arms. We said, “Oookkkaaay.”

Then he called over our tour guides from the National Youth Heritage program.

We appreciated them. We learned a lot from these two sixth graders, 13 and 14 in Korean age. Everyone is born 1 year old in Korea, and everyone turns one year older on New Year’s.

Trip Planning & Practical Information

Fitness Requirements

Neither of us did any special training for the trip. My 18yo plays high school sports, and I do CrossFit and run regularly. While many bikers with fancy bikes and gear passed us, plenty of people went slower than we did. We were fine and covered plenty of miles daily. I did walk up a few hills. I also had the chain come off my bike on a long uphill because I insisted on downshifting once more when there were no lower gears! (My son was ahead carrying the toolkit, so I called him to stop but not come back down. I managed to get the chain back on with my hands, and we both continued.)

Apps and Navigation

Google Maps doesn’t work well in South Korea, so download one of the two most popular Korean map apps. Google Maps was useful for finding reviews in English, but it was often outdated and places may no longer exist.

What to Pack

We rented two panniers with our bikes. If I did it again, I’d just pack a small backpack and strap it onto the bike’s rack. The panniers felt like they created drag - probably not true but they felt like it! - and we didn’t need two each. One would be plenty.

We packed too much. At minimum, pack one set of biking clothes (including a very light long-sleeve top), one pair of evening clothes (shorts and a t-shirt is what we wore everywhere), sleepwear, sunglasses, two water bottles, sunscreen, your phone, and a charger. Plus any non-standard cosmetics or medication. We received soap, shampoo, hairbrushes, and toothbrushes at every hotel. (Not deodorant.) At night, you can wash your bike clothes in your hotel room and hang them to dry. We left our suitcases at the bike rental.

The only non-essential item I would have really liked was a mosquito net for the night I thought we might sleep outside.

Bike Rental

We rented from Bike Rental Korea. We got two Trek bikes with racks, water bottle holders, phone holders, and two panniers each. We also rented a toolkit. The bikes were in very good shape. I originally contacted them through their website and then switched to WhatsApp. They had good written English. When we picked up our bikes, we entered the store with a code and left our suitcases there after loading our panniers.

The service was excellent. I recommend renting from a larger store if you want to buy last-minute items like bike shorts or water bottles or need to ask questions.

If I did it again, I’d bring my own bike seat. The doctor I saw about my hands when I got home said he always takes his own bike seat!

I also wish we’d had them deliver the bikes to the beginning of the trail instead of picking them up at the store and riding there.

We rented bikes in Seoul and arranged to return them in Busan for an extra fee, planning to take a high-speed train back to Seoul. When we decided to end in Gumi, we put the bikes in a bus’s baggage compartment. We removed the front tires, and each bike lay flat in one compartment.

Accommodation

Small, simple hotels were plentiful on the trail. We paid between $20-45/night for a room. Our rooms always had a comfortable bed, bathroom, cosmetics (enough that you wouldn’t need to bring anything, even a toothbrush), slippers, and a fridge. All had air conditioning. Most smelled like smoke. One night my room even had a closet style steamer to clean my clothes with!


When looking for a room, search all terms in the Korean app: hotel, motel, inn, guesthouse, etc. Also, ask locals if you’re stuck. One night we biked right by a hotel and were later sent back by a local. It looked just like a house with a sign out front. We usually started looking mid to late afternoon and only had one evening where I worried we’d be sleeping outside with all the bugs!

I was looking forward to visiting bathhouses and staying in one for a night, but we didn’t find many on the route. Supposedly, many closed during COVID.

The Trail

The trail consisted of hundreds of miles of bike-only paths. They were well-maintained and had clearly marked lanes in cities. We were only confused about directions a few times but eventually figured it out.

Google Maps doesn’t work in South Korea, and navigating - or rather finding places - while not too difficult, was definitely our biggest challenge.

Food

We stopped along the route at whatever restaurant, convenience store, or coffee shop we saw. All the food was excellent. We often couldn’t order well given the language barrier, but we always received plenty of good food. There was only one day through the countryside when my 18yo got really hungry. Also, we couldn’t find many places open for breakfast, so we often had convenience food (rice with various toppings served as finger food) in the mornings.

What We’d Do Differently

1. Timing. Not go in August.
2. Start point. Have the bikes delivered to the start of the trail, especially if going straight from the airport. The airport is close to the trail. From the bike shop, we biked 2.5 hours to the start of the trail and then had to bike the same trail again. (We went to the start to get our trail passports - while it was fun to have a passport and stamp it, I could easily skip that part. I did appreciate the map we got there though.)
3. Pack less. One set of clothes for biking, one for the evenings.
4. Rayban Meta sunglasses. I really wished I had packed my rayban meta sunglasses for taking quick pictures while biking. I ended up not using my phone holder on my bike because I couldn’t get the phone out fast enough to take pictures. This meant that I also couldn’t quickly see where we were or what time it was.

Conclusion

Despite the heat cutting our journey short, biking through South Korea gave us an intimate view of the country we never would have experienced otherwise. One day my 18yo said it was the first time he’s been on vacation and not seen another tourist. The combination of stunning landscapes, delicious food, and the kindness of strangers made for an amazing adventure. If you’re considering a similar trip, I highly recommend it - just maybe not in August!

What should you bring besides your love for music? Be prepared to be hot. And be prepared for rain. And if it rains, it will be hot, muddy and wet! But still fun!

1. Hats. This is New Orleans, bring that funky, crazy hat you bought on vacation 5 years ago and then never dared to wear again. Now’s the time! While you are at it, bring at least one hat for rain and one hat for sun. And maybe just one to be crazy in!

• Bikes. Bikes are the easiest way to get to Jazz Fest. No waiting for a cab, no walking long distances in the heat. ”)
• Chairs or a blanket. You can dance all day or you can bring a blanket or a small chair to sit on. We like these because they are light, can be carried like backpacks and sit low to the ground so you don’t block anyone’s view.

  

• Your music plan. If there are musicians you really want to see, make sure you’ve checked out the official schedule and get there early to find a good spot! And your love for people and music! And good food and drinks!

Every year some of the best peaches in the world come out of Colorado - all from small family owned orchards. In addition, many small, family owned wineries have opened over the years. The combination makes for a delicious, fun, family friendly vacation.

We recently decided to do a peach tasting tour. We stopped at each peach orchard and bought a peach or two. Actually, when they heard what we were doing, many of the orchards gave us free peaches. Some even cut open a peach on the spot for us to taste. We had to stop after about 8 orchards as we became overwhelmed with the number of amazing orchards!

We put each peach in a labeled paper bag to keep them straight.

Then that night at our hotel, we cut each one open and tried them. We returned the next day to our favorites and bought several boxes.

We followed the Palisade Fruit and Wine Byway. In the car we did the whole thing. While on bikes, we stayed in town although many people were doing the longer loop on bikes. (Hint: you can rent electric bikes in town to help you get up the big hill.)

If you want to bike around the beautiful countryside and visit wineries, any time in the summer is great. If you want to catch the peaches during harvest season, July-September is the best time to go. (Hint: Different varieties of peaches are harvested at different times, so you’ll need to go multiple times to taste them all!)

The Palisade Peach Festival is held in August every year. There is music, chef demos and kid activities.

How to get around?

You can bike or drive around Palisade.

The scenery is beautiful whether you bike or drive. If you bike, either plan for a full day, stay close to town or rent an electric bike. We biked around the first day and then returned the second day in the car for our wine and peach purchases.

Where to stay?

Camp, rent a short term vacation rental or stay in a hotel.

There is a beautiful campground just outside of town - a very short bike ride - with some amazing views of the river. We stayed in a spot overlooking the river.

There are quite a few short term rentals in town. You can rent everything from a room to a 5 bedroom house through Airbnb. Several places come with bikes.

There are several hotels in town and several economy hotels near by. We stayed at the Best Western in Clifton which was right off the far end of the Palisade Fruit and Wine Bywater. The location was not scenic but it was very central and the hotel was great.

Which wineries?

You should try them all! A couple of our favorites are Colterris Winery (both the tasting room near the campground in town and the one at the Overlook), Maison La Belle Vie and, although not a winery, Talbott’s Cider. I’ve been wishing for some more ColoMosas all summer.

Drive around and stop at any that look interesting! We loved Z’s, Cathy’s and the Green Barn U-Pick.

There are several great restaurants in Palisade. Be sure to check out the roasted potato salad at Palisade Brewing Company as well as all the great snacks at the wineries!

If you go, just follow the signs for the peaches!

C had stocked the fridge for me. Which was awesome since my flight ended up getting in at 2am. (FYI, most of the car rental places close at 1am. Hertz took care of me though.)

I saw some really cute kids, and some very interesting people, at the various government offices I visited. One guy left to general applause and laughter after shouting “Fuck the DMV!”

I decided to stop into the New Orleans Public Library to get a library card and use the bathroom. It was drastically different from the Boston library I visited the week before. The floors weren’t finished, the tables were mismatched wood and the stacks were not impressive. The bathroom was clean! And they do have digital books.

I stopped in to meet C and meet her puppies. She keeps our short term rental guests happy!

And then, with a day’s work done, I took a walk around the neighborhood and tried to capture why I love it. This would only be more complete with the pictures of all the people I ran into as well.

Notice the wind sock in the house that’s being repaired.

Tempted to explore buying this place near our house and fixing it up. Anybody interested?

What’s the difference between graffiti and street art?

Graffiti is a signature and there are 3 types. One is simply a written word or two, called a tag. You see these all over and it just looks like someone wrote with paint. The second looks more like block letters and is called a throw-up. The third is still a signature but much more stylized. It’s sometimes called wild style. An example is the bum painted by a French artist, Pö. Upon arriving in Berlin, a French street artist was amused to learn that her name means bum, as in human buttocks. So she made her signature a caricature of a bum and puts those all around Berlin.

Street art is valued by the quality of the art, by its size and also by how well it uses the space it has. We saw a painting of a monkey holding a camera and a phone - depicting a tourist. It was both very large and it used its space very well - the street light on the wall has now become the flash on the camera it’s holding.

Graffiti and street art also increase in status if they are in hard to get spots - high spots, “heaven” art, are the most respected.

Is graffiti legal?

For the most part, graffiti and street are not legal unless the wall is a legal wall and the owner has given permission to paint there.

For example, the wall with the tourist monkey is a wall dedicated to street art and run by an organization. You have to submit your idea and get selected before you can paint on it. Most works get painted over in a matter of a couple of weeks but the one of the monkey depicting a tourist had been there for months. Something larger that uses the space even better will have to be proposed before they paint over it.

Painting on someone else’s building is illegal, and in Berlin you can tell what organizations always prosecute - like the company Bio - because their walls are clean. Other buildings whose owners either don’t care or who aren’t as diligent, are covered with graffiti and art. The threat of getting caught and how the fines are evaluated affects the type of art that is done. In Berlin, the bigger the painting and the more costly it is to clean up (so for example, how high up it is), the more expensive it is. The second factor to consider is the form. In Berlin, posters glued to the wall are a 40 euro fine, much cheaper than the fine for painting on the wall. That encourages people to paint on paper and glue it. The longer you are painting, the more chance you will get caught. Smaller paintings are faster. Another way to do something fast is to paint it at home on paper and then bring it out and paste it to the wall. One famous artist named El Bocho uses this method paints pictures of Little Lucy, an old Czechoslovakia cartoon character, killing her cat in various ways. His paintings became so popular that people started pulling them off the walls to keep or to sell, so the artist started painting them on large dollies. With their perforated edges they are hard to pull off the wall intact.

There are some unspoken rules to street art. For example, you never paint over someone’s art who is better than you. As an example, our tour guide showed us a really intrinsic work by a Swedish street artist who had died a few weeks earlier. Someone had put their tag over top of it, ruining it, and that was an offense.

We did see one example where someone had put their art over another piece of art in a way that was accepted. There was a painting making fun of the political candidate Trump. His family name came from the German family name Drumpf and in the painting he is portrayed a stick figure running into a lamp post with a sensitive part of his anatomy first. The painting is by a couple. If you look at the top right, there is a cast of a face. This is the face of a different artists. He makes casts of his face with different expressions and then paints them to match other art work and attaches his face molds to the other art, in essence creating a derivative work.

Not all the street art in Berlin is illegal. Not only is there the alley with commissioned works, but some of the big works around town were also commissioned for various festivals or events. One of the most famous ones is the astronaut.

How did they get it up there?

In Berlin, you see a lot of graffiti and street art on the sides of very tall buildings. The illegal, non-commissioned ones are done in several ways. One way is to lean over the side of the building, usually with a buddy hanging onto your legs or feet. The second is to repel down the side of the buildings painting in one long line - it’s harder the wider your art. We saw one group in particular that did this a lot. A third is to use a method, such as paint in fire extinguisher, that will reach a long ways.

Another group we heard a lot about and we saw their tags in several places is a group called 1Up. One of the things they do is paint entire trains. They go in with a crew. One person’s job is to prop the train doors open to keep it from moving. They don’t pull the emergency alarm. While the door is propped open, a whole crew wearing scarves over their faces comes and paints the outside of the train from top to bottom - usually in about 4 minutes. At the same time, one member goes onto the train with a video camera and asks passengers on the train what they think about this. You can watch 1Up’s videos on YouTube. Based on interviews with the passengers, our tour guide concluded that at least half of all Berliners are very tolerant of street art and graffiti. Another stunt the group has pulled is putting a table and chairs on the top of a high speed train and having someone in a waiter uniform serve a seated person a glass of wine.

A street artist named Just is famous not only for his art but also for his ability to get out of trouble. At one point, the cops caught him in the act of painting “Just” on the side of the building - with a fire extinguisher full of paint - and he manages to convince them that he is doing it as part of a Nike campaign. He produces an official looking document complete with fake government seals. The cops believe him and even ask to stay and watch him complete it. So complete it he does: “Just do it”. Another time he is arrested and he is charged not just with the vandalism from the piece he’d been working on but all the other pieces he’s done around town. Given the number and size of his pieces of work, he’s looking a a pretty hefty fine. He tells them that “Just” is not just his signature, it’s a social movement and anybody can join. He backs this up with his website which contains many different projects and causes he cares about. He is cleared off all the charges except the one they actually caught him doing.

In Berlin you also see a lot of works from artists from around the world. When a street artist visits Berlin, they often want to leave a work on the wall. Sometimes they’ll paint it and sometimes they’ll bring it on paper and paste it up.

If you are interested in learning about street art in Berlin, I recommend the Alternative Tour to Berlin. They also have a workshop where you can try your hand at creating your own art using street art techniques.

On our way home from our Bourbon Trail weekend, at checkin, the computer asked us if we were willing to take a later flight in exchange for compensation. I said no to the computer (who’s going to accept that offer without knowing the details?), and then went up to the gate agent and said we’d be willing to volunteer if they could get us home the same night. She said she could and rebooked us on a US Airways flight to Charlotte and then on to Denver getting home 4 hours later than planned. For $350/each. $87/hour! Another vacation flight paid for!

And then … the flight is delayed due to mechanical issues

The US Airways flight to Charlotte was delayed due to a mechanical issue. They said by at least 30 minutes. At that point it seemed likely we’d miss our connecting flight as we only had an hour layover.

Always call immediately

I checked our options, called US Airways and asked if they could confirm us on the later flight to Denver from Charlotte. She said she could not, it was completely booked. She also could not put us on the waitlist - they would have to do that at the airport. I asked what she would do, and she said talk to a customer service representative. I said “not the gate agent?”, and she said no, customer service. There was a long line at the gate, so I went looking for customer service.

Look for customer service

An American Airlines representative informed me that there was no customer service desk, as Louisville International Airport (with no international flights) is not a big enough airport for one. He told me a month from now, when the US Airways-American Airlines computers are merged, he could help me. He said the best person to talk to would be someone at the ticket counter but he didn’t recommend leaving the secure area.

Maximize your opportunities to get help: stand in line and call

So I got back in line at the gate. I was in that line for 50 minutes and I never did get to the front. I called US Airways back. This time I was told there was a 20 minute hold. Turned into 40 minutes. During which time the gate agent informed us that the mechanics had still not shown up. So getting to Charlotte that evening was looking highly unlikely. After 40 minutes on hold on the phone, an agent answered and I asked if she could book us on the 7:40pm United flight to Chicago and on from there. She put me on hold for over 10 minutes.

Check directly with the other airlines if you want to be on their flights

Frank walked up at this point to see if he could stand in line for a bit and let me sit. I sent him off to find the gate for the United flight to Chicago to ask if they could get us on. The US Airways agent on the phone came back and told me that she could rebook me for the morning flight through Charlotte getting into Denver Monday at 1:20pm. I said what about the Chicago flight and she said there are no seats. At this point, I get a call from Frank. I ask the US Airways agent to hold. (Putting her on hold was pretty satisfying after being on hold for almost an hour.) Frank says United can get us to Chicago but only one of us can go on to Denver that night. I say take it and start running (literally) for the United gate. (It’s 7:20 at this point. The flight is supposed to leave at 7:40.)

Airlines never communicate very well with each other

I switch back to US Airways tell the agent that United can get us to Chicago, can she get us to Denver? She says we can’t get to Chicago. I say we can get to Chicago. United can get us there. Can you get us from Chicago to Denver? We repeat that conversation a couple of times. She says no seats from Chicago to Denver. I say, yes, but do you have flights? I ask 3 times. She finally starts listing flights.

Tickets caught in limbo land between airlines

Some of my most frustrating moments have been getting airlines to talk to each other.

When I arrive at the United gate, the agent (the same one we’d worked with to get the US Airways tickets) tells me that US Airways has to transfer the ticket back to them. Or US Airways can just book the two empty seats. The US Airways agent insists she can’t, that it’s not her ticket. I finally hand the phone to the United agent. The United agent gives up explaining it too and hands it back to me. I tell the US Airways agent that I really need her to transfer the ticket and she transfers me to United!

Try hanging up and calling back if the agent can’t help you

I hang up on the United answering machine and call US Airways back. This time there’s no hold. The United agent tells me to ask them to uncheck me from the flight and the US Airways guy that answers this time is able to do that.

Sometimes status helps. And sometimes people are really nice.

Meantime, the United agent, using my gold/million miler status has gotten an ok to let us board the flight without boarding passes. She tells us to get on the plane and she’ll take care of things. For the record, I think she is behind most of the things that went our way that evening. I would love to thank her!

Always ask at least twice. The average human can’t say no 7 times in a row.

She has on the flight to Chicago, and we have confirmed seats on the 5am flight to Denver. She says when we get to Chicago, we should have customer service put us on the standby list of the 10pm flight to Denver. I ask her if she can put us on the standby list. She says to do it in Chicago. I say please. She says ok, she’ll do it.

The missing bourbon!

Frank asks about our luggage. (He’s really just concerned about our bourbon!) She says she’ll walk over to US Airways and have them send it to Denver. I write down the claim numbers of our two bags and we get on the flight - emergency row seats, together!

Where will the baggage go?

Frank says we should check the baggage claim in Chicago to see if they send our bags there. I say, if they make this flight (which seems impossible as I ran to the gate and they don’t really know we are on it), they are tagged for Denver. But no way are we getting it until 1:20pm tomorrow when the US Airways flight gets in. Frank worries about his bourbon. I think there’s a possibility the bags will be transferred back to United and then they might make the direct morning flight that gets in at 10:20am. Frank says baggage that’s late usually gets delivered to the house, so we won’t have to go back to the airport to get it. We decide to check on our baggage in Chicago.

Think out your options ahead, know what you want.

We discuss our options and decide if there’s a good chance we can make the 10pm flight, we’ll wait at the Chicago airport to see. If there’s little chance, we’ll ask for a comped hotel room and go out to dinner.

Did someone lie to us?

At the United Club in Chicago, the customer service agent tells us that our bags are in Denver! They had flown on our original flight. She gives us the number for the locker or holding tank they are in.

I was shocked. Not only had the United gate agent gone down to describe our bags so that they could pull them off, but the US Airways gate agent had called down to verify that they were at his gate. Had the person that verified they were there just flat out lied about it?

The agent in Chicago confirmed that we were on the waitlist for the Chicago to Denver evening flight and that we were number 1 and 2 on the list. (Yeah, Louisville gate agent!) She gave us about a 50/50 chance of getting on. They were oversold and everyone was checked in but several flights were late so people might not make it.

Super confident sounding people are not always experts

We got on the Chicago to Denver flight that evening. We got the last two seats on the airplane and they closed the door right behind us.

When we got to Denver, we went to collect our bags and we were told they were not in Denver and had never been in Denver! They had been scanned in Louisville for our original flight but had not been scanned off in Denver nor had they been scanned any where else. We filled out a missing baggage claim with United and she assured us that as soon as US Airways scanned them, she would see them and we’d be updated via email. For the record, I got an email every 6 hours for the next 24 hours, all of which said they had no update.

Always check with all possible people that might help, especially if they work for different airlines

We then walked down to US Airways to ask about our bags. She said they’d been scanned in Charlotte and would be on the first flight to Denver in the morning and she’d walk them over to United to send to us. (So I assume had we not gone through all of our extra efforts, we too would have ended up in Charlotte for the night.)

When I called the next day, they said the bags would be in the Denver airport at 6pm Monday and brought to us that evening.

At 10:30pm, they confirmed the bags were out with a driver (and even sent me his name and picture.) I opted to have them leave them on the front porch and not ring the door bell.

Unfortunately, I forgot to notify our dog of the plan and he went nuts at 1:30am and once I woke up enough, I knew immediately that our bourbon was home!

Was it worth it?

Was it all worth it? I definitely thought it was worth it when I thought we’d get $350 for arriving a few hours late. And along the way we could read a book and chat. Was the $350 we got for arriving 6 hours late worth all the hassle we went through?

I really enjoyed the book. Once I realized that I had not only met the first person introduced in the book, but that I had shook his hand and had lunch in his backyard, I was hooked! Ronald Lewis, a life long resident of the Lower Ninth Ward, is the founder of the House of Dance and Feathers. We toured the museum during our Lower Ninth Ward bike tour with Derrick.

But while we were there Ronald Lewis didn’t tell us that he rode out Hurricane Katrina in a hotel room - one missing a roof and a couple of walls! Or that after the hurricane he lobbied government officials, news reporters and the general public to come help rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward.

In addition to Ronald Lewis, Nine Lives tells the story of a New Orleans police officer, the wife of a Mardi Gras Indian, a band director, a woman from the Lower Ninth Ward who puts herself through college - twice, a transvestite, the city coroner, a wealthy uptown resident and a “black jailbird from the Goose”.

Dan Baum, the author, makes all of their stories come alive for the reader. His writing is full of empathy and compassion. I found myself telling everyone around me about the stories I was reading. For example, although you might think the police officer is a bit over zealous at first, when you follow him for days trying to find a place for Marie, a dead woman he finds right after the flood, you understand his desire to take care of his city and its citizens.

Dan Baum is a reporter for the New Yorker. He spent a lot of time in New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina. He has pictures of the nine people he wrote about on his blog.

If you are interested in New Orleans or just like learning about different cultures, you should definitely read Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans.

There are two ways to get travel points from credit cards.

1. Sign up bonuses. Most cards offer a sign up bonus. Sometimes they offer an amazing sign up bonus. A couple of years ago British Airways offered 100,000 Avios points for signing up for their card and spending a few thousand dollars. I flew 3 of us to the British Virgin Islands on those points. Actually, I flew 3 of us down and 2 of us back. I debated just staying there but ended up buying a one way ticket back. Most offers aren’t that good but almost all travel cards offer some sort of initial bonus.
2. Earning points for spending money. All cards offer points for dollars spent, so you can earn points over time. I like earning Starwood points with my American Express Starwood card. We stayed at the W in the French Quarter every April for years on the points from that card. (We now use Airbnb’s.)

A couple of things to keep in mind:

1. One time deals. If you plan to travel within the United States in one year, you should know that Southwest will fly a companion for free on every flight you take if you earn 110,000 points in one year. So if you plan on traveling a lot next year with a partner, you should get the Southwest credit card (with 50,000 bonus points) and a Southwest business credit card (with 50,000 points) - start an LLC if you have to.
2. How to find deals. I don’t get any referral fees or points from recommending credit cards and I don’t follow all the deals. If you want to find out about the latest deals, I recommend following a blog like The Points Guy or One Mile at a Time.
3. Getting the deal again. Most credit cards will let you reapply for their initial sign up bonus every two years, so be sure to cancel any cards you aren’t using.

Have you found any good deals or ways to get points for travel?

We decided to go do some Christmas shopping and then an evening out in Fort Collins, a city 20 miles away from us. We had an amazing weekend.

We booked a very cool bedroom in an art studio, did a brewery tour of one of the most successful, fun to work places in America, and hung out at a speakeasy inspired bar.

Pick a town or city big enough to have a few Airbnb’s with a good selection of restaurants and a few tourist attractions. A small city of 200,000 will do. A city is great. A college town has lots of potential.

2. Book an interesting Airbnb.

We stayed at the Downtown Artery. It’s a hub for artists in Northern Colorado. They have artist studios, a recording studio and an art gallery. Plus several bedrooms in the back for visiting musicians. The room was awesome - wood floors, interesting colors,  remodeled bathroom - kind of what you’d expect from a group of artists - and the people were super friendly.

If you are like most people, there are probably lots of tourist attractions close to home that you’ve never checked out because … well, because they are in your backyard. We have friends that decided to spend a week in Denver (their backyard) seeing the sights they’d never seen.

We decided to tour the New Belgium Brewery and it was a fascinating tour.  The tour was 90 minutes long and the tour guide was not only the happiest guy around but he had lots of great stories. I bet half the tour looked up jobs on the New Belgium website when we were done.

Our favorite dinner spot, Fish, was completely booked, so I pulled out the phone and checked out Yelp. We ended up in Social, a bar styled after speakeasys. The place had lots of atmosphere, great innovative drinks and just a fun vibe. From the outside, the place was just a small sign over some concrete stairs descending into the sidewalk. Inside it was a crowded bar full of people from all walks of life enjoying drinks and appetizers. (All walks of life but all with some money - the drinks were not cheap.) The table behind us first had a couple dressed to go to the opera (or at least what I would think of as clothes for the opera) and when they left they were replaced with a couple dressed in tshirts and tank tops sporting lots of tattoos and piercings.

And most interestingly, the acoustics were awesome. The place was packed (there was a line outside) and yet we could hear each other across the table without shouting.

Where are you going next weekend? Go plan a trip near home and then let us know what you did!

The highlights were:

• The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum honoring those lost in the Oklahoma City bombing. Absolutely worth a visit even if you don’t consider yourself a museum lover.
• The river walk. Lots of restaurants, shops and life.
• College baseball in the big stadium.

Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum

You’ve probably heard of the Oklahoma City bombing. There is now a memorial where the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building stood and the building next door has been converted into a museum. It is an absolutely fantastic museum focused on the experience of those that survived and responded to the bombing that first day as well as the detective work that went into finding the bombers.

It’s both tear jerking and extremely motivating and uplifting. A few stories stuck with me. Like the woman who climbed out a window and down a ladder, went to the airport and got on an airplane and was in the Atlanta airport before she realized that she had been in the bombing. I could see that happening to me. The debris from the daycare center on the first floor was especially heart breaking. The story of all the first responders was amazing. The detective work that went into figuring out what happened was inspirational. They actually reconstructed the vehicle that had the explosives from hundreds of parts spread out over city blocks.

Go see the memorial and visit the museum. It’s worth it.

Museum of Osteology

On TripAdvisor I discovered that the number two museum in Oklahoma City is the Museum of Osteology and I was hooked. (I don’t know how many museums there are in Oklahoma City so I don’t know what it means to be #2 but I love things like osteology and anatomy.) My family humored me and we drove out to see it. We were all a bit worried on the way there. It’s a ways out of town, down an unlikely looking road and it doesn’t look like much from the outside. On the inside it was full of fascinating skeletons and trivia with several hands on experiences. Definitely worth a visit, especially if you are there with kids.

Oklahoma City River Walk

In the afternoon we went down to the river walk and had an appetizer and a drink right on the water. The waiter gave the kids some crackers to feed to the adorably cute ducklings. (Sorry, I took pictures of my adorably cute kids instead of the cute ducklings.)

While we were there, my partner discovered the Big 12 Championship college baseball tournament was playing. Actually, he made us follow the crowd to the stadium to see what was going on. He and our oldest bought tickets for $17 to see two games. They got awesome seats.

Our youngest and I went on a boat tour of the river. Afterwards we went back to the hotel and ordered pizza. I carefully researched our pizza options and ordered from the place with best reviews. The reviews were obviously not done by a 6 year old. There were green things on his cheese pizza!

Tornado Damage

It seems like Oklahoma City, a place I found to be very liveable and friendly, is best known for tragedies. We started our trip with an exploration of the Oklahoma City bombing site. We ended it with a drive through the tornado damaged area.

Details

We went in May which turned out to be a perfect time to visit. We were able to enjoy outdoor activities like the river walk, the memorial and the baseball games.

We stayed at the Sheraton Oklahoma City on Starwood points and it was a terrific value. We ended up with two adjoining rooms that were very nicely appointed for less than one room usually costs us. The kids were absolutely thrilled to each have their own huge queen bed with huge headboards and over four pillows each.

Conclusion

If you are driving through the area, be sure to allocate some time to see Oklahoma City. It was worth a visit. If you could only do one thing, I’d recommend the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum that tells the story of the Oklahoma City bombing.

The Denver train station has been recently remodeled and is gorgeous. We spent a while trying to figure out what the chandeliers must weigh but all we got was that there are 3 of them and they are 8 feet across.

Freight trains have priority so it is likely your train will be delayed at some point. Along the way you have a lot of time for playing games, drinking wine and watching the scenery. We saw big horn sheep, elk, deer and cattle. I never saw the mountain lions but the girl in front of me said she did.

You have a reserved seat and it’s much, much roomier than an airplane seat. It reclines and has tons of leg room. You can also get up and walk around any time, look for a seat in the observation car or grab a snack from the snack car. You can also have meals in the dining car. You need to make a reservation and it’s a bit pricey. The woman in front of us was a bit annoyed at her little kids for not eating their $45 macaroni and cheese meal. I assume the price was for all 3 of them!

On Saturday afternoon the observation car got a bit rowdy. Lots of drinking going on and lots of happy people saying lots of “bad words” as the kids pointed out.

The hot springs at Glenwood are gorgeous in the winter. We went at night with lots of steam and big snow flakes falling on our head. The big pool is 91 degrees and the smaller (but still huge) pool is 104 degrees.

There are lots of hotels in Glenwood Springs. Several very nice, historic hotels are right in town by the hot springs. We stayed at an Airbnb. It was nice (with a wild boar skin on the wall!) and would have been great for one family. A bit crowded with two families.

Last time we went up, we also took advantage of the snow to get in some sledding.

If you go:

• Book your tickets in advance at Amtrak.com. You want upper level tickets. The sooner you book, the better. Amtrak offers 100% refunds up until departure (so you can change your mind any time) and the tickets get more expensive as the train fills up. If you book enough in advance, tickets are $86 roundtrip. Kids are 50% off. The ride is about 6 hours each way, depends on the freight trains.
• Book your housing.
  • The hotels nearby are the Glenwood Springs Lodge (which comes with free entry to the hot springs), Hotel Denver (right in town, great location) and Hotel Colorado.
  • Or you can book an Airbnb.
  • If you don’t mind walking a bit, there are several more hotels within a decent walk, like the Best Western and the Hampton Inn.
• The morning of, drive to the Denver Amtrak station. You can park your car in the garage just to the north of the station. We paid $15 for the weekend.
• Be sure to visit the Glenwood Hot Springs.  It’s $16 for adults in the winter. $12 for kids.
• What to take:
  • Drinks and snacks for the train. (You can buy food on the train and you can drink alcohol on the train.)
  • Books & games to play on the train.
  • Swim suit for the hot springs.
  • Lots of warm clothing!

I love Washington DC and I’ve been anxiously waiting for my kids to be old enough to enjoy it. There’s a lot of walking in DC - not only do you walk a lot between sights but you can spend hours walking around any of the dozens of awesome museums.

So when my youngest turned 7, we decided they were old enough and my dad and I took both kids to Washington DC for spring break. My dad also wanted to go to New York City - we’ll have to try that next. I thought at 7, Washington DC offered more exciting options.

Everyone’s favorite activity by far was the Spy Museum. I almost didn’t take the kids because it cost about $20/person but our oldest had heard that it was awesome from one of his buddies and really wanted to go. It was fabulous.

In the Spy Museum, there were lots of hands on exhibits, spy equipment, rooms set up with real life scenarios and a lot of history in very digestible formats.I also learned a lot.  Did you know that a bunch of school kids gave the President a picture that had a microphone in it? My favorite tidbit, because I can so see this happening in companies, was the fact that before Pearl Harbor, the Navy and the Army alternated who intercepted messages from Japan by even and odd days. That led to a lot of communication problems! We only left the Spy Museum after about 4 hours because we were all hungry. (Note that the line was really long to get in - I recommend going before they open to stand in line.)

We also went to the Smithsonian National Museum of American Indians. It had a lot of hands on exhibits for younger children. I really enjoyed the exhibit of Inuit Indians as it resonated with the 3 years we lived north of the Arctic Circle as a kid.

We also really enjoyed the Natural History Museum where our youngest got tiger slippers which are still enjoyed today. The dinosaur exhibit is by far the best I’ve seen and the mammals are also impressive.

I took the kids into the American History museum just long enough to see the exhibit of the first American flag which I find emotionally impactful. Not sure they did!

By the way, all of the Smithsonian museums are free.

When we went, you couldn’t tour the White House but we did tour Congress with Colorado Senator Bennett. While we were on the tour we realized that the other family on the tour knew my partner - they had gone to high school together. That’s what happens when the kids wear their Berthoud jackets every where.

We stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton on a combination of points and dollars. It was really convenient to most of the sights, but if I did it again, I’d look for a place right next to a metro stop even if it was further out. I also debated between a hotel (with a swimming pool) and an Airbnb (with more space and a kitchen). The indoor pool was really nice for an afternoon break and one evening we ordered pizza and sat by the pool but if I did it again, I’d try an apartment. I’m not the only one to think of staying near a Metro stop - I found a website dedicated to hotels near metro stops in Washington DC.

One morning we ate at New Course a restaurant that hires and trains chronically unemployed and homeless people.

You walk a lot in Washington DC. One of the things that helped on our trip was that I had just gotten a Jawbone UP. My kids loved asking how far we walked. Most days we walked 5-7 miles. They saw it as a challenge.

We also visited a Tesla store where we all fell in love with Tesla.

On the last day, we had a food truck lunch. There were food trucks in several convenient locations that I’d recommend for easy, economical lunches.

During a recent trip to New Orleans, Frank and I decided to go see the famous Lower 9th Ward - the neighborhood devastated by Hurricane Katrina. We signed up for a bike tour with Confederacy of Cruises and had a very interesting, educational and fun day.

Our tour guide Derek is a native New Orleanian. When he was growing up, the Lower 9th Ward was one of those places you didn’t stop at, not even for gas. (Not that there were many gas stations nor grocery stores to mention.)

We got our bikes, got the very short safety spiel, decided to leave our helmets behind - it was hot - and set off. After a nice stroll through Marigny and Bywater, we crossed a bridge - probably the only “scary” part as far as biking went and entered the Lower 9th Ward.

Along the way we learned things like how emergency workers performed search and rescue after the flood and what the X meant on houses. They show that the house was searched, the date and what was found, including the number of alive and dead victims. Many home owners have preserved the mark.

After a stop for some awesome po’boys at Arabi’s, we headed to the river.. While we were there this man walking on top of the levee wall with a weight, stopped to talk to us. In a very musical voice, he started talking about crazy things like spy boys and Indians. I was wondering what was going on when I saw Derek discreetly motion to us that he would explain later.

Derek had a conversation with him and once he left he explained that the man was part of the local Mardi Gras Indian krewe.

Most of us think of Mardi Gras parades as floats and beads and masks. But in the New Orleans neighborhoods, especially among black communities, Mardi Gras is about Mardi Gras Indians. They form krewes, led by a Big Chief, who decide the parade route on the day of Mardi Gras. The costumes and dancing are amazing. Later on the tour we stopped at Ronald Lewis’ house and museum the House of Dance and Feathers to learn a lot more.

After our our chat with the spy boy, Derek looked over and said, that’s a new brewery that’s opening, let’s go check it out! Turns out they had not even opened yet, but in between loading the truck for their opening party, they did give us a private tasting …

After that we went to visit the area most devastated by the floods. The flood waters rose so quickly - something like 20 feet in 20 minutes - that many people ended up trapped in their attic as they climbed for safety and then couldn’t get high enough nor could they get out. It’s now recommended to keep an ax in your attic.

The neighborhood had a lot of empty lots and a lot of decrepit buildings. If you lived in the neighborhood before the flood, there is a program where you can buy a very cheap lot to build on.

Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation has also built a number of homes in the area to promote growth. They are supposed to be environmentally friendly and more flood proof. There was a lot of mixed feelings about them. But they did all seem to be occupied and that part of the neighborhood seemed to be prospering more than the rest.

After that we started our ride home. At this point we started losing one guy a lot, supposedly to take pictures. Frank had heard that couple arguing earlier about whose great idea it was to take such a long bike ride.

We thought the ride was a good mix of biking and breaks. We don’t bike much but we didn’t have much trouble with it, although Frank did say his butt was sore!

I highly recommend a tour of the 9th Ward with Derek from Confederacy of Cruisers.

Our waiter was named Dan and upon hearing that we were looking for something to do for the day, he went over the register and pulled off a sheet of paper and proceeded to make a list. His own personal list of favorite bars in the Marigny and Bywater neighborhoods.

So we went to Marie’s. As Coloradoans used to non-smoking restaurants, we found Marie’s to be a bit smokey but the bartender was super friendly.  Dan had told us who was working at Marie’s but it was someone else. She was quite interested in our list. She picked up a pen and added a few more bars that she said were missing. We ended up talking to her about smoking and Airbnb. She had a place that she owned in Marigny that she rented out through Airbnb or VRBO. One of the things that I like about New Orleans is that everyone seems pretty scrappy and self employed. Many of the tours we have taken were put together by the person giving the tour.

From there we went to Mimi’s and then Markey’s Bar. At Mimi’s the bartender added a few more bars to the list. Don’t worry, we didn’t end up visiting them all in one day! This bar crawl ended up being an entire week’s affair and we still didn’t make it to all of them.

We liked both Mimi’s and Markey’s. (We visited them both twice. Turns out they are good stopping points when you are walking from the French Quarter to Bywater.) Mimi’s is a corner bar with lots of windows and old wood. And dogs. Every time we’ve been in there there have been a lot of dogs in there - like the barking, pet dog type of dogs, not the hot dogs at Dat Dog. We were told they serve pretty good food but even though we went there twice over the weekend, we didn’t seem to ever hit it when we were hungry.

Markey’s is a long wooden bar that is always full of people with a huge amount of beers on tap and a large group of locals that hung out there. I over heard some entertaining - or maybe just interesting? - conversations there. One between two women who looked to be about 30 years different in age were discussing a guy that I think they were both dating. There were lots of tears and hugs involved.

Bacchanal’s is a great place to end up. It’s a wine shop with a huge outdoor seating area with live music and great food. You buy your bottle of wine, go outside with it, order you food at the counter and then find a good place to sit back and listen to music and enjoy a glass of wine.

The complete list of bar tended recommended bars ended up being:

• Dat Dog
• Marie’s
• Mimi’s
• B.J.’s
• Vaughns
• Bacchanal’s
• Faubourg Wines
• Delachaise
• Lost Love
• Rusty Nail
• Markey’s Bar

Our favorites were Mimi’s, Markey’s and Bacchanal’s.

I wish I could show you the final list of bars, but I can’t. I shoved it in my pocket with all my receipts and ripped it up at the end of the night like I do all my receipts.

It turned out to be quite the adventure. Here are my letters to Mom and Dad …

***

Hi Mom and Dad,

Wouldn’t you know.  I show up in Glen Innes and it starts to pour.

Hopefully it’ll be over by tomorrow at noon.  The horse back riding trip is a “pub crawl”.  You ride all day and you stay in rooms above pubs in small towns.  (That’s what my room is now - just  a bedroom above a pub.  It’s called a “hotel”.  Motels have complete rooms - TVs, bathrooms, etc, but no pub, i.e. no restaurant.)  Since it’s raining, I opted for a hotel tonight so I wouldn’t have to leave for dinner, but then I left to find a computer anyway.  The restaurant also looked very comfortable with easy chairs, so I might end up reading a book there tonight.  (Everytime it thunders the light in my room dims.)

You’ll never guess where I found this computer.  (The library closed at noon and this was the only place in town with a computer and since it’s raining I didn’t have anything else to do.)  Anyway, I’m sitting in the corner of a pub at the bar - on a barstool - typing away on this old computer!  There’s a bunch of old guys drinking at the bar.  (I asked for a beer and got a “new” - I’m not sure if that refers to the size (small) or the type of beer.)  Quite a unique experience.  At least nobody’s smoking.

Everyone here continues to be very friendly …  I met a guy in his late 70s on the bus.  (He was 22 when World War II was over.) He reminded me of Uncle Ted and he told me all about the towns we went through.  He’s English but he’s been here since 1962.  He has to go to Brisbane regularly for cancer treatment.  He and his wife gave me a ride to the hotel.  The guy in front of me was definitely a cowboy - he was going to stay with his “oldies”. How would you like to be called oldies?  He said Glen Innes (pop. 9000) was too big for him.  The lady in the front seat just wanted to talk to everybody that came through the bus door.  They were all very happy that I was going to see the country, not just the beach like the rest of the tourists.

I am definitely in sheep country.  Lots of sheep, sheep and more sheep.  Lots of hills, a few cattle, lots of homes in the country and small towns.

Love,

Stormy

***

Hi Dad,

I’ll tell you all about my horse.  I get to meet him/her after lunch tomorrow.  We go for a short ride (2 hours or so) to make sure we all have the right horses.  Then we stay at the ranch (or farm as they call it here) and we leave on Monday.  Our bags go in a car.

The guy on the bus with me said I’ll probably be going to small mining towns.  He said this area was/is known for sapphires.

For nice overview maps, try: http://www.arta.com.au/ausmap.html

You search by town.

If you have a fast connection, and want lots of detail, try this map:  (I’m in the north part of New South Wales right now.  The islands were off the Quensland coast.) http://www.auslig.gov.au/facts/map.htm

Love,

Stormy

***

Hi Mom and Dad,

I’m sending this from the Brisbane State Library.  It is HOT here and I was looking for an air conditioned place …

I didn’t find any computers along the way.  A couple of the publicans (pub owners) sounded like they had computers in their rooms but I didn’t want to ask if I could use them.  (I’m sure they would have let me - everybody was so nice.)

I had a terrific time riding!  Our start was delayed by a day because it rained so much the rivers got so high that first they couldn’t get the horses to us and then we couldn’t get out!  (The “Homestead” - Bullock Mountain Homestead - is surrounded on all sides by rivers.)

There were going to be five Americans, 2 Australians (one originally New Zealander), and one German who has lived here for 30 years plus the owner, Steve a.k.a Woodsy, and Jo, his helper.  However, the Americans bailed because they didn’t want to ride in the rain.  They missed out - we had gorgeous weather!  So there were six of us - four guests and two owners/employees.

Everybody except Jo had kids my age (actually, except for Renarda, they all had 25 year old daughters - and that’s saying there’s a lot of daughters because all of the Americans were in 2nd marriages).  The group (of six of us) that ended up going was a lot of fun.  We joked the whole way.  Peter is a marketing manager for a large Australian food company.  We nicknamed him “Buttercup” because he kept asking what brand the bread was.  Renarda was German - she was quite a character.  Very impatient and always at the front, but a good sense of humor.  Robin was the New Zealander who is now Australian.  She works in nursing homes - “aged hostels”.

My horse was an Australian stock horse named “Tia Maria”.  Stock horses were bred for ranch work and also used as cavalry horses - they are endurance horses.  She was 23 years old and about to be retired to 2 hour rides instead of five day rides, but she wanted to GO!  She wanted to be first (she used to be the lead horse) and anytime I let her she’d take off.  I spent most of the five days holding her back!  That was fun.  She was light brown with a dark mane and tale, and her back was about even with my nose, and she wasn’t fat, as the matter of fact, she was kind of bony.

My saddle gave me four bruises the first day (where the stirrups went into the saddle) but after the first day I was fine.  Not sore at all!

We went from Bullock Mountain near Glen Innes to Deepwater to Torrington to Emmaville back to Bullock Mountain.  The first day we went on dirt roads because the rivers were too high and the ground was all boggy, but after that we went completely back country.  Across fields, through trees, over hills, through three rivers, … you wouldn’t believe some of the rocky, steep, steep, hills we went up and down.  And I got my feet wet in a few of the rivers.  Beautiful country.  We went over rolling hills with lots of sheep.  Lots of cute two-week old lambs!  Through forests and past old mines.  Scared lots of kangaroos.  Saw some deer and some cows too.  Went down a gorge.  We also got to do a lot of trotting and cantering and we didn’t have to walk in a line.

We carried our lunches in saddlebags with a water bottle and just picked a good shady spot to eat every day.  Then at night we stayed at a pub and had nice candle lit dinners.  The first night at Deepwater we had a beer in the afternoon, then played a couple of games of pool, ate dinner and went to bed.

The second night at Torrington we had a great time.  When we got there, some women were playing scrabble, kids were coloring and guys were playing pool.  The group I was with kept talking about the “locals” and how they wanted the pool table to themselves.  I finally got sick of it, went and found Woodsy and asked him if he’d be my partner if I put my name on the board. (The night before I’d noticed he’d played a game or two of pool before.)  Wouldn’t you know it - for some reason I played terrifically - and Woodsy and I actually held the table for a while.  (I got a lot of grief because I’d turned down a game before with one of them saying I couldn’t play pool!)  Then at Emmaville my pool luck deserted me so we sat outside talking to some of the people that lived around there.  We met sheep shearers, bee keepers, horse breakers, ranchers, …

Got to run - thought I had this for an hour.

Love,

Stormy

***

That was back in 2001. It looks like you can still book a pub crawl through Hidden Trails and it looks like it’s still run out of Bullock Mountain Farm by Steve and Allison but it’s only a 3 day trip instead of a week long trip.

The now antiquated tech way to remember which room you are in is to take a picture.

The new way is to check in with the hotel app. You never even have to stop at the front desk. You check in to your hotel room like you check into your flight. On your phone. The app lets you check in, gives you a room and can always remind you which room you are in. And you don’t even need a key - your phone unlocks the door. Starwood Hotels are the first ones to let you check in with your phone and open your door with your phone using Bluetooth.

I wonder if you’ll be able to walk down the hall until you hear one of the doors click open?

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.

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”!

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?

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.

My flight on Tuesday back to Denver.

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.

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.

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