for fun: Do/Would you still put on all your makeup and decent clothes if you are quarantined

[slidergirl]

19 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Good morning, you all may think I have lost my mind but after doing a pre pack trial with the luggage, I just want to use what I already have and I am returning the new one. I love my soft side. It has gone on many cruises with me. It is a deep purple by"Lucas" and has served me well. It even feels easier to lift and that is important to me too😀

Sometimes what calls to you just doesn't work in real life.  Sorry.   I keep thinking this is going to happen to me - this will be my first trip with a hard-sided piece of luggage since the 70s...  Like you, i know my 'back up" bag is easy to lift.  

 

My barge trip became totally real yesterday.  I received 2 nice leather bag tags in the mail and a detailed arrival instructions, a list of the ladies going, and a list of suggested things to pack.  When I looked at the packing list, i found that I'm maybe +1 on the clothes, eg, 3 pants instead of 2, more shirts.  the list of 'miscellany' was pretty standard Adventure Women stuff and I had most of it already.   if I wasn't spending the month, i could have easily done the clothes list.  

[Lois R]

Hi Kat, its all good.......I returned the new bag already this morning and my old one? Well, I am all packed😀

You will have to give us details on this barge cruise. I would love to hear all about it. I looked at some barge cruises on line with a company called "European Waterways" but never booked. Their barges hold between 8-20 people. 

[awhfy]

Good news Lois

[purduemom1]

4 hours ago, Lois R said:

Good morning, you all may think I have lost my mind but after doing a pre pack trial with the luggage, I just want to use what I already have and I am returning the new one. I love my soft side. It has gone on many cruises with me. It is a deep purple by"Lucas" and has served me well. It even feels easier to lift and that is important to me too😀

Lois, I think you did the right thing-trying it out and deciding it just didn’t work out. Good that it was easy to return and now you are all packed. BTW, I saw your thread about BA seat assignments. Wishing you a smooth check in and a good selection of seats. Should happen since you are in BC.

Sharon

[purduemom1]

Kat, pretty exciting, you are close to departure and you adventure. Nice that you have info on the cruise itself including names if others cruising with you. Do you know their home countries? That would be interesting info, I think.

 

you made smart clothing purchases/decisions so now you can enjoy the anticipation of the adventures ahead!

Sharon

[slidergirl]

2 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi Kat, its all good.......I returned the new bag already this morning and my old one? Well, I am all packed😀

You will have to give us details on this barge cruise. I would love to hear all about it. I looked at some barge cruises on line with a company called "European Waterways" but never booked. Their barges hold between 8-20 people. 

"My barge" is the MS Anne-Marie from CroisiEurope.  Similar setup with number of passengers.  I am going to try to do my best to do a good travel log.

 

Everyone has a US address - not uncommon at all with Adventure Women.  It does look like 4 of the women are friends - same area of California.  

 

you couldn't pre-select a seat on BA, even in Business???

Edited June 23, 2022 by slidergirl

[Lois R]

5 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

"My barge" is the MS Anne-Marie from CroisiEurope.  Similar setup with number of passengers.  I am going to try to do my best to do a good travel log.

 

Everyone has a US address - not uncommon at all with Adventure Women.  It does look like 4 of the women are friends - same area of California.  

 

you couldn't pre-select a seat on BA, even in Business???

Nope. Well, yes I could if I wanted to pay up front extra..........I will just wait till tomorrow and not pay extra.  I do check in tomorrow afternoon at 1:30.

[slidergirl]

1 minute ago, Lois R said:

Nope. Well, yes I could if I wanted to pay up front extra..........I will just wait till tomorrow and not pay extra.  I do check in tomorrow afternoon at 1:30.

Wow!  I've not flown an airline where i had to pay for a seat, let alone a business seat.  

[Lois R]

6 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

Wow!  I've not flown an airline where i had to pay for a seat, let alone a business seat.  

Oh, things have changed.....I have...........you can pay extra on United if you want to go from regular economy to premium economy. I have actually done that on a long haul flight from here to Seattle. Gives you more leg room.  But yes, I was a bit surprised about the Business Class on BA.........oh well.

[awhfy]

Luggage. I think I’ve had every brand. I loved my Tumi, it got lost 😢. I adored my Briggs & Reilly, it’s just too heavy nowadays. I’ve had pretty good luck with Delsey Air. But our new favorites are TravelPro Crew we have the 25” & 21” bags. They’ve been on 5 big trips & still look brand new. Lightweight & sturdy 

 

hope you all have great trips!!!  Melody

[purduemom1]

Melody, I too have a travel pro 21” roll aboard that I have used for several years. It’s still going strong. I also have a Kirkland roll aboard that is older than the travel pro. It is heaver so that is what I use if I’m checking a bag. It also is in great condition Both bags have been on many flights, cruised & other forms that of transportation. Both are the 2 wheel style and have been wheeled on cobblestones etc.  I use one or the other as I don’t have any larger bags. 

[cruisemom42]

On 6/22/2022 at 11:13 PM, purduemom1 said:

Sure hope that Cynthia made it to Germany without issues. 
Sharon

 

No problems getting to Germany although the airplane I flew in was older than dirt. In-flight entertainment didn't work (they tried to reboot the system about 10 times) and there was some galley problem that caused dinner to arrive around 11pm. Uncomfortable seat as well -- I almost wish I'd just gotten premium economy. 

 

Took a train on arrival to the historic town where I'm staying (Mainz). Jumped right into a two-day intensive team meeting (we had a deadline to come up with a solution to present today).  I am feeling very sleep deprived as I was working (yes) until midnight last night and had to get up at 5:45 am to get the train to the company site.

 

It's white asparagus season here locally. A very short season and much talked about. So far I've had a pasta with white asparagus and tiger prawns that was delish, and today for early dinner we (the team) celebrated our success by treating ourselves to a nice wiener schnitzel (huge!) with a heaping side of white asparagus with hollandaise sauce and a nice light German wine.

 

Of course I have to do some work tomorrow but also hope to walk around and see a few sights in Mainz. If I am good and get my work done, I am taking Sunday to go to Trier (>2 hours by train each way) and see the great Roman sites there.

 

It is very hot and humid here but does cool down in the evenings a bit. Lyon is going to be a different story -- I'm expecting it to be somewhere between "I can't bear it" and "Inferno degrees"....

[cruisemom42]

On 6/22/2022 at 6:34 PM, Lois R said:

Hi girls, had a mammogram this morning and the Dr said everything looks great😀I can't believe Nov will be 3 years since my surgery. 

Great news!!!

[cruisemom42]

On 6/23/2022 at 4:44 PM, Lois R said:

Good morning, you all may think I have lost my mind but after doing a pre pack trial with the luggage, I just want to use what I already have and I am returning the new one. I love my soft side. It has gone on many cruises with me. It is a deep purple by"Lucas" and has served me well. It even feels easier to lift and that is important to me too😀

 

I've returned a few things too after test-driving them. Purses in particular (I am picky for travel) but also shoes. 

 

Enjoy your trip if I don't get a chance to check in again before your departure.

[Lois R]

22 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I've returned a few things too after test-driving them. Purses in particular (I am picky for travel) but also shoes. 

 

Enjoy your trip if I don't get a chance to check in again before your departure.

Thanks and nice that you were able to check in with us🙂

[purduemom1]

Cynthia, good to hear that you made it to Germany with only a few issues. I too have been on a flight where the in seat entertainment didn’t work in spite of reboots. Not good on flights as long as yours. With those other issues, I wonder if  letting the airline know would result in some compensation such as miles. 
 

Both those meals sound delicious. Hope you are able to do some sightseeing before you move on to Lyon.

Sharon

[purduemom1]

Lois, just wanted to wish you safe, uneventful travels and an amazing cruise. Will look forward to reading about it. 
Sharon

[Lois R]

Hi Sharon, thanks so much🙂........not sure if I will check in on here in the morning or not........hoping for smooth travels.

[Lois R]

Good morning🙂.........leaving for the airport around 10 and will try to check in throughout the cruise.

 

Hope everyone stays well.  Kat, have a wonderful time🙂

[slidergirl]

Cynthia - be sure to sample some of the amazing Reislings that come out of the Trier area!!   I really wish I could have brought some home.  

 

I finally got to the Apple Store today and used my Winter tip money to buy the iPhone 13 PRO.   I had an Apple person assigned to me and we used the 4am backup to bring up the phone, we set up my T-Mo on it with the e-SIM (didn't know about that one) and we synced my apple Watch to the new phone.  It took about 30 minutes to do it all.  The facial recognition kind of freaked me out - i looked awful.  The cool deal with the e-SIM is that I can buy a foreign SIM if i want a foreign phone#, but bounce back and forth between T-Mo and the SIM.  At least it's an option.  Now, I have to spend some time learning about the bells and whistles and how the camera works.    

THEN I went to the Cotopaxi store to, what else, buy another bag as my daily bag.  I bought a bag to give to my grand nephew for his HS graduation.  I bought enough that I qualified for a free sleeping bag.  The bag will be my in-car 'in case of emergency' bag, so that was handy.

FINALLY i had to make a stop at TJ's because, well, you know..  Wanted some trail mix to take with me, and pick up some Bamba to take, too.  picked up some drinks and some salads to make for the rest of my time before my trip.  I got the pineapple salsa, but they were out of the blueberry cheese.

 

AMEX must wonder what in blazes I was doing...

 

OOTD:  my jean shorts (comfy) and one of my Prana sleeveless Tshirts,  and my trail runners,  

[purduemom1]

Wow, Kat you had quite a day. Love the Apple store-best customer service ever! I have the 13 Max and it took a bit of getting used to since it doesn’t have a home button. The camera is great. It’s the only camera I have. Still figuring it all out.I should see if our store is offering classes. I learn better when I know that there is someone to fix my screw ups.

Had not heard of Cotopaxi but it sounds like you had some fun there too. Too bad about the blueberry cheese. I hope this isn’t the end of its run.

Sharon

 

 

 

 

 

[awhfy]

We have the 13ProMax too. Les didn’t even take his big bag of cameras & lens this past cruise!  Fabulous pictures. Kat, play with the night settings. The portrait setting will automatically blur the background. Fun camera tgat actually works as a phone!!  Melody

[slidergirl]

I do definitely get used to not having the touch button and to remember to use the side button instead!  i am looking forward to playing with the camera features.  I have found that the screen seems much more touch-sensitive than my old SE.  i thought i was screwing up my password a few times, but what happened was my finger lightly touched the screen.

 

litte break just now.  one of my GFs called about the get-together in August.  She and i are the only ones who have to fly so we talked about schedules and such.  Then we just chatted and chatted and chatted - 2 hours later we finally said goodbye.   

 

later!

[cruisemom42]

Just for you guys, I did a little research here in Germany and discovered that Germans also like Bamba.  Although the name is different, I spotted these in a store at the train station and had to sample them. Yes, they are much the same, perhaps a little crunchier and less "puffed" than the others I've had, but definitely recognizable.

 

[slidergirl]

maybe like cheetos puffed vs crunchy.  i'm a crunchy Cheetos person.  

 

Oh my.  After my chat with my GF, I did a little looking on airfares and such if I flew to the wedding from SoCA instead of coming back here for a day and changing carryons.  it's more expensive by $300 to stop in SLC.  So, now i'm thinking of sucking it up and bringing my wedding weekend with me.  She brought up a good point that we're all getting older and who knows how many more times we'll be able to get together.  I'm blowing a wad for Europe, why not all more for an extra week and a half traveling in the US.  

I have to do one more trip down to SLC tomorrow to get my driving permit - the place I usually get the photos done didn''t do them anymore so I have to find a place down in the valley.   It's going to be HOT down in valley tomorrow - upper 90s.  ugh.