Desperate times call for desperate measures

[K12Guy]

On 5/20/2020 at 8:46 AM, DrivesLikeMario said:

That's MRS. Andretti!   And that is hilarious!!  LOLOL

 Ut oh. So YOU must be Maria Andretti. So sorry for the mixup. Glad you enjoyed my prose. Keeps my wife happy since I'm not talking to her whilst typing away. That way she doesn't have to pretend to be listening and care. (Joking, of course).

[K12Guy]

On 5/19/2020 at 5:45 PM, Denny01 said:

Binge watching!! Last night, my wife said the extended program we were watching had 2 more 45min+ episodes left and did I want to watch it since it was after 10pm.....I pointed out that we have been watching this program beyond 1:30am the last 2 or 3 nights....So we we’d have over a hr left of just sitting there looking at a blank screen. Oh well.

 

The 6-season, 10+episode a season thing was an Australian epic called “A Place to Call Home”.....I was not only completely addicted to this, we are Now going to Australia just to see some of the show’s sites......Looks like a 16+hr flight followed by a week of wandering Australia on some TV program-based tour and then a cruise is in the cards. Im a sick sick human!!

 

I only shared this so those, especially our Aussie friends can go crazy if they’ve seen the show. Probably one of the best I’ve seen in a while. 

 

In Stockholm, we went on a tour based on the ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ of the city........it’s fun doing stuff such as that. Drinking coffee (well, a coffee-based ‘drink’ that was thicker than tar!) in the author’s favorite coffeehouse....at least that’s what the tour guide insisted. 

 

Can anyone else beat how ‘desperate’ that story is??

 

Den

Well now. Another Australia/Tazmania/New Zealand fan, huh? (All three included for those who haven't been to them). It will be about 15.5 hours from Los Angeles (LAX) to either Sydney or Melbourne. I highly suggest (1) that you book International Business and (2) book on Virgin Australia (VA) if possible. I've flown Delta, Qantas, American, and VA on segments between LAX and Australia and VA is 'hands down'  the winner for me.

If you really want to see the edge of the Outback (not the U.S. restaurant) fly to Adelaide, rent (hire) a car and drive through the countryside to Melrose, about 2 1/2 hours north of Adelaide. Spend half a day there, unless you mountain bike, and enjoy the town and either the 'upper' or 'lower' pub. If you mountain bike be sure to visit my friends, Kerri and Rich, at their bike shop, Over the Edge, and tell them I sent you. Rent a bike and ride Mount Remarkable. You will love it. Be prepared to share the trail with an occasional kangaroo, they have right-of-way.

 

If you sail out of Melbourne, take a couple extra days and visit the Barossa valley to the north. Book a room at the Barossa House B&B, just down the road 3K or so from Tanunda. Take half a day and drive north to Kapunda.  Visit that quaint city and enjoy the surroundings. Stop by and tell Dr. Lecons and his lovely bride, Julie, that we sent you that way.

 

I read "Girl with the dragon tattoo". A bit of drama and trauma, at the very least.

 

 

[Vagabond Knight]

On 5/19/2020 at 4:11 PM, phoenix_dream said:

Are you going as crazy as I am not to be cruising right now (or any time soon)?  

 

My job was a bit more high stress than usual over the past year and I was soooo in need of the March vacation that didn't happen.  No choice but to move on from that, but what's making me crazy right now is having absolutely NO major vacations on the calendar right now that I feel confident will really take place. 

 

I'm big on countdowns.  That, and vacation planning are what help bridge the gap between the REALLY fun stuff... the actual vacations.  The current uncertainty is maddening.  I have two weeks in one of my timeshare condos scheduled for mid-October (it's both a vacation and a visit to see family), but will flying from Florida to California really be feasible at that point?  We have an Alaskan cruisetour booked for August 2021, but will that really happen?  Normally, I'd be researching and booking side trips and excursions, and maybe even booking a few more cruises or trips, but I don't feel comfortable giving any tour operator or Celebrity any additional money when people are having trouble getting money back from private tour companies and we're heading into our 10th week of waiting for the rest of our March cruise money back from Celebrity.

 

I know that I have no real problems compared to the serious issues being experienced by others these days, but having no vacations to look forward to and actually count on is a source of frustration for me.

[srdancer]

There is a TV network called AWE - a wealth of entertainment. We watch it on Verizon FIOS. Don't know if other providers also have it. There is a show called Dream Cruises - some ocean, some river. See lots of places we've been and can reminisce,  place we are (were) planning to go in the next year but have potponed, some places we would not go but that were fascinating,  and some places we would never want to visit. Not sure if this is satisfying or torture. 

They have ships from a variety of companies, haven't had any X ships.  Saw a few on Carnival - never would consider a Carnival cruise after watching the shows. Not that we ever considered it anyway.

[ECCruise]

Nope. Not at all. Was on a cruise during this mess and not about to do it again until things change. Alot. Literally could not pay me to be on a cruise ship now. Have at it if you feel you have to. Not that important to us. 

[Denny01]

5 hours ago, K12Guy said:

Well now. Another Australia/Tazmania/New Zealand fan, huh? (All three included for those who haven't been to them). It will be about 15.5 hours from Los Angeles (LAX) to either Sydney or Melbourne. I highly suggest (1) that you book International Business and (2) book on Virgin Australia (VA) if possible. I've flown Delta, Qantas, American, and VA on segments between LAX and Australia and VA is 'hands down'  the winner for me.

If you really want to see the edge of the Outback (not the U.S. restaurant) fly to Adelaide, rent (hire) a car and drive through the countryside to Melrose, about 2 1/2 hours north of Adelaide. Spend half a day there, unless you mountain bike, and enjoy the town and either the 'upper' or 'lower' pub. If you mountain bike be sure to visit my friends, Kerri and Rich, at their bike shop, Over the Edge, and tell them I sent you. Rent a bike and ride Mount Remarkable. You will love it. Be prepared to share the trail with an occasional kangaroo, they have right-of-way.

 

If you sail out of Melbourne, take a couple extra days and visit the Barossa valley to the north. Book a room at the Barossa House B&B, just down the road 3K or so from Tanunda. Take half a day and drive north to Kapunda.  Visit that quaint city and enjoy the surroundings. Stop by and tell Dr. Lecons and his lovely bride, Julie, that we sent you that way.

 

I read "Girl with the dragon tattoo". A bit of drama and trauma, at the very least.

 

 

Wow, what a great piece of good info! My wife is getting excited about visiting. When I got a degree in Geology in the early ‘60’s, Australia was offering jobs to us, but the US Navy had priority over my plans on Going DownUnder! I did read a lot of Arthur Upfield’s ‘Detective Bony’ books and was addicted. Finally got to go a number of years ago, but spent most of the time in Newcastle area supporting the RAAF and didn’t get to a lot of visiting......will do it now! This is kind of ‘desperate’ so it’s kind of on subject. 

 

Den

Edited May 21, 2020 by Denny01

[srdancer]

ECCruise, must say I agree with you. Even if we did not get sick ourselves, someone else could, and we don't want to float around the ocean for months with no way to get off.

 

Are there still passengers from South America on the Eclipse or were they finally able to get home?

[Chip and Dale]

Our darling oldest son gave us use of his Crave and Netflix subscriptions. Very sweet boy, glad we had him 🤪. 
 

Friday nights we watch Magnum PI and Hawaii 5 0 just for the scenery!

 

I have been sewing cushions, table runners and whatever else I feel like. Next up a quilt for the new grandson due in September. 
 

Normally I have a very tight schedule! Preparing/packing for travel, returning....doing laundry....then re-packing for the next cruise/trip.  Sometimes I shop for new luggage, try to find better carryon bags, search for great travel purses. Nanny misses Marshals and Winners!!!  I enjoy matching up clothing, shoes, handbags and jewelry 🥰. NOW I realized that some of the masks I had made were clashing with clothes so I will spend some time making an assortment of other coloured masks because OMG 😱 not to match your mask 😷 to your outfit!!! 🤦‍♀️ Honestly my world has come to this 🙄

 

We have binge watched Grace and Frankie, Bosch, Ozark......by the way....we felt it was really violent and distressing when we started watching Ozark in March.....then by April it seemed less upsetting than the news 🤷‍♀️. We have watched Succession and they damn well better put the next season on in August!!! Billions was good BUT now we are tortured with the new season posting only one episode per freakin week every Sunday at 9:05 p.m......yah the exact time seems really important to me now for some reason. I just started watching Hollywood on Netflix and YIKES I need to rinse my brain and my eyes after each episode!!! It’s kind of like a train wreck......you don’t want to watch but can’t look away. I started Dead to Me, not sure on that one yet. I have a list of series to watch, that took a few hours to make. 
 

RCI and Celebrity email me a lot .......cruise offers.....Celebrity recipes. Really. 
 

By the way I was up at 4:00 a.m. I dreamt I was on a cruise and was seriously #@$&%/ when I woke up and realized I wasn’t. My mask matched my outfit and everything 🤪

 

But I’m sure I’m fine. Pretty sure. 
Dee
 

 

[leck57]

16 hours ago, K12Guy said:

Well now. Another Australia/Tazmania/New Zealand fan, huh? (All three included for those who haven't been to them). It will be about 15.5 hours from Los Angeles (LAX) to either Sydney or Melbourne. I highly suggest (1) that you book International Business and (2) book on Virgin Australia (VA) if possible. I've flown Delta, Qantas, American, and VA on segments between LAX and Australia and VA is 'hands down'  the winner for me.

If you really want to see the edge of the Outback (not the U.S. restaurant) fly to Adelaide, rent (hire) a car and drive through the countryside to Melrose, about 2 1/2 hours north of Adelaide. Spend half a day there, unless you mountain bike, and enjoy the town and either the 'upper' or 'lower' pub. If you mountain bike be sure to visit my friends, Kerri and Rich, at their bike shop, Over the Edge, and tell them I sent you. Rent a bike and ride Mount Remarkable. You will love it. Be prepared to share the trail with an occasional kangaroo, they have right-of-way.

 

If you sail out of Melbourne, take a couple extra days and visit the Barossa valley to the north. Book a room at the Barossa House B&B, just down the road 3K or so from Tanunda. Take half a day and drive north to Kapunda.  Visit that quaint city and enjoy the surroundings. Stop by and tell Dr. Lecons and his lovely bride, Julie, that we sent you that way.

 

I read "Girl with the dragon tattoo". A bit of drama and trauma, at the very least.

 

 

 

Just a slight correction. The Barossa Valley is just north of Adelaide, not Melbourne.

[TeeRick]

On 5/22/2020 at 6:21 AM, leck57 said:

 

Just a slight correction. The Barossa Valley is just north of Adelaide, not Melbourne.

About 700 km in driving distance between Adelaide and Melbourne.  That is next to nothing in Australia! 😀

[K12Guy]

On 5/22/2020 at 3:21 AM, leck57 said:

 

Just a slight correction. The Barossa Valley is just north of Adelaide, not Melbourne.

 

Thank you, so much, for catching that. There are a lot of miles between Adelaide and Melbourne as you know!

Now I have to go back to photos to see what we enjoyed out of Melbourne. My addled memory has jogged yet this morning.

[alibaba1]