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Travel thread: Where are you going next?
We could use a travel thread.
Where are you going? Where have you been? What should you see/avoid? What’s on the “bucket list”?
Mrs_dergon and I try to get a few weeks away each year. Most of the Summer will be cottage time in North Ontario.
The next real trip will be Paris and Nice in the fall. Mrs_dergon has fallen in love with the French Riviera and Paris is my favorite city.
Still looking at hotels …. we have a couple places we like but maybe I’ll mix it up this time. -
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Quote from dergon
We could use a travel thread.
Where are you going? Where have you been? What should you see/avoid? What’s on the “bucket list”?
Mrs_dergon and I try to get a few weeks away each year. Most of the Summer will be cottage time in North Ontario.
The next real trip will be Paris and Nice in the fall. Mrs_dergon has fallen in love with the French Riviera and Paris is my favorite city.
Still looking at hotels …. we have a couple places we like but maybe I’ll mix it up this time.
Those sound like nice trips, fall is also a great time for Europe. I’m currently house poor so no significant traveling planned[:(]. How long are you guys going to France for? Europe is nice but I feel given the flight time/jet lag issues, I would need at least 10 days. Prague/Vienna are very pretty cities. Budapest and Bratislava are also in that area and would be worth checking out. Since I’m currently on the west coast, I would like to check out Hawaii and re-vist Costa Rica which was very pretty
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Due to work life I live on almost entirely 1-week trips.
Will take a Friday overnight TATL and spend probably 3 nights in Nice then TGV and 5 nights in Paris… back Sunday night ready for work on Monday morning.
I’ve been to Vienna (for the ECR) at least a half a dozen times. It’s a great town. Good for tourists. For years I would use my conference trip there as a hub for other Europe travel nearby. From Vienna we’ve done Budapest, Prague, Salzburg, Venice, Munich.-
Just did a week on the emerald coast. Only caught one red snapper. The bite wasn’t good last week near shore. I kind of prefer no email, nice pool, do a little fishing, BBQ something.
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Quote from DICOM_Dan
Just did a week on the emerald coast. Only caught one red snapper. The bite wasn’t good last week near shore. I kind of prefer no email, nice pool, do a little fishing, BBQ something.
Nice. Is that a regular gig for you?
(I have a hard time breaking from the email)-
I don’t mind seeing some sites but I definitely like to chill out. I probably should’ve read more email as I’ve been swamped getting back. We were in Destin, FL and it’s kind of touristy. I do enjoy some fishing. My dad had a condo on Pawley’s Island SC so that was a typical trip. Usually fish out of SC Little River or Georgetown (cool little town/old). Caught lots of Mahi out of Little River about 10-20 miles out trolling. Destin has a vast amount of charter boats. We went out on a 25 foot center console and took an absolute beating get out about 10 miles. They dropped a camera in on a sunken barge and there’s fish all over. Must’ve been weather related because I didn’t see anyone coming back with fish at the docks.
I once had a captain tell us “everything in the water is bait for something. Even this boat”-
I know one thing I won’t do: Stand on a bridge in London.
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Quote from fw
I know one thing I won’t do: Stand on a bridge in London.
Mrs_Dergon and I were almost at the Bataclan in Paris about 1 week before the attacks and we walked the Promenade des Anglais in Nice 1 month after the attack right there.
And I will without hesitation visit the most touristy parts of central London the next time we are there.
You’re still more likely to be killed going out to dinner in the downtown of any major US city.
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Quote from dergon
You’re still more likely to be killed going out to dinner in the downtown of any major US city.
Dont mistake the situation in Cleveland for ‘any’.
How long do we have to use that crutch that ‘terrorism isn’t all that bad, more people get killed by X than by terrorists’ ?-
Quote from fw
Quote from dergon
You’re still more likely to be killed going out to dinner in the downtown of any major US city.
Dont mistake the situation in Cleveland for ‘any’.
How long do we have to use that crutch that ‘terrorism isn’t all that bad, more people get killed by X than by terrorists’ ?
No one made the comment that terrorism isn’t “bad”. It’s just statistically a blip that isn’t worth changing travel behavior over.
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Quote from fw
I know one thing I won’t do: Stand on a bridge in London.
Good job trying to take a thread about vacations and making it into a jab at The Land and terrorism.
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Quote from DICOM_Dan
Quote from fw
I know one thing I won’t do: Stand on a bridge in London.
Good job trying to take a thread about vacations and making it into a jab at The Land and terrorism.They have a problem, and they are denying it. Last time they had a problem, they addressed it. Wasn’t always pretty, but eventually they re-established control.
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Quote from dergon
Due to work life I live on almost entirely 1-week trips.
Will take a Friday overnight TATL and spend probably 3 nights in Nice then TGV and 5 nights in Paris… back Sunday night ready for work on Monday morning.
I’ve been to Vienna (for the ECR) at least a half a dozen times. It’s a great town. Good for tourists. For years I would use my conference trip there as a hub for other Europe travel nearby. From Vienna we’ve done Budapest, Prague, Salzburg, Venice, Munich.
My Bro-in-law works for Schneider/SquareD which is a French company. So typically has to go over to Paris or somewhere else on the other side of the pond once a year. He got us a couple of nice King beer steins from over there.
I’m interested in visiting Ireland. Drink whiskies, see castles, play golf.-
It sounds a little pedestrian maybe, but I was on an annual fly fishing trip in Arkansas a few weeks ago. 15th annual I think. Great friends, great weather, lots of good whiskey, and on the last day we slayed. One caught a 20″ brown, another landed 21″, then 23″, and I closed it out with 24″ brownie. Fish of a lifetime , 7 minutes on the reel on a #18 midge!
One of the guys on the trip is COO of a big food service co. In the past two years on business he’s been to St Andrews, private meals in the Vatican museum, and in the Ahlambra, Augusta, etc. he gets a fair amount of sh!t from us, but given his overall schedule to much less glamorous places, I’m not overly jealous.
Bucket list – Mongolia, to fly fish for Taimen. A trout , or salmonid anyway, that reaches over 6 ft.
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Also Portillo Chile, for back country ski touring in August.
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Being on the IT side of the pay scale, I plan on traveling to the living room a couple of times, maybe an occasional trip to the mailbox. I’ll stalk this thread and vacation vicariously through you guys.
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Price and inefficiency of air travel is def an hindrance. Would be nice to be able to go coast to coast in less than 5 hours, or get to Europe in less than 7/8 hours…I have relatives in Australia but can’t fathom being on a plane for 17 hours to get there
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This looks like an interesting place to spend a night.
[link=http://www.businessinsider.com/null-stern-hotel-room-swiss-alps-2017-6?google_editors_picks=true/#though-the-new-room-opened-in-early-june-2017-charbonnier-says-null-stern-will-not-start-taking-reservations-until-2018-fortunately-if-theres-bad-weather-guests-can-cancel-their-reservations-last-minute-10]http://www.businessinside…vations-last-minute-10[/link]-
In a month or so we are going for our 6th or 7th trip to Scotland. This year to the far Northwest. Very interesting area. In a way – very little there, except stunning scenery.
We go back so often because 1) when it is miserably hot here, it is fresh and cool there. Temps generally from a low of 58 to a high of 62 each day. 2) In the hinterlands, it is quite uncrowded even in peak tourist season 3) the people we meet are great. 4) the food is great 5) no language barriers 6) great historical sites to visit 7) golf is great (we avoid the big name courses and seek out the local courses. Uncrowded, inexpensive, scenic, and memorable. 8) fantastic scenery. 9) highland games – try to get to one every year, and they are very entertaining.
Next trip after that for me is to Bandon Dunes in Oregon for a short buddy golf trip. Some of the best golf on the planet. Better than Pebble Beach.-
I’ve not played the West Coast but I enjoy playing some ocean courses. The wind coming off the water kicks up the difficulty. My dad had a condo on some Mike Strantz course True Blue and Caledonia. So we drove down towards Charleston to play Bulls Bay, and another Strantz course to the log book. Really cool place to play. We played the Maverick tees which I want to say played like 7200 yards but probably more like like 8000. I remember the par 5s because two of them played over 600 and I had to hit driver+5wood+5wood to get home.
Pinehurst is also pretty awesome if you make it out the east coast. -
Quote from DICOM_Dan
I’ve not played the West Coast but I enjoy playing some ocean courses. The wind coming off the water kicks up the difficulty. My dad had a condo on some Mike Strantz course True Blue and Caledonia. So we drove down towards Charleston to play Bulls Bay, and another Strantz course to the log book. Really cool place to play. We played the Maverick tees which I want to say played like 7200 yards but probably more like like 8000. I remember the par 5s because two of them played over 600 and I had to hit driver+5wood+5wood to get home.
Pinehurst is also pretty awesome if you make it out the east coast.
I do get around – golf wise. Part of the retirement was to be able to do golf 5 days a week.
Two years ago – went to western Nebraska for the Prairie Club and Dismal River. Then on to Eastern Colorado for Ballyneal. Some very interesting golf.
Last year was northern Michigan for, among others, Crystal Downs. Beautiful, but ate me up.
Was in Tampa and Orlando last week, reviewing the resorts for my group – The Eastern Radiologic Society (eradsociety.com). Innisbrook won over Reunion.
Done a fair amount of west coast golf, and Bandon is the preferred destination there. California courses typically are poa annua greens and after 4 groups have gone through, they are un-puttable. (that would include Pebble). Bandon has fescue greens which stay firm and fast. For a touch of Scotland it also has REAL gorse. Planted there by Scottish immigrants who knew very well how to stabilize dunes.
Never played Pinehurst courses. But – many rounds at Mid – Pines.
Tomorrow – off to Scotland. Minimal golf this time. Will take in Durness golf course:
[link]http://lucy916.wixsite.com/durness-golf-club-2[/link]
[/h2] [b][/b][/h2] [b]WELCOME to DURNESS GOLF CLUB[/b]
[b]Designed by 3 local enthusiasts and opened in 1988[/b]
[b]we are very proud of our unique course and want to share it with the world ![/b]
[b]Visitors and members can enjoy golf almost all year round from dawn to dusk[/b]
I LOVE these kind of places. The people are very pleasant and grounded. And they simply love their golf.
I called to get the lay of the land, and there are no tee times necessary – you just go out and it’s never so crowded that it takes time to get out. I can meander around the course as long as I like and appreciate the views, and the sometimes very quirky architecture. I have played 3 different blind par threes, I have seen a dogleg par three (Really!), I have played holes where the drive of the next hole goes over your head as you approach the green. Lots of fun.
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I hear u –NZ flight seemed to go on for ever but they fed me and I saw some great movies- had reached a point where I had done 2 to 3 walks up and down the aisles along with a few prayers–god get me there
Quote from jd4540
Price and inefficiency of air travel is def an hindrance. Would be nice to be able to go coast to coast in less than 5 hours, or get to Europe in less than 7/8 hours…I have relatives in Australia but can’t fathom being on a plane for 17 hours to get there
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Quote from PacsPRO
Being on the IT side of the pay scale, I plan on traveling to the living room a couple of times, maybe an occasional trip to the mailbox. I’ll stalk this thread and vacation vicariously through you guys.
A trip to Europe is not as expensive as one might think. We went almost two years ago, flew into Koln, Germany, and took the high speed train to Paris. Stayed in a four star hotel in Paris, it was very reasonable. Actually, it was less than the Comfort Inn in Whitefish, Montana during tourist season. No shiat.
Also, you can save a ton ‘o money by flying out of Canada…which is easy for me to do, as I live in northern Montana. Paris and Italy are next on my itinerary…you could spend months in Paris and still feel you haven’t seen everything. I would also like to go to the middle east…specifically, Iran and Israel. I have several friends that have been there recently and they all report an awesome time, great people, very welcoming people. I’d love to see the pyramids, but right now might now be the best time.
As far as the terrorism goes, I’ll walk the London bridge…I cannot imagine living in so much fear that it rules my life.-
Just finished NW tour to Vancouver, Victoria and train to Banff. Much fun
And scheduled for cruise along Pacific coast. Vancouver to LA
But most excited about Aug trip to Idaho to see total solar eclipse
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Not going anywhere for a few weeks. The Hex hatch is ON, and the trout are hungry. Might drive 50 min instead of 30 to try fishing the hatch on different water in the next week or two, but I have such an affinity for my little stretch of home stream when the big flies emerge for their one glorious hour of flight and congress. Hexagenia Limbata, thy name stirs predators afin and afoot.
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If you go to Europe, don’t miss out on Warsaw.
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Quote from Bobbo
Just finished NW tour to Vancouver, Victoria and train to Banff. Much fun
And scheduled for cruise along Pacific coast. Vancouver to LA
But most excited about Aug trip to Idaho to see total solar eclipse
Banff is incredible….went through there on my motorcycle a few years ago, hard to describe. Should be on everyone’s bucket list. -
happy to hear someone is planning for this:
But most excited about Aug trip to Idaho to see total solar eclipse
Quote from Bobbo
Just finished NW tour to Vancouver, Victoria and train to Banff. Much fun
And scheduled for cruise along Pacific coast. Vancouver to LA
But most excited about Aug trip to Idaho to see total solar eclipse
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Quote from sentinel lymph node
happy to hear someone is planning for this:
But most excited about Aug trip to Idaho to see total solar eclipseQuote from Bobbo
Just finished NW tour to Vancouver, Victoria and train to Banff. Much fun
And scheduled for cruise along Pacific coast. Vancouver to LA
But most excited about Aug trip to Idaho to see total solar eclipse
See you there!!! I plan on being in southern Idaho, probably Twin Falls or Idaho Falls. -
Off To Destin to enjoy the sun and the sand….
and Pop the Question -
I was just there about a month ago. Louisiana Lagniappe was a decent restaurant. May the traffic be with you.
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Quote from PACS DRONE
Off To Destin to enjoy the sun and the sand….
and Pop the Question
congrats!!! -
Heading to Tokyo and Kyoto in a few weeks..Wife has been dying to go. Anyone been or have any recs??
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I’m told the subway gets a bit nuts and the toilets are high tech. Castles/shrines/temples look pretty cool.
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Quote from rads312
Heading to Tokyo and Kyoto in a few weeks..Wife has been dying to go. Anyone been or have any recs??
sounds great. I would love to visit but flight is long…aside from benzos/wine/benadryl cocktail, any suggestions?
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just saw on Brian Williams that the predicted area with the longest period of darkness is Carbondale, Ill
Quote from stir22
Quote from sentinel lymph node
happy to hear someone is planning for this:
But most excited about Aug trip to Idaho to see total solar eclipseQuote from Bobbo
Just finished NW tour to Vancouver, Victoria and train to Banff. Much fun
And scheduled for cruise along Pacific coast. Vancouver to LA
But most excited about Aug trip to Idaho to see total solar eclipse
See you there!!! I plan on being in southern Idaho, probably Twin Falls or Idaho Falls.
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Wow! I thought I was the only one into astronomy. I’m seeing the eclipse in Oregon, probably in Salem or madras. Anyone else going to Oregon? Going to also take in Portland and some surrounding attractions.
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I enjoy it but I don’t see the point. You can’t really watch unless you have some welders glass or something that can allow you to watch the sun. Also I get to see the sun go away everyday. If you ever stop in the CLE hit up the natural,history museum. The planetarium shows are pretty cool, at the end they do like Q&A. The software/environment they run flies around the universe.
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Day 1 home from vacation. Spent most of the day tearing out drywall, flooring and subflooring after a brass fitting let lose while we were traveling around europe 🙁
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Quote from fw
Day 1 home from vacation. Spent most of the day tearing out drywall, flooring and subflooring after a brass fitting let lose while we were traveling around europe 🙁
There are valves and sensors that will auto shutoff the water. Check’em out.
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Quote from DICOM_Dan
Quote from fw
Day 1 home from vacation. Spent most of the day tearing out drywall, flooring and subflooring after a brass fitting let lose while we were traveling around europe 🙁
There are valves and sensors that will auto shutoff the water. Check’em out.
I have them, didn’t do me any good. This was a pinhole in a brass casting that must have started peeing water against the drywall in the second floor laundry sometime in the last week. Just enough to soak through the subflooring into the ceiling of the dining room below. Never made it to the level where the sensors would have picked it up. Oh well, good thing the tornado earlier this year already maxed out my insurance deductible 😉 -
Quote from DICOM_Dan
I enjoy it but I don’t see the point. You can’t really watch unless you have some welders glass or something that can allow you to watch the sun. Also I get to see the sun go away everyday. If you ever stop in the CLE hit up the natural,history museum. The planetarium shows are pretty cool, at the end they do like Q&A. The software/environment they run flies around the universe.
I agree – for me the eclipse is OK, but not THAT interesting.
You DO NOT need special glasses to watch the eclipse. I once watched it on a golf course as I played, monitoring the shadows on the ground. Each gap in the leaves was a small pin hole camera, and you could see innumerable crescents on the ground. Obviously, you can’t see sun spots, but so what.
There are so many ways to make a pin hole observatory. Easiest is to simply get some paper and put a hole in it. Then hold it up to the sun. There you are.
You could also probably do this: Al foil over your binoculars, make a pinhole, project the image on the ground or whatever.
I suspect in areas of totality the corona is going to be pretty interesting, but even driving to a place of totality sounds like a REAL issue. Make sure you have a full gas tank and some food.
[link=https://www.seeker.com/space/astronomy/the-total-solar-eclipse-could-provoke-a-logistical-zombie-apocalypse]https://www.seeker.com/sp…ical-zombie-apocalypse[/link]
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Quote from Phil Shaffer
Quote from DICOM_Dan
I enjoy it but I don’t see the point. You can’t really watch unless you have some welders glass or something that can allow you to watch the sun. Also I get to see the sun go away everyday. If you ever stop in the CLE hit up the natural,history museum. The planetarium shows are pretty cool, at the end they do like Q&A. The software/environment they run flies around the universe.
I agree – for me the eclipse is OK, but not THAT interesting.
You DO NOT need special glasses to watch the eclipse. I once watched it on a golf course as I played, monitoring the shadows on the ground. Each gap in the leaves was a small pin hole camera, and you could see innumerable crescents on the ground. Obviously, you can’t see sun spots, but so what.
There are so many ways to make a pin hole observatory. Easiest is to simply get some paper and put a hole in it. Then hold it up to the sun. There you are.
You could also probably do this: Al foil over your binoculars, make a pinhole, project the image on the ground or whatever.
I suspect in areas of totality the corona is going to be pretty interesting, but even driving to a place of totality sounds like a REAL issue. Make sure you have a full gas tank and some food.[link=https://www.seeker.com/space/astronomy/the-total-solar-eclipse-could-provoke-a-logistical-zombie-apocalypse]https://www.seeker.com/sp…ical-zombie-apocalypse[/link]
We did that in gradeschool. Wanna say it was like ’87-’88. Watching it on the ground is like watching water boil. Although one of the schoolmates had a uncle that was a welder. So we got to pass around some welders glass.
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air exposed xray film is perfect for viewing.
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Info on solar glasses
[link=https://manage.kmail-lists.com/subscriptions/web-view?c=ua9QeK&r=9QTtmWR&m=Qh8CkS&k=39ca601ee9784a42f00c92c1a339026a]https://manage.kmail-list…784a42f00c92c1a339026a[/link]
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Quote from DICOM_Dan
We did that in gradeschool. Wanna say it was like ’87-’88. Watching it on the ground is like watching water boil. Although one of the schoolmates had a uncle that was a welder. So we got to pass around some welders glass.
Probably the one I saw – were you in Cleveland? I was in Columbus. Not like watching water boil for me – I had to be concerned about what I was doing on the golf course in between checking in on the eclipse.
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I remember one in the Midwest in 1969.
Going to Tanzania on a Rad-Aid trip mid August, so I’ll miss this one…and my town is right smack dab in the middle of the darkness band, too! Oh, well… -
The one I remember from the 80s was at All Saints School in Wickliffe. A little east of Cleveland. The movie Major League came out after that and it mentioned All Saints. So everyone thought that was really cool at the time.
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I travelled to Akron today for the PGA tour at Firestone. Pretty cool to bounce around the course and get right up in the action. We saw John Rahm eagle the green monster right our villa.
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While your away can we all use your house to watch the eclipse ?
We promise to not drink all your beer ………… the first night -
On a commercial flight for a trip to southern Utah northern AZ.
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It’s 2017. Take a ipad. Download netflix movies and/or shows. Throw on a couple books. Come on.
NZ is amazing. Still remember the flight back was real rough 6 hours of non-stop turbulence. A little is fine, but not for that long. Talk about frayed nerves. Made me think about all those poor souls that had to experience and endure shell shock. Jesus.
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looking at the price of glasses u have to buy and the seal u have to look for to make sure they are top quality
Quote from InNyc
Wow! I thought I was the only one into astronomy. I’m seeing the eclipse in Oregon, probably in Salem or madras. Anyone else going to Oregon? Going to also take in Portland and some surrounding attractions.
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It is getting closer
the temperature will drop and owls will come out due to the darkness–also reported is that bees will become louderQuote from Bobbo
Just finished NW tour to Vancouver, Victoria and train to Banff. Much fun
And scheduled for cruise along Pacific coast. Vancouver to LA
But most excited about Aug trip to Idaho to see total solar eclipse
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How’d the solar eclipse watching go? I went outside with some cohorts and a piece of welding glass. Pretty much about as snooze-tastic as I figured.
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Same. Didn’t get all that dim. We had cloudy weather to begin with so didn’t seem like much.
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Saw totality today from willamette valley, oregon. Absolutely spectacular. So much grander than in pictures.
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I was in Salem on the Wednesday prior – place was already busy with Eclipsers….
Here is what I did from Columbus (~86%). I recommend it – easy for many people to view at once, and you may already have the materials.
What you need – Binoculars, Tripod, cardboard, Al foil, some white paper and a box.
Total set up time ~15 minutes
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and here is the resultant image (about 3-4 inches as projected)
You will see some chromatic aberration, BUT this ain’t high quality astronomy. Note you can see 4-5 sunspots. I was pretty surprised how well it worked.
(I won’t post the partial eclipse image – too boring)
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I mentioned I went to Scotland – one image worth sharing of a very secluded, tranquil church in an area in the highlands that will remain my secret
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Great pic, Phil.
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Quote from Phil Shaffer
I mentioned I went to Scotland – one image worth sharing of a very secluded, tranquil church in an area in the highlands that will remain my secret
Looks like the Cille Choirill.
That other picture looks sort of reminds me a cue ball. -
Quote from Phil Shaffer
I mentioned I went to Scotland – one image worth sharing of a very secluded, tranquil church in an area in the highlands that will remain my secret
Probably getting back to Scotland in early November. My buddy wants to get out to Islay to tour Lagavulin distillery 🙂
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Cool, is that your fav scotch, dergs?
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Dan. How in the WORLD did you know that. You are right, and I am stunned.
Dergon: lagavullin has a great tasting. Of course Ardbeg and Laphroaig are within a short walk. Just up the hill is a cemetery with the graves of knights from the crusades, complete with statues of them.
One thing we missed on islay was the Bruchladdaich distillery. They are interesting. They have a couple of products (peat project and octomore) that they have tried to get as much peat as possible into the malt. -
Must be all the Catholic Schooling.
I actually really like the Glenmorangie Nectar d’ Or at it’s price point. Not a big fan of the Peaty smokey flavors like Johnie Walker. Not sure if they’re considered highlands but it’s more by the coast.
Here’s my fire comment of the day. All scotch is toilet water compared to Pappy van Winkle. -
Had my first taste of Pappy last week. 12 year. It was good. Quite good. But, it is in a different category than Scottish single malts. One thing remarkable about the Islay malts, IMHO, is that tasting them brings back the ambience of the island. I think it is because the smell of peat smoke was faintly present all over the island. At any rate, I do have that association.
AND – unless you are one of those fancy admini$trative types – actually having a bottle at home for a couple of ounces a week is financially difficult.
You were a little bit coy about Cille, and I am really curious. Is this somehow famous and it escaped me?? -
You spend 12 years in catholic school and you get a secret decoder ring. I’ve seen it in photos before.
I had 1 of 6 bottles of Pappy 20 that came into Ohio a few years ago. A friend of mine is a GM for a restaurant group and the distributor that had the 6 bottles sold him 3. So I was able to snatch one up. Normally I wouldn’t ever spend $150 on a bottle but they’re few and far between.
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AHH! – so it is somewhat famous.
Obviously made an impression, since you remember the name.
Interesting fact – at the base of the hill is a sign that says the key for the church is at the inn down the street (used to be on a post next to a house across the road).
When you go inside, you find a number of artifacts framed on the wall, some are gold. Nobody bothers them. Refreshing that there is at least one place in this world that you can trust people to behave.
Also – the headstones are interesting. Covered in multicolored lichens. The ground has settled around many of the caskets, so you walk over the lumps that are the people. Gives you a sense that they are trying to get out.
I once found a bat clinging to one of the headstones.
The inscriptions are interesting because of the names. There are several that read “Ronald McDonald, son of Donald McDonald”. They weren’t too creative when naming their kids.
Pappy is only $150??? Hmm, given the rarity, I would think it could fetch $1000. Our country club has two bottles, one 10 and one 12. I was told an interesting story by a guy I played golf with last week. We were discussing Pappy and turns out he worked in the whiskey biz for years. Seems that Maker’s Mark was not doing so well. The owner went to see Pappy and Pappy pulled him aside for a private conversation. After this, Maker’s Mark substantially improved, and sold much better. Speculation was that Pappy gave a trade secret to a friend that saved his business. -
Sounds interesting. Maybe someday I’ll stop by. I find that kind of historical artifacts intereting. Like if you hit CLE go to lakeside cemetery. It has 1 of 4 Louis Tiffany designed glass chapels in the world. Really cool too the guides explain all the symbolism. Plus lots of other famous graves. I enjoyed the outer walls of the Alamo more than the inside because of all the artifacts.
I did t get my Pappy retail. My buddy that’s a GM for one of the better restaurant groups in CLE got us the hook up. I bought it without even thinking about it. Booze is massively marked up. You can get a Handle of BV for $20 but at a bar it’s going to cost you $4 a shot.
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Lisbon–the new hotspot–a friend is visiting now and says Madonna has moved there
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International Skeletal Society 2018 meeting is in Berlin….. WIN! 🙂
(Will be a perfect opportunity to visit mrs_dergon’s family in germany too while we’re there) -
Since the topic of professional travel is advanced …
The Eastern Radiologic Society is meeting in Napa this year. Playground for adults. We are always open to new members, you can join now for a nothing and come to the annual meetings, which are always at attractive places. And yes, you can come this year if you like. (Dues after the first year are $200 annually.)
Meeting is May 6-10 this year.
The meetings have a mix of topics, mostly given by members (and these are good), and also by one or two invited speakers. They are in depth, and you really learn some good stuff. The meetings are held 8-12 every morning, and then you are free to play the afternoon. Mostly this is golf, but this year, I will be taking 2 days off from golf to do the wineries.
One thing about the group that does not come out in this discussion is that a major reason to join is the personal and professional friendships that develop. It sort of has the feeling of summer camp, where you get to see all your friends and see how they are doing. Truly, one of the highlights of my career is belonging to this group.
eradsociety.com
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Quote from dergon
International Skeletal Society 2018 meeting is in Berlin….. WIN! 🙂
(Will be a perfect opportunity to visit mrs_dergon’s family in germany too while we’re there)
If you haven’t already done so, include a side trip to Poland. Krakow or Warsaw, well worth taking an extra two or three days while you are already in the area.
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[size=”2″]Recently traveled to South India & the Maldives … [/size]
[size=”2″]South-India [Kochi – Kumarakom (house boats)- Periyar (spice plantations, tiger reserve, etc…)] Highly highly recommended CGH earth [[link]http://cghearth.com/[/link]] … try Brunton boatyard in fort kochi (our favorite of the ones we stayed at) [/size]
[size=”2″]Maldives – a MUST for anyone even the non beach people among us (I was not a beach person before going)… we went in oct and stayed at the baros resort – the water was a bit choppy but it was absolutely beautiful and worth every penny … feb apparently is the best time to go[/size]
[size=”2″]Headed to the Bahamas in Jan and Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in Mar … will provide recs when we get back [/size]
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Going to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in March 2018
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Quote from fw
Quote from dergon
International Skeletal Society 2018 meeting is in Berlin….. WIN! 🙂
(Will be a perfect opportunity to visit mrs_dergon’s family in germany too while we’re there)
If you haven’t already done so, include a side trip to Poland. Krakow or Warsaw, well worth taking an extra two or three days while you are already in the area.
That Poland trek is definitely on the list. But it looks like this will be the typical one-weeker trip. Between a few days in Bavaria for family and the conference in Berlin that will be it. -
You can pick up a nice King Werks beer stein right from the Westerwald.
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Quote from stir22
Quote from PacsPRO
Being on the IT side of the pay scale, I plan on traveling to the living room a couple of times, maybe an occasional trip to the mailbox. I’ll stalk this thread and vacation vicariously through you guys.
A trip to Europe is not as expensive as one might think. We went almost two years ago, flew into Koln, Germany, and took the high speed train to Paris. Stayed in a four star hotel in Paris, it was very reasonable. Actually, it was less than the Comfort Inn in Whitefish, Montana during tourist season. No shiat.
Most ‘tours’ of europe put together for Americans are geared to US tastes and standards (hotels with AC and room service).
Some options to stay on a budget:
– fly outside of summer tourist season, monitor prices
– Fly into the UK on someone like Thomas Cook and continue on to Europe proper on Ryanair. Birmingham offers the option to make that change without changing airports (like London)
– go to eastern Europe. Poland is still quite affordable.
– travel by regular regional train rather than TGV or ICE high speed trains
– stay away from the tourist traps every american visits-
google.com/flights will let you track flights you’re interested in and send you emails of price changes. If you think something is a good price, I think the Kayak site will tell you also if you’re getting a reasonable price. I saved some money that way. Also Kayak I think will give you an analysis of the price before you buy. I’ve heard it’s actually a cheap time to fly international. Airlines are competing for the business.
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Yes, i got an absolute steal for Tokyo tickets and hotels, booked for late july in early June.
jd – it’s not thaaaaat bad , about 13 hours I think. Book an evening flight out, sleep most of the time, wake up and have breakfast, and you’re there.
If you’re on an attending pay scale, look into first class upgrade options and the flight itself will be a fun time.
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Just did a tour or Roswell ( yes I got abducted) then to Carslbad Caverns….
Next going to Victoria BC to help my mom celebrate her 80th BD -
Anyone been to the Bahamas..
Not looking for opulence… looking for a simple place not too touristy … to get my sun and beach on..
Any recommendations ?
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Quote from PACS DRONE
Anyone been to the Bahamas..
Not looking for opulence… looking for a simple place not too touristy … to get my sun and beach on..
Any recommendations ?
The Ocean Club.
Not “opulent” but a classy 5-star. If you can get a slightly discounted room it would be worth it … but peak season you’ll pay through the nose.
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Haven’t been there myself but heard good things about Cape Santa Maria Beach Resort … and it sounds like it might fit your beach out-of-the-way goal
[link]http://www.capesantamaria.com/[/link]-
That looks like a nice mahi fish on the cape santa Maria site. If you can get a charter for them I’d recommend. Really tasty fish and fun to catch. We caught these out of North Myrtle Beach if you don’t want to go to the Bahamas.
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Rent a house in Spanish Wells. Hire a housekeeper/cook for the duration. It’s a fishing village, couple of expats.
I like Harbor Island. Touristy and expensive but the beach is spectacular and lots of entertainment options.
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I kind of find cooking to be one of the best parts of vacation. We usually might hit up a restaurant or two. However, I like to have a beer, light the charcoal, and BBQ something. Depending on the charter they might clean your fish. I don’t mind doing that either. We fish lake Erie for walleye And perch. You get a lot of experience carving on perch and walleye.
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Well, I usually spend all of my summer vacation time in north Ontario at our cottage. But the border is still closed. Their are rumors and whispers and rumblings about potentially re-opening for summer but no movement yet. I have 2 weeks off in July to burn with nothing to do and mrs_dergon and I agreed that if it got to Memorial day weekend without an announcement we would book something to celebrate our return to travel.
And the winner is …. Greek Isles! I’ve wanted to do it for many years. Greece is now open for travel with no Coivd testing, just a vaccination card.
We’ll fly in to Athens on the 4th of July and then head to Santorini and then Crete.
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Sounds like a nice vacation. I have a friend that did some greek island traveling. It might have been Santorini but he had some pictures of a cool archaeological site. Lots of preserved items from 500-600 years ago from a volcanic eruption.
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First actual trip since the pandemic
Long weekend in cincinatti
We just sat down at a patio at a hipster whiskey bar and the cicadas are crazy! So loud you have to raise yourself voice
Brought the dog
Hilton hotel is near empty
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Never really had the bug to visit Cinci. If we get that new train I would consider it.
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Its been fun if we didnt have friends to see we would never have made the trip
Had goetta for the first time.Delicious
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Looks like I’ve got Cherry Beach (Myrtle Beach) in store for next year. Get to do some fishing for some Mahi Mahi. It’s pretty blah compared to some travel but I’ve not been on vacation for like 3 or 4 years so I’ll take it. I like golfing anyway so pack the clubs and hit some of the better courses. Maybe zip down to Georgetown which is cool, or Charleston which is also cool.
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