UMTravels

When I got the diagnosis of colon cancer that had spread to the liver on April 22. 2022 it was a shock, but it had taken weeks to get to that point, and I got to this Zen place. I’ve lived an amazing life. I haven’t worked a desk job since I was 43. I’ve […]

Well, early day on the royal – off the boat at 9am – Uber to hotel, 10 minutes away, checked in but no room until 4 (fortunately, ready at two). Choices of reclines were: Or the meat-locker cold Business center. We vent for privacy. First order of business was to track down a “transist wheelchair” […]

Up at the crack of something… Onto the train to Vancouver for dinner with Will and Solus! Somehow, I have no shots of Will, Solus, Jen, Jonathan, and I. But here I have one with Jen and poutine: Wonderful meatloaf dinner tor fix and The Canadian. And soon it time to make or way Food […]

Usually, I go to Whistler three times a summer, this year it was supposed to be twice, but other commitments kept me from the first visit. Finally, WHISTLER! My friend Michael from Tokyo is joining me and arrived a couple of days early, so off to The Museum of Flight we go! Trying to decide […]

Summertime, and the living is easy…and SLO. San Luis Obispo by AmTrak that is. Several years ago they restored King Street Station in Seattle. High gloss white wouldn’t have been my choice, but considering the amount of money they spent restoring the plasterwork, I can understand. AmTrak has adopted the cruise line model of, bid […]

As part of our Alaska Cruise, Marybeth and I only booked one excursion… the White Pass & Yukon Route train out of Skagway. For the tourists off the boat, it turns around at the top of the mountain and returns to town. They say that if you are to take just one Alaska excursion, it […]

Been weeks since I’ve traveled – but I’m off with Marybeth for a 7-day cruise from Seattle to Alaska. It’s an overcast day when we leave Seattle..but hot dogs are perfect on any day when they are good (and free). That is the Rueben Dog – dog, Swiss, sauerkraut, 1000 island dressing. And then the […]

With summer almost on us, that means travel deals have dried up with all the revenge travel going on. Time to do some work around the house! Back in March when I was in Japan, I did some Obi shopping in Nagoya. Obi’s are the middle stomach wrap in a kimono. My nephew Julian took […]

Bluegrass country, but it’s dark when I arrive… And the reason for my visit. And the second reason for the trip…a new Buc-ee’s! Really, just hanging out with the Colonels. Lovely to see them, for more blog posts click here. [200.0]

As all my stories start, another day, another lounge. This time the British Airways Terraces Lounge at Sea-Tac: And that would be my plane off to the left. Aer Lingus this trip! I was a little surprised at the VERY LIGHT load up in Business Class – 4 or 5 seats out of 20+. Wow. […]

Off in the morning to Narita via the Narita Express. And Daveson all dressed up for work – they are taking me to a station where I don’t have to transfer to get onto the Narita Express: And the Narita Express! Another day, another lounge as they say. This is the JAL First Class lounge […]

Tonight headed to Tokyo but one more meal with Julian – out at a kitschy Shogun era restaurant a block from the main Nagoya train station. Interesting enough, on the 4th floor of a small high rise. Welcome to Japan, where home improvement stores can be on the 18-20th floor. Fun, fun, fun. And the […]

So, the English translation for Honen Matsuri would be Penis Festival. This would be my fourth or fifth. All but one in Komaki (outside Nagoya), the other in Kawasaki which is always on the first Sunday of April, rather than Komaki, which is always on March 15th, no matter the day of week. Fewer tourists […]

Flying into Nagoya from Guam… Compared to Guam, immigration and customs was a breeze in Nagoya. Bags and through in minutes, not hours. Left my luggage at a hotel that I may or may not stay at tonight, and headed over to The Flight Of Dreams which is connected to Terminal 2 at NGO. Who […]

This won’t be much of a post, because, really, unless you are a fan of beaches (me, not so much), Guam really didn’t have much to offer me except a place to decompress for a couple of nights as an interesting means of not having jet lag. Wyndham Guam is the freebie hotel (OK, points) […]

Yet another 4am wakeup call – this is getting old. But, The Island Hopper only runs twice a week, and there schedule is their schedule. What is The Island Hopper? It’s a famous old Continental Airlines route through the South Pacific. When United bought Continental, the continued the route (and I wear, using the same […]

I first tried to plan this for March of 2021, well, there was a pandemic still going on. Tried again for March of 2022, and there was STILL a pandemic going on, and Asia was MOST DEFINITELY closed for business. Which brings us to 2023 and I’m finally making the trip. Technically, my return is […]

One might ask, why Cincinnati? To keep my status on Alaska. Every winter one city stands out for cheap, long-distance turnarounds (out and back on the same plane). The previous five years, it was Raleigh-Durham. At around $250 r/t, which I can book in Premium which is the free booze and extra legroom portion on […]

Nothing like starting off a trip sharing an Uber with Jonathan to the airport and getting time in the lounge to just hang. Hopped to San Jose barely making my connection to San Diego – when you are using First Class upgrades, you take less than ideal routings! Second leg (San Jose to San Diego) […]

Of my many travel rituals, one of the constants is visiting Victoria, British Columbia a couple of times in the winter and Whistler, British Columbia, up in the mountains, a couple of times in the summer. This year is no exception – this being trip two to Victoria this winter. Got to the dock early […]