UMTravels

Pardon the copy and paste, but a personal letter seems like a great dual post: Spent my birthday in St. Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands doing absolutely nothing but eating and looking out at the sea. Here are a couple of representative pictures that I haven’t end had time to blog yet.  ..   […]

This week we are off to a wedding! And because it’s a wedding, the is lots of STUFF to pack: And because I’m flying United, it’s a different lounge than usual: Yes, I got into the domestic United Club using my foreign airline status. To do that, they changed (without asking) my mileage plan from […]

As you all know, I travel a bit. About three years ago, I was on a quest to find a world clock with the ability to display four time zones at a glance to help with my ever-present travel bug. I’m too cheap to pay the $750 to $1000 on the vinyl lettered one: And […]

Another day, another mileage run? Different starter when you are on an evening flight! Maybe I should be headed to Germany, not Hawaii…but alas, I’m in coach to Kona, though moved seats to have the middle open and me at the window. And some window shots: Dinner arrives – ordered the Protein Platter, and the […]

Time to go back to racking up status for 2023 – and off to Juneau on the milk-run go I. This route used to be serviced by a “combi” which had the first 15 rows removed to make room for cargo. Now, it’s just a standard 737, but with 3 stops between Seattle and Juneau. […]

Well, this trip started with a hiccup, and a cancelled first night out of town, so I used the day to rest up, with a little “mental health” trip over to the Museum of Flight to just sit in the Pavilion amongst the planes. It is an incredibly calming place for me. Later in the […]

Most of you know about my mileage runs (flying someplace just to fly home usually on the same plane), but this week I did a points run for Wyndham Rewards points. How it works in this case, is booking a Bonus Time stay at one of the WorldMark resorts that also has a sales center […]

It must be summer in Seattle – everyone is showing up! Well, the first isn’t a guest, I was the guests – but these are dear friends from the wine shop that invited me for cocktails! Not the best picture but shows the joy in the evening. Then, my “nephew” from Nagoya, Japan and his […]

Gods & Penises by Julian Honeycutt   In Japan, they say you are born Shinto, marry Christian, and die Buddhist. That is, as a new baby you will go to the Shinto shrine for purification, when the time comes, you’ll likely get married in a big building fashioned to look like a chapel and say […]

Normally I don’t do mileage runs in summer. Too many crazy clueless travelers – and pissed off angry, entitled, travelers this Summer of Revenge Traveler…but here I am. And here I am a few minutes before opening: That is my carry-on for the day. Reading material and room for snacks. That is a Virgin Mary […]

Time to finish the rehabilitation of the guest bedroom and bathroom (and clean up my own bedroom). Have company coming in from Nagoya (Japan) and then Athens (Greece, not Georgia). First up, finish the guest bedroom from its previous life as an office. First up, stiffening the bed for TWO guests: The front section has […]

Another week, another train? I should be so lucky. Just a little mid-week getaway. Had some Amtrak points, so splurged on the Roomette for the 4 hour trip: Was surprised when there was actually a MENU in my room. Those haven’t been available for YEARS. Printed time schedules still aren’t available. The view are always […]

This week it’s relatives in town from Santa Fe. Three nights close by at the airport, and I’m lending them my Escapé to avoid a $1200 car rental for 10 days. Ouch! Even picked them up at the airport and fed them dinner. The next day found us at the Museum of Flight with Jonathan […]

Travel time again! This week is Rialto Beach on the Washington Coast outside of Forks, Washington where friends have the Quillayute River Resort with my old housemate Greg. Taking my serger and a bunch of fabric to Linda, who, with Chip, own the lodge. First a stop in Sequim to have lunch with MariJo and […]

I built it over a decade ago; well, my maid at the time, MoonSong, built it from my design. It had seen better times… Yep, time for a rebuild! Not that I needed an ADA ramp when I designed this, nor do I now, it just seemed silly to step down two steps, and then […]

Starting to wind up the Grand Canadian Adventure. Another night in Vancouver before heading north. But first we have to retrieve the car: And back downtown to the Ramada on Granville: We were SERIOUSLY early to check-in since our train was on time, so Dan went to explore, and I took to a chair in […]

Breakfast at a reasonable hour at the hotel: And then we were off to the train station! This is our route for the next couple of days… And after a couple of hour delay….the train: And a thank you our train car attendant Tyler, who happily snapped my picture. Actually, we have two attendants. Tyler […]

Well, after a week of work around the house, it’s time to hit the road! First, we have to get over the border: Might as well play the license plate game on the way: With a stop at Burger Master… Sadly, Dan doesn’t have NEXUS, so, here we are in line… First stop is the […]

Random home projects between travels… The shop got broken into a couple of weeks ago – broke the door glass, and they grabbed the cash, and the change drawer – not a bottle of wine missing or broken, and we got a free brick out of it. Couldn’t find a replacement change divider online, so […]

After a night of rain, the sun came out in the morning, mostly. After breakfast on the deck we headed across the road for a .7 mile “hike”. They said half an hour, for me it was a stroll, more like an hour. When the area was originally settled, these were touted as “healing waters”. […]