As appealing as the Scottish Highlands are we have tentatively opted for something a bit closer to London: the north end of The Lake District. Have plotted out a carless trip to Keswick: train to Penrith + local bus from there to Keswick.
Our last trip to The Lake District was 1975 (on our honeymoon; do people still use that expression?).
We rented a car from Manchester airport after flying from Toronto. Our unintended first night’s stop was in Penrith as we lost the rental car there after a stop in a local pub (a bit like “Dude, Where’s My Car?”).
The family had a great time on Maui. We didn’t do everything we’d planned (skipped parasailing to slow the activities pace, and Haleakala National Park was closed due to wildfire clean up), and there were couple of bumps on the way (my spouse’s and older son’s cell phones took a scenic leap when ziplining, but thankfully were recovered intact, and while my sons had a great time at their surfing lesson, the conditions when they tried on their own weren’t favorable), but I got what I wanted–a nice family vacation and happy memories.
Also, Dole Whip is awesome. I’ve already earmarked a couple of recipes to try.
Given this will be the last year of the max solar activity, we decided to hit up Tromso (Northern Norway) for a week in late January 2025.
We did see the Northern Lights (NL) last winter in Lapland, but Tromso is a bit better located for the NL (right on the aurora oval) so it could be an even better show this time around.
We bought Dole Whip in bulk on Amazon after we tried it for the first time, lol.
Last night my wife and I went to Koiso sushi. It was my birthday present, and they didn’t disappoint.
An ear infection has kept us out of the water for a couple days, heading to the butterfly farm and the botanic gardens in Kula today. So like you, having to adapt a bit but it’s hard to have a bad day on Maui.
Headed down to FL probably twice more this year to visit / help mom.
Planning to attend SOA ImpACT in National Harbor (DC) in October.
That’s probably it.
I went there over 20 years ago and enjoyed it. This time we took an impromptu visit to the Garden of Eden, which is about the halfway point to Hana. My older son was interested in seeing Hana, despite my multiple explanations of what the drive was like and dissuading the idea. Both kids were getting carsick, so the visit was mostly for them to escape the car and walk around to settle their stomachs. We headed back west after that.
Road to Hana is no joke. My wife says she’ll never do it again. I’m fine in cars, and even for me, it’s a lot. I’d do it again but I’d want two days to have more time seeing stuff.
We stayed a couple of nights in Hana several years back. Since most of the tourists drive in/drive out in a day, you will have most of the day with just locals. It is a sleepy place with beautiful scenery. It’s pretty sleepy even with the day drivers.
Depends on when and where. Near the ocean (so everywhere NA is going) will be cold by summer weather standards. Fairbanks, though much further north than Anchorage, can get quite hot as it’s inland and doesn’t have the ocean regulating its temperature. Occasionally over 100. 82 on Monday. Not exactly Phoenix weather, but not cold either! 40 below in winter is not unusual either.
Alaska has the largest temperature variation of any state.
