Joy and Austin: Pikes Peak or Bust?

[Nikedagain?]

5 hours ago, Iokaste said:

Thank you for taking the time to explain :-) 
In my experience people who have no real clue what they are talking about tend to use "I am OCD", whereas  the OCD-affected people I know and myself included always say "I have OCD".
I just hate how it's okay to throw around mental disorders like that, and to me at least it makes it so much harder to explain about these things, when people think they know what depression is because they were sad once on a rainy day or that OCD is just another term for not liking to step on cracks in the sidewalks. 

Glad to hear you had supporting parents and the best to you and your husband :-)  

My youngest daughter has non verbal autism and since embarking on the puberty journey (BIG OLD UGH), has developed some real OCD tendencies. Last week she got up from our table (we were in a restaurant) while eating, and started pushing the chairs in to all the tables. Including tables with patrons...

 In school, I think it's an important class "rule" that everyone pushes their chair under their desk when done sitting. It must have been driving her crazy that people weren't doing it.

We got some interesting looks... 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

3 hours ago, ItsMeY'all said:

If only Nexus could cut down the lines of a million cars waiting to in to the US...   ! 

Are Cuban cigars now considered okay in the US? 

1, what is Nexus? 

2. for now, unless Rump gets his way and they will close the boarders back up to us because he's an asshole. 

[Bethella]

1 hour ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

When I say cheap, I mean cheap. Less than $450 round trip. And going for a shorter time costs less (fewer meals, lower lodging costs if you need a hotel, etc.). 

That might work if you're near a major regional hub, but not all of us are. A cheap round trip from my regional airport to London is at least $1000, usually more like $1200-$1400. I could get a cheaper flight if I drive 8-10 hours to Detroit or Chicago but that uses up another two vacation days and adds on gas and parking fees. 

 

[xlurker]

5 hours ago, ItsMeY'all said:

Also, why the heck does it take so much longer to get back into the US than it does to get into Canada

I live closer to Canada than to NYC, and have never had a problem crossing in either direction   Also, I live in an area frequented by Canadians for long weekend getaways....many of those folks have told me it can sometimes take them hours to get back into Canada.  Again, I never experienced a problem either way, maybe it depends on which crossing you use?  (you being general, not personal  )

 

[HideousGreenShirt]

8 hours ago, HarleyQuinn said:

I was only in Switzerland briefly but I thought it looked gorgeous. However if they wanted to go hiking in a European country, I'm surprised they didn't go with Iceland. 

I was in Iceland last November! It's a very bizarre and incredibly expensive place. You need to have a giant budget and be prepared to do a lot of driving, especially if you want to do all the nature/outdoorsy things.

The food was excellent and the people were truely wonderful hosts but Iceland may be too progressive and pagan for fundies. They had the world's first openly gay female Prime Minister, a comedian (who ran for and served 4 years as) Mayor of Reykjavik and then all the stuff about elves and giant evil black cats. They are cool with having large families though, around 8 kids seems common.

If you have seen The Simpsons episode where they visit Iceland I can confirm that it is totally accurate: it looks like the moon and smells of eggs. I'd visit again.

[Jinder Roles]

I've done a fair amount of traveling (at one point regularly going between 3 countries) but it's been mostly Western Hemisphere. I really eant to go to West Africa because that's where my ancestors come from. Also want to go to Ethiopia, North Africa and the Middle East as well as Thailand &Japan. 

Logically I understand why man Americans don't need passports but it baffles me that people can travel without a passport. My passport is my baby because it has all of my visas and I need a visa to go most places. Whenever a fire alarm goes off in my dorm, I grab my passport just in case.

Fun story; I was once held by immigration authorities when I was a baby. We were connecting through the U.S. to our final destination (my parents had their US visas) when I was detained.

They kept us overnight in a hotel with a guard posted outside the door before they realised it was silly to detain a baby (This was pre 9/11).

 

[SapphireSlytherin]

56 minutes ago, Bethella said:

near a major regional hub, but not all of us are. A cheap round trip from my regional airport to London is at least $1000, usually more like $1200-$1400. I could get a cheaper flight if I drive 8-10 hours to Detroit or Chicago but that uses up another two vacation days and adds on gas and parking fees. 

 

We have a shitty airport, but quite often Scott's Cheap Flights has these deals even from STL or MCI or MEM, all near us or near family. Worth a sign-up just to see.  Good luck!

[divadivine]

6 hours ago, ItsMeY'all said:

Returning to the US:

 One trip the agent asked me what my license plate number was.  Like an idiot I opened my door to get out and see what it was. Won't make that mistake again! 

 

We were in Detroit two years ago and decided to drive over to Windsor for dinner. Going across the bridge to Canada was no big deal.  Coming back... different story. We were in a black Suburban with tinted windows- it was a rental. I felt like I was part of the cast of Criminal Minds when I drove. Anyhow, we pull up to the checkpoint and hand over our passports. The agent proceeds to ask where we've been, what we've been doing, why weren't we staying in Windsor for the night, why were we going to Detroit, why weren't we driving back to Indianapolis tonight, how long were we staying in Detroit, where we worked, what we did at our jobs, and then asked for our license plate number. We had no clue, it was a rental. He really wanted to look in the back of the Suburban. We would have gladly rolled down the windows and told him to open the back. It was empty. He walks all around the car and then finally let us leave. He never asked what I had in the bag sitting on my lap. He could see the bag. It could have been contraband. Or gallons of maple syrup. It was a box of maple leaf cookies and a Canada flag magnet. But still. Go for the obvious folks. As we pulled away my colleague says "Thank God we got this Suburban and not the other one. That one had the costume boxes from Nickelodeon.... how would we have explained that?" Indeed it would have been awkward. They looked like coffins. We had Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Dora The Explorer. I am going to guess we would have been in Canada for the night.... 

[Bad Wolf]

@ItaliangirlWe took the wolf cubs to Italy when they were teens. It was when you still had the lira. We stayed in Eurocamps. We didn't make it to Florence because we  couldn't find a place to park. We loved it, and the food was amazing.

@VelociRapture We took the wolf cubs to England from the time they were a year old but my parents were there, so it was a family visit.

We are currently in DC with grand wolf who is 13. 

 

 

[QuiverFullofBooks]

3 hours ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

When I say cheap, I mean cheap. Less than $450 round trip. And going for a shorter time costs less (fewer meals, lower lodging costs if you need a hotel, etc.). 

I realize I'm probably a lot older than you are, and we don't have kids at home. Therefore, we are likely to have a bit more freedom with our vacation money. Just keep the idea in mind later on, when you're empty-nesters. 

And!

Sign up at scottscheapflights.com.  It's a service that emails you (free!) for super fare sales/mistake fares. You never know...

That's $900 for a couple, which is a lot of money for many people. Even if they have it, I totally understand preferring a new couch spending to a couple of days in Europe.

20 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:We are currently in DC with grand wolf who is 13. 

How's the trip going?

[CreationMuseumSeasonPass]

We had an exchange student from Denmark live with us when I was in sixth grade. For Christmas, we decided to drive down to visit family in Georgia, as well as show him more of our vast country. Two hours into the drive, he genuinely asks, "Are we there yet?" My dad turns around and answers, "We haven't even made it past the state line of Iowa yet."

[singsingsing]

37 minutes ago, divadivine said:

We were in Detroit two years ago and decided to drive over to Windsor for dinner. Going across the bridge to Canada was no big deal.  Coming back... different story. We were in a black Suburban with tinted windows- it was a rental. I felt like I was part of the cast of Criminal Minds when I drove. Anyhow, we pull up to the checkpoint and hand over our passports. The agent proceeds to ask where we've been, what we've been doing, why weren't we staying in Windsor for the night, why were we going to Detroit, why weren't we driving back to Indianapolis tonight, how long were we staying in Detroit, where we worked, what we did at our jobs, and then asked for our license plate number. 

That all sounds totally standard and routine to me. I doubt it had much to do with your car, I've been asked all of those questions in a whole variety of different, very boring vehicles! They love to look inside cars, too. Just be glad they didn't send the dog in!

[Bethella]

1 hour ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

We have a shitty airport, but quite often Scott's Cheap Flights has these deals even from STL or MCI or MEM, all near us or near family. Worth a sign-up just to see.  Good luck!

Those are still reasonably large airports with 13.9, 11.04, and 4 million passengers a year. Our airport has about 90,000 passengers a year (they just went up to 4 flights a day). Getting deals on flights from here is extremely rare.

[NeverBeenKissed]

I'm one of those people who have a passport but have only used it to go to Canada which is basically next door to where we live. What's funny to me is I'll be chatting with someone up looks down on me for it but I've traveled the U.S. extensively and lived in a number of part of the country. I've been feet down exploring in 34 states to date with the intention of seeing all 50, when some of the folks I've talked to have only left the state to go international.  

(If you'd like U.S. travel info - just ask, I've been to some crazy off the grid places!)

[SapphireSlytherin]

1 hour ago, QuiverFullofBooks said:

That's $900 for a couple, which is a lot of money for many people. Even if they have it, I totally understand preferring a new couch spending to a couple of days in Europe.

 

Right. And if you read further, I did say that I'm likely older, have an empty nest, and am probably able to be a little more "spendy" with my vacation money. 

But others who are reading this may find the cheap flights discussion helpful.

[Smoochie]

My dad is from the US and long story short was USAF and met my mom on the old AFB in Canada.  He loved the Toronto area where some of my moms family lived, so he retired here.

I'm a road trip travel queen.  I drive one hour each way to work everyday and think nothing of driving from Toronto to Florida, Mississippi, etc.   Family is in Kentucky, so to visit them is a 7 hour door to door drive each way.

I cross in and out of Canada often and have only had 'issues' going into the US.  Once, before 911 and the US insisted on passports, all you needed was a birth certificate.  The guy railed at me for 5 minutes for carrying a US birth certificate and living in Canada as a Canadian citizen (I'm dual) and why would I a female, be travelling alone to Kentucky for a long weekend.  When he finally let me say something, I said well its the only birth certificate I have.  I was born on a USAFB in Canada and that's what my parents were given when I was born, my father was born in KY and I'm going to visit my aunts, uncles and cousins.  LOL he got a sheepish look, said have a good trip.

You  want US customs to have a fit, bring a sliced orange (from Florida so it is allowed) into the country.  Oh my word, I forgot it was in the cooler, since normally I/we only put pop and often nothing in there (its for the destination).  I had one in my fridge so sliced it and threw it in.  I always put down all my windows when getting up to the gate and Agent asks if I have any fruits, veggies, food.  Say no just some pop, and he looks back sees the cooler and asks me to unlock the doors.   I say oh and an orange.  Well I guess I didn't say that fast enough, he lost his shit.  Pulled us over, get to the area and told take your wallets only ... not 1 word of exaggeration I was lectured for 15 minutes about declaring and answering the agents fully when asked a question.  Oye!

[mstee]

I had a serious agent driving into Canada once, and a serious agent coming back to the US once. Two different trips. The other 2 agents (one Canadian, one US) were super nice. The last trip to Niagara, my gps cut out so we just followed signs back to a bridge. We had our two smalls dogs with us. The US agent grilled us about why we chose that bridge while my yappy dog barked at him haha. I told him we just followed signs and that's where we ended up but he asked a ton of more things including how we were able to take vacation day on a weekday. I

[MarblesMom]

On 6/9/2017 at 7:10 PM, snarkysuki1724 said:

My daughter wore rose-gold Vans under her wedding gown, and the flower girl had a matching pair.  

I wore bunny slippers under my dress for the reception.  Here is a pic of me lifting my dress to show them off.

[VelociRapture]

2 hours ago, Bad Wolf said:

@VelociRapture We took the wolf cubs to England from the time they were a year old but my parents were there, so it was a family visit.

We are currently in DC with grand wolf who is 13.

If we had known family in Europe then we'd be more open to going sooner. As far as we know, we don't have any close family still living over there though. Our families came over at different times, but all were here before WW2 - likely by the end of the 1920s at the latest.

I was 13 when we went to France and 14 during the trip to Italy. I feel like that age is a fantastic time for a big trip like that. Old enough to remember a lot and you've started learning a lot about world history in school.

13 is also a fantastic age for a trip to D.C.! We went there on a school trip when I was a kid for four or five days. I wound up celebrating my 14th birthday there. It's a gorgeous city with so much history. Hope you guys are having a blast!  

[Mela99]

Always, always choose Italy.

My senior year of college my best friend was studying abroad in Rome at John Cabot U. I spent my entire Thanksgiving break 0 - 10 days - gallivanting all over Rome and Trastevere, and even made a LOOOOONG three train and two bus trek to the middle of nowhere Italy to visit my family's village near Rionero in Vulture. We walked the village for a few hours at nigh and I just cried, it was so meaningful to be there. Even found the church my great grandparents married in and all my grandparents/aunts/uncles were baptized in.

Not to mention the FOOD, the local shopping (Campo!), Torre Argentina cat sanctuary.... the history. Sigh. I want to go back desperately. 

[Jana814]

My friend wore slippers at her reception also. She's a high school history teacher and rarely wears heels. She wore them for the ceremony though. 

[missegeno]

Thoughts:

I hate people saying they're Canadian. Say you're from the US if you are, and don't be an asshole. For one thing, this will help change attitudes about the US. If all the polite people claim to be from elsewhere, of course people don't associate that trait with the US (furthermore, I notice people in Europe mostly know the east coast gruffness if anything - but other areas of the US are FAR more polite than the "we're so polite" Brits, let's show that a little bit if it's you). Also, I've found people don't hate Americans nearly as much as I'd been led to believe before going to Europe. For some countries, I was even advised to make sure to mention it, as otherwise I would be assumed British and that would be worse. Interestingly, the vast majority of times that I saw groups of English-speakers being loud and making a scene in mainland Europe and Iceland, it was English people. Drunk English people. Maybe people from the US just don't get over there as much so have less chance to be the assholes, too.

And on that note, let's not forget that many many people in the US get zero paid vacation time, so we take mini trips when we can instead of the "holidays" that Europeans do when they are forced to take two weeks off (this was something so different from everything I knew and I am still just stunned at hearing of people told that they *had* to take time off). Some jobs will completely replace you. I once had a job with no PTO (well, that part I've had too many times to count), took two approved weeks to travel on my savings, and was informed a week in that my vacation was problematic to them and I had been replaced/fired (yay, restaurant work!). And, as plenty of others here have said, travel across US states is very similar, logistically, to cross-country European travel, whereas just getting to Europe from the US is more expensive than half a year's food budget.

 

Also: Iceland and Rome are AMAZING. Go to them. In England, I worked a job where I got to get travel advice from most of my customers. The one place that was recommended far more than anywhere else was Rome. When I went, it did not disappoint. Iceland, I love in a completely different way but I agree it might be too progressive for JoStin and the fundie crowd (and Rome far too Catholic - which makes me think, why aren't fundies heading there to bring the poor, misguided Vatican to Jesus?). IcelandAir lets you take up to 7 days as a layover in Iceland when traveling between the US and the UK/Europe. 7 days is long enough to drive around the entire country. Great option if you have time to spare! 

Just a note: I noticed that this could be interpreted as speaking negatively about the English and I really don't mean to do so at all. England is an amazing country with a rich history and wonderful people and I really loved so much about living there.

[louisa05]

6 hours ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

When I say cheap, I mean cheap. Less than $450 round trip. And going for a shorter time costs less (fewer meals, lower lodging costs if you need a hotel, etc.). 

I realize I'm probably a lot older than you are, and we don't have kids at home. Therefore, we are likely to have a bit more freedom with our vacation money. Just keep the idea in mind later on, when you're empty-nesters. 

And!

Sign up at scottscheapflights.com.  It's a service that emails you (free!) for super fare sales/mistake fares. You never know...

I don't have kids. Don't assume that everyone has kids.

I am also older than you think. Too old to have kids now. 

We have not been lucky financially in the last nine years, since the economy tanked in 2008. Many people have not. If you have, be thankful for your privilege. And as someone else tried to explain to you in the thread, even $900 is too much for a lot of people. While we could come up with that amount of money at any given time, it is not worth having another real expense come up and not being able to pay for that. We had that amount just in unexpected car repairs this week. Had we already spent it on a foolish and short trip to Europe, we'd have an issue with surviving daily life right now. 

[SapphireSlytherin]

Ok. I'll cry "uncle."

Yall win.

20 minutes ago, louisa05 said:

I don't have kids. Don't assume that everyone has kids.

I am also older than you think. Too old to have kids now. 

We have not been lucky financially in the last nine years, since the economy tanked in 2008. Many people have not. If you have, be thankful for your privilege. And as someone else tried to explain to you in the thread, even $900 is too much for a lot of people. While we could come up with that amount of money at any given time, it is not worth having another real expense come up and not being able to pay for that. We had that amount just in unexpected car repairs this week. Had we already spent it on a foolish and short trip to Europe, we'd have an issue with surviving daily life right now. 

Sorry about your finances. 

[Mela99]

40 minutes ago, missegeno said:

I love in a completely different way but I agree it might be too progressive for JoStin and the fundie crowd (and Rome far too Catholic - which makes me think, why aren't fundies heading there to bring the poor, misguided Vatican to Jesus?)

I would pay any amount of money in this world to see a fundie take on a little Italian grandma. Might be a stereotype, but I could see my own little 4'10 grandma (bless her dear departed soul) clocking one with her purse for mouthing off about religion to her.