USAF Academy Football Game

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a USAF Academy football game (Falcons vs Hawaii) with some aviation/aerospace industry experts, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University leadership and faculty, and a retired four-star General. Thankfully, the Falcon's won: Go Air Force!

 

USAF Cadets gathered on field before the game

 

Wings of Blue parachute team



Falcons beating up on the Warriors

Live falcon that was brought into the VIP box

USAF Academy celebrating their victory

Preparing to Start a Parisian Thanksgiving Vacation

It's been just over five months since I've last posted, but here I am two days away from a week long vacation in Paris. I'm sitting in a hotel room in Colorado Springs typing this up at the tail end of a three day work trip. Tomorrow I depart on a grueling series of flights (COS->DEN->PHL->ITH) to make my way up to my hometown in Upstate NY to meet up with my wife and daughter and see my family on my birthday. My wife, daughter, and I will then depart for Paris via Rochester (ROC->YYZ->CDG).

The last couple days have left me slightly stressed out. I've not been able to adjust to the two hour time change, which has caused me to wake up every morning around 4:30AM with no hope of falling back asleep. Last night I was only able to get about three and a half hours sleep. The travel to Europe will probably compound my lack of sleep, c'est la vie. Adding further to my current state was my six month pregnant wife's nightmare trip to Upstate NY with our daughter. She received notice that her flght had been bumped up from 6:50PM to 4:30PM, with less than an hour notice, while I was stuck in a critical work meeting. All I could do was read her panicked text messages. In the end it all worked out and she made it to her family's house unscathed.

Well now that I have some time to relax, I'm going to try to catch some Zs before I head out to a US Air Force Academy Football game (vs. Hawaii; man I thought I had it rough). Check back over the next couple days for some pictures once we get to Paris (Monday morning).

Weekened in Virginia

After long neglecting my postings, I'm adding a short update about my weekend plans. My wife Mary and I will be heading up to Richmond, VA to attend a wedding. With a late night arrival tonight, we will have all day tomorrow to check out a destination I have long wanted to visit, Colonial Williamsburg. During check-in for my flight this morning, I also elected to spring for an upgrade from coach to business class. The way I look at it, $49 for drinks and comfort for our 2 hour flight is definitely worth it. Especially when the airlines credited $6 from a seat selection fee towards the total, meaning I actually only paid $42 for the upgrade. Look for more posts in the future, where I will be going over some of our travel plans for our updated European Christmas adventure.

Prepping for the Next Trip

After a short haitus I've returned with details for my next big international trip. Instead of visiting new locations, my wife and I have decided to take our 12 year old daughter to revisit some of the places we've enjoyed, but this time in the winter. We plan on spending Christmas in London, post-Christmas in Belgium, New Years in Paris, and post-New Years in the English countryside over a 15 day period.

To kick of the process, I've begun my budgeting process including:
1) Lodging - Locating and pricing out lodging options for each of the itinerary stops (London, Brussels, Paris, Bath Spa, and Gatwick Airport).

2) Siteseeing - Identifying activities, sites, tours we want to do in each itinerary stop and locating alternate pricing options. In other words, I like to find a common USD price from a third-party reseller like Viator, which frequently offers coupons and discount offers. I also locate a seller or option in country using native currency (i.e., price in GBP for UK, EUR for Europe, etc.). Then when it comes time to purchase, I go with whichever is lower at the time.

3) Travel - Determining travel methods between itinerary stops, pricing, and locating alternatives. I continue my alternative pricing methodology by exploring pricing through typically more expensive third-party USD resellers like Rail Europe and directly from in country options such as Thalys, Eurostar, or National Rail. Usually the best fares are available three to four months in advance of travel.

4) Meals - Exploring the different restaurant and meal options available for each itinerary stop, including street food, cafes, and high-end dining. Being that we will be travelling during the holidays, it will be critical to determine if restaurants are open and make reservations when possible. To estimate costs, I'm using historically pricing from our recent trips and by estimating the high-end of menu selectiosn when they are available. This creates a best case scenario, when we do not overspend or a buffer in case we spend what I have allotted.

Now that I have the majority of our itinerary identified, with alternatives and options we wait until the purchase windows for specific items opens. For example, I cannot yet buy airfare so I will wait until it becomes available and then watch it for a short time to see if it fluctuates significantly. If it is stable, I will probably purchase in April otherwise I will wait as necessary. Once I have the airfare purchased I will have to purchase trip insurance, which tends to have a purchase window. The next thing to do will be to reserve the lodgings.  The final thing to purchase during this window, will be any applicable prepaid tours, tickets, or costs. Then we will wait for the next purchase window, train tickets (four to three months before departure).

Back to Reality (and Port)

We just arrived back into port. All the dock workers are connecting us up and preparing the offload of passenger bags. We are getting ready to head to our last breakfast before our 8:30 departure. I will say this cruise has been great and I look forward to cruising HAL again.

Day 7 - Halfmoon Cay

Last full day of our cruise and we are sitting aboard the tender for Halfmoon Cay (pronounced key). Mary hates tenders. She gets motion sick very easily and they tend to move around quite a bit.

This is our final stop for our cruise, so we will be spending our day relaxing on the beach under a clamshell. I recommend reserving one early as they are very popular. We brought a bottle of Cote de Rhone and our snorkels/masks, so this should be a great last day.

Afternoon update
Had a great time on the island. The clamshell synshade we reserved really helped us make the most of our time by providing a respite from the sun. The bbq lunch was enjoyable and the clear water was refreshing (slightly colder than other ports).

Evening update
We decided to try out the free Canaletto restaurant last night. Considering there is no cover/up charge, it was great. The best part was at desert, when they brought us a huge puff of cotton candy with our deserts.

Day 5 - St Thomas USVI

We just arrived into St Thomas, USVI. We slept in this morning and didn't see our arrival. We will be getting ready to head into Charlotte Amalie soon and then off to our Champagne Snorkel and Catamaran Sail. We're hoping to have even better snorkeling than Grand Turk.

Mid-morning update
While St Thomas is a beautiful island, I was very dissappointed with downtown Charlotte Amalie. It was nothing but cruise ship shopping, from Del Sol to Diamonds. I was hoping for a little more. On the plus side, the architecture is interesting, we were able to see a childrens steel drum band, and we were able to get a post card out (finally). For those interested in seeing CA, it costs $4 per person each way from Crown Bay marina, whether in a group taxi or a cab. If your looking for cruise ship shopping, that can also be had at the numerous shoppes in the marina. Keep your eyes peeled for the Iguanas, which like to sun on the waterside rocks.

Afternoon Update
Had an amazing time in the Champagne Cat snorkeling Honeymoon Beach and sipping rum punch/champagne. We saw a sting ray, numerous reef fish, and coral. I came very close to some fire coral thanks to a couple errant waves. I woukd love to come back one day for some more diving.