I pose in military surplus outerwear, at
the Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World,
Orlando, Feb 1999.
mail:
raymond@bo-hemian.com
To home--Raymond's Document
Wanderings...
Feb 1996: An Eastern
tourist's naïve impressions of Southern CA
Jun 1996: My last
Backpacking
Trip in Shenandoah National Park, VA
Oct 1997: A Tour
of West Point, NY and the US Military Academy
Nov 1997: Flying
to Las Vegas, NV for a Chatroom convention
Apr 1998: My long,
strange Road Trip to Gatlinburg, TN--(Ya-hoo!)
Feb 1999: A trip
to Orlando and Central FL, with the Family
May 1999: MyInvitation
to Davenport, IA and the Quad Cities
Feb 2000: Taking
my first Cruise to Aruba and the Caribbean
Oct 2000: My 4th
trip to Las Vegas, along with Ma & Dad
Jan 2001: Rooming
with my uncle, on a Cruise to the Western Caribbean
Jul 2001: Doing
what I could, at the Bayerl Family Reunion, in
NE WI & UP MI
Jan 2002: A Cruise
with my parents to the Southern Caribbean
Aug 2002: An Extended
business trip, to Silicon Valley, Reno and Tahoe
Jun 2003: A
memorable Road Trip
to good old MI, by way of WV and OH
Jun 2004:
A
return visit to Orange County, at Huntington Beach,
CA
My work at the US Patent Office, I have concluded, will drive me over the edge if I don't get away for a good "toot" of 5 to 8 days every quarter or so. Sometimes just an extended weekend will help. These are personal accounts certain of those escapes. Many are based in part on notes taken at the scene in a paper journal.
Since they don't send me on the road for work any more (100% of my duty is "inside the Beltway" in Arlington, VA), I have become a specialist in the art of leisure travel. Some places cater to tourists such as me, and some, sadly do not. My all-time favorite destination: Las Vegas, NV. There is indeed "only one". After my first trip, to Treasure Island in 1997 (above), I stayed at Harrah's in Oct 1998 and did the Mirage in Oct 1999, when the fiscal year was over. It was quite the Strip, with Bellagio, the Venetian, Mandalay Bay, and Paris now adding to the hype. For Oct 2000, the rates were not as good and I decided on a return to Harrah's. My parents were on that trip, only Ma seemed more sold on the Belz Outlet Mall than on the Strip. The 5th trip, for Oct 2001, was to Caesar's Palace, which finally offered a good rate. National Airlines also has cheap non-stop DCA - LAS service now, only the DCA shutdown caused me to switch to a United non-stop from IAD.
I have had a tendency to fly United Airlines quite a bit, since I live on top of one of their hubs (Washington Dulles, IAD) and I liked their Rhapsody in Blue theme music. Rates on their flights have been moving into the premium category, however, and I've lately been taking whatever I can afford. For lodging, I lean these days towards Promus Hotels (Hampton, Doubletree & Embassy Suites), recently acquired by Hilton, and Choice Hotels (Comfort, Quality & Clarion). In Las Vegas, of course, the resorts are creations all to themselves and defy comparison to the chains. When I was a kid, any kind of motel, motor inn or hotel was a fascination to me. In summer, 2000, I did pretty well staying at an old standby, Red Roof Inns.
My latest travel interest has been cruise ships, as noted above in the journal from my Aruba cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line. I have completed a second Western Caribbean cruise with Royal Caribbean in 2001, and have now completed a 3rd trip to Barbados and the West Indies in 2002, with Princess.