Here's more pictures from my trip.  After those pictures of just a little bit of the built environment at Grand Canyon Village, it's time to move on to what I did that day.  By the way, Grand Canyon Village has some great architecture, almost all in the Rustic or Native American Revival style.  I recommend turning your focus inward to the buildings for a little bit if you're ever there.

 

Here's a view of the canyon from the El Tovar Hotel.

 

 

One benefit to traveling during the pandemic was that the crowds were much smaller.  When I arrived at around 9:00 AM, the Rim Trail past the heart of Grand Canyon Village was basically empty.  That never happens!

 

That day, I was hiking the Bright Angel Trail and Plateau Point Trail down into the canyon.  The Bright Angel Trail goes down along the Bright Angel Fault, which created this side chasm.  You can see a couple sections of the trail in the picture.

 

My destination that day was the end of Plateau Point Trail, overlooking the Colorado River.  The end of the trail is where the Outer Canyon ends and the Inner Canyon begins.  You can see the end of the Plateau Point Trail in the first and third pictures, by the way.

 

Just wanted to bump this, as we are getting closer and closer to global travel.  This one is Santorini, really romantic spot to bring the GF/wife/both of them.

3 hours ago, Toty said:

Bucket list for me

Getting a girlfriend?

On 12/5/2020 at 10:09 AM, RPeeteRules said:

Just recently booked a cruise to the Caribbean.  Our cruise this past summer was cancelled, so we used our credit and booked for Thanksgiving week 2021.  We were able to upgrade our room.  Hopefully we’ll be good by then to go.

Nothing says good time like floating in a giant petri dish of bacteria after a pandemic in the middle of an ocean.

4 hours ago, rambo said:

Nothing says good time like floating in a giant petri dish of bacteria after a pandemic in the middle of an ocean.

With a lot of New Yorkers too!

Just now, RPeeteRules said:

With a lot of New Yorkers too!

 

I just got back from Puerto Rico.  Some of it is a shtshow.  Two things stick out for people to keep in mind while the pandemic is going on:

 

First is the airport.  I looked up guidelines on arriving.  PR requires a negative Covid test within 72 hours of arriving.  They really do require it, and you have to both fill out a travel form and provide proof of the negative test to the National Guard in order to leave the airport.  The baggage area was crammed with people, counterproductive to everything pandemic-related, waiting in lines to get out.  On the digital version of the travel form, they ask if you've been vaccinated, and if you did, to upload your vaccine card.  Their travel guideline says that getting vaccinated does not matter, and you need the negative test anyway.  So I didn't bring my card.  So I had to lie and say I wasn't vaccinated, since I had not vaccine card to upload and it wouldn't let me complete the form without the picture.  One woman in line who never knew she needed a negative test was forced into another line, where she had to take a rapid test for $110 even though she was fully vaccinated and had her card.  But then another woman who didn't get the negative test before coming got forced into the line and did not need the rapid test because she showed that she was fully vaccinated.

 

Oh by the way, there is apparently a shortage of rental cars.  My rental car was not available, even though I had a reservation, and the company tried to tell me that my reservation was cancelled.  I lost a whole afternoon waiting for a rental car because just like the Seinfeld episode, they knew how to take a reservation, but did not know how to hold a reservation.

 

Second is the curfew.  There was a 10:00 PM curfew on the island, and with the way people scramble, you would think the Angel of Death was passing over Egypt again.  The curfew is at 10:00, so restaurants close at 9:00.  Because restaurants close at 9:00, they really close at 8:45.  Since they really close at 8:45, you need to get your food by 8:30.  Since you need to get your food by 8:30, you need to order your food at around 8:00.  This is not just for sit-down restaurants; you need to order that far ahead even at McDonald's (which is where I had to eat one night).  So eat early on, and plan on not needing any business after 8:45.

What kind of ****ot! doesn't eat/order dinner until 8pm (or later) at night?!?

In all seriousness tho, where you there for business and not a personal trip?

24 minutes ago, Agent23 said:

What kind of ****ot! doesn't eat/order dinner until 8pm (or later) at night?!?

In all seriousness tho, where you there for business and not a personal trip?

I normally work until 8:00 or 8:30 PM, so I normally don't eat dinner until 9:00.  I usually have lunch around 2:00.  Eating dinner at 9:00 or 10:00 PM is actually quite common in Europe, by the way.

 

I was there just for fun.

My former Florida neighbors who looked after my vacant house for 2.5 years of probate were originally from Puerto Rico (parents; kids born in Florida) and they always had awesome family parties and gatherings. Always seemed like one of those cultures that have a very positive energy and just wants to enjoy life. I'm indifferent on cruises, but I think I'll probably go on another one at some point that visits a bunch of Caribbean islands I've always wanted to visit, just to get a sampling of a bunch of different places. 

43 minutes ago, Agent23 said:

My former Florida neighbors who looked after my vacant house for 2.5 years of probate were originally from Puerto Rico (parents; kids born in Florida) and they always had awesome family parties and gatherings. Always seemed like one of those cultures that have a very positive energy and just wants to enjoy life. I'm indifferent on cruises, but I think I'll probably go on another one at some point that visits a bunch of Caribbean islands I've always wanted to visit, just to get a sampling of a bunch of different places. 

I've both cruised from island to island, and also vacationed on single, different islands.  Hands down, I'd rather spend a week or 10 days or so on one island and see everything there is to see.  

I've thought about cruises as well, but there is a trade-off between seeing a lot of one place, and seeing a little of many places.  Cruises may be good for dangerous areas like Haiti, or small places like the Cayman Islands.  They don't seem to be as great for places that have more to offer, like Puerto Rico or New Providence Island.

1 hour ago, xzmattzx said:

I've thought about cruises as well, but there is a trade-off between seeing a lot of one place, and seeing a little of many places.  Cruises may be good for dangerous areas like Haiti, or small places like the Cayman Islands.  They don't seem to be as great for places that have more to offer, like Puerto Rico or New Providence Island.

I vacationed for 10 days in Grand Cayman.  Best vacation I’ve ever been on.  

I’m going to Tampa tomorrow. Apparently the drinking water is great right now

29 minutes ago, mikemack8 said:

I vacationed for 10 days in Grand Cayman.  Best vacation I’ve ever been on.  

I would love to go there for the snorkeling.  I also like exploring the urban areas, like Old San Juan when I was Puerto Rico last week.  Grand Cayman seems to be a little lacking in the cool historic neighborhood department.

3 minutes ago, xzmattzx said:

I would love to go there for the snorkeling.  I also like exploring the urban areas, like Old San Juan when I was Puerto Rico last week.  Grand Cayman seems to be a little lacking in the cool historic neighborhood department.

It is - it’s basically 7 mile beach and all the shops and restaurants there and then the other side of the island is Kaibo which is amazing - but yeah if you like history it’s lacking somewhat there

On 4/26/2021 at 9:12 PM, xzmattzx said:

I just got back from Puerto Rico.  Some of it is a shtshow.  Two things stick out for people to keep in mind while the pandemic is going on:

 

First is the airport.  I looked up guidelines on arriving.  PR requires a negative Covid test within 72 hours of arriving.  They really do require it, and you have to both fill out a travel form and provide proof of the negative test to the National Guard in order to leave the airport.  The baggage area was crammed with people, counterproductive to everything pandemic-related, waiting in lines to get out.  On the digital version of the travel form, they ask if you've been vaccinated, and if you did, to upload your vaccine card.  Their travel guideline says that getting vaccinated does not matter, and you need the negative test anyway.  So I didn't bring my card.  So I had to lie and say I wasn't vaccinated, since I had not vaccine card to upload and it wouldn't let me complete the form without the picture.  One woman in line who never knew she needed a negative test was forced into another line, where she had to take a rapid test for $110 even though she was fully vaccinated and had her card.  But then another woman who didn't get the negative test before coming got forced into the line and did not need the rapid test because she showed that she was fully vaccinated.

 

Oh by the way, there is apparently a shortage of rental cars.  My rental car was not available, even though I had a reservation, and the company tried to tell me that my reservation was cancelled.  I lost a whole afternoon waiting for a rental car because just like the Seinfeld episode, they knew how to take a reservation, but did not know how to hold a reservation.

 

Second is the curfew.  There was a 10:00 PM curfew on the island, and with the way people scramble, you would think the Angel of Death was passing over Egypt again.  The curfew is at 10:00, so restaurants close at 9:00.  Because restaurants close at 9:00, they really close at 8:45.  Since they really close at 8:45, you need to get your food by 8:30.  Since you need to get your food by 8:30, you need to order your food at around 8:00.  This is not just for sit-down restaurants; you need to order that far ahead even at McDonald's (which is where I had to eat one night).  So eat early on, and plan on not needing any business after 8:45.

So you’re saying you could have used some sort of vaccine passport?

11 hours ago, OCEaglefan said:

So you’re saying you could have used some sort of vaccine passport?

They (the Puerto Rican government) say that getting the vaccine doesn't matter: you need a negative test anyway before you arrive.  But one woman I came across bypassed the negative test because she was fully vaccinated.  Another woman I came across had to do a rapid test, at her expense, even though she was fully vaccinated, because they don't care if you're vaccinated or not.  So showing your vaccine card doesn't help you, unless it does, but it really doesn't.

 

EDIT: I should also mention that even though I got back home more than a week ago, the Puerto Rican government is still monitoring me for symptoms via daily texts.  They don't tell you it's them; I found out because I was ignoring the texts, thinking they were spam, and they emailed me saying I needed to call them because I was not responding to the texts.  I called them Friday afternoon last week, at work, and the number was disconnected.  There is no way to opt out of these daily texts.  I don't know when they will stop.

3 hours ago, xzmattzx said:

They (the Puerto Rican government) say that getting the vaccine doesn't matter: you need a negative test anyway before you arrive.  But one woman I came across bypassed the negative test because she was fully vaccinated.  Another woman I came across had to do a rapid test, at her expense, even though she was fully vaccinated, because they don't care if you're vaccinated or not.  So showing your vaccine card doesn't help you, unless it does, but it really doesn't.

 

EDIT: I should also mention that even though I got back home more than a week ago, the Puerto Rican government is still monitoring me for symptoms via daily texts.  They don't tell you it's them; I found out because I was ignoring the texts, thinking they were spam, and they emailed me saying I needed to call them because I was not responding to the texts.  I called them Friday afternoon last week, at work, and the number was disconnected.  There is no way to opt out of these daily texts.  I don't know when they will stop.

pretty sure the US and Puerto have extradition. 

On 4/28/2021 at 2:36 AM, Agent23 said:

What kind of ****ot! doesn't eat/order dinner until 8pm (or later) at night?!?

In all seriousness tho, where you there for business and not a personal trip?

Me

On 4/29/2021 at 9:46 PM, mikemack8 said:

I vacationed for 10 days in Grand Cayman.  Best vacation I’ve ever been on.  

Grand Cayman is incredible. I was lucky enough to go there in the summer when I was in high school. My dad and I took the 40 hour 5 day scuba diving course and are certified for life. 
 

I bet your favorite restaurant was the Cracked Conch, but you thought it was called something else. ****ot!

I'm going to Chicago for the first time in September.  Catching a Bears game at Soldier Field on Sunday, heading up to Green bay for a Monday Night game at Lambeau, then back to Chicago for some more sightseeing and a Cubs game at Wrigley.

Anybody have any suggestions on must see or do things in the city?  

5 minutes ago, Shepard Wong said:

I'm going to Chicago for the first time in September.  Catching a Bears game at Soldier Field on Sunday, heading up to Green bay for a Monday Night game at Lambeau, then back to Chicago for some more sightseeing and a Cubs game at Wrigley.

Anybody have any suggestions on must see or do things in the city?  

I hear the Cabrini-Green is nice in the fall.

3 minutes ago, downundermike said:

I hear the Cabrini-Green is nice in the fall.

The Candyman remake should still be in theaters while I'm there. I may wait to see it while I'm in Chicago.  

14 minutes ago, Shepard Wong said:

I'm going to Chicago for the first time in September.  Catching a Bears game at Soldier Field on Sunday, heading up to Green bay for a Monday Night game at Lambeau, then back to Chicago for some more sightseeing and a Cubs game at Wrigley.

Anybody have any suggestions on must see or do things in the city?  

go to the navy pier & have some deep dish pizza at giordano's    there's also a restaurant owned by mike ditka that was pretty good.