Greetings from Syracuse NY.  Just had the States best burger and we are prepared for Dave Matthews in the rain.  The downtown Marriott is spectacular.  

9 hours ago, mr_hunt said:

anyone here ever been to iceland?   we have some friends hoping to go next year & asking the wife & i if we'd like to come along. 

 

 

I was there in 2018. I can give several suggestions.  Of note, I can offer my advice about rental cars, and about the Golden Circle.

20 hours ago, mr_hunt said:

anyone here ever been to iceland?   we have some friends hoping to go next year & asking the wife & i if we'd like to come along. 

 

 

I had a friend go a couple years back.  Food and drinks were allegedly very expensive there.  After Ireland, Iceland is definitely on the bucket list for me.

In Oswego NY today.  Visited Fort Ontario.  Learned it was the only place in the US that took in refugees during WWII. Mostly Jewish but from many countries.

At a sports bar across the street from the hotel watching the game.   

12 hours ago, rambo said:

I had a friend go a couple years back.  Food and drinks were allegedly very expensive there.  After Ireland, Iceland is definitely on the bucket list for me.

They are.  I paid $7 for a can of beer during a happy hour.  I paid $15 for a bowl of soup.  It's worth your while to do picnic lunches by picking stuff up at the grocery store.  As a bonus, you get to see everyday life in Iceland, and what products they have there and all.

 

I went to a grocery store on our first full day there, and we saw Shop Rite products in the store! I have a picture of the saran wrap somewhere.

On 8/18/2021 at 1:23 PM, mr_hunt said:

anyone here ever been to iceland?   we have some friends hoping to go next year & asking the wife & i if we'd like to come along. 

 

 

I'll go ahead and give you a few suggestions, if you go.

 

First, I rented a car from carsiceland.com.  Many might scoff or be skeptical of a site like that, but they provided the most information.  I found out from either a website or the Rick Steves Iceland travel book that there are mandatory car rental fees like different types of insurance.  Carsiceland.com was the only website that I saw that included ALL of the insurances in the final price.  I did not see them on Expedia, Hotwire, Kayak, and so on.  I don't know if I paid more or less for the rental car than on any of those sites, but it was worth getting it from carsiceland.com for the peace of mind of not knowing if I needed to have $100, or $300, or $500, or $600 available on my credit card to buy the mandatory insurances when in Iceland.

 

Second, if you do the Golden Circle, I recommend splitting it into two days.  That's what we did.  Most people do it in one day, and barely see any of the spots.  Most do it on bus tours, as well.  We spent a whole day in Thingvellir N.P., and after the buses left in the afternoon, we had the whole park to ourselves, and hours of daylight left (it was June).  After that, we took our time going to our rental, which was a cabin in the bush east of Laugurvatn.  At our cabin, we watched the sunset at 11:45 PM as we looked out over the agricultural valley below.  Then we were up early and had Geysir to ourselves, before the buses got there, had plenty of time at Gullfoss, and then had the entire afternoon at Secret Lagoon.

 

Third, Secret Lagoon > Blue Lagoon.  Secret Lagoon is cheaper than Blue Lagoon, less crowded than Blue Lagoon, and a natural body of water unlike Blue Lagoon.  Blue Lagoon is fed by power plant runoff.  Seriously.  The power plant is hydroelectric, so the runoff is not contaminated, but it's just whatever they used at the plant.  Secret Lagoon is fed by a hot spring, and is also the oldest swimming pool in Iceland.

 

One regret of mine is not checking out any of the national museums, like the National Art Gallery.  But we did go to the Settlement Exhibition, which is a museum about early Reykjavik that preserved an archeological site that uncovered a Viking longhouse from the 990s or so.

Was in Wolcott and Fair Haven today.  The bluffs on the lake are amazing. Well worth the hike.  $9 bucks to sit on the beach at Fair Haven.  Huge place.  Headed home tomorrow. Booo! 

Great pictures there. Glad you all had a blast.

It reminds me of the Scarborough Bluffs in Toronto

Sooooo, if covid finally works out, hoping for the Ireland trip in the spring. Next fall it's off to Maine for a bear hunt

We want to go to Ireland next year too. When I say we I mean me and my sisters are trying to convince the hubbies that we should do a big family trip there. 

On 8/30/2021 at 5:43 PM, binkybink77 said:

We want to go to Ireland next year too. When I say we I mean me and my sisters are trying to convince the hubbies that we should do a big family trip there. 

My sister suggested the same thing over the weekend.  I'm not opposed.

On 8/30/2021 at 5:43 PM, binkybink77 said:

We want to go to Ireland next year too. When I say we I mean me and my sisters are trying to convince the hubbies that we should do a big family trip there. 

I'd be all for it...unless I had a baby.  Then it's just stressful. 

10 hours ago, rambo said:

I'd be all for it...unless I had a baby.  Then it's just stressful. 

By then she'll be old enough to drink over there

13 hours ago, rambo said:

I'd be all for it...unless I had a baby.  Then it's just stressful. 

Got a slumber pod to help traveling with the kid. Basically a blackout tent with a sound maker in it that can go over the travel crib.  Has helped friends of ours a lot.  Gonna do a proof of concept trip to Canada this fall (hopefully) before trying it out on anything overseas. 🤞

1 hour ago, DEagle7 said:

Got a slumber pod to help traveling with the kid. Basically a blackout tent with a sound maker in it that can go over the travel crib.  Has helped friends of ours a lot.  Gonna do a proof of concept trip to Canada this fall (hopefully) before trying it out on anything overseas. 🤞

Link? We have some portable bassinet thing but open to anything that works.

3 minutes ago, BirdsFanBill said:

Link? We have some portable bassinet thing but open to anything that works.

https://www.slumberpod.com/

They're sold out but have intermittent restocks. Click to be notified when available. You'll be emailed or texted they morning of a restock with a time. They go fast but of you log on right as the restock happens you should be able to nab one. At least I did. 

Petrified Forest National Park

These pictures are north to south through the park

 

Try and figure this out.  You can jump between time zones in Arizona due to their crazy daylight savings time procedures.

The visitor center was built in 1965, and was designed by Richard Neutra and Robert Alexander.  It is one of the few Neutra buildings in Arizona, and the last Neutra building in the National Park Service.  It is considered one of the key buildings of the Mission 66 architectural program within the National Park Service.

The Painted Desert

The Painted Desert Inn was built in 1924, and was the original visitor center for the park (when it was still a National Monument).   It was called the Stone Tree House when it opened under private hands.  After being sold to the park, it was renamed to Painted Desert Inn, and redesigned by noted NPS architect Lyle Bennett in 1940.  It was further changed in 1949 by another noted NPS architect, Mary Jane Colter.  She changed the interior color scheme and had Hopi murals painted by a local artist.

The old power lines show where Route 66 used to go through the area.

Puerco Pueblo.  The pueblo was built in the 1200s, and abandoned by 1380.

Near the pueblo are petroglyphs.

Newspaper Rock

Blue Mesa

Agate Bridge

Jasper Forest

Crystal Forest

The Agate House is a reconstructed pueblo, dating back to around 900, and inhabited until around 1200.  It was reconstructed in 1934.

The Rainbow Forest Museum was built in 1931, and was the original Administration Building for the park. Triassic dinosaur skeletons are a highlight in the museum.

Thanks for sharing xz-looks amazing.

These were from my NY State trip back in Aug.  Wolcott NY Chimney Bluffs State Park.  Drumlins right on Lake Ontario formed by ice years ago.  Glad I got to see it.  Well worth climbing the 200+ steps to get up there. It's almost like something you would see out west.

 

 

 

On 8/18/2021 at 7:23 PM, mr_hunt said:

anyone here ever been to iceland?   we have some friends hoping to go next year & asking the wife & i if we'd like to come along. 

 

 

Just in the airport but I know many people who have gone.  Seems like a pretty cool place to visit for up to maybe 4-5 days max.  You need to get out in the hot springs and the rest of the nature.  I think you'll get your fill of the city in no more than two days.

Wife and I just spent 5 days in Copenhagen.  A really nice city to visit.  Tons of cultural stuff worth seeing and a nice nightlife of restaurants and bars (we stayed out of the clubs).  Closest place that comes to mind is Amsterdam.  Same sort of vibe minus the weed (you can go out to Christiania there if you want that which is just outside of the city).

Heading up to Ohiopyle SP, but staying in Connelsville.  Our anniversary hiking/antiquing annual trip.  Any good restaurants ?  After that heading down to Morgantown WV.  Suggestions ?

4 hours ago, Talkingbirds said:

Heading up to Ohiopyle SP, but staying in Connelsville.  Our anniversary hiking/antiquing annual trip.  Any good restaurants ?  After that heading down to Morgantown WV.  Suggestions ?

Into the Fire is a nice restaurant in that area.  Ohiopyle is a neat area.  The little stretch of town along the falls is worth a walk and exploration.

I'm taking my wife and 7 month old to Maui in a couple weeks.  Maui wouldn't be my first choice, but with a little guy, we wanted to keep it in the states.    I've really been itching to check out Iceland and Norway.  COVID nixed an Iceland trip last May.