March 9, 20233 yr Author On 3/4/2023 at 10:27 PM, mr_hunt said: the wife & I are going to iceland this october. On 3/5/2023 at 1:49 AM, xzmattzx said: Split the Golden Circle into a two-day trip, if you do it. I did that when I went there, and it was a really good decision. Thingvellir N.P. gets buses with daytrippers, so after about 3 PM, you can basically have the whole park to yourself, if you are staying nearby. We stayed in a cabin east of Laugurvatn, so we took our time from Thingvellir N.P. to our cabin, stopping in Laugurvatn at the village spa/pool, and then took in the midnight sun from our cabin in the bush. And we stayed only 30 minutes from Geysir, so we didn't have any crowds at Geysir (or Gullfoss after that) because it was the morning, and the buses weren't there yet. It kind of makes you think about why some people rush through these sights so quickly. It's akin to people who spend a few hours at the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls. Nature's great sites are worth a full day, or 24 hours, or a day and a half, not some quick stop before you rush to the next place. On 3/6/2023 at 10:20 PM, xzmattzx said: I did Iceland in 5 days, so you can get it done pretty easily. I did Reykjavik and sleep off the jet lag on the first day; Thingvellir and Laugurvatn on the second day; Geysir, Gullfoss, the Secret Lagoon (better and cheaper than the Blue Lagoon), Skalholt, and Kerith (Kerid) crater on the third day; Skogafoss, Solheimajokull glacier, Reynisfjara black sand beach, and Seljalandsfoss on the fourth day; and a museum in Reykjavik before our afternoon flight on the fifth day. So we got everything on the Golden Circle and most of the South Coast of Iceland done in 4.5 days. Did you rent your car yet? I rented from carsiceland.com. They were the only website that included mandatory taxes in the price. I liked the peace of mind of knowing that I had everything included taxes paid for ahead of time, rather than show up and maybe have to pay hundreds of dollars in taxes when I arrived. There's a pretty big list of mandatory taxes to pay with the rental. Iceland is amazing. Expect bad, grey, rainy weather and then embrace it as part of the experience and ambiance. Totally agree with splitting the golden circle in 2 days. Gives you more time to enjoy, more time to relax at the end of the day. I would strongly recommend seeing the Snaefellsnes peninsula and national park. Gorgeous. Lots of Game of Thrones filmed there (for the north of the wall stuff). There is a hotel called Budir that has great food, great bar...total desolation...right at the bottom of a mountain with waterfall. Car rental is a must. These are pictures from that park...
March 9, 20233 yr Author On 3/7/2023 at 7:06 PM, Redden said: I'm going to Key West in April. I'm staying on a military base, or something. I didn't know Key West had a military base. Key West is great food, great bars, and great sunset cruises. Are you flying straight into Key West? The drive from Miami to Key West is half the fun, especially if you have a DD.
March 9, 20233 yr Author Anyone here with experience in Sardinia? Thinking of going in September. Seems like an absolutely beautiful island. Trying to figure out the right way to experience it all over the course of about 6-7 days.
March 9, 20233 yr 1 hour ago, eagle45 said: Key West is great food, great bars, and great sunset cruises. Are you flying straight into Key West? The drive from Miami to Key West is half the fun, especially if you have a DD. Flying into Ft. Myers. Driving to the keys from there, hitting several different keys in route.
March 9, 20233 yr 1 hour ago, eagle45 said: Anyone here with experience in Sardinia? Thinking of going in September. Seems like an absolutely beautiful island. Trying to figure out the right way to experience it all over the course of about 6-7 days. I'm not familiar with it, but some quick research brings up a few interesting places: Pink Coral Beach on the north end, Neptune's Cave on the northwest, Su Nuraxi di Barumini archeological site in the center, and Holy Trinity Church on the west.
March 9, 20233 yr The most unique neighborhood I have ever seen was Sky Harbor Heights, along Cange Street in Anchorage, Alaska. The houses look normal at first, but then you notice that many have airplane hangars built in or on the property, just like houses all around the US have garages attached or on the property. That's because a small gravel airstrip sits in front of the houses.
April 13, 20232 yr Going on a road trip with Mr. Di's 2 sisters and 1 brother-in law. The one sister took flight after losing her husband and has been here in PA staying with her sister. She's ready to go back to Wyoming. Leaving Aug 1 with her suv and a u-haul. It's about 2,060 miles almost 30 hours. We're old so we are stopping 3 nights, taking a total of 4 days to get there. Then, the 3 of us are flying back to Philly from Salt Lake City on the 9th. God help me. I really do want to see her kids and grandkids again, because you never know, it may be the last opportunity to do so.
April 14, 20232 yr 12 hours ago, DiPros said: Going on a road trip with Mr. Di's 2 sisters and 1 brother-in law. The one sister took flight after losing her husband and has been here in PA staying with her sister. She's ready to go back to Wyoming. Leaving Aug 1 with her suv and a u-haul. It's about 2,060 miles almost 30 hours. We're old so we are stopping 3 nights, taking a total of 4 days to get there. Then, the 3 of us are flying back to Philly from Salt Lake City on the 9th. God help me. I really do want to see her kids and grandkids again, because you never know, it may be the last opportunity to do so. My brother worked as a park ranger at Yellowstone last summer, and took a week to drive out so he could see as much as possible (with some meandering and indirect driving in states like Missouri and Kansas). He took a week to drive back to Delaware as well. There's a lot of nerdy, but really cool, stuff as you head out. My brother really enjoyed North Dakota and South Dakota, in particular.
May 4, 20232 yr So, I nixed the WY road trip. What can you all tell me about Cabera, Dominican Republic? My nephew is getting married there in November. Anyone ever been?
May 4, 20232 yr 3 hours ago, DiPros said: So, I nixed the WY road trip. What can you all tell me about Cabera, Dominican Republic? My nephew is getting married there in November. Anyone ever been? You'll be on the other side of the country, but if you get a chance to see Santo Domingo, the capital, walk around the Zona Colonial. It's the oldest neighborhood in the Americas, with a lot of stuff from the 1500s, and the oldest building in the New World is in the neighborhood. Zona Colonial is on my bucket list.
May 4, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, xzmattzx said: You'll be on the other side of the country, but if you get a chance to see Santo Domingo, the capital, walk around the Zona Colonial. It's the oldest neighborhood in the Americas, with a lot of stuff from the 1500s, and the oldest building in the New World is in the neighborhood. Zona Colonial is on my bucket list. Thanks, I was checking flights earlier and Santo Domingo is about a 2.5 hr trip to Cabrera. Thinking it will cost just as much as flying into Gregorio Luperon International which is a little over an hour away. I did book an air bnb in town for a good price and free cancellation. I have an appointment next week to get my passport. The villa looks amazing and rents for like vikas money 35-40K per week.
May 19, 20232 yr Author All Cowboys jokes aside, anything that needs to be seen or done in Dallas? Headed there for the weekend for work, never been to Texas before. Sounds like Dallas doesn’t have much to offer a tourist besides maybe bbq, but was curious.
May 20, 20232 yr On 5/19/2023 at 5:19 PM, eagle45 said: All Cowboys jokes aside, anything that needs to be seen or done in Dallas? Headed there for the weekend for work, never been to Texas before. Sounds like Dallas doesn’t have much to offer a tourist besides maybe bbq, but was curious. Dealy Plaza, of course. That's on the west end of Downtown, by the Trinity River. There's some nice architecture Downtown, so it's worth a stroll for a couple hours. Deep Ellum is supposed to be the hipster/yuppie neighborhood with breweries and such. The Stockade District in Forth Worth, north of Downtown Fort Worth and centered around the Fort Worth Stockade, is supposed to be a pretty cool neighborhood that flies under the radar for tourists. It apparently is a slice of "Old Texas" where they sometimes bring the cattle down the street to the stockade, not for show but because they need to for the beef industry, and there are cowboy gear stores and whatnot, but it's not over-touristy like it may be in some other places like near the Alamo in San Antonio. I'd like to see that neighborhood myself, if I ever make it down there. https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7889249,-97.350311,3a,32.9y,87.51h,87.46t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1spYXXEjaOLmUeI1NoS0H5aA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&authuser=0
May 23, 20232 yr On 5/19/2023 at 5:19 PM, eagle45 said: All Cowboys jokes aside, anything that needs to be seen or done in Dallas? Headed there for the weekend for work, never been to Texas before. Sounds like Dallas doesn’t have much to offer a tourist besides maybe bbq, but was curious. A couple other things: Apparently there's some popular bike trails, and some bars along the bike trails get popular on the weekends. I guess if you're biking, you're pretty fit, so the people are going to look relatively good. The Katy Trail Ice House, next to the Katy Trail, is one place a friend of mine told me about before. If you like minor league baseball, the Frisco Rough Riders are north of Dallas. I think the closest National Park Service site is the Waco Mammoth National Monument, down in Waco.
May 24, 20232 yr Any suggestions for Atlanta? I am going to the Phillies game down there this weekend.
May 25, 20232 yr Anyone use a go pro on your travel adventures? I'm interested in hearing what your underwater settings might be. Have seen a few YouTube videos. They all day something a little different.
May 25, 20232 yr 19 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said: Anyone use a go pro on your travel adventures? I'm interested in hearing what your underwater settings might be. Have seen a few YouTube videos. They all day something a little different. I did a lot of snorkeling in the Cayman Islands last month. I just bought a phone pouch from Walmart for $4 and used my phone underwater. It's not perfect, but for being at the surface snorkeling and only paying $4, it was good enough.
May 25, 20232 yr 15 minutes ago, xzmattzx said: I did a lot of snorkeling in the Cayman Islands last month. I just bought a phone pouch from Walmart for $4 and used my phone underwater. It's not perfect, but for being at the surface snorkeling and only paying $4, it was good enough. I got one for other reasons but going on a Bahamas cruise soon and figured I might try to get some nice shots.
May 25, 20232 yr Author 4 hours ago, HazletonEagle said: Anyone use a go pro on your travel adventures? I'm interested in hearing what your underwater settings might be. Have seen a few YouTube videos. They all day something a little different. I use a GoPro for diving often. This one is in Bora Bora just under the surface. It depends on your depth. You need a red filter for decent shots and footage once you are under 10’. If you are close to the surface in clear water on a sunny day, then you don’t need it. Im not a huge fan of the fisheye view, so I normally don’t go for that. 4k and the max frame rate your GoPro has should be the way to go.
May 25, 20232 yr 8 minutes ago, eagle45 said: I use a GoPro for diving often. This one is in Bora Bora just under the surface. It depends on your depth. You need a red filter for decent shots and footage once you are under 10’. If you are close to the surface in clear water on a sunny day, then you don’t need it. Im not a huge fan of the fisheye view, so I normally don’t go for that. 4k and the max frame rate your GoPro has should be the way to go. me too! got this shot with my gopro when i was diving a couple weekends ago. did i mention that it was muff diving...... on your mom? well it was! bam!!!
May 25, 20232 yr 7 minutes ago, eagle45 said: I use a GoPro for diving often. This one is in Bora Bora just under the surface. It depends on your depth. You need a red filter for decent shots and footage once you are under 10’. If you are close to the surface in clear water on a sunny day, then you don’t need it. Im not a huge fan of the fisheye view, so I normally don’t go for that. 4k and the max frame rate your GoPro has should be the way to go. Awesome pic of Ernie Sims! I dont know how to scuba. Will be very shallow snorkeling. So luckily I dont need to get in to filters, which I know nothing about. I just purchased a gopro 10 which got delivered yesterday. I set my standard mode to 4k 120fps. With the linear frame + horizon leveling. For some hopefully cinematic scenic shots on the ship, and islands, Ill probably try some 5k stuff. I was thinking of editing and saving a pre-set under water mode. For that, what I was really wondering is if you change anything with ISO, white balance, etc. If that pic you posted exactly as it is right off the camera, or did you do some editing?
May 25, 20232 yr Author 2 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said: Awesome pic of Ernie Sims! I dont know how to scuba. Will be very shallow snorkeling. So luckily I dont need to get in to filters, which I know nothing about. I just purchased a gopro 10 which got delivered yesterday. I set my standard mode to 4k 120fps. With the linear frame + horizon leveling. For some hopefully cinematic scenic shots on the ship, and islands, Ill probably try some 5k stuff. I was thinking of editing and saving a pre-set under water mode. For that, what I was really wondering is if you change anything with ISO, white balance, etc. If that pic you posted exactly as it is right off the camera, or did you do some editing? The ISO is a bit beyond me. I mess with that on my regular camera, but never tinkered with it on the go-pro. White balance is actually important because it helps to normalize different under-water conditions/visibility/color etc. I haven’t taken it underwater in 2 years actually, so I forget exactly how to do it…but the hardcore diver/photo enthusiasts will bring a white plastic card down with them to do it properly. That pic was actually a screenshot off a 4k video from the go-pro, but no other editing.
May 25, 20232 yr 5 minutes ago, eagle45 said: The ISO is a bit beyond me. I mess with that on my regular camera, but never tinkered with it on the go-pro. White balance is actually important because it helps to normalize different under-water conditions/visibility/color etc. I haven’t taken it underwater in 2 years actually, so I forget exactly how to do it…but the hardcore diver/photo enthusiasts will bring a white plastic card down with them to do it properly. That pic was actually a screenshot off a 4k video from the go-pro, but no other editing. well thats pretty darn good then with basic settings and no editing. I wont be worried about it then. Thanks!
May 26, 20232 yr How much are Go Pros, and what site has them cheapest? I have been interested in one for waterskiing, and it would be good for snorkeling as well, but I would want a cheap one since I spent enough money on a new phone and new laptop this year.
May 26, 20232 yr 9 hours ago, xzmattzx said: How much are Go Pros, and what site has them cheapest? I have been interested in one for waterskiing, and it would be good for snorkeling as well, but I would want a cheap one since I spent enough money on a new phone and new laptop this year. They're pretty much the same price everywhere. Gopro offers 3% cash back for a lot of different groups on id.me And once you subscribe to gopro, they offer discounts on all accessories, new cameras, etc Cheapest you can do is probably finding an 8 for about 200 dollars. Forget where that deal was, maybe samsclub? They are up to the gopro 11 now which is about 500 I got a 10 with an accessory package for about 430. But then you'll probably want a few other accessories, extra batteries, good SD cards, and a gopro subscription. So the initial buy in is higher than it appears at first glance. I spent another 120 for it the day after I ordered it.
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