slidergirl

I did Amtrak from Seattle down to Los Angeles a few years ago on the Coast Starlight. Booked a Roomette. I LOVED that trip! Beautiful scenery all the way down, including the penninsula of Vandenberg AFB that you can't get to yourself. I bought some wine and snacks in Seattle and settled in for the 36 hours. I loved just sitting in my room, listening to music and watching the scenery go by. The meals onboard that came with the Roomette were actually quite good. I would love to do another Amtrak trip again. I would look at the Amtrak options from Arizona to the West Coast, also and take a cruise from there. Depending on the time of year, you could go North to Alaska or South to Mexico or even just cruise the Pacific US.

Mum - I always see women here on CC reference "sundress", so I thought it was something special to find in the stores. I bought the dress because I thought I would have a dress in the closet that I could put on if I ever get the chance. I know about Rent the Runway, etc, but I'm not that dressy. Even the dress I bought I could wear for a day on vacation with tennis shoes...

Big thunderstorm yesterday afternoon. I wasn't paying attention to outside at all. All of a sudden, a HUGE, LOUD thunder hit and it sure seemed like it was right over the house - it shook the house! We ended up with over 1.5" of rain in about an hour. We are supposed to get some more today. Good thing is that the temperature came down to the upper 70s. Bad thing is our town's annual Arts Festival is this weekend, starting tomorrow evening. We get tens of thousands of people up for this - hope the rain stays away this weekend!!! I just stay home - it gets waaay too claustrophobic up there on Main Street with all those people and it gets totally stuffy. Think of the Vatican Museums during the summer!! OOTD: an ancient pair of favorite Athleta running shorts (circa 2006) and a Tshirt. Good thing the shorts have a drawstring waist - I could tie them tight enough to not fall off!!

Lois - going from a larger checked bag to one that is carryon-compliant is not really an easy task. At least it wasn't for me. Some of it has to do with what type of clothes you have, some with how many times you want to wear something different. Do your clothes pack small is another, Fortunately, my normal stuff is very easily packed and light. I had problems last summer when people told me I really needed to take more dresses to wear in the heat instead of my usual shirt/shorts/pants. But, you do what you are comfy with - no need to change the packing. You can keep the size, but maybe cut down the weight.

Cynthia - "back in the day" when I worked at Front Desks where I had to wear more makeup than I do normally (yes, I was told once that I needed to wear more!!), I used Laura Mercier, too. I tried some Urban Decay last summer when my face was so totally ghost white - it was a nice color but irritated my face. I'll give Nars a try to put in my drawer for those times when I need a little boost. Hey, is there room for me in your suitcase?? Or, I'll pack myself in my Allpa and pay the checked baggage fee!!! I am sooooo over this heat!! I forgot to mention one of my TJ's finds. If you like Root Beer Floats, try their Root Beer ice cream bars!! When it's hot, I'll buy different bars just so I can have a cooling snack. This one really does taste like a RBF!!! OOTD; my running shorts and a sleeveless tshirt. At this point, I don't care how it looks...

Lois - I'm trying to figure out if I can tell you how I pack in my carry on. Part of it is the type of clothes and part of it is that I roll and put in packing cubes. My Woolx and Smartwool is very light, easily packable and "unstink"able. I can wear multiple times. I take (usually) just one dress, my trusty Tshirt dress, Also easily packable and unstinkable. My shoes - I don't have a problem with wearing my sneakers out at night. I'm a pretty casual traveler. I'll keep thinking. Remember my girlfriend that I was going to maybe take to Italy but then her family took her this year for her birthday? Well, poor thing, just got a message from her that she broke her ankle & ligaments trying to ride a bike with sandals on on the cobblestones of Florence!! She flew back home to have surgery. She has a long road ahead, just like I did: 6 weeks non-weightbearing, another surgery to take out screws, months of getting back to full weightbearing and tons of rehab. I told her at least she has a good story to go along with the break. I'll probably take a trip down to So, CA to see her after she gets the screws out. Her one daughter is coming out for 2 weeks in August to help and her other daughter lives nearby. I remember what it was like to be basically immobile and alone for months. Another hot, miserable day up here - 89. So OOTD: gym shorts and a Tshirt.

They let me do silly things at work 😸 The best luxury lodge in the world!!!

@laurspag - every time someone posts a pic of that shirt, I immediately think "Magnum,PI"!!😸 @Anita Latte - I'm opposite of you in that waisted dresses don't do well on me. I wish Woolx made their Tshirt dress in an oatmeal. I have one of the Tshirts in that color and I'd buy one if I was going to travel somewhere in the hot summer again.

My little 2 person tent doesn't have a gazebo ☹️ That's the one negative about solo camping - you can only put up certain things by yourself. I could leave off the rain fly and unzip the windows and there's quite a bit of netting, but sitting inside my little tent for hours just isn't my thing. Melody - nice food porn! Those tomatoes with the fish look mighty tasty. Is that Maine blueberry pie and ice cream?? I'm on a blueberry kick right now - it is my favorite fruit!

I have to wait a little longer to go camping. Nearby mountains 40 minutes away have mosquitos and biting flies galore this year that will carry away small children. Too freakin' hot down south (100+ degrees). Up north, bears are coming out of hibernation and lots of mommas with cubs around (the lady who just got mauled by a bear at Yellowstone...). Went to my dental hygienist yesterday and my hair stylist today. Clean teeth and newly colored hair (we did more copper hi-lights). Did a minor TJ's run yesterday. Saw those chocolate thingies, but noticed they were made with corn chips, which I can' stand. I'd have to pick them out. Plus, they would have melted all over while I drove up the mountain! Nothing out of the ordinary and under $100 again. Just wasn't feeling it, I haven't had much of an appetite lately - probably the med that all the rich women are buying to lose weight. I don't WANT to lose any more weight - I can't afford to keep buying new things to fit!! OOTD: my baggy, but luvable, denim shorts and a Pact organic cotton tank top. And, my pink hi-tops.

From this year's Winter Classic:

The only thing I've added to my "stuff" for any travel/camping in the past 2 years is one of my Luci inflatable lights from Mpowered. I have a few. All are USB-rechargable, so I can just recharge during the day. This time I took my Luci Candle. Could take it outside on the balony for a little evening ambience.

The price totally depends on what the particular hotel is doing. One of the resort hotels I worked at played with Hotel Tonight. If we were low occupancy that day, they would do maybe a 10% discount on HT for a same-day booking. But, I'd give the same discount to someone who called and asked if we would match - I'm not fond of playing games and sometimes reservations through the 3rd parties don't come through the portal.

One person ordering 5 different drinks is an issue to me. THEN using multiple cruise cards to pay individually is an issue to me. More staff wouldn't help - more registers were needed. I swear, one morning there were maybe 10 people ahead of me and it took 30 minutes... After that, I just went down to the Lido and picked up a coffee. Oh my order - a cafe latte,

I did the first Eurodam to Alaska this summer. Very, very little of the OP's comments are what I would say. The only thing was the poor servers for coffee at the Explorations Cafe. They kept running out of supplies and had to send someone. The guests were, IMHO, part of the problem. They would step up to the register and order 5 beverages, all different and all with special orders, just like they thought they were at Starbucks. The line was out the door, out the hallway. The poor girl at the register was trying to do the best she could, but she was bombarded with rude people wanting their special "latte, nonfat, extra shot, 2 pumps vanilla, whip" kind of things. Even when the Bar Manager came over to give her a break he had trouble.

Never heard of such a thing, Hotels love cruisers and that one day rental! The only thing I could think of would be to roll the dice and wait until arrival day, then try the Hotel Tonight app to see if you can find one.

Aw, thanks. I think some of it may be that I have a long torso and short legs. When I'd buy onsies for skiing (back in the day), it was hard to find one that didn't cram up upon my "nether regions." the Woolx dress came out today. it's a sleeveless. Comes in back, navy, and a cool plum. I wish those plum-ish colors looked good on me, but they don't. Melody - nice poncho!

There is an Eileen Fisher "renew' site that sells gently used items. Could be worth checking out.

Melody - have a wonderful NE trip! Have some wonderful NE Oysters on the half shell for me!!

that dang Dressbarn shirt!!!! I'm so jelly... I just don't look good in joggers. I wish I did.

I have to add a little today... Gosh, it's HOT. 90 degrees. Sure, it may not seem hot to some of you, but it feels a good 10 hotter than that always up here. Add in no A/C, and it's terrible. If you drink beer/ale/sours: I just tried O'Dells Sippin' Lemonade Sour. It is sooooo good. Tastes just like a not-too-sweetened lemonade with a big kick, but not like those nasty seltzers. You know it's an ale. I know Melody can get it in Colorado, but I don't know if O'Dell is national. Made the heat a little bearable for about an hour 😉 I've been seeing this ad on TV for "One Key", which is the corporate of Expedia, Hotels.com, and VRBO. It shows all this luggage going through all sorts of "distress" during travel. The last 3 shown are 4-wheelers going up old stairs, across wooden piers and such. And, they are all being dragged 2-wheel style. Gave me a chuckle. No one was casually meandering with the 4-wheeler comfortably moving beside them. On that note, Cotopaxi just dropped a 2-wheel version of the Allpa pack!! It costs a freakin' fortune, though. If they had dropped this a year ago, I may have picked it up...

Anita - welcome back! It sure sounds like you had a fantastic time in London. I love that your dress worked out so well for several functions. Oh - Woolx is coming out with 2 new dresses soon. And, I guess I'd be right there "in style" with my hi-top sneakers. I wear them with everything, even my Woolx black dress. People are finally realizing (I think) that your feet need to be happy, not "fashionable." I do have 3 of those TJs bags still hanging around!!

Sherri - so sorry you had that reaction to the shingles shot. But, let me tell you, it's still better than getting shingles!!! I had a "mild" (my MD told me) case on my lower back in 1993. THEN, the powers that be tell me that I still had to get those shots because shingles can come back!!! UGH. Well, the wheel on doing a fall cruise came to a screeching halt last night after looking up airfares. Just waaay too much for this year. Quebec City is not a airfare-friendly city for us here in SLC. I could get a cruise for under $1000, but the airfare would be $3500. I might as well fly to Europe for that!!! It was a fanciful idea, anyway. We have an excessive heat warning up here today and tomorrow. Not conducive to making me get out and doing anything. I do have to go into town to the pharmacy and grab some refills. I'll hit up the grocery and liquor stores, too. I'm out of Aperol and Prosecco... Pick up some salad and sandwich fixings - it's too hot to even look at the stove!! OOTD: Athleta Farallon cammo shorts and a Tshirt.

I remember listening to Tony Bennett with my parents. Loved his voice. He was versatile. He could do big band, small combo, just piano. I also heard the song with Lady Gaga. I do remember when he announced he would no longer perform due to his Alzheimers. May his memory and music be a blessing to all 😿 My hamster wheel came to a weird idea last night - those cheap end-of-summer cruises. I have to start work (if I do work this year) on Nov, 25 so that takes out that late HAL T/A, But there are a couple of Canada/NE cruises that are reasonably priced IF I suck it up and do an inside (☹️). OR, in another twist, I could do the Pacific Coastal on Eurodam in the same balcony I had for Alaska. All this was on HAL. What can I say - I'm hankering for a Fall trip somewhere!

If you like the small/quaint/Parisian hotel, this one is OK. I got the single room, which was SMALL, but all that I needed. It has a cute courtyard where you can sit and relax. It was really the first time I stayed in a place like that - I'm still used to getting 4* places and cheap employee rates when I was working for *wood and Hilton. Yep, the location was perfect!!