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Regent Watercooler! Off topic and non-cruise discussion here!


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18 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

That's where we are at too.  Safe in our condo in Toronto.  Cottagers who go north of the city are being discouraged from going, although now that the weather is warm, many are.  

 

Our cottage, however, is 5 hours northeast, near Ottawa, not really traditional "cottage country".  Usually I spend most of the summer there.  I've never NOT opened it by this time in the spring, it feels wrong!  There are advantages to the city--highspeed internet, health services a cab ride away, proximity to stores, but other than that most of the other advantages have been taken away--restaurants, bars, music venues, special events and festivals.  So right now, I'm waiting for the blackflies to go away (they are fierce this year), and the mosquitoes to simmer down, then that's where I'll want to be (I'm hoping I can convince David of that.)

We were supposed to fly to Rome June 1 and embark Splendor June 4, so that is not happening now. We also had plans for a wedding in New Hampshire mid July (wedding will be "virtual" now) then an annual family get together at Moody Beach, Maine the beginning of August, which has also now been cancelled. We are now looking at future Splendor sailings but will definitely head to italy again next summer for a few weeks. Wendy.....we are originally from Montreal and lived in TO for 18 years (still have a squash membership at a club in Mississauga) before moving to Syracuse, Dublin Ireland then finally built our home here in Savannah where we are now retired. Lots of friends in TO with cottages north of the city....they are leery of heading to them this summer. Stay healthy.

 

Glen

 

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It is interesting to see how many people have summer cottages.  We had a neighbor that had a cottage on a lake that was only 2 miles from his home.  They did many overnight visits there during the summer.  

 

Wondering if anyone if willing to fly somewhere this year.  This morning I received flight details from my daughter ...... she is definitely flying here in August.

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We don’t have a “vacation cottage” because we live in one — just larger than the usual one. It is in the mountains, but only a half hour’s drive from the desert. We are thinking about some national park visits this fall. Mesa Verde is only an hour or so away. The Grand Canyon is a day and a half’s drive away. Zion national park is a day drive away. So these are what we are looking at for fall. I’m not going to go on another anti-airline rant that nobody wants to read, but will say that we are not satisfied with their present onboard distancing policies, and leave it there. But we are fortunate to live in an area where there are many  places to go on vacation that we can reasonably get to by car that we haven't visited lately.

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30 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

But we are fortunate to live in an area where there are many  places to go on vacation that we can reasonably get to by car that we haven't visited lately.

You are in what was the PRIME vacation area for my family when I was growing up in Kansas.  Many summers we went to SW Colorado, usually camping in the wilderness and occasionally riding the narrow gauge railroad.  One memorable 4th of July it snowed on us there.

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Right, but camping is not our thing anymore. But there are other accommodations at places of interest in this area, where I have met tourists from Germany, Japan, and many other distant countries. It seems pretty popular, with plenty to enjoy when a cruise doesn’t seem attractive.

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I prefer to do my camping in a motorhome now, but my newfound love of cruising has seriously reduced the time I have for that activity.  So far it has seemed too early to get the motorhome out on the road, but maybe that will happen some time this summer.

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I knew someone once who said her idea of roughing it was a hotel with no room service. 

 

Of course, in a motorhome you have a full (enough) kitchen on board, and can have chocolates and whatever meals (and beverages) that you are willing to pack and prepare.  Of course, I realize that this is not that great compared to a luxury cruise, which is why my motorhome has been sadly neglected for a couple of years now.

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Actually, when some people saw the pine forest behind the landscaped part of our lot, they said what a great place to camp out. I said, "why"! When 60 feet away there is a king sized bed with full TV services and heating and AC why would I want to camp out there, just because we own the property? They thought it would be a good place to camp because of the tall Ponderosa pines. I told them to go ahead, but we have a couple of spare bedrooms and baths, also with the full TV and heat and air. Know what? Nobody ever camped there. And Susie, we agree with you. Anywhere we may travel will have to provide us with full service. If not, we will not go. We have no motor home. Having priced them, I can see that we can stay at a number of great hotels for what is left of the rest of our lives for a less total cost. And I wouldn't like to drive one of those, as I prefer small, fast cars. We have cruised frequently on Regent, the Paul Gauguin, and in some sequestered areas on lesser lines. Right now, we have problems with air travel, which I will not go into. And we also have questions as to what rules and restrictions the cruise lines will have to follow to sail again, which have not been answered.  Until these matters come to resolution, we will not book any cruises. And I hope these issues are resolved quickly.

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I camped out one time in my life - across the street from a beach in California  - I was in my early 20's.  Too much drinking - too much vomiting - that cured me forever.  Some of the motorhomes today cost as much as a house.  One could do many cruises for the cost of one motorhome (and you don't have to cleaning or cooking).  

 

Today is bittersweet as my husband will tell our daughter to cancel her flight plans for August.  He feels that it is too risky and that we have stayed home for 2+ months to stay safe and should wait until California and Washington have less cases of the virus.  He's right but I do wish that I could see her. 

 

On a funny note, last night Dennis (my DH) was getting ready to grill hamburgers and had two of them wrapped in plastic on the counter.  When he went to get them, one was half-eaten with the wrapper neatly opened.  Apparently our cat Whiskey had a nice meal.  Dennis just put the patties together - reshaped them and we had smaller portions.  Life in semi-quarantine is interesting.  

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The last time Herb and I went camping in a forest, next to a beautiful lake, was many years ago. When we went to sleep in the tent, it began to rain. The air mattress deflated at some point. In the middle of the night, I woke up to a loud noise. I woke Herb and he told me to go back to sleep. 
When we woke in the morning, we discovered we were sleeping in mud and the tent was ripped. Apparently, during the night an animal tore the tent and stole our food. 
That’s why it was the last time we went camping!
sheila

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3 hours ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

The last time Herb and I went camping in a forest, next to a beautiful lake, was many years ago. When we went to sleep in the tent, it began to rain. The air mattress deflated at some point. In the middle of the night, I woke up to a loud noise. I woke Herb and he told me to go back to sleep. 
When we woke in the morning, we discovered we were sleeping in mud and the tent was ripped. Apparently, during the night an animal tore the tent and stole our food. 
That’s why it was the last time we went camping!
sheila

I'm with you, Sheila! Our last time was a trip to Canada. We had a long bed pick up truck. We camped in a lovely field ringed by trees. We slept in the bed of the truck in our sleeping bags. Turned out to be a little soggy, with fog/dew. I woke up in the middle of the night to find myself alone. So WHERE IS HE?. In the cab of the truck. When I asked him why, he said he heard scary noises....I guess he was leaving me as bear snacks......that was it. No more camping for me!

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I used to love camping.  In fact I did a lot of backpacking before I married David.  Weeklong hikes or more, everything on your back.  Tiny tent, tiny stove, freeze-dried food, gorp, the whole bit.  Loved it.

 

David's idea of camping, as he used to say, is black and white TV in his hotel room.  I took him day-hiking once up in a beautiful wilderness park here in Ontario, Killarney, and we stayed in town, at the local motel.  After our son was born, when he was little, I took him camping several times, just the two of us (or the three of us, i.e. the dog).  He loved it, and grew up with as keen a love as me for the outdoors and the wilderness. He learned how to canoe at camp, and has done some great outdoor adventures with his buddies.


But once we inherited the cottage from my mum in the 90's, camping lost its appeal.  I can sit on the front porch and drink in the trees and the great river flowing by, or walk in the woods and commune with the trees any time I want.  I do miss the hiking, however, and regret that I didn't do more of that when I was middle-aged--it's a great way to keep fit.

 

Here's my view at twilight from my front porch at the cottage:

P1000693.JPG

Edited by Wendy The Wanderer
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Yes, I can't wait to get up there.  It was such a cold spring that we were happy to be here in the city, especially when the government was discouraging people from going to their cottages.  Once the black flies clear out about mid-June, I'll be there, I hope.  Only downside is no broadband, despite it being about 40 miles from the nation's capital.

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When we were newlyweds,  we couldn't even afford a tent.  So we rigged up some curtains for the back of my 1965 Ford Falcon station wagon, and slept in the back of it.  We spent many weekends up in the Adirondacks "camping" and I drove that car until the floorboards literally rotted out.  Those were the days!

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OMG!  I can so relate!  When we were in the first throws of love, we drove from Boston to  SanFrancisco in a ‘68 Volvo.  Camped the whole way with a tarp attached to the bumper.  We were poor academics and could barely afford a hotel...only when a tornado threatened in Wyoming.   Those were the days!  44 years later we are still in love but prefer Regent to a tarp!  

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I can also relate to having no money and trying to have a vacation.  I'm actually glad that I had the experience of not being able to afford anything because it made me a stronger person and also makes me appreciate what we have now.

 

I have so many questions for this group - don't know where to start.  Probably Covid-19 is where I should start.  States, provinces, countries, have different regulations right now as things begin to open up.  We are in what Washington state calls "Phase 1".  No restaurants open except for take-out, we can pick up an order outside of a store, go to what Washingtonians call a beach or to a park.  Most seniors just stay home because people are not practicing distancing or wearing masks in most places. The result is that our numbers are increasing.  If we ever get to Phase 2, restaurants will open at 50% which is a big milestone. My husband is a great cook but it gets boring after a while.  Tonight I made a dish that has about 50 billion calories and a million fat grams (Indonesian Chicken in Peanut Sauce).  

 

So, what stage are you at?  I'm a bit jealous of friends in Florida that can go to restaurants and sit outside (maybe they can sit inside as well - not sure of the details).  

 

 

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Jackie

We live in Palm Beach county in Florida. Yes, many restaurants are now open, inside and outside, with guidelines. But, we are still a bit afraid to be amongst strangers yet. So we are still doing take-out and a bit of cooking. 
I spoke with my doctor yesterday about going to a restaurant, with outdoor seating near the ocean. He said the ocean breeze might carry the virus even further. But, we are thinking of it...... Maybe next week!

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3 hours ago, forgap said:

44 years later we are still in love but prefer Regent to a tarp!  

Gee, I had you pegged for much younger! 

 

Because we scrimped and saved in our younger years, we now feel secure enough to spend money on luxury vacations.  Our tent camping only lasted for one trip many years ago.  When we woke up one rainy morning and saw the couple in the next campsite happily cooking a hot breakfast under the awning of their converted van, we decided to get a Vanagon camper.  It served double duty, and I commuted to work in it also.  That kept us happy several years before we finally moved up to a hand-me-down motorhome from my parents.  What luxury to have an indoor bathroom!  Since then, we upgraded to a new motorhome twice, but the last one was probably a mistake since we discovered cruising.  But who knows what the future holds now.

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3 hours ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

Jackie

We live in Palm Beach county in Florida. Yes, many restaurants are now open, inside and outside, with guidelines. But, we are still a bit afraid to be amongst strangers yet. So we are still doing take-out and a bit of cooking. 
I spoke with my doctor yesterday about going to a restaurant, with outdoor seating near the ocean. He said the ocean breeze might carry the virus even further. But, we are thinking of it...... Maybe next week!

Hi Sheila!

 

So nice that you live in a free area! I do understand your hesitation, I will never try to convince anyone that there's no risk, is very personal. But at least you have options

 

 I live in a total lockdown area,  well except going to grocery stores, pick up food, the usual. As soon as I walk into the lobby of my building the mask has to go up, actually I was told even to go to the trash room!  So sad the way people avoid looking into each other's eyes.   My act of rebellion is to go to the park near my apartment with my beach chair and take my mask off. And then I look around, and I see most people are doing the same, LOL!

 

I'm planning a trip soon to a free state, Georgia, to the coast. I can't wait!

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5 hours ago, cruiseluv said:

I'm planning a trip soon to a free state, Georgia, to the coast. I can't wait!

Be cautious anyway....our numbers are going up since reopening.  I wear my mask when running errands, avoid crowds, and sanitize.   Our restaurants are open with distancing but we are still only getting takeout.  

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