Airports, A-Z Challenge

And we begin at the beginning, a very good place to start.  Some of you may be playing today with April Fools Jokes, but lots of us are starting our Blog Challenge because it's April 1.  

AIRPORTS (or Adena Mounds, an A post)

Airports are a necessary evil of lots of travel, they can make or break you.  Think about your needs, your family needs don't just assume everything will happen the way you want or need it to.  Think BEFORE you go.  Airports are busy, loud, dirty and generally inconvenient places.  None of that makes for a pleasant day to start or end your travels.  

Food is generally expensive at airports, and typically not all that good.  What time are you traveling, can you...should you eat before?  Should you take snacks in your bag?  Often the place you might prefer to eat isn't where your gate is.  Look at the airport maps BEFORE you go, have a plan.  This is particularly important if you're traveling with small children and or a senior who walks with a cane or needs a wheel chair.  Airports are large and often not that easy to navigate.

I mentioned their dirty, do you really want to sit on the floor where thousands of people have walked with their shoes?  Parents this is particularly directed to you.  DON'T allow your children to wallow on the floor.  

Yes, airports are dirty and people who leave their trash behind them only make matters worse.  Don't be a slob and leave you chip bag on the floor along with your half finished big Slurpee.  It's guaranteed to get knocked over and cause a mess.  

Airports are loud, people are talking, there are announcements, radio's and games on.  Hello...you're not here along, turn down the volume or better yet plug in your ear phones.  There's no reason why the other 300 travelers crammed into that one gate need to hear your head banging garbage you call music...or the beep beep beep of the kids game.

Pillows, why do people drag their pillows with them?  I do mean drag.  They flop them on the suitcases, on the floor, on the seats both in the airports and planes where thousands have been before them, then they sleep on them with all those germs and wonder why they always get sick when they travel...hum!  If you must tote your pillow like it's your safety blanket but it in a plastic bag to keep it clean

Cell phones, wonderful tools.  Can't travel without them; but...........hold it to your ear and talk, like we all did back in the dark ages with a real phone.  Don't put the speaker on.  We really don't need or want to listen to several hundred conversations about who ate what for dinner the night before and like he said she said, know what I mean.

Pop in Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.

Antietam

  Though it's not quite time to start the A-Z challenge, as it begins on April 1, thought I'd do an A posting anyway.  This is a brief look at Antietam.  You could spend hours and hours there, trying to follow how the battle unfolded, reading all the monuments, admiring the beauty of artistic stones, and respecting the brave men.  Antietam was the single bloodiest day in the fighting of The Civil War.  The battle took place on the bank of Antietam Creek, thus the name of the battle.  Though it's near the town of Sharpsburg.  The South refers to it as the battle of Sharpsburg.  Some of these pictures are hard to read (was very sunny the day we were there), the above close up portion is of The 23rd Ohio Infantry Regiment.  This regiment had two men who later became President of the preserved Union, Rutherford B. Hayes, and William McKinley.

 There are a total of 9 Ohio Monuments, honoring The 1st Ohio Light Artillery, The 5th,7th, & 66th Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 8th Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 11th Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 12th Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 23rd Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 28th Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 30th Ohio Infantry Regiment, and The 36th Ohio Infantry Regiment.

  The Ohio monuments were all dedicated in 1903.  Ten states have monuments to their dead: Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Ohio.  This was the first battle fought on Union soil.  The battle strategically was considered a victory for The North, but tactically was considered a draw.

The number known to have been killed were 2,108 for the North and 1,546 for the South (3,654 total); wounded numbers were staggering for sides 9,540 for the North and 7,752 for the south (17,292 total).  Add to that the number captured and or missing, 753 for the North and 1,018 for the South (1,771 total).
*****22,717 killed, wounded, captured, and or missing in 1 single battle*********
A horrible loss for our country.

The battlefield is something everyone should put on their list of things to see.  While we can't truly absorb it all, it is worth the try.

Pop in, Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.

April Blogging Challenge, Travel as you Go

Can you believe it's that time of year again?  I joined the A-Z challenge last year on 4 of my 5 blogs which was quite a chore.  I scheduled posts ahead...just barely made it by got them all written with I think a day to spare.  Thus far, I've only signed up one blog.....this one.  Not sure I want to bite off that much this time round.  I put lots and lots of time into writing thoughtful posts and visited far more blogs daily then was suggested.  I felt like I put alot more into it then I got back in terms of blog visits and comments and followers.  Many people felt that way, but the majority felt it was a positive experience....and soooooooooooooo

Here we are again.  When I signed up I was blog #845, think that was over a week ago, and currently I'm #841.  That means a few folks have drop out or been eliminated already.  The number changes throughout the process.

What is the challenge?  Write a blog post daily (except Sunday) in alphabetical order.  Some people elect to blog in a theme for the whole month, others not.  There are categories which can be used or not.  I didn't choose categories last year on any of my blogs as I though the wide open was better and allowed more choices.  This year I did select TR (travel), since this is a travel blog.  I thought people would be open minded and visit all kinds of blogs last year...that didn't seem to be the case.  Example writers tended only to visit writers blogs.  Well everyone travels be it for work or pleasure so doesn't everyone enjoy a travel blog?  Apparently not, lol.  So, will see how it goes this year round.

So travel as you go; be it with your own blogging or your visits were you're traveling here on the net.  I'll be happy to have you accompany and the best part, you don't have to pack or do laundry!

The blog badge in the sidebar will take you to the blog to sign up for the challenge.  Come join us and have fun.

Pop in Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.

Luggage Important in Your Travels.

 Luggage comes in every size, shape and color these days.  What do you pick?  In our younger years we'd buy the set of 3 or 5 pieces with everything matching because it was "cheaper".  Over night car travel was then the bulk of our travels and so the cheap multi-sized pieces worked.  But, not for long...the type of travel you do really dictates the type of luggage you should tote.  When you fly you are restricted to the number of pieces you can carry, as well as the weight.....unless you're ok paying an arm and a leg for more.  How long are you going?  Are you checking or carrying on?  AND if you're carrying on, can you actually lift your suitcase over your head to put in the overhead compartments?  The above Helium Sky Delsey) is a large check type bag we purchased for our daughter for her birthday.  It's light weight, something under 10 pounds.  Far lighter empty then our older style multi-piece luggage sets.  Luggage was heavier because weight didn't used to be an issue.  It is now.  Zippers and frames get broken with lots of use and being tossed around by the airlines.

This is the carry on she choose.  It's a Delsey, but not the same line, and does't match.  She choose it because it only weights 6.8 pounds empty.  Huge consideration when you're traveling alone and need to be able to lift it yourself to place in the overhead.  Notice both suitcases have the 2 outside pockets with separate zippered compartments.  Another important consideration.  Though the new molded plastic...cool designs are easier to see on the conveyor built after your flight, they do not have any outside storage.  Outside storage is a good place to place wet items to keep them separate from your regular luggage, papers you need to keep flat, items you need to be able to reach quickly (probably a bit more of concern with a carry on).

 Out with the old and in with the new.  The black on the left was my large check back, also a Helium, purchased at AAA a good number of years ago.  Notice it also has the 2 outside pockets.  Over the years the flippers on several of the zippers have gone by the wayside, and most recently the outside frame has snapped completely.  I wondered why it was getting hard to line up properly to zip, to pull the handle in and out etc, when hubby spotted the snapped frame.  I've replaced it with the newest model of the same series a Delsey Helium Breeze.  While not quite as light as the  large suitcase Darling Daughter choose, it has a few items that fit my personal travel needs and weights 11.3 pounds empty.  Many we looked at were considerably heavier (particularly the cheaper suitcases).

 This gizmo tells you if you bag is over 50 pounds........very important feature, as the bulk of our travel is by plane.  While we can and do weight suitcases at home after their packed, not easy to do on the return trip often.  You rarely pack the same on the return trip with consideration for dirty items, and souvenirs you've picked up along the way etc.

 This outside zippered area is something I've not seen before.

It has a sleeves that can be snapped across the bottom of the suitcase to separate items you might not want mixed with your regular clothing......perhaps dirty shoes?  Maybe you need to be able to reach items quickly without messing with your whole packed bag?  You can pull those items out while your suitcase is still zippered shut.  Looks like a neat option that could be quite useful.

 For items (good clothes) you don't want wrinkled, this has the pretty traditional mess unit in the lid of the suitcase; but it also has a 3rd zipper

 that allows you to open up the whole thing for larger items (suits or dresses).  So you have 3 areas there to work with.  Once opened this area is about an inch thick.

Another consideration is the newer design of 4 wheels vs the more traditional design of old black suitcase of 2 wheels.  With 4 wheels you have added stability, maneuverability and you can walk it beside you vs pulling it behind you.........easier on the arms, less physical.

Consider more then cost when you purchase luggage.  Think about how you travel, what type of clothing you pack, what are you packing/travel needs.  Young strong people probably are less concerned with weight of the suitcase or easy of toting it.

I choose red this time, hoping the dirt won't be too much a factor.  My hope is being able to spot it easier on the conveyor belt.  I've added 2 different colored luggage tags...again to help differentiate my suitcase from someone else's; plus if one falls off........I have a back up.  I will also add a colorful strap and or bow of brightly colored yarn.  Anything you can do to spot your suitcase as "different" is of value.

**Sorry folks, it's been a good long while since I've posted here, life got busy.  Hope my regular readers are still with me.  Also having issues with the template and will be needing to make changes again with it it.**

Pop in Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.