If it were not so long, I would enjoy riding a Toothpick
RichC | January 29, 2012
The world’s most beautiful and uninhabited islands
RichC | January 27, 2012
It is that time of year when many of us grow tired of the lingering winter and gloomy days. If you’re in that boat, here are a few photos to daydream about. Rock Islands in Palau
Costa Concordia collides with rock off Italian island of Giglio
RichC | January 15, 2012
As a family who enjoys traveling by cruise ship, the reports from Italy and the Costa Concordia are shocking after the ship ran aground on Friday. It is difficult for me in the day of GPS, sonar, autopilots, etc to understand how a ship of this size (4200 people) with an experienced captain and crew [...]
The Bahamas look pretty inviting this time of year
RichC | January 15, 2012
Although I love our house and like living in Ohio, winter is the time I envy those who have sailed south and are spending their days exploring the islands of the Caribbean. Jen and Maxwell sailing in the Bahamas on sv Anastasia January 2012 A sailing couple spending the winter in the Bahamas aboard their [...]
Video: Do you really need to leap for the thrill of it?
RichC | January 9, 2012
Before you “leap” … how do you know the bungee is going to hold? I enjoy an adrenaline rush as much as the next guy, but the older I get the more control in the outcome I want to have; I’m not sure I like the idea of trusting a bungee cord. One lucky bungee [...]
This Friday 12/30/2011 does not exist in Samoa
RichC | December 29, 2011
I’ve lost my share of days by spinning my wheels or tucked under the covers while sick in bed, but I’ve never heard of literally losing an entire day; that’s what is going to happen this week in Samoa. Samoa is at the tail end of the International Date Line and they have found it [...]
New York obviously does not embrace the Second Amendment
RichC | December 16, 2011
I never realized just how restrictive New York firearm laws were until reading this story. It never occurred to me that transporting a pistol in a locked case could be a class C felony, even in a liberal state like New York? I suppose if someone spends their life living under NY restrictions … as [...]
Congestion on I-75 some of worst in U.S.
RichC | November 28, 2011
No wonder I instinctively avoid I-75 downtown Cincinnati during rush hour. Two stretches of I-75 in the Cincinnati area have been identified as being among the 328 most seriously congested in the country in a recent report by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University.
Looks like Google’s Flights search could be helpful
RichC | November 16, 2011
I’m anxious to try Google.com/flights for my next trip planning although I’m not sure it adds much besides the interface over competitive flight planning websites. The search giant has created a convenient way to compare the pricing and scheduled flight times, but in testing a few closer airports and flights it didn’t turn up any [...]
Freedom of the Seas gets rocked by rough weather; damage to public areas | Cruise Radio
RichC | October 10, 2011
It was a rough night for passengers on a big ship. The Norweign Cruise Line’s Freedom of the Seas was never in danger according to the company, but a passenger aboard Freedom told Cruiseradio.net a different side of the story: “It was crazy. The ship was on it’s side, everything broke all over ship, medical [...]
One of the most peaceful rest stops, if I had time
RichC | September 29, 2011
Although this might just be my opinion, but the Bemus Point, New York rest area which overlooks Lake Chautauqua is one of the nicest stops I rarely miss. I know I’ve posted a few photos before, but today I though I’d give our (Brenda’s) new Kodak Playsport Zx5 pocket camcorder a test. The video is [...]
Ever been to Traverse City Michigan? This might inspire you.
RichC | July 31, 2011
If you’ve ever enjoyed a summer (or fall, spring or winter) trip to Traverse City Michigan, you then know that it is a great All American town. I’ll bet you’ll love this Traverse City LibDub 2011 video, at least I know Michigander Steve will, although some Buckeyes are pretty set in their ways?
How important is early boarding and securing carry on space?
RichC | July 30, 2011
I read an aviation/travel article by Scott McCartney last week that reminded me of a post I made in June which dealt with booking flights and some of the changes we are all facing in air travel – well perhaps not elite travelers? From the sound of things, we’re in for a few more changes, [...]
Smartphone paperless E-Boarding went smoothly this week
RichC | July 17, 2011
This was the first air travel that I opted to go fully paperless using Delta’s E-Boarding barcode utilizing my Palm Pre. The process from check-in online to bag checking and the TSA and boarding went well and although I questioned losing the barcode webos card (and Internet connection!) between the ticketing counter and TSA, it [...]
Most interesting story of the week: Uncontacted tribes in Brazil
RichC | June 25, 2011
On of the most interesting stories this week had little to do with politics, the economy or the wars and “not” wars involving US troops around the world – instead it has to do with a newly discovered and previously unknown indigenous tribe in the Western Amazon (Brazil). The group believed to be as many [...]
Thoughts on the ‘doing it yourself’ of booking travel
RichC | June 19, 2011
A friend of mine and I discussed buying tickets for a couple of upcoming trips which included flights and rental cars this past week and neither one of us were convinced we picked up the cheapest tickets or were able to find decent rates for renting a car in July. We bounced our shopping sites [...]
Belated post announcing my friends the Handley’s U.S. return
RichC | June 16, 2011
Many who know me are well aware that I enjoy following sailors who set out on voyages across the oceans of our world. One couple, Mark and Judy Handley, have been exceptional at posting daily updates and making their travels both easy and interesting to follow. I’ve corresponded with them over the years and have [...]
Uniquely traveling over Indian Ocean reefs
RichC | May 19, 2011
Who needs a dinghy … fly instead! Nice views … (Check out PercyMichael’s YouTube clips of the Krucker amphib)
Catch up post – Enjoying Encore, but the Love Bugs not so much
RichC | May 18, 2011
Brenda and I made a multipurpose trip to Florida to enjoy a little sailing with our soon graduate from medical school daughter Katelyn and two of her graduating friends Laura and Ashley; we also planned to do a little work on our boat Encore (projects and maintenance will never end). Besides the personal recreation, we [...]
Buggin’ me …
RichC | May 16, 2011
In keeping with short blog posts, I’m picking up a few bugs over the miles and know I’m going to be griping when it’s time to get the WD-40 out and start my cleaning. The windshield isn’t much better! EDIT: On my return trip I added bugs to bugs!
Either prepay or bring your rental car back with a full tank
RichC | May 4, 2011
For those of us that regularly rent cars, we’ve always known that it is costly to bring a car back to the rental agency with less than a full tank. This lesson is doubly important with the higher prices at the pump nowadays. Some car companies are now charging over $9/gallon “if you bring the [...]
Keep your eyes on your suitcase and don’t bother with locks
RichC | January 31, 2011
Probably not a shock to many who travel, but don’t think that just because you’ve put a small travel lock on your suitcase, and that it doesn’t look tampered with, that your contents are safe, or alone – if traveling across borders you could be used as an involuntary mule. Who knew it was this [...]
Mercy Ships–a medical charity worthy of support
RichC | December 28, 2010
Over the years, I’ve encouraged several friends to consider supporting the MercyShips.org medical charity, partially because I like it’s efficient and effective self-contained hospital ships. Besides that, it is also is a well managed and long running humanitarian charity (1978) which has a solid structure and experience board. As 2010 draws to a close, I [...]
Love my Eddie Bauer pants, but they are not TSA friendly
RichC | December 22, 2010
I had thought that I had found the near perfect pair of pants from Eddie Bauer for traveling and after buying a first pair in khaki color, opted for a second pair in olive. Besides being comfortable and having strong triple stitched seams, there are a few design features that are worth pointing out. For [...]
“Love God” skywriting and our few days of R & R in Florida
RichC | October 28, 2010
Brenda and I are spending just a few days away from Ohio and work as we’ve often done in October and are enjoying time together in Florida. Besides relaxing on the beach, Brenda has succumbed my desire to look at a couple sailboats (we missed our annual trip to the Annapolis boatshow). The weather has [...]
Hoover Dam bypass bridge set to open next week
RichC | October 15, 2010
Last year about this time I reposted a series of photos highlighting what a fantastic engineering project was underway in the United States. A bridge to bypass the Hoover Dam looks to be one of the civil engineering marvels of this decade. The 1900 foot span crosses the Colorado River and connects Arizona and Nevada [...]
Interesting underwater observation watercraft
RichC | September 10, 2010
A couple sailing friends currently spending time cruising northwestern Madagascar are enjoying the area around Nosy Be. While doing a little map checking on the area, I ran across a couple interesting photos with someone doing some maintenance on a different kind of tourist oriented watercraft (click for larger image). Having just returned from Bermuda, [...]
How do airlines stack up when it comes to fuel efficiency?
RichC | August 12, 2010
For personal transportation miles-per-gallon watchers, like many VW TDI drivers I know, an article in Thursday’s WSJ that translated US based airlines fuel efficiency into automotive MPG standards, might be of interest. In the past, frugal flyers may have looked at the numbers in order to save a buck, but now more and more travelers [...]
Wind turbine photos from Indiana
RichC | August 3, 2010
While driving north and south on I-65 through Indiana the past couple of days I was amazed to see the change in landscape … wind turbines everywhere. We (my daughter) took a few photos while we were driving by and figured I would try posting them on Posterous and see how they display when forwarded [...]
Enjoying time with my daughter before her USMLE Step 2 test
RichC | August 1, 2010
My daughter Katelyn and I are checked in at the Marriott in Chicago for her USMLE Step 2 testing on Monday and enjoyed an evening together. We took advantage of the 35 minute pizza baking time for the award winning stuffed pizza at Giordano’s Restaurant inorder to practice a bit more. I’m the acting patient [...]
Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee
- lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
- digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.