11 more work days left

With the final plans now loosely laid out. It is 18 days until we fly off for our little adventure, which equates to 11 more work days. An as many from work know, the countdown timer has pride of place on my desktop.

I find myself struck down with the flu, so forever trying to keep the husband away from me so he does not catch it and then give it back to me.

I went to my doctor to get a script for my medication and also the maxalon for my cruise, that was a bit of a saga with the numpties substituting all my meds for some other brand. I called them on it straight away and they told me not to worry it's the same stuff, and if it doesn't work I can bring it back.

After a week of taking my regular medication I find that no it's not the same and I am  getting symptoms that it's not working, so I take it back to the chemist who tell me they will not take it back because it has been a week.  Now It has been a very cranky two weeks at work, so I am not in the best of moods, then I have the flu on top of this and thus not sleeping well.

I started out calmly explaining what I had been told last week, and them saying I can buy a whole new prescription, which pissed me off further as I never asked for a substitute in the first place, back and forth this went for about 10 minutes and then I really cracked the shits. Needless to say I left with my right medication.

I also popped into the cheap shop to get a bag for a present and found these little whiteboard stickers. Brought a pack of them as they are much lighter than the whiteboard we purchased.

The Aussie souvenir shop was having a sale on little koalas with boomerangs, so I grabbed a few packs of them.

The US shutdown has become a bit of a pain in the ass, as they have shut down all the websites along with all the national parks etc... so makes it hard to find opening hours

Final Itinerary plotted out

I keep saying that I need to rework the itinerary, particularly the driving component. Then all that is left to do is plan out Las Vegas and Cancun although Cancun will be more of a bum around the resort and maybe do a ruins tour. I would love to get some more diving in but Nando isn't soo keen.

And now that I have done toe loose plot just need to have an idea on where to stay for each of our stops.  Hopefully the US government shut down will be over and we can continue to do the national park type stuff that makes up the majority of our drive, or I will be pissed

Final Itinerary

·       Thursday 24^th October – Arrive in LA and Las Vegas.

o   Check into MGM Grand

o   Get T Mobile sim card

o   Stroll the strip to get the feel of where everything is and find out what time all the shows etc are on

o   Gondola ride at the Venetian hotel

o   Bellagio Conservatory

o   Fountains at Bellagio (every 15 minutes from 7pm – midnight)

o   Dinner where ever we fancy

o   The Aquarium at the Silverton Hotel – free – open 24 hours

o    

·       Friday 25^th October – Shopping and Grand Canyon

o   First morning of shopping, scout out and make lists of what I want to buy

o   Grand Canyon tour in the afternoon (if the dodgy tour group go along with the plan)

o   Contingency if the grand Canyon tour does not happen – all day shopping

o   Fall of Atlantis at Caesars Forum Shops

o   A show of some description depending on the information obtained from the night before.

·       Saturday 26^th October -  Motorbike riding morning

o   Hire some Harley’s

o   Go to Ethel M Chocolate Factory and Botanical Cactus Garden

o   Ride out to Red Rock Canyon .

o   Pictures next to the welcome to Las Vegas sign

·       Sunday 27^th October -  Area 51

o   Pick up a hire car and take a drive out to the back gate of Area 51 – nice guide

o   Tybo Ghost town

·       Monday 28^th October -  

·       Tuesday 29^th October -  

·       Wednesday 30^th October -  Marv and Monie Wedding – afternoon/ evening

·       Thursday 31^th October - Shopping and Halloween party.

·       Friday 1^st November -  Fly to Cancun –  Resort 1

·       Saturday 2^nd November – Resort 1

·       Sunday 3^rd November –  Move to second resort

·       Monday 4^th November –  Second resort

o   Underwater museum dives

·       Tuesday 5^th November – Second resort

o   Chichen Itza tour

·       Wednesday 6^th November – Second resort

·       Thursday 7^th November – Second resort

o   Shopping for local things

·       Friday 8^th November – Second resort

·       Saturday 9^th November –  Leave Cancun

o   Check in Orlando  Airport Marriott

·       Sunday 10^th November –  Board Caribbean Cruise

·       Monday 11^th November – Cruise

·       Tuesday 12^th November –  Cruise

·       Wednesday 13^th November –  Cruise

·       Thursday 14^th November –  Cruise

·       Friday 15^th November – Cruise

·       Saturday 16^th November – Cruise

·       Sunday 17^th  November - Get off boat 7am ish, Pick up the car about 9 am and start driving. (total of 1009 km of driving)

o   Part 1. - Google Map Link

o   First stop 

§  Tallahassee, FL -  430 km  quick lunch stop and obligatory pictures

o   Second Stop – 

§  Pensacola FL - 316 km

§  Flora-Bama Lounge and oysterbar.  (Local recommendation)  - early dinner   17401 Perdido Key Drive, Pensacola, FL, United States

§  Visit the beaches of the Gulf Coast

§  5:45 pm catch last Ferry out of Florida  

Part 2 - Google Map Link

oGulfport, MS -  134 km - Brief fuel and break and obligatory pictures for being in a different state

oNew Orleans, LA -  129 km. arrive about 8 pm if we get the last ferry or 10 pm if we miss it and have to go via Mobile.

oDinner and explore Burbon street and the main city

· Monday 18^th November - Explore New Orleans.                                                                                   

o1/2 day tour of  City and Plantations 

oCemetery tour/ voodoo Tour

oFood tour

oCocktail tour

· Tuesday 19^th November - Driving day start at 7am

oBreakfast in Baton Rouge - 129km

oLafeyette, LA - 96km - -Brief fuel and break and obligatory pictures

oHouston, TX - 350km  - Aiming to arrive around lunch time 

§ National Museum of Funeral history

§ Water wall

§ Beer can house

oSan Antonio, TX - 300km arrive about 6pm. (total 875km day)

§ Majestic Theatre - Night time

§ River walk & dinner - Night time

§ Buckhorn Saloon - Night time

§ Hemis Fair Urban Park (Tower of Americas) - Night time

§ Ripleys Haunted adventure - Night time

· Wednesday 20^th November - Explore San Antonio

ohttp://historictexastours.com/

§ Mission San Jose

§ Mission Conception

§ The Alamo 

oNatural Bridge Caverns - Just north of SA on I-35 

oNatural Bridge wildlife park ( driving zoo)

oCascade Caverns with an underground waterfall.

oEl Mercardo

oBill Miller Bar B Q

· Thursday 21^st  November –

oAustin TX, - 126km

•  Cowboy boots
• Allen’s Boots - South Congress, close to downtown
• Sheppler's -  Not too far from downtown
• Cavender's has two locations in Austin
• Capitol Saddlery
• Saltlick BBQ joint (Driftwood)
• Barton Springs
• Bats at sunset (Ann Richards Congress Ave. Bridge which is over Lady Bird Lake) 

· Friday 22^nd  November -

oWaco, TX 166km

§ Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum

§ Dr Pepper museum

oDallas, TX 153km

§ Texas school book depository  & Grassy Knoll

§ Keller's Drive-in - Northwest Hwy and Abrams Rd, Dallas, TX

§ Swiss Avenue Historic District

§ Pegasus Sign - 401 Commerce St, atop the Magnolia Hotel, Dallas, TX 75201 (Downtown Dallas) 

oAmarillo, TX - 588km – Stay the night

· Saturday 23^rd  November –

• Amarillo - Cadillac Ranch - Interstate 40, Amarillo, TX
• Route 66

oRoswell, NM 346km

• Roswell UFO tour – 1pm
• Alien Zone Store - 216 N. Main, Roswell, NM

oAlbuquerque, NM - 318km

• Breaking bad tour
• Route 66 Casino
• Route 66

· Sunday 24^th November

oFlagstaff, AZ - 522km

• Grand Falls
• Grand Canyon South Rim
• Arrive Las Vegas - 409km

· Monday 25^th November - Shopping in Vegas

· Tuesday 26^th  November -  Shopping in Vegas

· Wednesday 27^th  November -  Shopping in Vegas

· Thursday 28^th  November -  Shopping in Vegas

Friday 29^th  November -  Fly Home

Cruise activities planned out

Well that's another thing ticked off.

We have decided what we are going to do in each port.

Haiti - we are just going to lounge around on the beach and do some snorkeling if there is any close by.

Jamaica -  we are splitting up and doing different things. Nando is going to do a historic walking tour and I will be climbing the Dunn's River falls, then taking a horse back ride to a beach and riding the horse in the ocean. Something that I can tick off my bucket list ( Which I will get around to putting together at some stage).
Mexico - 2 boat dives and a little walk around town if time permits.

Now to plan what we are doing in Vegas, Cancun, and the last few days of the drive back... I should really stop leaving things till the last minute, that way I can relax.

And I need to find what suitcase I put the bag scales in.... Raahh

32 days till flying out

Here we are 32 days to go until we fly out, 30 days till last day at work  but only 20 work days left. Not much has changed..

My business cards have arrived. we went with Vista print who were amazing. For under AUD$ we got:

• 500 business cards ( we went with matt finish and left the deck and room blank in case of upgrade, and we can use the rest on future trips and cruises)
• 25 business card magnets
• a small stamp with our names and email address on it ( cause it was only $3, so why not)
• metal card holder
• shipping

I have also picked up a magnetic white board for hanging on our cruise ship door, as there is no phone reception, so we can write down meeting points etc.

I got a new swiss suitcase its a fair bit larger than carry on, but it will nest in the large suitcase and weighs under 3kg and was marked down from $240 to $64, and comes with 10 years warranty. Gotta love Harris Scarf sales.

I also got a tip from someone at work to get some little Aussie gifts to hand out as the locals love them. So 24 little roo badges later. that is now sorted.

The money pouch from last trip is in tatters, the velcro came un-stitched. I went in search for a new one but different brand. No suck luck. So rumbling through the sales rack I found a little purse that will do just fine. It even fits the passports.

 

In true Ramirez family style the problems are starting to roll in. We booked our Grand Canyon tour with Best Las Vegas Tours, and they are a nightmare to deal with. They have taken out more than the specified USD$59.50 deposit that was required and more than what the total of the tour is supposed to be. I tried to work with them as we copped a lot of fees as they took all the money out of a card they were not supposed to. But after 3 weeks of chasing them I have handed it over to the bank to deal with and funnily enough they finally sent through the fax number that they wanted me to send stuff too. To late buddy, I gave you every opportunity, next on the list will be to leave them terrible feedback on every review site I can find.

Kicking myself for booking my internals with AA again... I clearly didn't learn from their crap customer service last time. I was hung up on 3 times ( by the same person) before getting 1/2 the information I needed on my baggage allowance.

good to see that the dollar is on it's way back up again.

I need to start deciding what I am going to take with me. Nando is going for two sets of clothes and buying new stuff in the states. I think I will take a few of my fave dresses and my cozzies, although in two minds about getting a second pair here in oz for $100 or risking them not being available when I'm in the states. Last trip one pair of cozzies was not enough.

I am going to take the two tablet PC's instead of a laptop as they are lighter, but I will take a few hard drives to back up pictures, and blog entries after my last two blogging fails, I am determined to make this time work.

I really need to finish plotting out the trip details and looking into what tours I want to do across the whole trip.... Next post..

Leaving next month - 50 days to go

How exciting.. I can finally say we are leaving next month. This holiday has been 7 months in planning.


It is getting closer to the time that we take off and there is still soo much to do. I still have not finished plotting out the plan for the driving component. There are still a few things that we need to squeeze in two days to be back in Vegas for Nando's bday.

I'm still trying to match up my spend sheet with USD v's actual AUD costs and transactions.

I still need to book our shore tours and dives for our Caribbean cruise, we have finally got our log in to see what's on the boat. I  don't think that drinks packages will be available yet as its still 2 months till sailing.


A friend of mine gave us the great idea of making up some business cards to hand out to friends we make along the way and also on the cruise, with our contact email and deck and room number, but the dillema is what if we score a room upgrade lol... I guess I could just print them on cardboard myself and leave that spot so I can write it in....


Still have not transferred any spending money hoping that the dollar will climb a little higher. This trip is becoming a bit more expensive with the drop in the AUD. But ohh well. I still have a few hundred left over from my cruise in April.

I am pleased with the hotel bookings that I have completed so far, although we pay upfront (the website has recently changed so some hotels you can pay on arrival) we are able to get refunds when the price drops anywhere so I have been able to save a few thousand across the accommodation.

We have had a few flight changes that I need to cross check with my trip advisor to ensure that they are all up to date and I don't need to call and have them moved.

In planning all our stops along the way I have found so many cool things along the way that are more geared towards the warmer weather, so will have to plan another trip lol.

I may have to give up on my dude ranch experience as they require 2-3 days and I don't have that to spare.

I should start printing out all my important papers and swapping the papers out of the little pocket folder from the last trip.

I have booked our grand canyon tour for  the day after we arrive, but have not booked much else. I want to try and find all the hop on hop off buses and do those as a priority to get a good lay of the land no matter where we go.

Nando wants to do a hire a bike day and go riding in Vegas, we will have to do that as soon as we arrive as well as when we are back it will be well into winter so don't want to be riding around then