Blogs from Castle Rock, Colorado, United States, North America

Geo: 39.3759, -104.86Something that we were really glad for, when we followed the Tour de France, was our decision to rent bikes to take with us.Many times, it made way more sense to just park the campervan, and bike into/around town -- and it caused less stress (driving round some of these tiny roads can cause people who very much love each other to get a little snippy).And though we're renting a regular car, not a campervan, it still makes sense to have bikes. Plus, the idea of biking around the Italian countryside has a certain appeal, no?After sending inquiries to several bike shops or rental companies that I found online, I only got responses from 2.One quoted me a rate well over $1,000 for the use of 2 bikes, plus one-way fee (as we want ... read more

Geo: 39.3759, -104.869 am Mountain time.That's what time the official announcement of the 2017 Giro d'Italia route was announced.Okay, in reality, that's what time the presentation started. The actual route announcement didn't really begin until almost 10 am, and wasn't done until 11.But there I sat for almost 2 hours, with the streaming presentation in front of me, a Google Doc open to jot the city pairs into a table functioning as a calendar, and a Google map open, in which to pin the routes.When we decided to follow the 100th Tour de France, we went all-in, choosing to follow the whole thing. Tout la Tour de France.Now we know better. :) We know that a campervan isn't quite as fancy-free as we thought, and we know that 3 full weeks (plus travel time) gets long, ... read more

Geo: 39.3759, -104.86We all slept fairly well. G'mommy and G'daddy stayed in the main/queen size bed and Glenn and I stayed in the bunk bed room. Glenn slept on the floor.We went to bed around 9 or 10. G'mommy was hot, but we knew that during the night, it turns really cold.When everyone woke up, I fixed English muffins for mom and Dad. They went out on the porch and ate outside. G'mommy put her make-up on at the breakfast table.We then drove towards Ellen's house but not on I25. We took 83 which parallels the interstate. Since we had enough time, I chose to do a letterbox in a cemetery off of Spring Valley Road.This is what I wrote on Atlas Quest to record the Letterbox.Amazing. We had enough time to drive off of the ... read more

Geo: 39.3759, -104.86Some of my readers may know that I'm a (very) part-time travel agent. Mornings and a few evenings, arranging travel for no more than a dozen or so clients at a time.Many people think that being a travel agent gets you all kindsa' freebies, discounts, and perks.Ha!Okay, hotel discounts are pretty easy to come by (unless you're looking at popular destinations during popular times). And sometimes you can get a discount on airport parking, or a free day at an amusement park (if you've taken the time to go through the online course and learn about the products).But air discounts? A thing of the past.So imagine my skepticism when I got an e-mail from an airline, offering $8 fares.I nearly didn't open the e-mail.But I did, and found that they were offering $8 fares ... read more

Geo: 39.3759, -104.86Twenty years ago, I started my off-again, on-again career in the travel industry, at Rail Europe's call center. It was a pretty ideal job for me. "Hmmm....they're going to PAY me to talk on the phone.......about Europe. Okay...."I really enjoyed helping people plan their vacations in Europe, and I was able to draw (in some small way) on my personal experience traveling through some of Europe. I was fortunate enough to be raised by parents who valued travel as a part of life, and consequently, I had been to Europe twice by the time I graduated from high school, and once more with my family when I was about 23.So, here I was, at Rail Europe, becoming an expert on European rail travel. One of the benefits offered to the employees was a free ... read more