We’re going early February to early March. LAX to Auckland then cruise around New Zealand and Eastern Australia. It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a long time. Packing is daunting, but I’m hoping to get organized soon.
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@my2sonsfromca -that sounds very much like the cruise H and I took 3 years ago!
Just went out and bought some Sbx gift cards
Finished packing and now have to hope the flights aren’t affected by the weather in other areas!
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Well, spoke too soon. First flight is already delayed (so far by only 20 min… but who knows). Good news - (a) we have a long layover in LAX ( I anticipated that the time of year warranted a flight with a longer layover) and we are currently hanging out in the newly remodeled/updated Delta lounge on concourse D.
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Not at a place where we can plan more international travel. So we opted to spend a night in nearby Denver, and the Brown Palace that gets decorated so nicely at the holidays. This was the view from near the door of our 3rd floor room. We could leave the door propperd open and hear the music. Also enjoyed the Pissarro visit at Denver Art Museum.
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Got 3 trips on the books.
January – 4 days at the National Soccer Coaches Convention. Footwear will be Addidas Sambas 
First week in Febuary–DW and I are going to Honolulu for a week.
Last September-I am headed to Dallas for a 4 day music festival
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Our “near future” plans so far -
We head to Grand Cayman for 2 weeks in January. We will be with another couple for a week, and then a week on our own.
We are going to a wedding in Charleston SC in May, and we may make that a little vacation, or just a long weekend. The combo of “kids” that join us will impact our decision.
We are going to the Canadian Rockies for 2 weeks in July, including 4 nights at the Moraine Lake Lodge, which we are really looking forward to.
We are likely doing a cycling trip to Italy, but the timing is tough because the trip we want would fall between the wedding and Canadian Rockies trip. There’s also an Oregon biking trip that sounds fun in June. Either/both may have to wait until next year.
We already have a trip to Hawaii planned for 2027. We’ve booked a week in Maui and a week in Kauai, but I really want to get to the Big Island at some point, so we may add a couple of days for that.
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I was always considered an oddball by my work colleagues for favoring historic hotels over ones with all the “modern” amenities, and the Brown Palace was my Denver “regular”. Up there with the Palliser in Calgary.
Thanks for sharing this photo!
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We had a nice meal at the Brown Palace in Denver when we were there in 2009 so I could speak at a Conference. It was a lovely place! We also liked dining at the Willard Hotel in DC, especially when the dining room was open for regular meal service. We’d have light meals during the day at fast food places and then have a wonderful, fancy early dinner at the dining room. It was a lot of fun!
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We’re kicking travel into high gear this year - our 50th anniversary year. Leaving mid January for Denver to visit grandson ( and his parents) then on to Hawaii until end of February. In June finally doing our Alaska cruise with land extension for 2 weeks. Finally in September doing 3 weeks on the Viking Mediterranean and Italian Sojourn from Venice to Barcelona with pre and post in Tuscany and Madrid. We had delayed travel because of covid and are just catching up.
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Happy New Year from this tired traveller from the place on land that celebrates the New Year first! It sure is nice to be where it’s warm and the sun is still shining at almost 8:30!
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I think I’ve eaten at a restaurant right there, down a little from the tree.
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Where are you?
Image search tells me it’s “the vibrant waterfront of the Viaduct Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand.”
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We head out for our first trip of 2026 on Sunday. We are taking all the family to ski in Mammoth. During February we head to Big Sky to stay with friend that have a ski in ski out for the season. We are planning another Mammoth trip for March. April takes us to Charlotte to watch GD for D and SIL since they will fly in for a wedding. We are headed to Bermuda with all of our family in July for 10 days so that our Bermuda family can meet GD. October will take us to CT for GD’s first birthday. We will also go to Newport while there since SIL is in a wedding and we will watch GD. H said yesterday he’d like to plan 8 days in London for the beginning of December. Then on the return from that trip we could stop in CT for Christmas with GD. We plan to keep going as long as we can!
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Has anyone done a Tauck land tour? Initially H and I were going to wait for our 40th anniversary to do a big trip and we’ve decided that there is no reason to wait. I’m looking at a two week trip travelling through France.
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I almost posted this in Thing I Learned … but since I posted photo of Brown Palace, I’ll continue here. Who knew there were still debutante balls were still a thing? (Ok, maybe others reading this thread did…. but here in Colorado I’ve been exposed to very little of this kind of high social event - with $7k dresses!).
Trivia that we learned on the awesome hotel historic tour (which we’ve done before, but this time it was led by the actual hotel historian who has written books about it):
- The beautiful chandelier in my photo is only installed for holiday season. It is actually owned by the Debutante Ball association… and they arrange installation (in parts) and removal… store it in a building elsewhere off season.
- The front door was originally on Broadway, not the current Tremont location. That’s why when entering from valet parking we guests are all mumbling, “where the heck is the front desk?” (it’s around the corner).
- No association between the Brown Palace family and the Unsinkable Molly Brown, also from Denver. But there were years where she maintained an apartment there.
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I should learn to do that Image search thing. Give me a few minutes! Edit Well, hot diggity dog! Google Image Search works. Happy New Years Thumper 1 !!
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New Zealand looks so nice in the sunshine. I hope you and @jym626 share some highlights of your trips.
I played around and asked ChatGPT to give me info on a 10 day trip to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island from my city. I got the idea from @shawbridge on another thread. It was fun to see what it came up with, including what airlines route are available from my city.
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