RichC | June 20, 2013
Karen Hutton of KarenHuttonPhotography posted a gorgeous photo from Makapu’u Lookout in Oahu, Hawaii yesterday that makes me want to return to Hawaii. (our 2006 trip) Her description was nice too: I could almost see the curvature of the earth on the horizon… it was dizzying! And wonderful, and blue, green, gorgeous and stunning. I […]
RichC | June 19, 2013
A travel oriented video clip for today’s post from a guy in the Peace Corp. The Bamboo Train of Cambodia iis built on narrow gauge French tracks in a region called Battambang. According to the videographer, “it goes crazy fast, its crazy rickety, its held together by momentum and weight, and its just plain crazy.”
RichC | May 28, 2013
Hard to believe that the already high price of air travel (20% is already in taxes) could go up another $14 per flight. May 27, 2013 — Another airfare increase may be on the way. But this time It has nothing to do with the airlines. The Obama administration has proposed raising the taxes on […]
RichC | May 19, 2013
Great series of 13 photos from St. Maartin’s Princess Juliana International Airport on Weather.com this month where Maho Beach-goers get up close and personal with landing aircraft (one of many posted short videos below).
RichC | May 9, 2013
An article in Thursday’s WSJ highlighted airline loyalty programs and just how easy it was to book a frequent flyer seat. The data collected by Switchfly Inc, looked for 2 seats on 14 round trip dates between June and October. The regular survey determined which airline made it the easiest to get the seat when […]
RichC | April 21, 2013
I think we’ll spend some money for a meal downtown Cincinnati next month as a way to celebrate my son’s Geography and Urban and Regional Planning degree from Miami University. He will graduate next month and has spent quite a bit of time working and studying revitalization projects downtown (he does have his gown … […]
RichC | February 5, 2013
In the last few weeks gasoline prices have risen 20 – 30 cents per gallon and the extra few dollars were felt when we were in Florida this past week. The small, and cheap feeling, Nissan Versa rental car was at least a little thrifty at the pump – 32 mpg, but it should have […]
RichC | November 18, 2012
My wife is a dolphin lover … NOT the Mahi-mahi fish type, but the intelligent and always smiling marine mammals. Me on the other hand, I like both … and enjoy blackened or grilled Mahi-mahi almost as much as “viewing” a pod of dolphins swimming along side a wind-driven sailboat. Nevertheless, I knew Brenda would […]
RichC | October 26, 2012
Since the Little Red Riding Hood classic has been modified a few times through history, my “what big teeth you have” alteration of the tale is hardly a stretch for those near the water rather than a wolf in the woods for living on boats or an island. These impressive photos are from Australian […]
RichC | July 16, 2012
This may not be a current story (April 2012), but this weekend I read about a fisherman hauling home a gigantic 20 foot, 2000 pound Great While Shark. The large fish was a chore to bring in and was found dead tangled in his nets in the Sea of Cortez near Guaymas Mexico. This hefty […]
RichC | June 27, 2012
A change in schedules had me flying into CVG (Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Airport) on Tuesday and stuck without a way home. I didn’t park my car this trip and expected that “someone” would be available to pick me up and drive me home – NOPE! Anyway this gave me an excuse to look for another way […]
RichC | June 18, 2012
I’m either too busy or too lazy to add a post for Monday … as both Sunday night and Monday morning have disappeared. Instead, I’ll reshare a couple interesting oceans of the world photos. (Sharks with schools of fish and a large “Batoidea” migration.)
RichC | June 15, 2012
Japan’s hidden tropical island: Aogashimahttp://boingboing.net/2012/05/29/japans-hidden-tropical.html
RichC | May 22, 2012
I found this one on my phone, another one on Brenda’s Kodak Zx5 camcorder gizmo and the other couple that included yours truly from Katie’s huge album on Facebook (Taylor’s friend)… a really enjoyable memory seeing all of her photos.
RichC | May 15, 2012
Headed home after a quick few days with Taylor and his friends on the boat. Project were minimal but we had a great time and had some interesting stories – the one about “Rick” would have any parent giving a lecture (ah … memories). Surprisingly I found the time comfortable on the boat even […]
RichC | April 28, 2012
Airlines say they are warehousing hundreds of iPads and other tablet computers and e-readers left behind by travelers. Carriers try to reunite the devices with their owners but are often thwarted by the lack of ID tags, password protection and Apple Inc.’s reluctance to track down owners based on serial numbers. — WSJ Scott […]
RichC | April 2, 2012
Although this has probably been around a few years, the NASA‘s Perpetual Ocean is as artistic as it is informative. Those who transit the oceans of the world know the power of currents … this video illustrates how prevalent ocean currents are.
RichC | March 11, 2012
After the long overnight drive home here’s a wrap up post from my trip to Florida with my son Taylor over his college spring break. We had a mostly great father-son time and I for one was glad he chose to spent the week with me rather than other friends or SigEp fraternity brothers – […]
RichC | March 5, 2012
… and hopefully sailing. Since Taylor is on spring break and isn’t heading with is Fraternity buddies to a drinking location with half of Miami University (and that half may be an under-statement), I suggested he and I drive down to Encore and spend a few days on the boat. Cheap trip for him, worthwhile […]
RichC | January 29, 2012
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 The Rock Islands of Palau, also called Chelbacheb, are a small collection of limestone or coral uprises, ancient relics […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. The single most congested stretch of highway in the […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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?
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
RichC | May 19, 2011
Who needs a dinghy … fly instead! Nice views … (Check out PercyMichael’s YouTube clips of the Krucker amphib)
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 […]
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!
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
RichC | June 29, 2010
As the gulf coast continues to clean up oil damaged shorelines, folks in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida resort businesses welcome home grown singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who with some friends will be helping to promote tourism with a free beach concert Thursday night. While oil gushes and a more noticeable oil slick moves closer to the […]
RichC | June 22, 2010
The BP Oil Disaster is bound to be the story to remember 2010 by as historians archive this year. Like most Americans who’ve travelled and enjoy the gulf coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, I’m disgusted and saddened by the damage that is being done to the economy, coastline and ecosystem. As we […]
RichC | April 30, 2010
With a new El Rancho Grande Mexican restaurant opening close to home, I won’t have to drive as far to get my chips and salsa ‘fix.’ Unfortunately being so close is going to be a real temptation.
RichC | April 29, 2010
It has become challenging to fly commercial airlines in recent year, especially since 9/11. Not only has the process of going through most airports become time consuming with all the additional security precautions, but the airlines themselves have made changes which most agree have become irritating to down right miserable for passengers, I’m thinking about […]
RichC | March 12, 2010
Since the weather has been wet and windy here in Florida, we decided to take a road trip north from Delray Beach towards Fort Pierce. Our plan was to putter along and check on a couple sailboats. We opted to drive the A-1-A route along the shore and stopped at several of the pull-offs along […]
RichC | March 8, 2010
We’re enjoying a relaxing spring day listening to the wind and waves in the Florida sunshine. It is a welcome change from the 2009 – 2010 winter that seemed to have lasted long enough, at least in our corner of Ohio. Hopefully we will return in a couple days feeling regenerated … I’m sensing my batteries […]
RichC | March 7, 2010
We had a slow start to the day after a frustrating delayed flight out of Cincinnati — we were switched to a smaller plane. I was sardined into the just in front of the lavatory seat behind two babies (with full diapers) and a 3-4 year old (really a very good kid). Thankfully things got […]
RichC | March 3, 2010
A large rogue wave, actually three “abnormal” waves, hit a Greek cruise ship with 1350 passengers and 580 crew in the Mediterranean north of Barcelona, Spain killing two passengers and injuring fourteen. The Louis Cruise Line ship, Louis Majesty, has 14 decks and is over two football fields long. It hit the three 26 foot […]
RichC | February 20, 2010
While traveling to NE Ohio this week, and waiting to meet with my daughter for lunch in Akron Ohio, I drove through the gates of snow crusted Glendale Cemetery founded as Akron Rural Cemetery in 1839. While steering through the snow-covered drives in serene park-like setting, I took the opportunity to capture the snow surrounding […]
RichC | January 18, 2010
Not my idea, but I’d be interested to know how many regular travelers have secured their computer, camera or regular luggage by flying with a “weapon?” I might toss my Orion 12ga. flare gun in a bag and give it a try next flight. (A weapon in a bag keeps the bag secure since the […]
RichC | December 31, 2009
A strange GPS story and follow-up courteous of the Air Forces Space Command Twitter account to usher out 2009 and welcome 2010 … Happy New Year, by the way. GPS strands couple in snow for 3 days GRANTS PASS, Ore. – A Nevada couple letting their SUV’s navigation system guide them through the high desert […]