Quote from: ChrissyRyan on January 21, 2025, 09:04:43 PMTry Rainier cherries.  Very good!   

I wish I could, Chrissy. I love cherries. Especially black cherries. But there's almost no chance of getting them in the UK.

Zion National Park is a great park to visit.

Arches National Park is another park you may wish to visit too.

The California coast is remarkable.  Cliffs, sandy beaches, rocky shorelines, surfing waves, wildlife watching, food, hiking, and more.  Pretty sunsets.

The Oregon coast is also spectacular. 

Have you been to Florida?  What places do you suggest seeing?

The Florida Keys may be an interesting visit.  It looks like the end of it is a long drive from Miami. 

I heard alligators and crocodiles are all over Florida, even on a golf course.
That seems scary to me as I heard they go faster than humans.

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on January 25, 2025, 07:39:33 AMHave you been to Florida?  What places do you suggest seeing?

The Florida Keys may be an interesting visit.  It looks like the end of it is a long drive from Miami. 

I attended high school in Crestview for the first half of my senior year (between Pensacola and Destin). After a few arguments with the Vice Principal and the Dean, I dropped out and then joined the Army.

I love the northern Gulf area. Its sandy beaches are as white as snow, and pine trees and sea oats grow out of the sand. The water was so clear, you could see the bottom even where the water was thirty feet deep.

Back in those days (1975), Destin was a small fishing village. They had a movie theater right on the beach, which was comical when they were showing the movie "Jaws". Destin got wiped out by a hurricane, and since then has been rebuilt to rival Panama City as Florida's top Spring Break destination.

Someone told me that they can be lot of bugs in parts of Florida that bug you!

They have sand beaches that sound appealing.  Southernmost California (say near or south of Los Angeles) has a lot of sandy beaches too.  They are there north of LA too but a lot of the popular ones are south.

You can watch surfers at the beaches that have larger waves. 

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on January 25, 2025, 07:56:29 AMSouthernmost California (say near or south of Los Angeles) has a lot of sandy beaches too.  They are there north of LA too but a lot of the popular ones are south.

You can watch surfers at the beaches that have larger waves. 

Chrissy,

So, true. My neighboring city (and where my late wife was born) is known as Surf City USA. It hosts professional surfing competition every year.

Ellen

Quote from: EllenW on January 25, 2025, 09:48:25 AMChrissy,

So, true. My neighboring city (and where my late wife was born) is known as Surf City USA. It hosts professional surfing competition every year.

Ellen

There is a fun movie called "Endless Summer" that is about surfing.  Plus a colorful poster about it.  The artwork has been licensed and can be found on lots of things like coffee mugs, clothing, etc.

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on January 21, 2025, 08:10:18 PMWe have a lot of territory. 

It is amazing that we bought Alaska for about two cents an acre.
That is a big state.  What a bargain.

I will return there. 

That's nothing.  President Trump wants Canada for free.  That will be a big state.  I don't know how Americans feel but I don't think that I could exaggerate the terror of America now felt in the rest of the "free" world.  Some measure may be inferred from Denmark's very carefully worded responses to President T's insistence that the USA will acquire Greenland one way or another.  Goodbye Nato.

I would be surprised if there was any intercountry territory transfer in the Americas.
Greenland included.

This is a travel topic.  Have any of you been through the Inner Passage near Canada and Alaska?

Looks very pretty when seen in a video.  Must be spectacular in person.

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on January 25, 2025, 04:09:04 PMI would be surprised if there was any intercountry territory transfer in the Americas.
Greenland included.

I hope that you are right,  President Trump seems to be certain otherwise.  In the meantime, some of the USA's most strategic NATO allies are starting to perceive the more immediate threat to be from the West rather than the East.

I wish you were the president.  Unfortunately, as Plato pointed out, anyone who wants to rule is unfit for it. 
 

Quote from: MaryT on January 25, 2025, 02:38:40 PMThat's nothing.  President Trump wants Canada for free.  That will be a big state.  I don't know how Americans feel but I don't think that I could exaggerate the terror of America now felt in the rest of the "free" world.  Some measure may be inferred from Denmark's very carefully worded responses to President T's insistence that the USA will acquire Greenland one way or another.  Goodbye Nato.

Yeah it's not just the Canadians. Britain ruled Canada from 1763 to ultimately full legal autonomy in 1931. The orange messiah can't just goose step over the rest of the world and expect the rest of the world to not care. That's how world wars start. And I don't particularly want to be on the side of history that deems America as the Fourth Reich.

Quote from: Sephirah on January 25, 2025, 07:08:45 PMYeah it's not just the Canadians. Britain ruled Canada from 1763 to ultimately full legal autonomy in 1931. The orange messiah can't just goose step over the rest of the world and expect the rest of the world to not care. That's how world wars start. And I don't particularly want to be on the side of history that deems America as the Fourth Reich.

I feel the feeling but we'd better calm down.  Thanks to my comment on Chrissy's comment on how cheap Alaska was, the thread is digressing from travel and I wouldn't want to be responsible for closing the thread.

Travel is good! Lots of people seeing lots of places. I still want to go live in Antarctica. Where no one holds a claim to anything.

I don't blame people for having high tempers these days, though. The whole news section has literally become a refuge for people trying to get away from stupidity and showing hope where it can be found. Sites like this are a sanctuary now more than ever. If our celestial masters had their way... this site would probably be closed under accusation of sedition. That's the level democracy has sank to.

I've been thinking about this and... honestly I can't blame Trump for his lunacy. Not really. I think I blame most of America who voted him in. If y'all didn't want this messiah, he would have no power. You hated him last time but forgot all the idiocy... so... you get what you pay for. Which kind of sucks for the rest of the world and for the people with common sense. But these kinds of people only have power because you give it to them.

Travel, travel, travel.

When I could afford it, I loved to spend my free time in African game reserves and national parks.  I saw a lot of Southern Africa and had a few trips to Kenya and Ethiopia.  I haven't been abroad for a long time, though.

Two of my favourite spots were in the Kruger National Park:
Letaba Camp and Olifants Camp.  Letaba was particularly beautiful and large wildlife could be viewed from the large shaded verandah.  Olifants Camp had a viewsite overlooking a huge area in which many species could be viewed, especially with binoculars.  I also loved the northern camps at Shingwedzi and Punda Maria. 

When I first went there, Punda Maria was called Punda Milia, which is Swahili for zebra or "striped donkey".  Its original name had been Punda Maria but the park authorities thought that it must have been a spelling mistake.  However, the wife of the first ranger in that area was called Maria.  In one of my books, the author wrote that Maria wore striped dresses and that Punda Maria meant Striped Maria.  He must have made that up because Punda Maria actually means Maria the Donkey.  Maria left her husband.  I wonder why?  For better or worse, the authorities finally changed it back to its original name.

Quote from: MaryT on January 25, 2025, 07:34:59 PMWhen I could afford it, I loved to spend my free time in African game reserves and national parks.  I saw a lot of Southern Africa and had a few trips to Kenya and Ethiopia.  I haven't been abroad for a long time, though.

I think I would love to see both. But I suffer from the same problem as going to spend time with my number one gal, Sarah B, down in Oz. The heat just... it's torture for me. Put me in a cold climate, it's like Red Bull. But anything remotely warm it's like "Come on, Lion, Spider, Stonefish... fair game!"