Just boarded the pirate ship cruise on Lake Ashi, at Hakone. Flying home on T-Day.
Japan is incredible. Thanks for asking!
OT: Travel & Food ideas and advice
- Thread starter pawrestlersintn
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Japan is incredible. Thanks for asking!
Good news/bad news on the Ono front.
The bad news: he discovered chankonabe and won't be training with Lilledahl this spring.
The good news: he's training with Kerk, and Steveson is toast.
I’m so fascinated by Sumo and its surrounding culture. Those big boys are good athletes, despite the appearance. Micah Parsons might be better though.Good news/bad news on the Ono front.
The bad news: he discovered chankonabe and won't be training with Lilledahl this spring.
The good news: he's training with Kerk, and Steveson is toast.
Yes, and the intensity is off the charts. It looks intense on US TV ... and then there are the 6 annual national tournaments in Japan.
Sadly, we didn't get to experience that first-hand. We had tickets to the Fukuoka tourney -- that is until StubHub fell down on the job (despite me prodding them when the ticket status made no sense). Whoops.
We did see a little of it on live TV at dinner one night, plus the Sumo Museum in Tokyo (which we would've visited anyway).
Guess we'll have to return.
It’s still Christmas Eve here in the West. The pastor at the service here in Yuma said some things that brought up a lot of good memories. Fifty two years ago tonight, I spent Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, Israel. Probably won’t ever have another Christmas like that one, but it’s still etched clearly in my memory.
Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men! God Bless!
Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men! God Bless!
I wouldn't eat any food that had bugs in it, even if shaken out. That's my line in the sand.
Just joined a cold smoking cheese fakebook group. It's nice to find a large group that shares my addiction.
Anxious to try something new I discovered there. Soaking cheese (maybe a cheddar) in a nice red cab, merlot or port for about 7 days, then smoking for 4 hours, and aging for several weeks. I'll upload pics when I try this.
Anxious to try something new I discovered there. Soaking cheese (maybe a cheddar) in a nice red cab, merlot or port for about 7 days, then smoking for 4 hours, and aging for several weeks. I'll upload pics when I try this.
@HOCKEYGOD11 ^^Just joined a cold smoking cheese fakebook group. It's nice to find a large group that shares my addiction.
Anxious to try something new I discovered there. Soaking cheese (maybe a cheddar) in a nice red cab, merlot or port for about 7 days, then smoking for 4 hours, and aging for several weeks. I'll upload pics when I try this.
Looking for a little advice if anyone is willing to give it. My wife and son want to go to Yellowstone this summer. We are looking at sometime around the 2nd week in June and spending 7 to 10 days.
I was thinking about flying out of Philadelphia direct into Salt Lake City. Driving up through Grand Teton and Yellowstone and then departing out of Bozeman.
We don't mind getting into a little hiking but more than likely mostly sightseeing and whatever adventure we can find along the way. Is a weeks time reasonable to hit this area?
We just started to try and put this together today so any suggestions are appreciated.
I was thinking about flying out of Philadelphia direct into Salt Lake City. Driving up through Grand Teton and Yellowstone and then departing out of Bozeman.
We don't mind getting into a little hiking but more than likely mostly sightseeing and whatever adventure we can find along the way. Is a weeks time reasonable to hit this area?
We just started to try and put this together today so any suggestions are appreciated.
June is relatively soon in Yellowstone time. Crowds will be booming. Step one would be to make sure you can find lodging accommodations to suit your needs. There is never “enough” time for the west, especially if you are from the east and haven’t explored much. You will be occupied/amazed the whole time. Take as much time as you can.
I can suggest some western alternatives if Yellowstone doesn’t look feasible for whatever reason. But figure that out first!
Thanks for this. My wife and I need to come up with a little better idea of how much time we want to spend in different parts of the park. Move our lodging north as we travel up through.
I haven't been so FWIW, but did a lot of planning (with inputs from others who had been) for a trip that I had to ditch because of Covid.
Look into hotels ASAP -- it might already be tough. Recommend basing most of the trip out of West Yellowstone MT and/or Gardiner MT, or maybe Cooke City MT; Jackson WY for time in Teton. Maybe 1 night in Cody WY for the wild west stuff and Beartooth Hwy (if it's open), though Cody is kinda out of the way if you don't have a lot of time. You could stay in Bozeman for the Yellowstone portion, but then you're leaving at zero-dark-thirty each day to beat gate traffic.
I had difficulty compresing my trip to 9d without sacrificing Beartooth. 7d is too little. 10d is probably doable but might feel a little rushed. Distances within the parks are massive, and driving is slow even before considering traffic (there will be a lot) and animal crossings (or animals parking in the the road). The parks are basically set up as huge loops (1 for Teton, multiple within Yellowstone), with lodging primarily on the outskirts.
I wouldn't fly via SLC, too far away (4.5 hrs from Jackson) with not much along the way. I'd probably RT in/out of Bozeman or Jackson, or maybe West Yellowstone or Cody if the flights make sense. If the price difference isn't terrible, I'd fly at least one way thru Jackson -- the airport is within Grand Teton National Park.
If you need to adjust dates but can still fit in 2025, I'd do that. Yellowstone and Teton are not yet requiring timed entry passes with pre-reservations. I'm kinda shocked Yellowstone isn't yet.
Hope this helps! I'm jealous.
Yes this helps a ton. I just checked flights into Jackson and they are priced very reasonably which is surprising. Nothing direct but a short layover in Dallas or Chicago is probably worth it. A quick search showed car rentals are cheaper to pick up in Jackson and dropping off in Bozeman than vice versa.
With what you and Amattaro said it sounds as though we better get our reservation in sooner than later. We've got some homework to do quickly. Lol
Gonna throw a wrench into your plans -- if you fly RT via Jackson ... and if the flights/hotels/time away work right ...
Then you can do Cody/Beartooth AND do SE Idaho -- Craters of the Moon + Twin Falls: Shoshone Falls (which is taller than Niagara), Twin Falls waterfall, and the Evel Knievel Jump Site are all close to each other and to town. This Idaho add-on is a little out of the way (an extra 8 hrs driving + 1 night), but that stuff is unique for an easterner, and not much further away than if you tried to hit those places from Boise.
Do to this, you'd
- Fly RT in/out of Jackson. Leave PHL on the early morning flight, arrive around lunch.
- Either see all of Tetons and then drive to Cody in whatever morning; or see some of Tetons on arrival day on the way to Cody, and catch the rest of Tetons on the return
- 1 night in Cody, Buffalo Bill Center and the rodeo. IIRC there's a staged public shootout downtown.
- Next day, drive Beartooth Hwy if open (alternate Chief Joseph Hwy) to Gardiner, base yourself there for a few nights, do the N/NE loops of Yellowstone + day trip to Bozeman
- Change hotels to West Yellowstone, do the W/SW loops of Yellowstone
- Do the Idaho stuff, spend a night in Twins Falls, then return to Jackson and do whatever stuff around there you didn't see before (part of Tetons, Elk Refuge, Aerial Tram, etc.
- On return to Jackson, see whatever you missed before: rest of Tetons, Elk Preserve, Teton Village/Aerial Tram, etc.
If the full extra day in Idaho is too much, you could just return to Jackson thru Tetons. Or you could do the outside road from West Yellowstone and stop at Mesa Falls ID, which is only about 10 min out of the way.
I believe you've mentioned before that you're an engineer. If that's what you do to earn a living, you could have one hell of side business making online travel itineraries for people. 😆
My wife has a meeting until late tomorrow night so we decided we'd look things over individually and Wednesday evening work together on getting a plan together so we could start with the reservations.
She is ready to go to sleep for the night but I told her that she needs to hear the suggested itinerary you posted. I read it to her and she pleasantly smirked and said "yeah, let's do that".
I'm going to map that out a bit tomorrow but I think we're going to try running your play book.
Thanks El-Jefe.
Flattery will get you everywhere.
I'd make an awful travel agent. Spend way too much time on it, way too detailed, and list too many things to see/do in each location.
My wife would look at my itinerary, smirk, and say "let's do about 1/4 of that."
Seriously: as you plan, consider how much driving you personally will do, vs how much she (and your son?) might help with. It's a LOT of driving, and the entire region is at high altitude. If you're gonna do all of that, plus whatever hiking, AND you're trying to beat the crowds every morning (i.e., you're not a moron) -- then you might want to add a rest or low-activity day in the middle. Maybe one day in West Yellowstone -- there's a more to do in town than in Gardiner. Or maybe make Bozeman an overnight between Gardiner and West Yellowstone, instead of a day trip. Etc.
That full itinerary would be around 1,000 miles/19-20 hrs of driving -- plus the loops inside the parks, which are substantial. The lowest altitude in the region is about 4800 ft. Yellowstone averages 8k ft. Beartooth Hwy reaches 11k ft. It's tiring, and you need to be alert with wildlife on the roads unpredictably.
I'm actually thinking on going out sometime in late July. I'm thinking on flying into Cheyenne during Frontier Days and then driving to Cody. My Godmother has a horse ranch in Powell. She runs a summer camp for children called Dano Camp. I might see if she needs a volunteer to help. Named after her son who died riding a horse that tumbled down a bank when he was trying to harvest some Elk antler sheds. I've never been in the Cody/Powell area.
The reason I know Cheyenne, brings up the dreaded car travel. My Mom is from a small town near Reno Nevada. I was born in Reno. When my Dad got out of service our family moved to his hometown of Bangor. We didn't have the money to fly to see my mom's parents. Our family of 5 would get into the 1968 Buick Electra and drive almost 2,800 miles on Route 80 in 4 days/3 nights ,stay 7 days and repeat. Route 80 goes thru Cheyenne.
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My girlfreinds sister and brother in law live about 10 miles from it. Pass it on way from Orlando to their house.
I’ve been at Daytona for the last 6 weeks. Leaving tomorrow. Enjoy the race (which may be Monday).
I was there 4 times since October. Love it there.
Me and my son were swimming in the ocean, when we got out a mother and daughter told us there was a shark right behind us. If your looking for a sports bar beachside tavern is the place to go great music, great pool, great people. The garlic restaurant is a must visit!
There is a very small pizza joint that I can't remember the name of off hand that has garlic knots that are right there at the top of the list as best ever.
I went to Daytona once while I was at new Smyrna, although Daytona had more night life I much prefer the laid back scene of new Smyrna. It is really close to the same cost as everything around johnstown but way way better, except the housing market.
Moved down here for a reason, the Shark Attack from the NSB Brewery is very good.
I'm jealous I would love to make that move.
What is the name of that pizzeria, very busy, well known name, tiny eat in area, bread knots imperticular but all the food is great.
Wouldn't it have been better if she had tried to tell you BEFORE you got out of the water?
Didn't stop at track but did finally get to have a beer at the Cabbage Patch. Place always made me curious when we drove by it. Lol. Also had to go check out the Bucees in Daytona. I see what people are talking about now... lol
Spent Monday at New Smyrna Beach shopping. Very nice. Alot of young people out and about...guess the schools were out for holiday. Planned on eating there but went back to Daytona and ate at Crabby Joe's. It was ok.
You were shopping or someone else was shopping and you tagged along behind her and carried the bags?
I'd be moderately interested in those western Yellowstone alternatives if you don't mind pointing them out. I've been to SE Alaska 3 times, to northeastern Utah once (probably going back this summer) and to northern Colorado twice. I enjoyed all of those trips, but I'm MOSTLY interested in fly fishing or wildlife/landscape viewing and photography and while the idea of seeing Yellowstone sometime before I die is pretty appealing, I have less than zero interest in dealing with the crowds during the peak season. I'd rather have my fingernails pulled out with pliers in fact.
Go the last week in September to Yellowstone we did and it was amazing. We also went up to Glacier. It's a must
I’m a big fan of Medicine Bow, Wyoming. About a two hour drive from Denver International. If you can stomach some potentially harsh conditions, you could tag that on to the Penn State dual at Wyoming next year, if it happens. Pics below are from first week in July. 30s at day break. For a big summer trip, time it around the rodeo in Cheyenne to get the full western experience. Thats maybe two hours east of Medicine Bow.
Cheynne puts you about four hours from Custer, Black Hills, Rushmore. As many bison (THEY ARE NOT BUFFALO) as you ever want to see. If you post your number I can text you an awesome stampede video. Spearfish, SD is also awesome place. You just go and find a river running through a canyon and make a day of it.
If you went in and out of Denver, easy enough to rack on Rocky Mountain NP. Estes Park is the known side and is overrun. I go in that way because it’s cool to drive across the park on my way to Grand Lake. Grand Lake is super relaxed and it’s easy enough to go back across the park, for me anyway.
Anywhere in Utah is awesome. Moab is the coolest place in the United States, for my money. Red rock out the yin yang. Ride the river, climb, via Ferrata, off road. Not yet commercialized, but it is on its way, unfortunately. If you went there from Denver you cross the high country and all the ski towns, if you have any interest there. Moab will be triple digits hot in the summer. From the other direction, only two hours to Zion from Vegas and another two to Bryce Canyon. Zion woll be overrun with tourists. Throw a dart at a map of southern Utah and you will hit a winner
Carlsbad Caverns to Big Bend is incredible, but you gotta want that one. It gets pretty remote out there. We swam the Rio Grande last year. It’s about a 12 hour drive for me and I would leave tonight if my wife wanted to go again, for some perspective on it. But I love the remoteness. Your phone won’t work, no gas for 100 miles, etc. Carlsbad Caverns was hard to grasp the enormity of the underground space. It seemed never ending. I can post some pictures of these places later.
I’m flying to Redding this summer and going to Redwoods and Lassen Volcanic. First time, Lassen supposed to be relatively uninhabited all year. Can’t wait! United just opened a flight from Denver to Redding, so you could get there in one hop, assuming you are coming from east coast.
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Moab is amazing. Canyonlands and Arches are unbelievable. We are about 8 hours from there down in the Phoenix area. Moab is one of my favorite places to go skydiving. The little airport outside of town has a skydiving company there. It's unbelievable jumping over MoabI’m a big fan of Medicine Bow, Wyoming. About a two hour drive from Denver International. If you can stomach some potentially harsh conditions, you could tag that on to the Penn State dual at Wyoming next year, if it happens. Pics below are from first week in July. 30s at day break. For a big summer trip, time it around the rodeo in Cheyenne to get the full western experience. Thats maybe two hours east of Medicine Bow.
Cheynne puts you about four hours from Custer, Black Hills, Rushmore. As many bison (THEY ARE NOT BUFFALO) as you ever want to see. If you post your number I can text you an awesome stampede video. Spearfish, SD is also awesome place. You just go and find a river running through a canyon and make a day of it.
If you went in and out of Denver, easy enough to rack on Rocky Mountain NP. Estes Park is the known side and is overrun. I go in that way because it’s cool to drive across the park on my way to Grand Lake. Grand Lake is super relaxed and it’s easy enough to go back across the park, for me anyway.
Anywhere in Utah is awesome. Moab is the coolest place in the United States, for my money. Red rock out the yin yang. Ride the river, climb, via Ferrata, off road. Not yet commercialized, but it is on its way, unfortunately. If you went there from Denver you cross the high country and all the ski towns, if you have any interest there. Moab will be triple digits hot in the summer. From the other direction, only two hours to Zion from Vegas and another two to Bryce Canyon. Zion woll be overrun with tourists. Throw a dart at a map of southern Utah and you will hit a winner
Carlsbad Caverns to Big Bend is incredible, but you gotta want that one. It gets pretty remote out there. We swam the Rio Grande last year. It’s about a 12 hour drive for me and I would leave tonight if my wife wanted to go again, for some perspective on it. But I love the remoteness. Your phone won’t work, no gas for 100 miles, etc. Carlsbad Caverns was hard to grasp the enormity of the underground space. It seemed never ending. I can post some pictures of these places later.
I’m flying to Redding this summer and going to Redwoods and Lassen Volcanic. First time, Lassen supposed to be relatively uninhabited all year. Can’t wait! United just opened a flight from Denver to Redding, so you could get there in one hop, assuming you are coming from east coast.
