Sorted. Well, sort of.
Cath and I have sat down and taken a look at what Chicago has to offer. To be honest, we've not found a whole lot that is of real interest to us. It's become clear though that what we did have an interest in, was going to be too much for the time we have available, so the Gangster Tour and the Wrigley Field tour have been sidelined. Most of the stuff we have identified is within a couple of miles walk of the hotel, which is perfect, as we both like to walk but even now we aren't sure we'll be able to fit everything in, as we don't know quite what time we shall get to our hotel and/or whether we'll feel like going out straight away, after the long journey over. We'll find out soon enough though, only 10 weeks to go now.
This has been a useful exercise, as we now have to look at what we can fill our spare day with in LA. The added 'complications' there, are that we aren't in the heart of the city and we also want to include spending some time with Dean & Carol (my buddies from the Wild West Tour 2013). All I can say is, I hope they don't mind walking!
Till next time.
Monday, 15 June 2015
Wednesday, 3 June 2015
Chicago planning
Following on from the last post, Cath and I decided we'd sit down at the weekend and spend a couple of hours planning what we shall do on our sightseeing day in Chicago. There were a couple of other things thrown into the ring, such as the baseball stadium and an architectural boat trip, so it seemed sensible to check these out. Least that was the plan, but we fell at the first hurdle!
Thanks to Mr Branson, our flight out has been moved forward a couple of hours, meaning, where we had imagined we would use public transport to Heathrow, we will now have to arrive so early, that we need to leave before the trains start running. Consequently, rather than seeing what delights the Windy City has in store for us, we spent our time reviewing the different options for getting us to Heathrow. In the end, the most sensible option was to drive and park the car in long stay parking. Looking at the costs involved and logistics, it was a no brainer and I have duly booked our space.
In the meantime, I've had a quick look at some of the attractions in Chicago and found a gangster bus tour, which may be quite interesting. Cath and I will have another shot (no pun intended) at planning this coming weekend and hopefully we'll be able to get some sort of plan together. Once that's sorted, we can turn our attentions to the other end of the Route, LA.
Thanks to Mr Branson, our flight out has been moved forward a couple of hours, meaning, where we had imagined we would use public transport to Heathrow, we will now have to arrive so early, that we need to leave before the trains start running. Consequently, rather than seeing what delights the Windy City has in store for us, we spent our time reviewing the different options for getting us to Heathrow. In the end, the most sensible option was to drive and park the car in long stay parking. Looking at the costs involved and logistics, it was a no brainer and I have duly booked our space.
In the meantime, I've had a quick look at some of the attractions in Chicago and found a gangster bus tour, which may be quite interesting. Cath and I will have another shot (no pun intended) at planning this coming weekend and hopefully we'll be able to get some sort of plan together. Once that's sorted, we can turn our attentions to the other end of the Route, LA.
Friday, 24 April 2015
Thrill of a lifetime
Or maybe not.
When we arrive in Chicago, we shall have a day and a bit to do our sightseeing. One of the places I definitely want to visit, is Lou Mitchells. I'm hoping that they will be able to squeeze a couple of Limies in for breakfast. And what better way to start your first full day in the Windy City?
For those that don't know, Lou's is a famous Route 66 eatery and has been serving the Chicago population since before the route was created even, from 1923. When I did the route in 2010, I didn't have any layover time, just a couple of hours in the afternoon to visit the Willis Tower, so there was no chance of indulging in some pancakes and corfee at Lou's. This time, we'll hope to rectify that.
Mentioning the Willis Tower, brings me to another visit I'm planning. Like I said, I did the WT before, including standing on the 'Ledge' or skydeck, which is basically a glass box hanging out over the side of the building. I had in mind that Cath, despite her fear of heights, might like to go up the second tallest building in the US but I've recently discovered something different. 360 Chicago is basically the same as Willis, a viewing floor up in the clouds but this one puts a new twist on the Ledge theme, with something called Tilt. What this is, is 8 glass panels, with handles either side, that tilt out hydraulically 30 degrees, thus giving the punters an unforgettable view of the street, a thousand feet below. Now there's no way Cath will do that but if she won't do either the Ledge or Tilt, then we may as well go to the one I haven't already been to, even if it is only the seventh tallest!
After that, I'm not too sure what we'll be up to. Our hotel overlooks the park and Lake Michigan, so I expect we'll spend some time around there but apart from that, I'm not too sure. I'll maybe check out some Chicago websites and trip advisor, for suggestions or just leave it to Cath. The next day we'll be up early and on the road, once I've picked up the car that is. Course, I should say, up early and on The Route!
Till next time.
When we arrive in Chicago, we shall have a day and a bit to do our sightseeing. One of the places I definitely want to visit, is Lou Mitchells. I'm hoping that they will be able to squeeze a couple of Limies in for breakfast. And what better way to start your first full day in the Windy City?
For those that don't know, Lou's is a famous Route 66 eatery and has been serving the Chicago population since before the route was created even, from 1923. When I did the route in 2010, I didn't have any layover time, just a couple of hours in the afternoon to visit the Willis Tower, so there was no chance of indulging in some pancakes and corfee at Lou's. This time, we'll hope to rectify that.
Mentioning the Willis Tower, brings me to another visit I'm planning. Like I said, I did the WT before, including standing on the 'Ledge' or skydeck, which is basically a glass box hanging out over the side of the building. I had in mind that Cath, despite her fear of heights, might like to go up the second tallest building in the US but I've recently discovered something different. 360 Chicago is basically the same as Willis, a viewing floor up in the clouds but this one puts a new twist on the Ledge theme, with something called Tilt. What this is, is 8 glass panels, with handles either side, that tilt out hydraulically 30 degrees, thus giving the punters an unforgettable view of the street, a thousand feet below. Now there's no way Cath will do that but if she won't do either the Ledge or Tilt, then we may as well go to the one I haven't already been to, even if it is only the seventh tallest!
 |
| The Ledge, Willis Tower |
After that, I'm not too sure what we'll be up to. Our hotel overlooks the park and Lake Michigan, so I expect we'll spend some time around there but apart from that, I'm not too sure. I'll maybe check out some Chicago websites and trip advisor, for suggestions or just leave it to Cath. The next day we'll be up early and on the road, once I've picked up the car that is. Course, I should say, up early and on The Route!
Till next time.
Sunday, 5 April 2015
147 days and counting!
Yes, less than 5 months now until we jet off to Chicago.
Since my last post, this being my first of 2015, Mr Branson has changed our flight times once again and I have secured a room booking at another of my first choice hotels. That leaves just The Cactus Inn, Mclean, Texas as the only first choice hotel not confirmed. For some reason they prefer booking to be made only a couple of weeks in advance. Should be interesting, as it took me months to get any response from them at all, either through email or messaging them on Facebook. I do have a backup booked in Amarillo though, in case the Cactus doesn't come off.
Apart from that, it's all been very quiet, with only some minor tweaks made to the route, such as the 'singing' road, near Albuquerque. This is a stretch of road that has grooves cut into the tarmac, that when you run over them at a certain speed, 40 mph, 'sing' out the tune of The Star-Spangled Banner.
I did have concerns over the planned route, at the far end of the tour in California for a while, as last autumn/fall, flash flooding washed away part of the roads around Amboy in the Mojave. Imagine my shock when the route planner suddenly showed a massive (400 mile) detour back up to i40 and around the impasse. That all seems to be cleared up now, so fingers crossed there's no more before we go and especially whilst we are on that stretch of road in September. Apart from that, I read that an old R66 bridge had been closed, the Gasconade River bridge in Missouri. Seems it has been allowed to fall into some state of disrepair and has now become potentially unsafe for traffic. There's even talk of demolishing it, which surely can't be allowed to happen. This is the roads' heritage and should be preserved, not destroyed.
Ms Dozey has started to compile her list of music for the trip, though I'm not sure she has got past the obvious yet, referencing Tulsa, Amarillo and Winslow! Feel free to post your suggestions.
Lastly, I'm waiting to hear from our sunshine state buddies Dean and Carol, as to whether they will be around when we arrive in Los Angeles. As Dean is the Wild West Tour guide, it's possible they will be on a tour when we arrive in town. We should know by the end of the month.
That's all for now. Till next time.
Keep your motor runnin'
Since my last post, this being my first of 2015, Mr Branson has changed our flight times once again and I have secured a room booking at another of my first choice hotels. That leaves just The Cactus Inn, Mclean, Texas as the only first choice hotel not confirmed. For some reason they prefer booking to be made only a couple of weeks in advance. Should be interesting, as it took me months to get any response from them at all, either through email or messaging them on Facebook. I do have a backup booked in Amarillo though, in case the Cactus doesn't come off.
Apart from that, it's all been very quiet, with only some minor tweaks made to the route, such as the 'singing' road, near Albuquerque. This is a stretch of road that has grooves cut into the tarmac, that when you run over them at a certain speed, 40 mph, 'sing' out the tune of The Star-Spangled Banner.
I did have concerns over the planned route, at the far end of the tour in California for a while, as last autumn/fall, flash flooding washed away part of the roads around Amboy in the Mojave. Imagine my shock when the route planner suddenly showed a massive (400 mile) detour back up to i40 and around the impasse. That all seems to be cleared up now, so fingers crossed there's no more before we go and especially whilst we are on that stretch of road in September. Apart from that, I read that an old R66 bridge had been closed, the Gasconade River bridge in Missouri. Seems it has been allowed to fall into some state of disrepair and has now become potentially unsafe for traffic. There's even talk of demolishing it, which surely can't be allowed to happen. This is the roads' heritage and should be preserved, not destroyed.
 |
| Gasconade River Bridge, now closed to traffic |
Ms Dozey has started to compile her list of music for the trip, though I'm not sure she has got past the obvious yet, referencing Tulsa, Amarillo and Winslow! Feel free to post your suggestions.
Lastly, I'm waiting to hear from our sunshine state buddies Dean and Carol, as to whether they will be around when we arrive in Los Angeles. As Dean is the Wild West Tour guide, it's possible they will be on a tour when we arrive in town. We should know by the end of the month.
That's all for now. Till next time.
Keep your motor runnin'
Thursday, 25 December 2014
Christmas present from Mr Branson
Seems ages since my last post but it is exactly one month ago.
Just woke up to a Christmas surprise from Mr Branson. I wonder! White beard, flies around the skies in something red and white.....hmmm!
Anyway, what better way to start one's Christmas Day, than with an email telling you that your flight times have changed. Flying out of Heathrow, we'll now be leaving 1h50m earlier. Yeay, more time in Chicago! Boo, we'll now have to get up 1h50m earlier! Coming back from Los Angeles, we'll have an extra 50 minutes in the airport! Plenty of time to buy some disgusting Hershey peanut and chocolate combination for the boys back home!
Thank you Mr B or should I say Santa?
Just woke up to a Christmas surprise from Mr Branson. I wonder! White beard, flies around the skies in something red and white.....hmmm!
Anyway, what better way to start one's Christmas Day, than with an email telling you that your flight times have changed. Flying out of Heathrow, we'll now be leaving 1h50m earlier. Yeay, more time in Chicago! Boo, we'll now have to get up 1h50m earlier! Coming back from Los Angeles, we'll have an extra 50 minutes in the airport! Plenty of time to buy some disgusting Hershey peanut and chocolate combination for the boys back home!
Thank you Mr B or should I say Santa?
 |
| The camera never lies! |
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
And relax....
There's a certain amount of relief in my household now. All the accommodation has been taken care of now and although I haven't been able to book 2 first choice hotels, there is a possibility they could still be booked nearer the time. If not, we shan't be left wanting or having to sleep in the car!
Today also saw me book our flights and car hire. I've been tracking the cost of both for a while and have been a little dismayed to see the flight costs creeping up. We were waiting for a couple of quotes from friends in the business. In the end though, we have gone it alone AND saved ourselves a sizeable chunk of cash. An employee rewards scheme at Cath's place of work, gave us an 8% discount on a Virgin gift card, which we were then able to use to purchase our flights. We were always going to go Virgin anyway, as they were cheaper than British Airways from the start but this worked perfectly in our favour. We shall be leaving Blighty at 11:35 on Monday 31st August and saying our goodbye to the US at 17:01 on Sunday 20th September.
I've booked car hire with National, for collection in the city. As we plan to spend a day sightseeing in Chicago, it didn't make sense to pick up the car from the airport. Not only was that more expensive but on top, we'd have parking at our hotel to pay for. We'll collect it early Wednesday 2nd September. It'll go back in LA on 18th September. The car return is only about a mile from our hotel at the airport, so that's good. Once again, we plan a sightseeing day in LA, so no need of the car and added parking charges for an extra day. Let someone else do the driving, eh? This time, it was better to go direct to the National website, than use the employee scheme, as that gave a 10% discount over the employee scheme tariff. Win, win, today!
These long dark winter months coming up, will allow me to fine tune our itinerary. I'm the sort of person who likes to do detailed, meticulous planning. I hate to leave anything to chance. Some might say that takes away any spontaneity of the trip and to a degree that may be true but I'm sure if you were to ask my Wild Hog biker pal Grizzly, who has been on two tours with me now, he'd agree that all that planning made for two very well structured and very enjoyable tours. Would he have wanted it any other way?
Anyway, that's all for now.
Today also saw me book our flights and car hire. I've been tracking the cost of both for a while and have been a little dismayed to see the flight costs creeping up. We were waiting for a couple of quotes from friends in the business. In the end though, we have gone it alone AND saved ourselves a sizeable chunk of cash. An employee rewards scheme at Cath's place of work, gave us an 8% discount on a Virgin gift card, which we were then able to use to purchase our flights. We were always going to go Virgin anyway, as they were cheaper than British Airways from the start but this worked perfectly in our favour. We shall be leaving Blighty at 11:35 on Monday 31st August and saying our goodbye to the US at 17:01 on Sunday 20th September.
I've booked car hire with National, for collection in the city. As we plan to spend a day sightseeing in Chicago, it didn't make sense to pick up the car from the airport. Not only was that more expensive but on top, we'd have parking at our hotel to pay for. We'll collect it early Wednesday 2nd September. It'll go back in LA on 18th September. The car return is only about a mile from our hotel at the airport, so that's good. Once again, we plan a sightseeing day in LA, so no need of the car and added parking charges for an extra day. Let someone else do the driving, eh? This time, it was better to go direct to the National website, than use the employee scheme, as that gave a 10% discount over the employee scheme tariff. Win, win, today!
These long dark winter months coming up, will allow me to fine tune our itinerary. I'm the sort of person who likes to do detailed, meticulous planning. I hate to leave anything to chance. Some might say that takes away any spontaneity of the trip and to a degree that may be true but I'm sure if you were to ask my Wild Hog biker pal Grizzly, who has been on two tours with me now, he'd agree that all that planning made for two very well structured and very enjoyable tours. Would he have wanted it any other way?
Anyway, that's all for now.
 |
| Branson's finest. Probably not Virgins! |
Wednesday, 5 November 2014
And still they plan
No-one would have believed....
..that it would take so long but, we have, finally, arrived at dates and got a major chunk of the tour, stopovers, hotels, etc., nailed down. We shall be on the road for 17 days, though not driving for all of those, as we have a couple of 2 nighters planned. We'll arrive in Chicago, 31st August, return from Los Angeles, 20th September, arriving back in Blighty on the 21st.
Having finalised the dates and cross checked our route distances and timings, we were able to identify our overnight stops, taking into account that this is not just a road trip from A to B to C but one where we want to experience the real Route 66, so 4 or 5 star hotels are not a dominating feature. We may be sacrificing some of the more usual creature comforts of the 21st Century but given the choice of having a TV or sleeping in a room where Clark Gable reportedly slept, which would you choose?
My main worry was that we were going to be away for Labor Day, a Bank Holiday in the US. I'd been warned, by David at Orange & Black, that it might prove difficult to find accommodation for that weekend and that the roads would be busier. As it goes, the hotels are booked. How busy the roads are, we shall discover soon enough.
There's still a few ends to tie off, 2 or 3 hotels to confirm, car hire and flights to organise, then I can relax and you can have a rest from blog updates for a while. It has been questioned, as to why I have to write about it before we've even set off!
Anyway, that's all for now.
..that it would take so long but, we have, finally, arrived at dates and got a major chunk of the tour, stopovers, hotels, etc., nailed down. We shall be on the road for 17 days, though not driving for all of those, as we have a couple of 2 nighters planned. We'll arrive in Chicago, 31st August, return from Los Angeles, 20th September, arriving back in Blighty on the 21st.
Having finalised the dates and cross checked our route distances and timings, we were able to identify our overnight stops, taking into account that this is not just a road trip from A to B to C but one where we want to experience the real Route 66, so 4 or 5 star hotels are not a dominating feature. We may be sacrificing some of the more usual creature comforts of the 21st Century but given the choice of having a TV or sleeping in a room where Clark Gable reportedly slept, which would you choose?
My main worry was that we were going to be away for Labor Day, a Bank Holiday in the US. I'd been warned, by David at Orange & Black, that it might prove difficult to find accommodation for that weekend and that the roads would be busier. As it goes, the hotels are booked. How busy the roads are, we shall discover soon enough.
There's still a few ends to tie off, 2 or 3 hotels to confirm, car hire and flights to organise, then I can relax and you can have a rest from blog updates for a while. It has been questioned, as to why I have to write about it before we've even set off!
Anyway, that's all for now.
 |
| El Rancho Hotel, Gallup, New Mexico |
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