We have booked our lodging for our Mid-South road trip.

Hotel near Shenandoah, Friend's house in Union Hall, VA. Airbnb near Gatlinburg TN and in Elizabethtown, KY. My cousin's in OH and sister's in Pittsburgh.

We went for a ride today as the weather was great. For lunch we talked about later in the year. Cindy comes off her cancer meds in August. Birthdays in October, Anniversary in November. She wants to do something special. When I pushed her, Finland came up. So, I think we're going to do some investigation for the fall sometime in Scandinavia. 3 or 4 weeks? Maybe longer pending price, etc... I suspect we'll want to be near train stations to get around vs renting a car for the entire time. Cindy has found some cabins with clear roofs to watch the Auroras and night sky, but that's about the extent of it. I think possibilities are endless in how we tackle this trip.

Anyone ever been? Would be great to hear from people.

 

Gary, that looks like a good plan. For me, I'm ok with going out in the back yard to look at the sky.

 

^3-22-2026. My daughter in law texted me this today. She, my son and their two boys/my grandsons (2 and 4 years-old) flew to New Orleans on Monday (3-16-26) and were supposed to fly home today, to DEN. Nope. I read about New Orleans being a shitshow for TSA. Klaudia is their au pair and I'm surprised she was in staying in a different place.

 

^ a whole bunch of unpaid hard-working trained TSA personnel may be replaced by a bunch of unpaid and untrained trigger happy workers, tell me how well that is going to work. I think most people are of the opinion that you do not go to work if you are not being paid, a very basic premise of working in my books.

 

Well, I hope this TSA mess is straightened out before the end of May when we take our first trip. I just booked another one. My niece (late sister’s daughter) and her hubby are going to FL in Aug to see my BIL. We have not seen him in almost three years since my sister died. He will be 88 in June. Overdue. We are all going for what would have been her 83rd. Turning into a busy travel year.

 

That is so nice that you can continue to see your niece and BIL and make the trip, I am sure your sister is proud.

I am fortunate to see my nephew quite often as he lives in our local region, my BIL passed away when my nephew was only a couple months old.

 

Current talk today is that Europe can run out of jet-fuel in 6 weeks time. We are booked to fly July 1st, 2026. We have enough fuel here in Canada to make it to Europe but we might not make it back. This world is so f'*&*#ed up.

We bought our airline tickets months ago and we won't have any extra charges with all of the price increases and surcharges people are now paying, but it would be nice to come back home once we get there. Much like the financial markets , there is nothing worse for me than uncertainty, I need certainty in every detail of my life, no surprises, ever.

 

I've read that the US is exporting massive amonuts of jet fuel and diesel.

 

It is hard to imagine Europe actually running out, but it is a scary thought. Jet fuel seems like a very volatile load , but then again they ship LNG just fine.

 

We fly to Frankfurt and back from Amsterdam in Sept so will be looking at your experience closely.