Presque Isle Evacuation

I was at the beach yesterday, a.k.a. Presque Isle State Park and it began to rain and everyone at the beaches started to evacuate the area.


I'd like to share some shortcuts that helped me get out quicker.

One key shortcut is when you are leaving the park and if there is lots of traffic near the Stull Interpretive Center (a.k.a. The Nature Center Beach) you can make a right and follow the beach road out towards the entrance of the park.

Another is if you are exiting Pettinato Beach (a.k.a. Beach 8) you can exit left to the main park road, which is quicker than following the one lane road towards the Parks Playground and towards the Lifeguard Center.

I recently visited some relatives in Maine who owned roosters , they said that the roosters feasted on the deer ticks. Why don't park rangers get some roosters in the Peninsula to eat all the deer ticks that could carry Lyme Disease?

Cheap Luggage

Airline employees see many styles, brands and makes of suitcases. We see a lot of broken zippers, lost wheels and broken handles.

My best advice to those searching for a new piece of luggage is to first check out Rynn's Luggage website, the company is based in Pittsburgh, PA.

This is where we send our passengers luggage to get repaired or replaced. They have the best luggage for your money and always have great deals on quality luggage for your next trip.

Also, be sure to put your name and phone number on all your luggage INSIDE and OUT, when you are traveling. This will eliminate any mix-ups with the unfortunate case that your luggage does not arrive with you at your destination. You will be guaranteed to be reunited with your dirty underwear if your baggage gets lost in transit.

Rainbow Around The Sun

Yesterday, while we were at Waldameer, I took these pictures of a Rainbow around the Sun. I have never seen such a thing and was truly thrilled.

I learned that when you see a rainbow around the sun, also known as "sundogs", there are high clouds overhead and that it's usually a sign that rain is on the way, which in yesterdays case was true. Those clouds are made of tiny ice crystals, which will refract the sunlight like a prism will.

I feel very fortunate to even see such a sight, and I also have to note that Waldameers new roller coaster The Ravine Flyer was so much fun, what a great ride.

Cheap Airline Tickets

The following is a list of online reputable travel services to purchase your airline tickets through. Be sure to check their ticketing fees for the best price comparisons.

Additionally, Us Airways has increased the Airport (reservations completed at the airport) ticketing fees from $20 to $35 per ticket for US or Canada and $45 per ticket for International which includes the Caribbean, Latin America, Transatlantic and Transpacific flights. Also if you make reservations through the reservations number 1-800-428-4322, those fees have increased from $15 to $25 for US and Canada and $35 for International. US Airways has NO ticketing fees for electronic ticket reservations online.

Check out some of the following websites for your best airline reservation rates:

Us Airways
Shermans Travel
Travelocity
Expedia
Kayak
Orbitz
Hotwire
CheapAir
OneTravel
SmartFares
Priceline
Farecast
Travelation
CheapFlightSales

Happy Travels.

Northwest Airlines Goes Mobile

Northwest Airlines Corp. is testing a paperless boarding pass that will let travelers use their mobile phones to board their plane.

Northwest will debut the E-Boarding pass in IND (Indianapolis) on Wednesday, 28th of May 2008. It will work like this: when a passenger checks in for a flight they can choose to send their boarding pass to their mobile phone or PDA instead of printing it out. The mobile device will then display a bar code like image on its screen, which will then be scanned by the gate agent at the boarding point. Continental is already testing a similar system in IAH (Houston). Northwest has plans to expand the system to other cities in the near future.

I believe it will take a long while before ERI (Erie) starts using such a system considering they don't have the scanners for easy boarding yet.

My only question is how smoothly are you going to get thru TSA security?

Bye-Bye Pretzels

Effective June 1, 2008 Us Airways will no longer serve complimentary pretzels or snack mix in domestic coach class. Although, if you are traveling Trans-Atlantic or first class you are still provided a free snack.

Can you blame them? With crude oil above $125 per barrel, this is another cost saving strategy for the airline.

It should be no time at all, that all airlines are cutting back on snacks. What's next? Probably the free soda!

Spinning Class Revamped

While in your spinning class you can now take a virtual tour of the Wine in California, the Spanish in Mexico, or the French in Guadeloupe Tour.

The 6 disc set features 12 different 45 minute tours. During the Spanish tour you pedal through Mexico while learning the language and traveling through different cities including Puerto Vallarta.

To learn more check out the company who came up with the grand idea, Connect18.

I think it sounds fun and would add a new twist to the same old spin class, treadmill or elliptical machine. I am going to suggest this program to the Downtown YMCA.