Travels

There are 243 posts filed in Travels (this is page 9 of 25).

Point Roberts – America’s most exclusive “gated community”

I just hung up our new map of the San Juan Islands and became curious about a little sliver of America at the end of a peninsula that’s otherwise Canadian: Point Roberts, Washington. It’s one of a handful of quirky American places that aren’t connected by land to the continental United States. I’d like to check it out someday!

Point Roberts (known locally as “Point Bob” or “The Point”) is an unincorporated community in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. It has a post office, with the ZIP code of 98281,[2] whose ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) had a population of 1,314 at the 2010 census.

A geopolitical oddity, Point Roberts is a part of the United States (that is not an island) that is not physically connected to it, making it a pene-exclave of the U.S. It is located on the southernmost tip of the Tsawwassen Peninsula, south of Delta, British Columbia, Canada, and can be reached by land from the rest of the United States only by traveling through Canada. It can be reached directly from the rest of Washington and the U.S. by crossing Boundary Bay by sea or air.

via Point Roberts, Washington – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

DVD download kiosk

Movie Booth DVD download kiosk

On our way through the Seattle-Tacoma (SEATAC) airport, I spied this intriguing kiosk on Concourse B. It purports to offer DVD downloads directly to one’s laptop for $3 and up per movie. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to test this machine and now I wish I had, because I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

I’ve poked around today and can’t seem to definitively identify this kiosk. There’s a kiosk outfit called Movie Booth that has DVD vending machines all around the UK and Ireland. This box is different, though, as there is apparently no physical media dispensed: just a CAT5 Ethernet cable where one would presumably download the movie.

So does anyone have any hints about this machine? Is it some kind of joke, or a legitimate service? I got nothing.

Southwest bungles our lost bags issue

Update: Southwest listened! See below.

An open letter to Southwest Airlines:

I had a disappointing experience with Southwest’s RDU lost baggage staff today. We had a tight, 35-minute connection at Midway whittled down even further by our later-than-expected arrival so I didn’t expect our baggage to make it on the plane with us. However, I left multiple messages with RDU’s lost baggage desk and none were returned until an hour after I had already schlepped back to the airport and picked up my bags.

The rep in the office this morning never left her seat, never told me “sorry for the inconvenience,” never checked my ID, never checked my claim tickets against the bags I picked up. To top it off, she never interrupted her personal cell phone conversation the whole time I was there. So, while she may not be capable of returning a voicemail, at least I know she is capable of using a telephone.

Frankly, I am shocked.
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Back (but bagless) in Raleigh

We arrived in Raleigh this evening but our bags did not. Our flight from Seattle was delayed considerably and by the time we made it to Chicago Midway our brief layover was whittled down to nothing. We literally had time to check the departure board for our gate and walk over to join our boarding line.

Though we just made it on our Raleigh-bound flight, we wound up waiting with our plane at the gate as the crew waited for additional luggage to be loaded. We of course thought our luggage from our late-arriving Seattle flight would be loaded during this 40 minute window but apparently not. Several passengers from Seattle were disappointed to arrive in Raleigh with no bags.
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Last night on Orcas

I see now why shipbuilder and philanthropist Robert Moran chose Orcas Island to live out what he thought was his last days. I also now see why Moran lived decades longer than his doctor predicted: this place is good for your soul. Though I’m exhausted tonight from the whirlwind of activity with which we’ve managed to fill our days here, I will leave tomorrow with a smile on my face and memories that will tide me over until we arrive again.
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Staying active on Orcas

We’re in the middle of our vacation and making the most of every minute. Thus, no daily blogging.

We’ve tromped around Moran State Park a few times, strolled around downtown Eastsound, toured Rosario, walked along the low-tide East Sound beach, and visited my friend Ron and wife, Shelley. We’ve taken a sailboat with Ron out around West Sound, watched float planes soar a few hundred feet over our heads, visited our friends the Taylors at their rental home in Beach Haven, spotted young eagles perched in trees near the water, dove in 50-degree water, gone sea kayaking, spied seals frolicking in the water, hosted a dinner party, dodged multiple deer standing around in the roads and lawns, walked around an old lime kiln in a park, relaxed in our hot tub, and toured the amazing homes around Orcas Island. And we still have two days here!

Today we hope to get to the salmon hatchery to watch the salmon leap up the ladders. It should be an interesting sight. After that we may take another stroll around town and explore some more of this magical place.

In the meantime, you can see our pictures on my Facebook page from Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. More extensive blogging will have to wait!

On island time again!

View on Orcas Island

We’re settled into our home for the week on beautiful Orcas Island! We were fortunate to find lodging on the island Saturday night at the end of our travel day. As a result, we were able to spend more time on the island and not at one of the motels in Anacortes, waiting until the next ferry would take us out.
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Checking in from over South Dakota

We’re in the air over central South Dakota now on our Midway-Seattle leg of our flight, with two hours of flying to go. The Southwest WiFi that I thought was so great before has turned out to be pretty sucky today.

The trip’s been smooth so far. We had plenty of time to board our flight in Raleigh and found combined seating on both legs of our flight. In Raleigh we had a really nice chat with a friendly TSA officer at the gate who’s a Chicago native. He gave us a tip on the only Chicago-style pizza he will eat in Raleigh: the Gino’s East brand that only that Harris Teeter sells. We’ll have to check it out.
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On our way west

We’re waiting for our plane to take us to Orcas Island for the week. The neighbors are checking on our Dobermans while we’re gone, which is nice of them.

We’re looking forward to some time spent hiking, Orcas-watching, exploring the village of Eastsound, and generally relaxing for a while.

We’ll check in again once we’re destinated. The family is so excited!

Sinking sun

Stepping out this morning on my daily dog-walk, I noted that the sun was no longer awake before I was. We’re facing the end of summer and in spite of the mosquitoes and oppressive, record-setting heat the thought makes me a little sad, I have to admit.

It’s been a great summer. We’ve seen the kids through swim meets, T-ball games, soccer games, and sleepovers. We’ve spent many afternoons at the pool and had a wonderful time building our garden and enjoying the bounty it’s provided. We’ve taken trips to see Kelly’s parents and gone on the best-ever camping trip to Grayson Highlands. Soon, we’ll be taking our biggest trip of the summer as we head off for a week on Orcas Island in Washington state.
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