What? No DC?

I just realized that my "interactive map" widget does not have a District of Columbia.  We went into DC yesterday and did some sightseeing with family.  I'll post about the trip and post pictures later when I get to a computer that will actually allow me to upload photographs (this one is being temperamental)

Flying standby explained

We don’t have any trips planned for this weekend so I thought now would be a good time to explain the rules of flying standby. Although these rules are the ones in place for our particular airline, I am sure that other airlines follow similar rules.

Rule #1:  Paying customers get on the plane first.  Basically, anyone who purchases a standby ticket or is bumped from an earlier flight is going to get on the plane before people flying free.  There is an exception for employees who need to get on the flight to get to their next work assignment and another exception for employees willing to “fly fourth”.  Flying fourth basically means that the employee is willing to sit in the fourth, or extra, flight attendant’s seat.  My husband advises that these seats are not the most comfortable but free is free.

Of the paying passengers flying standby, boarding passes are handed out in order based on when the customer was put on the standby list.  For those arriving at the airport for a flight, you can put your name on the standby list no earlier than two hours before the flight.  For those passengers who are on the standby list because of a missed connection of having been bumped from an earlier flight, you place on the standby list follows you from flight to flight.

So, for example, there are three people trying to fly standby for flight #1 and you are the third person to check in.  One person gets on the first flight.  You should be number two on the list for the next flight.  You name should automatically roll over to the next available flight along with your place in line.

Employees traveling on leisure are next in the standby hierarchy.  And, if that employee has traveling companions flying family (spouse and kids) or buddy passes, everyone in that group gets moved up to employee status.

Again, the passengers cannot get on the standby list until two hours prior to the flight but their place on the list follows them from flight to flight if they do not get on their first choice.

Spouses and dependants of employees are in the next tier of our hierarchy.  And before you say “can you husband just say I am his sister/brother/mother?”  No.  His airline requires pretty convincing documentation that you are immediate family of the employee.  And they require you resubmit this documentation annually to ensure that the family had not changed.  As a funny side story, our documentations included a marriage certificate written in Greek (with translation) and a birth certificate in Chinese (also with translation).  Our American born son looked pretty boring amongst us.

Parents of employees can also fly on the employee pass as well as registered domestic partners.

So, after paying customers and after employees and their friends, spouses and dependants are listed on standby next.

Finally, we have buddy passes.  These are passes which employees can choose to receive quarterly.  They are limited to how many they can get at a time and can elect not to receive them.  Why would an employee not want to collect their buddy passes?  Well, they are taxed as if the passes have a cash value.  So, if an employee never plans to utilize buddy passes, they would be wasting money by collecting them and letting them expire -  and they do have an expiration date.  I would have to check with my husband but I believe that it is forbidden to sell buddy passes.  But they can be given, traded or bartered.  Anyone flying on a buddy pass is representing the employee and is the employee’s responsibility.  Therefore, if an employee gives or trades a pass to someone they barely know and that person act up on the flight or in the airport, the employee can be disciplined.

Buddy passes, ass you can well imagine, are very valuable and employees often use them to entice co-workers to trade shifts and such.  So, even though my husband can receive four passes a quarter, we rarely have any in stock.

People flying on buddy passes have to be especially patient and flexible since they are the last on the hierarchy.

The standby lists are, as you see, complex and are tracked by computer.  It does not matter how nice or how desperate or how many bribes you are willing to pay, the list is the list and your place on it is where you will be.

Let me try to give a scenario without being too confusing.  The list will be in the order that people checked in so get on the standby list.

Flight 1

Holds 127 passengers

Seats sold 125

Passengers on standby list: 

A (paying customer on standby)

B (paying customer on standby)

C (paying customer on standby)

Me (spouse/dependant)

Lil’ Bit (spouse/dependant)

Big Boy (spouse/dependant)

D (buddy pass)

E (buddy pass)

Passengers A & B get on the first flight

Flight 2

Holds 127 passengers

Seats sold 125

Passengers on standby list: 

C (paying customer on standby)

Me (spouse/dependant)

Lil’ Bit (spouse/dependant)

Big Boy (spouse/dependant)

D (buddy pass)

E (buddy pass)

F (buddy pass)

Passenger C and D would get on the flight because there are only two seats and I need three

Flight 3

Holds 127 passengers

Seats sold 120  (looking good, 7 empty seats)

Passengers on standby list: 

Me (spouse/dependant)

Lil’ Bit (spouse/dependant)

Big Boy (spouse/dependant)

E (buddy pass)

F (buddy pass)

G (employee)

H (buddy pass, traveling with said employee)

I (buddy pass, traveling with said employee)

K (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

L (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

M (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

N (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

Passengers G through N get on the flight

Flight 4

Holds 127 passengers

Seats sold 126

Passengers on standby list: 

Me (spouse/dependant)

Lil’ Bit (spouse/dependant)

Big Boy (spouse/dependant)

E (buddy pass)

F (buddy pass)

O (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

P (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

Q (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

R (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

S  (employee)

Passenger O gets on list.

Flight 4

Holds 127 passengers

Seats sold 126

Passengers on standby list: 

Me (spouse/dependant)

Lil’ Bit (spouse/dependant)

Big Boy (spouse/dependant)

E (buddy pass)

F (buddy pass)

P (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

Q (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

R (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

S (employee)

T (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

U (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

Now, I am going to re-order the list so that you can see how it is going to fall out.

P (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

Q (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

R (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

T (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

U (paying passenger bumped from another flight)

S (employee)

Me (spouse/dependant)

Lil’ Bit (spouse/dependant)

Big Boy (spouse/dependant)

E (buddy pass)

F (buddy pass)

As you can see, in this scenario, the kids and I started out as numbers 4-7 on the standby list and have fallen to 7-9^th place.  The two passengers flying on buddy passes have seen 12 people get on the plane before them and have fallen from 7^th and 8^th place to 11^th  & 12^th.

This was actually a pretty close scenario to what happened to us on a recent trip to Orlando.  After sitting at the airport all day, running from gate to gate, we got bumped from the last flight of the day and had to fly our the next morning.  There were actually four people trying to fly on buddy passes that day (behind us on the list) and three apparently gave up.  We ended up flying to Long Island to catch an empty flight to Orlando.

Two of the women flying on buddy passes (a mother/daughter) were trying to see a dying relative before it was too late.  They were anxious and upset but these are the breaks when you fly free.  The started making a scene and going into hysterics about making it to see the family member.  But, the computer rules the list and all the histrionics in the world will not get you on a flight earlier.  At one point, they had to be admonished that they were representing he employee who gave them the passes and could get him in trouble if their behavior did not improve.

They just couldn’t comprehend how they could be waiting so long yet keep falling lower and lower on the list.  They were implying that there was favoritism taking place.  I pulled them aside as we were all trying to get on the last flight and said “you see that guy working the computer trying to get us on… well, I am married to him and he can’t get me on the flight.  If there was favoritism, wouldn’t you think I would be on a plane by now?”

This all goes back to what I said in my opening salvo.  You have to be patient and flexible when flying standby.  We have taken quite a few flights and have really only had two trips like this.  We usually end up on our first flight and with some careful planning (looking at the flight loads ahead of time) we do quite well. 

St. Louis, MO - July 14

In the truest spirit of flying by the seat of our pants, we decided on an impromptu trip to St. Louis Missouri for the day.  We had the brainstorm early in the week and decided on St. Louis, mainly, because there were flights with a lot of empty seats available.  Our goal  - to see the St. Louis Arch.  We invited the neighbors Little D (newly turned 14) and his sister M (11).  We had Little D and M spend Friday night with us since we would have the leave the house at 4:00AM to catch our early morning flight.  Their mother, Mary had sent over sandwiches for lunch and money for their expenses. 

The kids were too hyped up to go to sleep but they eventually settled down.  I made them sleep in tier clothes so that we could jump right in the car in the morning.

We arrived at the airport a little after 5:00 AM and had breakfast of pop tarts and donuts and milk purchased after security ($6).  Little D snuck off with the change from the $20 I gave them for milk and treated himself to a hot breakfast but I didn't care, it was his mother's money.  We had only very light carry on (backpacks) with just enough entertainment for the plane.  We also had our cooler with sandwiches and snacks.  We brought a stroller to carry our bags throughout the day and also just in case Lil' Bit's little legs could hold out.

We easily got our our first flight using two of our buddy passes (passes that employees can get to give to friends and family).  The flight was just under two hours and was a smooth flight.  We were all able to sit together and the kids shared movies.

We arrived in St. Louis at 7:00 AM and headed straight for the Metrolink.  Tickets were $7.50 each for an all day rider pass.  The metrolink has a stop at the airport and about 12 stops later, we were at the Arch

For $10 per adult and $5 per child, you can get into one of these tiny little egg shaped tram cars and ride up to the top of the arch

The St. Louis arch is very impressive and beautiful.  I wished I could have spent a lot more time photographing it from all angles and different lights but a couple of things stood in the way of this.  First off, my good pocket camera was stolen in Disney and I didn't feel like lugging the big Cannon Rebel around all day (next time, I think I will though).  Also, I didn't want to do that tot he kids who would quickly tire of my hanging around taking pictures.  So, I was stuck with snapping off a few pictures with my cell phone.

There is a museum in the bottom of the arch and the kids had a good time looking t eh exhibits.  I am not sure if they learned anything but they had fun and that is important too.

By now, it was 9:00 AM and everyone was already hungry.  I didn't factor this into my plans but we had been up since 4AM, had breakfast at 6AM and without the time change, it was already 10:00.  I can't blame them for being hungry, I was too.

We gobbled a few granola bars and headed on foot to the Old Courthouse which was most notable for hearing the Dred Scott case. 

Bailiff's desk

The kids were really great about humoring me as I played bailiff for a moment (sorry, the picture did not turn out at all)

We then asked a few people where we should head next and the unanimous response was "City Garden".

We stopped at Hardees for sodas along the way $10 and had a nice picnic lunch.  The kids asked if they could put their feet in the fountains and I told them, "OK, but don't get wet."

Let me backtrack on the story a little bit.  I had told Mary to send the kids over with bathing suits so that, in the event that we got stuck in St. Louis, the kids could swim at the hotel pool.  When they arrived for the sleepover, I asked Little D if he had brought a swim suit and he replied "NO"  Well, he had answered the question exactly as posed.  What he should have told me was "No, I bought a pair of shorts to change into if we swim".  I noticed that his sister only had brought a small purse so I assumed that she did not have a swimsuit either.  I took my kids suits out of our bags.  Well, it turns out that M had a bikini in Little D's bag and he had his change of short so my kids were the ones unprepared for water.  They ended up swimming, getting completely drenched and having a blast.  Luckily, they dried off before boarding the plane.

City park is designed for play.  There are fountains which look like "for looking at" fountains but are actually intended for people to play in.  You can smell the chlorine as you approach.  The park is littered with statues which are also intended for play. 

After City Garden, we walked to the St. Louis Cardinals Stadium and the kids shopped in the store there. 

Everything was quite expensive and a security guard recommended that we head to Unions Station for more affordable shopping.  We jumped back on Metrolink and two stops later, we were at Union Station.

The kids were a little disappointed to discover that the really good merchandise like the stuff we saw at the stadium was the same price as the stadium but with much less to choose from.  There were a couple of discount stored which were selling Cardinals merchandise but it was of a much lower quality and wasn't the authentic gear like the stadium store.  They did manage to find a few souvenirs though.

We were getting tired so we headed back to the airport early.  It was a good thing we did because almost as soon as we were safely ensconced in the airport, the skies opened up to a rainstorm of almost biblical proportions.    Luckily, the storms cleared up in plenty of time for our flight.

carry on flies free

 We arrived home safely at 11:00 PM.  Little D and M were delivered to their parents and we were asleep within minutes.

The trek home

Flying standby has its positives - OK, only one positive, it is free (for us, at least).  The negative.. you have to be patient and flexible.

We took the Magical Express back to the airport and arrived in plenty of time to get ourselves on the standby list.  Unfortunately, the already tight flights were now more than over booked.  There had been some cancelled or delayed flights in some other state (I think it was NY) which caused some passengers, who were booked on earlier flights, to be put on the standby list for our flight.  As there were many passengers needing a ride home and few seats to give them, our chances of getting out of Orlando were looking slim.  The rule is that paying customers get on before us freebies.

My husband looked at all of the possible flights and declared that we would be lucky to get home by Tuesday.  Since he had to work Monday and I had to work Tuesday, things were looking grim.

My husband found us flights out the next morning... from Tampa.  we rented a car ($50) and drove to Tampa.  We got a hotel room ($70) and spent the night.  We got to the airport early Sunday morning and  easily caught a flight home from there.   Funny thing, we ran into a couple of other passenger (paying customers) who had the same idea.  We saw them in Orlando and then on our flight from Tampa.

So for all of my money saving, penny pinching habits, this trip actually saw us go over budget by quite a bit.  But, in the big picture, it doesn't really matter, we will make it up on other trips and the kids had their usual great time.

Now, don't hold me to this but I think we are done with Disney for a little while.  It is too hot, crowded and expensive for me in the summer.  We don't plan on heading back until Fall.

Disney world continued

Since we were staying at the Pop Century hotel and the new Art of Animation hotel is a short walk away, we decided to check it out.  I took video of our visit and would love to share it here but, alas, it is in my stolen phone.

The kids swam and discovered that the pool has music piped in underwater.  They thought that was the coolest thing ever.

We ate at the restaurant and my reviews for the first night were pretty good.  They are going green so gone are the paper plates and plastic utensils.  You get to use real plates and real silverware.  The restaurant is set up like all of the moderate and value resorts - a food court.  One thing I do like better is the layout of the dining area.  There are four sections and each one has a beverage and condiment station of its own so no long treks and crowded areas.  The food was good.  We ate some exotic dish with curry but there were "normal" options.

The kids loved it so much that we ate there the next night as well.  What a difference.  On that second night, half of the counters were closed and the ones that were open only had half of the entrees available.  Also, I got Lil' Bit a bowl of chicken soup (which is an item on the kid's menu at the Pop) and discovered that it was not considered the kids menu there.  So, we ended up paying for milk and grapes that we didn't want (but had grabbed because they are usually on the kids meal).  My husband actually brought this to my attention after he had paid and when I was confused about what he was telling me, we drew the attention of a manger.  I will say that the manager offered to make it right and give us the extra items for free but we had already paid for them.  I appreciate his efforts to please us but the evening was a bust compared to the previous night.  I will cut the Art of Animation a break though, they had only been open about a week so maybe they were working the bugs out.

We did take a tour of the property and were shown one of the family suites in the Cars building.  It is really nice (again, pictures and video on my phone)

The rest of the vacation was pretty uneventful.  Lil' Bit lost her Minnie hat (purchased on a  previous trip) and when I asked lost and found at the front desk, the cast member ran my room key.  He apparently read the notes attached to my room record about my tragic loss.  He asked me how much the hat was and gave me a $20 bill on the spot to replace it.  It was totally unnecessary because the loss of the hat was not Disney's fault at all but I stashed the bill in my pocket anyway.  ($575 to go).  You have to love Disney's customer service.

Disney World June 17-23

Our most recent trip to Disneyworld was June 17-23.  My husband was working the beginning of the week so the kids and I flew down alone. Chances were that if my husband got off work to make it down at all, it would only be for a day or two. 

Although we usually travel Carry On Only (COO), we checked luggage this trip because it was going to be more than a few days and we needed that much stuff. 

Since we were staying at a hotel with mini fridges in the rooms, I left my big rolling cooler at home.  I used a small soft sided cooler with a shoulder strap to carry our lunch meats down.  Yes, my first and biggest Disney tip is - Bring You Own food.  We checked three bags, one of which contained juice pouches, bagels (for sandwiches), cereal, snacks, chips etc.  I weighed the suitcase at 40 pounds but keep in mind that included two boxes of juice pouches.  The soft sided carry on cooler had lunch meats, cheese and a packet of cream cheese.  After going through security, I asked one of the restaurants to fill me ziplock bag of ice for the cooler.

We had our usual excruciatingly early flight.  The flight was somewhere around 7:AM but we have to get to the airport two hours early to get on the standby list and then add an hour drive from home to the airport and we have to leave the house at 4:AM.    We got on our first choice of flights with no problem and arrived in Disney bright and early.  We use the Magical Express bus service from the airport to the hotel (free for those staying in Disney hotels)  When checking in, I asked the cast member at the front desk if I could have an upgrade to one of the buildings facing the pool/close to dining/close to the bus stop.  These rooms are usually available for a $15 per night up charge but he gave it to me for the regular room rate.  And, bonus...even though it was 9:30 AM and check in isn’t until 4:PM, our room was ready so we could ditch our carry on bags right away.  Our vacation was off to a good start and it got even better when my husband found out that he had a shift change which resulted in five consecutive days off!  He would be able to join us for the second half of our trip and fly home with us.

Despite the fact that we were in Disney at the very beginning of the busy season, the crowds were still relatively light.  Of course, the kids are spoiled by our usual off peak travel so they lollygagged in the room while the crowds in the park grew.  They quickly figured out why I kept telling them to get their behinds going each morning.  But, one of the great things about going to Disney so often is there is no pressure to see and do everything.  If something has a line for twenty minutes or more, we skip it.  After all, we have ridden it before and will ride it again on another trip.  So, this vacation saw a lot of pool time with a little bit of park time.

We stuck to our budget and ate the food we had brought.  We were ahead financially until…  (queue the music.  Dum Dum Dum).

After my husband joined us, we decided to splurge on a day at Typhoon Lagoon.  We arrived just before opening and found a nice spot to leave our stuff.  Then, off to the water slides before the lines got long.  After about two hours of playing, my husband and I returned to our beach chairs to discover that my duffel bag was gone!  I immediately felt the bile in my stomach.  My change of clothes was in the bag, the kids clothes were in the bag and…my beloved smart phone.  And, my beloved camera.  And all my pictures (hence no photos on this blog entry).  Gone, gone, gone.  We reported the theft to the nearest cast member who called security who, upon my request, called the police.  The bag was soon recovered sans valuables, of course.  And I was not the only victim.  We discovered three other victims during our search for my bag.  There may have been more for all I know.  I was devastated.  Not only did they steal my phone and camera, they stole my magic.  Gone was the feeling of safety and innocence which I always felt in Disney.  See, being a retired police officer, I usually live in a world where bad things can happen at any time.  But Disney was my one place where I refused to believe that anything could happen.

I will admit that I was incredibly stupid to leave my valuables (all to save the $15 for a locker rental) but if this is the case, then, I was only the second stupidest person there that day.  One of the other victims lost his cell phone, camera and $600 cash.  If I had $600 cash, I would have sprung for a locker.  He also temporarily lost his driver’s license, car keys and passport but luckily, they were recovered.

The cast members were great.  They were appropriately sympathetic and watched the kids while I dealt with the police report.  They even gave me a locker key so that I could lock up what little possessions I had left.  (BTW: for the record, my husband also had his smart phone with him but was a tiny bit more clever in hiding it in his shorts pocket).

We made the best of is for the kids sake and went back to having fun in the park.  There was a long downpour and the water areas were closed until the lightening passed but after that was over, we practically had the park to ourselves.  We ended up having a great time.

When it was time to leave, my husband turned in the locker key and they handed him ‘back’ a $5 key deposit.  He took it, we shrugged and said “Six hundred dollars lost, five dollars back, only $595 to go to be even”.

To be continued.

For the love of Disney

Some families have distinct memories of their “once in a lifetime” trip to Disney World.  Others have been several times but can tell you exactly how many times they have been, what months and years, where they stayed each time and such.

I honestly cannot tell you how many times I have been to Disney in the past twelve months, let alone my lifetime.  And we have not tired of going.

 My family loves all things Disney.  I must confess, though, that I didn’t start out that way.  When I was a child, we took a few trips to Vero Beach, FLA to visit my paternal grandparents and at least one time, we went to Disney World.  We also took a huge family trip when my mother’s side of the family came to visit us one summer.  Other than that, my childhood memories of Disney are vague.  In some ways I feel than we went several times, maybe each year, and other ways, I think that it is just my memory playing tricks on me.  I do know that I liked Disney as a child but I was not yet Disney Crazy.

My future husband and I began taking trips to Disney not long after we became serious.  Our first trip together was a learning experience.  My husband is the type to ‘get his money’s worth’ even at the expense of having a good time.  Not that he doesn’t have a good time every second, but it is like a mission for him to be in the park every moment it is open.  I, on the other hand, could not handle the walking and the blisters on my feet sidelined me a few times that first trip.  My husband likes all thrill rides, but me… not so much.  We had to learnt hat it was OK for him to ride a roller coaster and for me to sit on a bench and read a book.  We found our groove and had many great trips.  We also took family trips with my husband’s extended family and those were some of the best.

When our son came along, we had to adapt a little bit. He needed to be fed, he needed to sleep, and he didn’t start out tall enough to ride all the rides.  But, he was very easy.  He became a Disney fan at the ripe old age of five months.

Our daughter came to us at 33 months of age and wasn’t quite sure what to make of Disney at first.  She was adopted from China and, unlike my pregnancy, where I knew my due date, China does not give you an exact timeline for adoption.  We had some Disney trips planned and didn’t want to change them based on our travel to China so we just figured that if the trips coincided, we would just have to miss Disney.  Well, we ended up getting the call to go to China in July 2007.  After two weeks there, we came home for a week and then headed off to Disney for a week long trip.  My husband was there for a conference so it only cost our family airfare, tickets and food.  His plane fare and the room were paid for.  After that trip, we came home for a week and then drove back to Disney for a previously planned vacation with my brother-in-law and his family.  So, basically, our daughter’s first month in America saw two weeks in Disney.  She didn’t speak English yet but if she did, she would have said “I love my new home”  But, we would not know which home she was referring to.

We are finally at the point now where we can officially be called Disney Crazy.  We have annual passes so we can go to the parks as often as we want and we fly free.  I have programmed my kids t be as cheap as I am.  I told them that if we go cheap, we can go often.  The do not ask for souvenirs (I told them that those are for people who need something to remember their once in a lifetime trip), they don’t ask for purchased food and they rarely ask for sodas.  Yes, I do splurge on a treat here and there once in awhile but they no longer whine, beg and plead for things.

Although I much prefer the larger rooms of the moderate resorts, we sacrifice and stay in the value resort.  Our current favorite is Pop Century.  Off season, we can usually find rooms for $100 -$130 per night.  I travel with either a rolling cooler full of food (when we travel Carry On Only) or a small cooler as carry on and a suitcase full of food (checked bags).  We have breakfast in our room, take a lunch into the park, drink free ice water and buy one meal a day.  Sometimes that meal is a large Pizza at he hotel ($16) and sometimes we go crazy and get a counter service meal ($25).  With this plan, we can do Disney for $150 per day or less.

Last year, I was criticized by a family member for not expanding my children’s world taking them places. other than Disney. They have been other places and they will see the world but for their ages right now, Disney is magic and they love going there.  Also, Disney is an affordable destination for us.  I need to find a way to give my children experience while still staying on my budget.  For example, we were trying to plan a trip to Niagara Falls and could not find a rental car for less than $80 nor a hotel room for less that $150 making a Disney trip more affordable.

Introductions

I am Maria, the author of the blog.  I am a 47 year old retired police officer with a part time job as a District Court Bailiff.  I guess you can assume by the fact that this is a travel blog that I love to travel.  I consider myself adventurous and a few bumps in the road do not worry me.

My husband works for an airline which he won't want me to name but their planes are orange and blue.  He does like to travel but he really does not like speed bumps.  With him, it is all about the destination and the journey is something to be endured.

Big Boy is nine and he is a great traveler, not perfect but really a trooper for a nine year old boy.  He is my adventure buddy...always willing to try new experiences.

Lil' Bit is seven and she is my cooperative one.  Big Boy and I can usually talk her into anything and she is known most for her tenacity. 

We are Disney fanatics (also known as Worldphiles) and most of our trips, will in fact, be to Disney World.  It is an affordable destination for us since we have annual pass park tickets and we know how to work the Disney system (first tip: bring your own food!)

Big Boy and I came up with the idea of trying to visit fifty states in 2 years. I don't know if we will be able to do it since once the school year starts back up, we will mostly only have weekends.  Also, my part time work schedule will hamper us a little bit, even in the summer.  But the biggest roadblock will be finances.  We won't take a trip until I earn enough money at my part time job to fund the trip.  Airfare is free and the hotel and rental cars will come out of our household account but the rest of the expences will be funded by my  part time job money. We have already been to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia,  Florida and  Texas (within the past few years) so we will count them.

I will write about our trips and any travel tips I come up with along the way.  I will share our experiences both good and bad.  Hopefully I will figure out how to be entertaining along the way.  Come along with us and root for us to achieve our goal - Fifty States in 2 years (10 down, 40 to go)