Road trips

We just got back from a serious road trip from Michigan to Colorado and back in the span of a week   2800+ miles.  It wasn't that bad!  Aside from the gas expense. 


The weather was very nice.  Windy as hell on the way back but no rain until be got back to Michigan (duh!)  and no real traffic tie ups to speak of.  It was congested on I-94 but nothing too awful.   


We found a the BEST damn breakfast burrito in the world in Ft. Lupton Co.  Jen and I had just left Lyons and driving down the road we passed a sign that stated "hottest breakfast burrito in town"    EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK !   (okay cars with anti-lock brakes don't do that anymore)   we pulled a U ie and by Golly... it was the best breakfast burrito I've ever had.   Santiago's in Ft. Lupton.    $2.  You will NEVER EVER find a better breakfast for $2 EVER again in your life. 


Omaha is the home of 6 different "Diners, Drive Ins and Dives'  locations.  We went to Brewburgers right off I-80 west of Omaha.  Super easy to get to.   I had a lamb burger with feta cheese and that Greek sauce I'm not going to try to spell.  Amazing stuff!  


One of the best meal days of my life.    


If you're ever passing thru Kearney NE and you're thinking about stopping for the night.. you could do a LOT worse than the Microtel in Kearney.  One heck of a room for $62! And they take dogs!    

Been a LONG time

It has been quite a while since I've put anything on this site. No one seems to notice that I have been blog free for almost a year. Which is fine. I've been to Colorado twice in the last couple years but I haven't had much to add to this blog.

We're going back out to Colorado next week to take Oscar out where he belongs... that is with Kate.

Chicago for the holidays

Thinking about a trip to Chicago for New Years.. prices are quite good for NYE. Hotwire is in the $110s for the 30th and 31st but Lastminutetravel.com has a hotel, I think it's the Wyndham for $78 (4 stars ) and the James for $95ish (4.5) stars...

Keep in mind they are a foreign company, my credit card company would not accept their charges no my card. Jen's would though SWEET!

Take the guesswork out of your hotel choice.

Jen and I are looking to go to Chicago for the 4th of July and we were perusing Hotwire and went looking at two newer sites for hotels where they don't tell you the name of the hotel until you purchase it. LastMinuteTravel.com and Travelocity's Top Secret Hotels.

It turns out that LastMinuteTravel.com lists the number of hotel rooms the hotel has available. A quick Google search indicated the hotel we were going to "steal" was the Westin on N. Michigan Ave. They show 521 rooms. We were right! We think we're so smart.

Once you book it

I was going to go to Chicago today and sell this digital board advertising... but I never pulled the trigger on booking hotel and here's why.. once you book it, you own it. NO cancellations allowed.. not for weather, not for missed flights, not for a car wreck. It's yours.

I wasn't totally sure I was going, the weather turned sour so I didn't go.

You can always stop at a Biggby or a Panera on the way, and book the hotel. Yes you may pay more, but..

Hotwire comes thru again in Chicago

I'm working with a couple guys with a digital billboard in Chicago, I ran into one of the guys one day in town and he said "HEY.. you know Chicago pretty well." I replied 'yes I do' ..

"do you want to sell it in chicago? " I said "yes I do". So I've gone down there twice to see if I can get some customers 'on board' (how do I come up with this stuff? .. and when will I stop?)

I used HOTWIRE twice to stay there and I'm telling you it's the greatest internet site ever. I got a Holiday Inn in Oakbrook Terrace (Oak Brook is where the Oak Brook Mall is.) for $36/night. How can you beat that? I checked their website and the online rate was $88/night... so I saved a bunch of money. Three stars Oak Brook Lombard Downer's Grove.. $36 Holiday Inn.. it's a decent hotel.. with the slowest elevators EVER!

If you're going to go to Chicago at all.. invest $10 in the IZOOM toll collector and avoid those lines at the tolls. It's the best thing you will ever do if you go there a lot. Tolls have gone up a great deal in the past couple years but sitting in a line to pay that toll.. will just piss you off. So get one $10 Izoom is the Indiana toll collector but it works in Illinois too.

The sales tax in Cook county and Chicago is among the very highest in the nation. It's about 10%.. room tax for hotels is 16%. Parking in the city at a hotel $32-35/night. Factor those hidden costs into your trip.. you'll be surprised at how fast they add up.

Parking on the street.. used to be Monday thru Saturday.. $1.25/hr pretty much everywhere. Now it's all week, probably holidays too.. until 9 pm. more nickle and diming. You can either take a LOT of quarters or use your credit card. I've never seen anyone checking the slip of paper you put on your dash.. but I'll bet it's $40 or more if you get caught.

Ah.. Chicago.. I love you.. but you are a whore for my money.

OMG!

I haven't entered in this thing since August.. and NOT ONE person has said a word to me. All my adoring fans have forsaken me!

Jen and I are off this week to Nashville by way of Indianapolis. Given the recent fun on the airlines and I'm sure the resulting increase in security.. driving is the way to go. Every time I fly.. I think 'why am I doing this? this is NOT fun." And while the drive to Nashville is about 8 hours or so.. I prefer it.

Rule #1 - the time between Christmas and the New Year is easily the best time of year to travel for fun. Simply, there is NO business travel this week and hotels are going begging. We got a 3.5 star hotel in Indy for the ridiculously low rate of $37.50.... thirty seven bucks.. roughly the cost of a round of drinks at a decent bar. The drive is pretty long to Nashville so we thought if we left Tuesday night and stayed in Indy we'd have more of a day to spend in "Music City" .

We are then going to Nashville where I found a Sheraton for $50/night!!!! Out by the airport. Rule #2 no business air travel makes for great rates out by an airport. Not so much in the downtown where touristy people might be hanging.

Thanks Priceline! for Nashville and thanks Hotwire! for Indy. This little trip points out how to use the two best sites online. For Indy.. we really wanted to be on the southwest side of the city to avoid 'rush hour' as we motored south toward Louisville. So I was as concerned about the area, than I was just price driven. I'd been following a 3.5 star hotel oh Hotwire for $46 for a week and I didn't think it would be going up... when it dropped to $37.50 I jumped on it.

For Nashville.. I just wanted to see how cheap I could get a hotel. With plenty of time on my hands between when I bid and when we left.. I made what I thought was an incredibly low bid. I was pleasantly surprised when they accepted my bid.

USA Today had an article a while back about how all of LAS VEGAS in on sale.. the best deal there was an all you could drink (wine or beer) buffet for $22! I'm sure it's still up somewhere on their site. if you like to travel and you like to do it cheaply.. right now is the time to go...anywhere (except Florida)