I'm back home. Had a great time, except for our airline travel experience both ways. The domestic portion was pretty normal but anything international and multiple connections is a mess. Lots of delays, missed connections, lost/damaged luggage, backed up lines. Plan for extra time and it still might not be enough. It's not just the airlines, the boarder controls are having big worker shortages and back ups. Also I thought Paris CDG airport would be a world class airport. It's not, it's a clusterfuck maze of apathy, I have no idea how anyone gets anything done there. I will never connect through them again.
I planned my last trip with the stopovers in Geneva and Munich. They seemed the smallest and most organized. Heathrow is a nightmare, they only let you know where your gate is like 30 minutes before. Iberia didn't seem to know what the fuck they were doing. Hopefully all goes well, I'm usually good with logistics. Always avoid having your first touchdown in the US be at a place other then your home airport if possible, because you have to go through customs the first spot you land, then recheck the bags.
Unfortunately, with PDX as my main airport I am somewhat limited. They have a few options though but are usually much more expensive. I am doing the PDX direct to Frankfurt on condor air in June, it was surprisingly cheap and I can collect Alaska miles on the trip, which was a big reason I went ahead and booked it. This trip we went from NAP to CDG to SLC to PDX. We booked with a 4 hour lay over in SLC just to give extra time for customs, also I wanted to do my Global Entry interview. Our flight from CDG was delayed just over 3 hours, Delta also swapped planes on us and gave us a smaller one downgrading half the flight to basic economy, including us. It was a big mess but the CDG delay was the only way we even made that flight connection, their airport was an absolute mess. It really screwed us for the SLC connection, though. Pretty much the same thing happened in the reverse order on the way there also.
We're thinking of going to Tulum next fall. Got engaged there many moons ago. Worried about safety though. @SlyPokerDog - any thoughts?
Last May we literally drove around the entire Yucatan last May and the worst traffic of the entire trip, including Merida, was Tulum. I was last in Tulum in 2002 and I was shocked at how not only how much it's grown but how shitty it was. But this is only the main drive through town. I have not been to any of the new/newer resorts there. I do not like to be resort-bound and enjoy walking around a town. Tulum didn't seem real conducive to that. Since it's special to both you and your wife I would find a nice resort and only stay 3 days because it's going to be very different than when you were there. Tulum is having a war between rival cartels. But unless you're looking to purchase a kilo of something you should be fine. Even the big shooting there was at one of the resorts involved the cartels. They're not really looking to shoot tourists, lol. Anyways, I would look to stay in Tulum for only a few days. Then move on to somewhere else. Playacar in PDC is a gated community of resorts and very nice. Only a $5 & 10 min taxi ride to Playa Del Carmen. Very safe yet you can go into town and explore the nightlife and restaurants. Either Riu Palace in Playacar is very very clean and nice. If you're looking for some of that old school Mexico charm from when you got engaged in Tulum you should look at spending a few days in Merida. It's not on the ocean but full of history. If you want to know more let me know.
Also Tulum is slamming in an international airport in Tulum, suppose to open next January. That is going to make traffic even worse during construction.
Super helpful, @SlyPokerDog. Playa Del Carmen was literally a sleepy fishing village that boasted a boat to Cozumel as its main attraction the last time we were there (1990, wow!) Thanks to you, Playacar is looking like our destination now! Have you stayed in any of the resorts? The Palyacar Palace looks pretty sweet.
We have stayed twice at the Riu Palace Mexico in Playacar and absolutely loved it. It's a very nice 5* resort at a fair place. I believe Riu has 5 resorts in Playacar. Some are 4 star, but they have 2 Palaces, which are their highest-rated resorts.
Camping and canoeing down the Willamette next weekend. Camping on a few selected islands we've scoped out that are designated or allowed for such activity.
We'll be staying at our FL cottage for a couple of weeks in October and are planning a side trip to the Keys. Anyone been to Key West? Suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Definitely hit up the Hemingway House. Stop at Robbie's in Islamorada. Feeding the Tarpon's is insane. If you are passing by Homestead, go to Robert is Here Fruitstand: https://www.robertishere.com/
Going to Germany on Tuesday. I'll be back the following week. Leave Memorial Day for Hawaii for 5 days. Back for two+ weeks until UCD and I go to Hawaii right after Father's Day Weekend for three weeks.