Tagged With "Grass Valley Air Attack Base"
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo (#38)
I'm tempted to suspect that it is in the north of England, perhaps near York. The trouble is that so much of the country outside the major cities would have been poor. The clue must be in "selling it's goods" which suggests that they had a manufacturing or production base already established. Or was that perhaps farming produce.... I do like the filigree cast iron roof supports - very "of the period". Oooh, this is a tough one.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, June 4th, 2014: Humming Birds
Our first encounter with hummingbirds was on a hillside near Cortona, in Tuscany, waiting for a table at a country restaurant. They were active in the flowers just behind us and we actually thought they were insects at first. One flew by so close to my ear that I could feel the air move without it actually touching me!
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#69)
While I do see a certain resemblance to Cappadocia, it doesn't look real to me. More like a model landscape, as you'd have with a model railroad, but seemingly without the railroad. Maybe this is, in fact, what Cappadocia looks like from a hot air balloon, which I understand are popular there. I see no evidence of people in the form of actual people or vehicles, unless that's a person in red in the lower right-hand corner.
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Re: Is it time to regulate airplane seats? Chris Elliott thinks so!
The trouble with a mandate is that it has deadlines and airlines who fly to the US would have to go through an expensive seat replacement program. That cost is one we share, or that puts the airlines in the red and in jeopardy. Makes sense to pressure them to improve, but that's just my opinion. But I do like the idea of "grading" seats. Helps me know what I'm buying. For example, Canadian airlines definitely have larger seats that American carriers. I'll preferentially fly Air Canada to...
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Re: Canadian airline adopts unpopular US fee
Air Canada just announced that it too will have the $25 baggage fee. http://money.ca.msn.com/invest...for-economy-travel-1
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Re: "Cruise Night", Thunder Bay, Ontario: The 1940's and 1950's
And I'm partial to the 55 Bel Air. Probably the subdued black and white, not the peacockish "Jamaican Bay" color.
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Re: "Cruise Night", Thunder Bay, Ontario: The 1940's and 1950's
The stuff that dreams are made of ! The '57 Bel Air has to be the one above the crowd. Loved the MGs and memories of the time when you could fix your own Midget and Sprite without a College degree ! Happy Days !
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, November 25, 2014: Fall colors at Upper Kananaskis Lake, Alberta
Hi GarryRF, Yes, this part of the world includes vaste stretches of wilderness. Lots and lots of unspoiled mountains, valleys, forests, rivers and lakes. It is only an hour's drive from west Calgary, so lots of those of us who live here spend our weekends in the Rockies. Much like those in Denver. Camping is wonderful in the summertime, as the weather is mild and the days very long. It's also great to hike here at that time. Camping in the winter is only for the brave of heart. You need to...
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Re: "Cruise Night", Thunder Bay, Ontario: The 1960's (Part 2)
Hi Ottoman. Cristobal was wonderful ! It went up to Iceland and brought the UK warm Caribbean air - and back into summer.
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Re: Heads Up for Travelers: Iceland's Volcanoes May Disrupt Travel Again
I happened to travel to Europe in 2010 fairly soon after air traffic was started back up and there were a lot of hotel bargains to be had whole summer as many people canceled in advance. Then I traveled again in May of 2011 and another volcano disrupted some traffic for a few days and similar bargains were out there.
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Re: Gallery: City of Balconies
They seem to be at about the depth that's sometimes referred to as a "Juliet balcony," just deep enough to step out of a stuffy room into the fresh air and hope for a suitable suitor to serenade you from below...
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Re: A stroll through the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, Vail
Thanks for the comments, Garry. Yes, winter arrives early because of the very high altitude. Over a mile and a half above sea level. Summers are very nice -- warm (75-80F) dry pleasant days (no humidity to speak off), and it always cools down nicely at night, so most places don't even have air conditioning. It really was that empty. No more than 6 folks in the garden including my wife and I, and of course not counting the hundreds of birds flying about.
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#81)
Those ancient air conditioners definitely make it this side of the Atlantic.
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Re: Why you should visit Borneo
Originally Posted by DrFumblefinger: Some GREAT photos. I presume you saw lots of animals on your travels in Borneo? Is there a specific park or place you'd recommend? Thanks very much! Yeah, we saw so many animals it was incredible. I'd highly recommend Sepilock in the North of Borneo, which is great for spotting wild Orangutans, Sun Bears and Proboscis Monkeys. Kuching, in the South, is a great base too if you want to visit Bako National Park, which is a great place for spotting Snakes,...
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Re: Tupelo, Mississippi. Birthplace of the King of Rock 'n Roll
Great piece of living history DrF. I think I'd have to follow your plan of attack and travel without my p.a. She's not a fan of modern music ! I love anyone who spells Theatre correctly, and gives me new ways to describe being "skint" "before their deteriorating financial conditions (“dirt poo") forced them to move elsewhere"
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Re: Scotland's vote may help ax high flying tax
UK Air passenger duty for under 12's will be abolished from May 2015. Under 16's will have to wait until 2016.
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Re: New Eurostar Service, London - Provence
(APD = Air Passenger Duty, particularly high to & from UK airports.)
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Re: You think your lost bag was late!
Do you think there's hope, then, for mine that Air France lost in 1966? It's the only bag that's never, ever, come home. If they find the bag I'll bet they could even find me.
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#81)
Well, to start, I count 15 medieval air conditioning units. The architecture feels like a curious cross between medieval (the tower) and gothic (large windows) so it's likely neither. Maybe a modern faux-historic hybrid?
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Re: Coming soon: Adjustable-width airline seats?
Keep in mind that the picture is the patent model...tricked out with real upholstery it may look very different. Other than fitting big people better, I think this may mainly be used on smaller airliners that fly as one- or two-class, as British Air does on a lot of European flights....business class there is pretty much just empty middle. This would allow flexibility. Be my guess...
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Re: Expensive Surface Pro 3, Great for Travelers
As you point out, it's a very expensive tablet...more so than even Apple's offerings! As far as advantages for air travelers, that's a question also. For the past year or so, we've had to take the Kindles out at security as well as the laptops. I always did wonder why tablets were treated differently...and now it appears TSA has, too!
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day: June 19, 2014: Seville Oranges
Seville oranges remind me more of lemons than usual oranges in that they attack your taste buds. You'd have thought the folks would have learned to plant mandarin or naval or valencia oranges!?
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo? (#39)
Ah ha! Either an interesting camera technique or it is indeed a wonderfully detailed model train set, I suspect the latter. Oh, but where?? There are many big boys out there in the world who would love to have a Union Pacific loco running around in the loft. I have seen reports of some fantastic layouts in Germany but it could be anywhere methinks.... I tried to take a photo of just such a loco coming towards me in Canada and stood by the track in readiness. Thinking to be friendly, I was...
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Re: Photography at the Edges, New York & San Francisco
One more for the list of wonderful things to see, the world's largest pinhole photograph at Washington D.C.'s National Air & Space Museum. So many things, so little time.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, October 10, 2015: Northumberlandia, England
I find it captivating -- almost like the Nazca lines. You can really only appreciate them from the air. Nicely done, Ian, and a most unusual daily destination!
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Re: Anatomy of a Trip (first things first, where to go?)
I have to say, i have never seen that much bouncing around of flights, except when one of my daughters took Air Pakistan to Europe in the mid-90's. I am also looking forward to what else happens with your trip.
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Re: Air Canada Launches Free Layover Program in Toronto
http://www.aircanada.com/us/en...to-stopover-program/ This is what the Air Canada site says about the program. It says you have to book by October 31, 2015 to get the offer.
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Re: Traveling to Europe soon? It may pay to prepay...
I do think it's a good year to add Europe. And with cheap airfares available now for spring and summer all the more reason Another currency that has has dropped compared to the US dollar recently is the Canadian Dollar. http://www.theglobeandmail.com...air/article22446079/
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#85)
For sure not very old. Probably not a church, though these days.... My first thoughts were a rail or air terminal, but seeing the second roof in the background makes me less sure of that...
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Re: Airbnb's plans for business travelers
My point, more succinctly, is that while I have no problem with Airbnb expanding it's customer base, a surprising number of my guests are first-time users and I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to extract them from dead-ends they've gotten themselves into on the site. Until the booking process is a straight line, easily negotiated by new users, I believe their efforts would be better spent serving the customers they already have, before heading in new directions.
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Re: Beating Jet Lag
Some people claim the newer generations of jet-liners, like the Boeing 787, will reduce jet lag because they allow higher humidity in the cabin and higher air pressure (more oxygen). In fact that was discussed right here on a TravelGumbo during an interview with Norwegian Air . A few more points. I try not to have more than one or two connections on any flight, especially on overseas trips (for people traveling from small cities, this can be challenging). I find the fatigue factor clouds my...
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Re: Airbus logs #9000, an A321 for VietJetAir
Here's what it looks like head-on, going into its hangar. A little like the Pillsbury Doughboy, no? More pictures of the Beluga, including one with all 6 of them at once, and some flying in formation with French Air Force aerobatics team... CLICK
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Re: Family kicked off flight
I think all children should be buckled in, just as the law requires them to be in cars where I live, in car seats when small. There have been a number of cases where children have been among the only survivors of air crashes, the theory being their more elastic bodies withstand trauma better. But a baby (or 3 year old) sitting unrestrained or on its mother's lap would likely not. I know of no seat belt laws that give an exemption for stupidity. The airline was right to remove the family.
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Re: Boeing's 'Cuddle Seat' tackles the economy snooze
I just love an air travel video that presumes passengers in economy have so much leg room. Maybe - with that much leg room - reclining the backs of our current seats wouldn't be such a disaster. Resting your head on the guy sitting behind you !
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Re: Budget airlines pushing seat squeeze on new planes
I flew on Spanish budget carrier, Vueling, this past spring. It was a pleasant enough flight, but the aircraft had the tightest pitch of any airline I've ever been on. The pocket in the seat in front of you, where magazines and the air sickness bag are stored, was removed to allow for crowding of rows and even my knees were wedged in tightly to the seat back in front of me (seats couldn't be reclined, for obvious reason). I'm not sure how a seriously tall person could ever fit in.
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Re: Observatory of New York's One World Trade Center to Open May 29th
At those prices, they can certainly claim to be "sky-high!" That's $116 for a family of four for an elevator ride. And even at that, it's only a couple of dollars more than the Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center, and the same as the Empire State Building charges for its 86th floor deck, with an additional charge for the top deck. It seems a shame that families on a budget have no access to the iconic "NY from the air" view that their children may be clamoring for.
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Re: A Price War over Trans-Atlantic? TravelGumbo interviews Norwegian Air
Lasse could well be correct on the Jet Lag. The air was fresher on the Dreamliner. The Captain decided when night fell by using the window dimmers. Same with sunrise. I can get a flight - UK to Australia - 23 hours - for the same price as UK to New York - 7 hours. Trans Atlantic flights have been price-rigged for years.
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Re: A Price War over Trans-Atlantic? TravelGumbo interviews Norwegian Air
More news this morning (Monday) regarding difficulties for Norwegian's domestic subsidiary, Air Norway and a possible bankruptcy filing, with possible ramifications for the entire company. Read the article here .
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo, #104
A wonderful man I had the privilege to meet many years ago told me a story. He was a pilot with the Royal Air Force 1939 - 45 in WW2. "You young people today - you talk of the stress you suffer. You stop your motor car and in the rear view mirror you see someone flashing their headlights at you. You get a stress attack and curse him. When I was a young man I suffered the same problem. The flashing lights I could see in my rear view mirror were the machine guns on the wings of a Messerschmitt...
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Re: United, Air China sign up new codeshares
Good to hear. I just took an Air China flight and the airline has some good points for the longf distance budget traveler, like free meals and free video options.
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Re: And the squeeze goes on: are carry-ons next?
Good news for people traveling on Canada's two major airlines, Westjet and Air Canada. They will not adapt these new standards to their markets. The old baggage rules still apply. More on this story in the Vancouver Sun .
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Re: Euro airlines: Delays continue in compensation for delays
I'm going to take the contrary view. First, remember that the short clip above doesn't reflect the detailed regulations or the deliberations of the court. But remember the circumstance quoted “which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken,” Reasonable measures guarantee that crews are scheduled so that even if illness befalls the scheduled crew, it does not take over 3 hours to bring a replacement crew on line. Reasonable measures to avert mechanical...
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Re: Euro airlines: Delays continue in compensation for delays
I'd agree with those expectations...but I also think that if the penalties are too harsh, then the airlines should move to have them changed, and enlist passenger support, not just stiff the passengers by evading the rules. And passengers CAN be won to support campaigns; it was not British Airways' lobbying, but a broad popular sentiment, that has begun dismantling the Air Passenger Duty.
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#115)
Time for another clue. Our rock artist in the photo above is working under the base of a tower. You can climb this tower for better views of the destination. Today's view is in the direction of the highway we drove on. Tomorrow a different view from the tower. Does this help you figure out where Gumbo is?
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Re: Books That Sent You Packing (your bag, that is)
People always laugh when I tell them this but the book that most inspired me to travel was Arthur C Clarke's "2001 a Space Odyssey". It made me want to see the universe -- or at least Clavius Base on the moon. It wasn't until later that I learned I'd have to settle for staying on the planet. Little did I know those journeys would one day lead me to the home and friendship of the man who wrote the book that so inspired me.
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Re: Airline scheduling: Hurry up and wait, or run like crazy?
Of course the king of "Banking" for years has been Icelandic Air. They have made their whole business plan around bringing planes from 10 different North American cities in the morning and having those same planes fly out to 10 different European cities 1-2 hours after landing. This allows 10 plane loads of passengers the ability to mix and match origins and destinations. Then in the afternoon they do the reverse run. For 2-4 hours a day the terminal is full as passengers switch planes, the...
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Re: Calgary Farmers' Market
Wonderful pics. Is this the market on the former military base? That was one of our favorite reasons to drive into Calgary when we were in Canmore! The was a wonderful pit shop in the food court - best savory pies around!
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Re: Airfares have remained flat for 20+ years
Another factor to keep in mind when considering why flying seems more expensive: while the base airfares are flat when you factor in inflation, earnings are not. Over the past 40 years, depending on measure, real wages (what you get when you factor in inflation) have actually eroded a bit, and at points a lot. Add to which the fact that "wages" as used in those figures includes benefits such as health care, which doesn't translate into spendable income. And add to which many other things...
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Re: Feud Starts Up Again Between Delta and American for Haneda Airport Route
It does sound that way ! The airlines want the route but they are not anxious to use it certain times of the air.
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Re: Do Airlines offer the Best Loyalty Rewards Programs?
A very interesting interview...and one of the points that comes clear from it is the one I've always made: What are you looking for? He gives examples, for instance, of how younger people may want low-cost rewards (dinner, say) that they can get immediately. Others may be mainly interested in the free wifi, lounges and upgrades some hotels offer. And others, like I, who seldom stay in hotels (Airbnb, thank you!) are interested mainly in convertibility to air travel. For those in my...