| Budapest to Isle of Skye By Train |
Sat Apr 04 |
Slide Show |
Sunset Smith |
Train travel from Budapest to Isle of Skye, 2025. Slide show includes Christmas Markets in the Balkans, the world 's longest underground slide, various opera houses, sites galore, lodging, and food/drink along the route. A few nifty travel tips for creating your own solo trip like this one that Sunset enjoyed. |
| Travel Bug Book Discussion |
Tue Apr 07 |
Book Group |
Aimee Gwynne Franklyn |
Tuesday, April 7th, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
The Payback: A Novel by Kashana Cauley
When Jada Williams is relentlessly pursued by the Debt Police, she is left with no choice but to take down her student loan company with the help of two mall coworkers—from the author of the "lethally witty " (The New York Times Book Review) The Survivalists. Jada Williams is good at judging people by their looks. From across the mall, she can tell not only someone 's inseam and pants size, but exactly what style they need to transform their life. Too bad she 's no longer using this superpower as a wardrobe designer to Hollywood stars, but for minimum wage plus commission at the Glendale mall. When Jada is fired yet again, she is forced to outrun the newly instated Debt Police who are out for blood. But Jada, like any great antihero, is not going to wait for the cops to come kick her around. With the help of two other debt-burdened mall coworkers, she hatches a plan for revenge. Together the three women plan a heist to erase their student loans forever and get back at the system that promised them everything and then tried to take it back. "A novel of great fun and unforgettable fury " (Megha Majumdar, bestselling author of A Burning) The Payback is a razor-sharp and hilarious dissection of race, power, and the daily grind, from one of the most original and exciting writers at work today.
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| Hadrian's Wall |
Sat Apr 11 |
Slide Show |
Brian and Gretchen Johnson |
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| Bolivia and Chile |
Sat Apr 18 |
Slide Show |
Diane Marron |
This South American adventure begins in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, the driest desert in the world, then off to the Salar de Uyuni of Bolivia, the largest salt flats in the world, then a visit to the magical city of La Paz, the highest capital city of the world, and ending in Barranca, the “Soho” of Lima, above the shores of the largest ocean in the world.
This journey encompasses the moonlike landscapes of the desert with its dramatic rock formations and expansive sand dunes sculpted by millennia of wind and water erosion; the colorful lagoons of the Altiplanos of Chile and Bolivia where wildlife such as flamingoes, vicunas and llamas thrive and where there is a special feeling one can experience of being on top of the world, perhaps because of the rarified atmosphere at 14,000 feet above sea level.
This two-week journey into the sand and the salt and the sea, and to the lagoons and the geysers and the Piedras Rojas, and to the magic of La Paz and its culture, and stepping into the past in Barranca is the “altiplano” of my adventures and I look forward to sharing this with my photographs and videos.
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| Tales of the South Pacific |
Sat May 09 |
Slide Show |
Ken Collins |
TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC: A CRUISE FROM TAHITI TO NEW ZEALAND
In March of 2025, Ken and his husband, Bob, took a small ship (550 passengers) cruise from Papeete, Tahiti to Auckland, New Zealand, with stops along the way in French Polynesia, American Samoa, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and the North Island of New Zealand.
At every island they had an opportunity to explore on their own, book a shore excursion or snorkeling expedition. Once the cruise was over, they rented a car for a week and explored some of New Zealand. Highlights included: spectacular national parks that offer fabulous hiking, the famous glow-worm caves, and the Art Deco town of Napier.
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| Wandering in the Clear Light of New Mexico |
Sat May 16 |
Slide Show |
David Ryan |
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