Connecting Blog

I wonder what it would be like to live in the most populated U.S. state there is and just how crowded it is over there. California is one of the largest states in the United States, but its number one in terms of population. I guess some folks get tired of seeing so many other people each day and they are ready to make the move to the east coast. Some California residents may just seek a better job and their employment takes them back across the Mississippi River. Whatever the reason may be, some people do have to load up all their belongings and make a long trip across the country. I’m sure this isn’t an easy task to do and luckily there is a company that specializes in these long distant moves from California to a location on the eastern side of the country.

Since 1995 California New York Express has provided the needed assistance to help people make these long distance trips. Finding moving companies Los Angeles or any other moving companies in California is probably pretty easy to do. Finding one that is willing to travel across the country for you might be a little harder to come by. If you’re currently living in California and will need to start making plans soon for a trip that will take you across the country; you can feel better about this future event now, since you know there is a company that specializes in it. I hope you and your family have a safe trip and all of your items do get transported safely in the move too.

I know choosing where to spend your yearly vacation is just half of the decision you have to make each year. Once a destination has been chosen, you then need to find which motel, hotel, resort, condo, or other venue is going to keep you for the week. I know we can over look this sometimes, but it is important to stay at a nice place. The more comfortable you’re with the housing you have selected for the week; does make for a better vacation. If you travel to one of the states that have a Westgate available; then you would have no problems on which choice to make. This is the top of the line accommodations if you ask me and it doesn’t get any better than the services that are offered from any of the Westgate locations.

Maybe you already have a favorite company or chain you like to stay with while traveling. Please feel free to let me know what establishment you prefer to make your reservations with while on trips or the yearly vacation. I would like to know why you choose them and what sets them apart from the competition. If you are open to new places to try; then be sure to jot down the Westgate locations and see if there is one close to your travel destination the next time you travel. You can find these in:

*Florida

*Missouri

*Nevada

*South Carolina

*Tennessee

*Utah

*Virginia

I live in Georgia and I think a Westgate would do really well here. I hope they decide to bring one to the Peach State one day. I know my family and others that live in North Georgia love to visit the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. If you have been there or plan to visit these beautiful mountains in Tennessee, there is a Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort that you can make reservations for. I can’t think of a better place in those mountains to stay at and I’m sure you will love it there!

I use to go to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina as a kid. We went there a couple of times on vacation and I miss going there. We have lately gone to other places, but I miss the area around South Carolina known as Myrtle Beach. There are great beaches in North Carolina too and I would like to visit them someday too. I hear the Carolinas are booming these days and more travelers and tourists are seeing the beauty in the Southeast now. If you haven’t made up your mind yet about a family vacation in 2009; you may want to check the Outer Banks area and see if this might be the idea place to go this year. There is plenty to do for the adults and kids. You won’t be board visiting North or South Carolina and the Carolinas is where I wished I was right now.

Have you ever been to North Carolina or South Carolina? Where did you visit and why? Did you have a good time and would like to go back? If you live in one of these states, please let me know the number 1 recommendation you would give to a traveler visiting. I love the casino in Cherokee, North Carolina but this is real far from the beaches. The Carolinas do offer the beach and mountains for any tourist looking for either of these on their vacation.

New Zealand is an island country off the coast of Australia. It is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I would love to go there some time and see the majestic waterfalls that are found in New Zealand. It is a taste of paradise from all the great pictures I have seen online from New Zealand.

I don’t plan to travel to New Zealand anytime soon, but it is certainly one of my top destinations to visit one day. I will have to make a trip to New Zealand, so I can expereince all the breathe-taking views this tiny nation offers. It’s primarily made up of two islands and there is a northern and southern part to this island nation. I haven’t figured out which part I would like to see most, but hopefully I get the chance to see Northern New Zealand and Southern New Zealand.

Any island that is surrounded by an ocean makes a great place to visit. I can just imagine all the sea breezes and warm air that this island would offer. I do love going to the beach and I’m sure the beaches off of New Zealand are spectactular. I will have to start saving up my money now, so I can make a trip here some day.

The big grizzly bears that roam the Alaska terrain have it made. Alaska is one of the most scenic places in the whole entire world. I would love to visit Alaska one day and take-in all of the beauty that is there. It can get really cold in the winter time there and I’m not sure if I would want to spend a winter in Alaska. Once the weather starts to warm up in the spring and green starts growing on the mountains is when I would want to take my trip to Alaska. The wildlife is every where in Alaska. Visitors would have no problems capturing the animals on film or seeing them in their natural habitat. I hope the global warming trend we are in now or “climate change” isn’t hurting these animals too much. The polar bears have been affected with less ice around to float on, so I know they are in trouble. I’m not sure if the grizzly bears are having their own problems, but if the salmon population slows down in Alaska, this would hurt the big bears in the fall and winter seasons in Alaska. These mammoth bears rely on the fats they get from the salmon’s skin and they need this for hibernation. If bears don’t over eat in the fall season, they will wake up too early during the winter and will struggle to find food. Let’s hope the natural beauty of Alaska stays the same and we can prevent the warming trend that is currently happening in our environment.

Have you ever been to Alaska before? Do you live in Alaska? Please be sure to tell me any stories or adventures that you have experienced in Alaska. If you did make a trip there at one time, do you plan to go back? I would want to find a cabin that is by itself in the mountains of Alaska. I wouldn’t want to be near any cities or towns, so I could enjoy the silence that Alaska offers. I’m sure the wildlife makes noises up there, but that would be the only noise I would hear. I think it would be fun to arrive in the fall and chop wood for a few weeks and live out a winter in Alaska. It would be a game of survival to have enough food and medicine to survive the harsh conditions that Alaska offers in the winter months. I would be up for the challenge, if I could take the time off from work. I just need to win the lottery and I would embrace an Alaskan winter. Money is the only thing keeping me away for now and I hope that changes real soon.

Scenic View of a Smokey Mountain Homeplace

The Cades Cove park in Tennessee is a great place to take a weekend trip to. If you’re a christian with a baptist faith, there are many churches in the area to attend on Sundays. Taking a drive to Cades Cove on a Sunday and going to meeting at one of the baptist churches in the Smokies and then after church making a trip through the scenic park of Cades Cove is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon in the Great Smokey Mountains.

Cades Cove is a valley in Tennessee that has been adopted into the Great Smokey Mountains that are protected by law today. The residents that were forced out of this area was not happy to leave their land when this area became part of the Smokey Mountains and I can understand why. Who in their right mind would want to leave such a beautiful area of the country and I can understand the people that wanted to remain on their homeland. The courts ruled that the properties must be seized and people that called Cades Cove home would have to leave their land, so that the area could be a part of the Great Smokey Mountains.

The Cherokees use to live in this area and the Indian tribe would hunt in a lot of the present day areas that make up the Cades Cove park. You can still see a lot of wildlife that run freely through the park as visitors drive through the area. It’s not easy getting to Cades Cove and you will travel through a very curvy road to get to the park. I’m not sure how long those curves last for, but it seems like a 15 to 20 mile journey that will lead you through the curviest road ever made in America. For those that have visited the park before, know exactly what I mean and it’s no fun hugging all the curves that run through a very scenic area of Tennessee.

Many of the man-made structures that were built more than 100 years ago are still standing and you can see these when you visit Cades Cove. The Dan Lawson Place that was built by Peter Cable was inherted by Mr. Lawson when he married Cable’s daughter. I really like this area and Mr. Cable couldn’t have picked a better spot in all of the Smokey Mountains as far as I am concerned, to have built this home. Make sure you get a chance to see the Dan Lawson Place up close and personal if you get a chance to see the Great Smokeys anytime soon.

The Great Smokey Mountains are located on the borders of North Carolina and Tennessee. This is a travel destination that millions of people make each year and many of those return sometime in the future, because it is such a great trip to make. If you love the mountains and like to travel, you will be hard-press to find a place better than the Great Smokey Mountains. Make sure you find the area that is called Cades Cove in Tennessee and plan to spend a day there on your trip to the Smokies.

A beautiful state just north of my Georgia home is the great state of North Carolina. A trip for the day, a weekend, or for an entire week is a great decision if Carolina is on your mind. The mountains are what I like best about North Carolina, but the Atlantic Ocean hugging the Carolina shore is a great site to see too. Staying in North Carolina is simple with renting a cabin in the mountains or staying at one of the Outer Banks rentals near the ocean. You and the whole family will love a trip to North Carolina and if you haven’t been there yet, you must jot it down on your “places to see” list. Not many places in the country can offer you a vacation near the mountains; while hanging out at the beach all day. This is what makes a trip to North Carolina so unique and Mother Nature pulled out all of the stops when North Carolina was in production. Be sure you come back here after your trip to the Tar Heel state and let me know what you liked best about North Carolina.

I know the last days of 2008 are coming to an end and this means a lot of people’s rent will be due for the month of January or leases running out for the 2008 year. So lots of folks take these things into consideration and find new places to live in the New Year. I would think moving companies and companies that were related to moving services will be busy in January of 2009. The weak housing economy and new home sales declining plays a big part in this year’s plans for people to move. I actually think it will increase the number of people moving and people losing their jobs may be looking for cheaper places to live or a place to live closer to their new jobs. January is going to bring on a lot of new changes and I’m sure that means a new home or apartment for many people.

Las Vegas is like no other city in the world and most big cities that lure tourists in each year like Las Vegas, Nevada does have only one strip to learn. You really have two main strips in Vegas and many refer to this as Old Vegas and New Vegas. The casinos you see on television and know as a legendary Vegas casino are all located on the old strip of Vegas. You will find these in a different area than the newer casinos and hotels. Your newest casinos are built on the new part of Las Vegas or the New Vegas and it’s real easy to take a vacation to Las Vegas and never make your way to the Old Vegas or the New Vegas. A las vegas strip map can come in handy to travelers wanting to see certain casinos that might be new or the legendary ones you see on TV or in all of the movies. If your hotel is on the new strip in Vegas, you may never make your way to the older side of Las Vegas, because there is plenty to do on the new side. You can still spend all of your money on either strip, but I think most would like to visit one or two of the older casinos in Vegas, since you have seen or heard about them so much over the years. Just remember there are two sides to Vegas and if you go there, make sure you see both!

We never know what dangers might be lurking just around that next turn. It’s not always a good idea to take risks and failing to prepare for the future is preparing to fail. I know failure is a broad term and everybody’s definition is different, but I think when it comes to our vacations a lot of us share the same definition. We don’t want our trips to fail ever and nothing can be more frustrating if it’s the trip our family takes once a year for vacation. No matter how carefully you planned your trip or the amount of time you spent working out every little detail, things do go wrong sometimes. I believe most travelers could soften the blow if they would stop to consider travel insurance on all of their future trips. It doesn’t take long to evaluate the different insurances that are out there and you can compare travel protection plans online at your computer. Just having insurance doesn’t guarantee your trip will be smooth sailing. It will help if any bumps pop up along the way and I think this is the reason more people should consider insurance when they’re traveling. A long trip to a special destination is very exciting, but I know it can be stressful too. Reduce that stress for your next family vacation and just take an extra minute or two to look over different travel protection plans.

The holiday season is a time many people make long trips to visit relatives and friends. The weather in some places can be really cold and even going below the freezing mark during the night hours. You don’t want to get caught off guard and keeping a emergency kit is a good idea for motorists. You want things in a emergency kit that could be very useful in case your car breaks down and there is no businesses or homes nearby. You may have to stay warm or eat until help can arrive to assist you, if you’re caught stranded on the side of the highway. Just a few simple things can go a long ways into making you more comfortable if your car does break down or you have an accident and no one can see you from the main road. I would suggest putting some trail mix or beef jerky in the emergency supply bag for your food source. These items don’t perish quickly and you don’t have to keep changing the food in your emergency kit. If your breakdown happens at night, you will be glad that you had a flashlight and pack extra batteries if your light source runs off batteries. Simple medications like aspirin and first aid supplies for cuts would be helpful if you or someone in your vehicle was hurt. The final things I would add to any emergency kit would be a blanket and lighter. Your car’s heater may not be working and a blanket would help you retain body heat and carrying a lighter would be an extra source of light and would also give you the choice of building a fire for light or warmth if needed. I hope everyone has safe trips this year, but go ahead and throw together a few emergency supplies, just to be on the safe side.

For those of us that live in the city, I think our number 1 dream is to have a place in the country that we can visit on the weekends or go for family vacations. Something like a log cabin sitting on a lake with woods surrounding it would be the type of place many people dream about. Perhaps just owning a piece of land and building a small house or log cabin would be good too and just some place we could travel to, so we could escape city life. The log cabin dream would be perfect for me and having windows in the cabin they gave a scenic view of the mountains would be heaven. Big rooms inside with wood flooring in every room of the cabin is the way I would want to construct my vacation getaway place. A place that would be surrounded by trees and no busy roads nearby or other houses that you could see from the cabin is the ideal location. Just a place in the middle of no where is what a lot of us living in the city need and it’s the best medicine for clearing the mind. We spend so many days of the year doing things we don’t want to do, we all need a place to go when we do get a chance to do things our way. The log cabin in the mountains would be my greatest accomplishment, if I ever could manage to have a place like this for my very own.

It is now possible for ordinary folks like you and me to go into outer space. Well almost, you do need an extra-ordinary amount of cash. It’s not cheap to fly to the stars these days, but people are traveling to Russia these days and taking advantage of space flight. I think the cost is around 1 million dollars and this will get you a short trip into outer space. I could see this becoming more affordable years from now, but there is only a few ways we have to launch man into outer space these days.

I believe more private companies will try to link-on to space travel and more citizens will get to experience life as the astronauts do. I’m not that big on flying, so a trip into the stars and away from the Earth doesn’t sound like something I would want to do. This is great for the people that never had the time or luck to become an astronaut and average people can blast off into the heavens.

These space trips work like anything else does and it’s all about money. So it is a rich man’s game and only the people with huge sums of money can make the trip into outer space right now. I believe I could find better things to spend my money on, but many folks feel they have a destiny with outer space. If you happen to have a spaceship lying around somewhere that works, you might want to dust it off and start using it for a Taxi to the stars. People will pay lots of money to make the space trip and they will be waiting in line to go! I think the airplane is the only space travel I want to do right now, but it would be nice to have 1 million dollars, so I would have the option of deciding.

I’m starting to see some major tourist places beefing up the promotions and lowering prices that you normally wouldn’t see. I’m not sure if this is because of the current economical situations or just an attempt to get families to plan the upcoming holidays to their cities. If these vacation packages get too much lower, I think many will start grabbing up these Vegas vacations at these discounted prices. These big tourist destinations are always ahead of the game and they know how to target families for all occasions. I think Las Vegas will continue business as usual for the remainder of this year and travelers are gong to be treated to some really cheap vacation packages. See if you can find one for your family now and try to lock in on the low rates before they go back up!

I love to watch the movies where they start in America and travel down to Mexico for some reason or another. I think it would be fun to go to Mexico and I would like to be able to do that one day. I would prefer to just drive from Georgia to Mexico and go through the border in Texas somewhere. I’m not sure if you need a passport or not to go to Mexico, so I would need a passport if that’s the case. I wouldn’t worry about the food, because I do like eating Mexican food and I would certainly want to eat at a few restaurants in Mexico. I always hear about things being cheaper in Mexico, so my trip would consist of a lot of shopping. I think it would be fun to take a lot of money down there and buy up a bunch of things. I guess clothes would be the main thing, but I would be more out to shop for bargains than any particular item. I think someone told me that 1 American dollar is like 6 in Mexico, so I guess that means you could go to McDonalds and get a Big Mac extra value meal for 1 dollar and would even get change back. I could live with those rates and I might be able to actually afford to live in Mexico better than I could in this country. If you have traveled to Mexico before from the States, please let me know if I need a passport or not and also give me any helpful tips or suggestions for places to eat, things to do or a town I should visit in Mexico from the Texan border.

Today we have better knowledge on weather patterns and things that can happen over the open waters of the ocean. I think this helps us a lot to understand a lot of the Bermuda Triangle mysteries that have happen over the years. I’m still not convinced we know everything and don’t have plans to go through the triangle soon, but I wouldn’t let it stop me from staying in one of the St. Martin villa rentals either that are located in the Caribbean. No matter what science comes up with, I think a lot of folks will let the Triangle continue to be a mystery to man. I think our advancing sciences and technology often leave us with answers we don’t want. I think having a mystery in the Bermuda Triangle area is good and so is Bigfoot. It’s a way for us to escape reality sometimes and gives us hope that there is something beyond our control that exists out there today. If you have never seen the movie about the Bermuda Triangle, I do recommend watching it. It shows a lot of interesting stories that have occurred there and you can learn a lot about the mysteries of the Triangle that we still refer to as the Bermuda Triangle. The maps of today does not recognize the Triangle as existing, so there is no true points that make up the triangle, but you can find consistent sources that state the same area in the Atlantic Ocean.

I am lucky to have lived in the same house for about 30 years now and haven’t had to deal with moving to a new home. I have had the pleasure of helping others move their stuff into a new home and it’s an all day job. If you’re getting ready to move, you will want to make sure you have plenty of help and trucks to carry all of your things. It’s best if you can make the move all in one day and get it over with. The big items are a pain as you would expect them to be, but the small things take just as much time moving as the big stuff does too. You will want to get a lot of moving boxes to store the smaller items in and this will be less bending over and picking up. I think the best thing people could do is sell their old home with the stuff already in it and just order new things for your new home. The delivery companies would help save time and energy for all the big things we have to put in our homes. I’m sure the moving part is a price most will pay to move to a new place, but you will soon learn that moving is no fun and you will want all the help you can find!

Land on the moon is for sale and now you can buy a piece. It’s true, you can buy land by the acre on the moon and it’s all yours to keep. This is a great idea and does make a great gift to give someone during holidays. I always wanted to win the lottery so I could give out nice gifts for birthdays and Christmas, but buying land on the moon isn’t that expensive. You might not be able to afford an acre of land here on Earth, but the rates on the moon are much cheaper! I guess Bill Gates could buy the moon if he wanted to, but you don’t have to be that rich to buy 1 acre of moon property. Go check out the rates that are very cheap and I’m sure there is someone special in your life that you would like to buy land on the moon for. Property is now for sale on the moon and you better hurry because space is limited!

Taking a long trip or going on summer vacation can take a lot more time to plan and get there, than the actual time that we spend at our actual destination. We do a lot of thinking and preparing before we make a trip and we also take a lot of time getting to our desired destination. The time you spend going to your destination of choice can be half of the fun while you’re on vacation. I know we are all excited to hurry up and arrive on our trips, but the journey there is part of the experience and some of my best memories come from the traveling part of my trips. I know the place you stay in can be a lot of fun and nice memories come from the place that you are boarding at for the stay of your vacations. A nice hotel, motel or staying at one of the laughlin hotels can be a place that many memories will come from years down the road. It’s strange all of the times we can remember about being in our hotel rooms or the driving time we spent going on our vacations. You would think that we would remember the actual vacation part of the trip and the activities we did or had planned to do. After all, that was the whole reason for the trip or vacation in the first place, but it doesn’t always work out that way. I have random thoughts of vacations in the past and they all have to do with the long drive or time spent in our rooms on vacation. So remember that when you make your next trip and try to enjoy the long ride you have to endure or the memories you have from the hotel or motel rooms, because they will be the memories that you carry with you for the longest, when you reflect back on your trip years down the road.

Its summer time in Chicago right now and this means that many fans will be watching the Cubs and White Sox play baseball in the Windy City. Chicago is a big sports town and they love their Blackhawks, Bears and Bulls just the same. It would be hard to find any other city in America that had a more passionate sports town than Chicago. You can make a trip to Chicago any time of the year and chances are good that you will be able to catch a sporting event in the big metropolitan city.

Chicago is indeed a big city and they have a wide variety of businesses and services available for the public. They have a nice selection of restaurants in the city, scenic sites to see and you won’t miss the Sears Tower if you’re visiting the place where the wind never stops blowing. Some of the best attorneys in the country can be found in Chicago and residents have no problem searching for Chicago personal injury lawyers or any other types of attorneys they might need. I know a lot about the city of Chicago, but haven’t had a chance to see it in person yet. I think Al Capone help to put this area on the map more than 50 years ago and his name and Michael Jordan are famous in the city of Chicago. If you are a resident of Chicago or have visited there in the past and have a good recommendation of a restaurant to eat at or an attraction to see; then please reply to this post and let me know about your suggestions.