The Amazing Race Series 2! Another Canada / USA Road Trip!

[neilhd]

So today is the 50 day mark. With it now being June we also now technically go next month, even though it is right at the end of that month.

In terms of updates, I have done 3 things:

1 - Booked the Lachine Rapids jet boating in Montreal. This looks quite insane. It is quite expensive at $187 Canadian for the 3 of us. They supply you with ponchos and even special shoes, but they still tell you to bring an entire change of clothes and a towel. You get that wet.

2 - Booked a tour of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. This was free, apart from a $1.50 per person booking fee.

3 - Got my cash. Most of my spends will be on my fee-free Amex, but I still wanted $1000 US and $750 Canadian for incidentals, snacks, tips etc. Of course, with an election happening tomorrow I didn't want the same to happen as last year, where I had to take tons more money after the referendum. So this year I decided to hedge it by getting the cash now. If the rate dips after the election then I "win" on the already-purchased cash. If it rises, then I "win" on the CC rate I'll get. I have also stuck £20 on Labour to get the most seats at 10/1, just in case. It was a new betting account so I get my stake back if I lose anyway.

Of course, I'm sure the universe will find away to make sure I lose out with the exchange rate somehow.

I've also ordered some more tear-strip envelopes to make Amazing Race clues out of. I really must get around to starting those soon!

[lottiesmum0]

Sounds great- we did a similar trip to your last years trip too!
Word of warning- I would take food on the air transaat flight- I didn't enjoy the food service at all!
We also managed to save quite a bit of money by using air B and B

[neilhd]

Originally Posted by lottiesmum0

Sounds great- we did a similar trip to your last years trip too!
Word of warning- I would take food on the air transaat flight- I didn't enjoy the food service at all!
We also managed to save quite a bit of money by using air B and B

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Thanks for the tip, we'll stock up at Boots before we get on!

[sheluk]

Sounds like a fab trip. Off to read your other trippie 👍

[WileyCoyote]

Hey, Rapids Jet Boating sounds fun. Well, no, it sounds plain crazy.

I like that you got a deal on the hotel ... Some of the prices are insane aren't they . I have to look at our holiday cost spreadsheet with only one eye, it makes the total harder to read.

Look at your countdown ... Scary.

[neilhd]

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote

Hey, Rapids Jet Boating sounds fun. Well, no, it sounds plain crazy.

I like that you got a deal on the hotel ... Some of the prices are insane aren't they . I have to look at our holiday cost spreadsheet with only one eye, it makes the total harder to read.

Look at your countdown ... Scary.

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Jet boating is actually crazy. The more I look at it on You Tube the more I think it will either be the best thing ever, or the worst thing ever.

Hotel prices are definitely crazy this year compared to last (i.e. pre Brexit and £ collapse). I'm very glad we got the Washington hotel at a cheaper price - it bought my average price per night down from "≈≈≈" to just "OMG"

The countdown is looming now and I do feel quite unprepared.

[Melbatb]

We go in 34 days - so just before you!
Montreal for us was just an arrival/departure point but as I have just booked Oshega Festival tickets for DH's 50th and DS's 16th (they don't know!) changes will have to be made! The boat trip sounds awesome!

[mouli1]

we did 2 nights in Philly , we thought it was a lovely city , make sure to check out the Reading Market , opposite your hotel , there is a lot of scaffolding around which is a bit of a nuisance .the centre is very walkable and the "gayberhood" is a great place , really good atmosphere and some good independent restaurants
Penn Landing is nice to wander along , especially if the pop up park with the hammocks is still there , great view of the bridge from there .
Make sure you go early for the Liberty Bell , huge queues , we did Independence Hall and were distinctly underwhelmed , think it may depend on your guide , ours was on a power trip trying to intimidate some high school kids .
Car parking is ridiculously expensive in Philly and DC.
we struggled a bit with finding eating places in DC , especially lunch along the national Mall but the food trucks are really good , maybe about 20 parked up by the Smithsonian museums

[neilhd]

Originally Posted by mouli1

we did 2 nights in Philly , we thought it was a lovely city , make sure to check out the Reading Market , opposite your hotel , there is a lot of scaffolding around which is a bit of a nuisance .the centre is very walkable and the "gayberhood" is a great place , really good atmosphere and some good independent restaurants
Penn Landing is nice to wander along , especially if the pop up park with the hammocks is still there , great view of the bridge from there .
Make sure you go early for the Liberty Bell , huge queues , we did Independence Hall and were distinctly underwhelmed , think it may depend on your guide , ours was on a power trip trying to intimidate some high school kids .
Car parking is ridiculously expensive in Philly and DC.
we struggled a bit with finding eating places in DC , especially lunch along the national Mall but the food trucks are really good , maybe about 20 parked up by the Smithsonian museums

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That's some really useful information, thanks.

We have our Independence Hall tour at 10am, which means we need to pick up the tickets as 09:15. I might rebook onto a different tour for an hour later so we can do the Liberty Bell first thing (it opens at 9am).

We are limited in Philly time though - less than a day there altogether. Wish we had a bit longer, but then that's the case with everywhere we go!

[neilhd]

OMG this is getting close. We now officially go THIS MONTH. In 24 days, to be precise.

I have recently done the following things:

Emailed Independence Hall in Philly to change our tour from 10am to 11am. If that doesn't work I'll just book new tickets (they are only $1.50 each). This is so we can see the Liberty Bell first thing at 9am when it opens, and then get to pick up our tour tickets at 10:15. Thanks to mouli1 above for the suggestion.

Booked a Duck Tour of Washington DC. We did one last year in Boston and it was great so we thought we'd do another one here. This is scheduled for our second full day in DC (the first full day being spent doing Air & Space and Natural History museums, and our arrival day seeing the White House and the Monuments). I'm thinking that after that we'll visit the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and then maybe the Spy Museum.

Apart from that, there's not a lot else to say really. You'll be excited to hear that I bought some more packing cubes, as we really squeezed into the ones last year, and we're taking a bit more this year.

I did print the covers for our Amazing Race clue envelopes but I haven't cut them yet, and I started writing some of the copy for the clues, but that needs some more work, plus printing, cutting, etc.

I still have exciting things to do such as buy more underwear and socks for myself and Joe as I don't think we own enough. Ele does not have this problem.

In amongst all the planning, before we go I still have to fit in my birthday (next week - presents appreciated, and expected), Joe finishing primary school and getting ready for high school (including hundreds of pounds on new school uniform), booking a flight to Vegas for my next birthday (annoyingly large, round number type of birthday) with Avios as soon as it becomes available, test driving a new car (I want one, don't know if I'll get one or not!), selling a collection of old iPhones and iPads to CEX, so I can buy newer iPads as ours are now old and a bit rubbish, and god knows what else.

HELP!