Monday, October 12, 2015

Spring Travel Advice Wanted

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta has been checked off our bucket list! But this post needed a few pictures, so I added a few from our last day down on the launch field.

Saturday morning's launch was into a beautifully clear blue sky


I have started thinking about next year. I know, I know, we have several months of travel to enjoy yet this year, but I am a planner.



As I look forward to our third full-time summer, I see that we are not yet ready to settle into a snowbird lifestyle of spending several months in one place in summer and one place in the winter.  We still have too many sights to see. 


We are thinking of spending next summer up in the Maritime Provinces of Canada. To get there, we plan on spending February and March along the Gulf of Mexico, then taking a leisurely meander up the Atlantic Coast.


Did you know that Purple People Eaters like fast food too?

I would really like to catch Springtime in the South, and visit some of the renowned gardens and plantation homes. Although when I see the devastation caused by the flooding, I wonder if that is a good idea. Perhaps we should leave that part of the country for a future year. 

Another route to the Northeast is to go up through Mississippi or Alabama in April and on through Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia in May. I'd like to get to Maine by mid-June. 




Any advice or thoughts about these two routes would be very welcome. I have no idea what the weather is like in these areas in spring. Are there big storms and tornados in Tennessee and Kentucky in April and May? Is it cold? 

Of course, this is all speculation. We might end up in Colorado or Oregon. We will try to float as free as the balloons we enjoyed all this week. 

Where will you be next Spring?

11 comments:

  1. www.usclimatedata.com is what I use in planning.

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  2. With grandbaby #2 coming around April 20th. I'll be in Texas. I'm working tax season again in Aransas Pass so if you go through town maybe we can meetup. I hit some storms in the middle of May going from San Antonio through LA and MS. Then it was clear through western TN. Spring weather temps should be nice. I would love to follow you to the Maritimes.

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  3. Do you follow the blog - Traveling with Pam - she was in the Maritimes this summer?

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  4. I will be in Tennessee (Mountain City to be exact) you are welcome to come visit me.

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  5. I don't consider weather much until just before departure. If it's bad, I ain't goin'. If it's good, I'm goin'. I don't think you'll be too cold in the mid-south in May; it should be a fine time to travel there. Sandy wants to go up the east coast too. Maybe we'll run across you guys, who knows?

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  6. Have really enjoyed your balloon pictures. We definitely need to attend some year.

    I think your plans of Mississippi and Alabama in April and Tennessee and Kentucky in May sound very good. We've traveled every April for the past five years back to Wisconsin and the weather can be tricky. We watch the news carefully and adjust accordingly. So far, we've been able to avoid any severe weather. I think May is better than April for heading north. We find our weather radio to be an excellent tool.

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  7. if you are going to the maritimes you should take another week or two and travel west to Ottawa ;-)

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  8. Do you read Chuck's blog http://goldenshoervtrip.blogspot.ca/2015/06/five-days-12-states-bangor.html

    They went to the maritimes this summer and he has written several posts about their trip. The link I posted is the first of them.

    If you can, try to stay north for the trees changing colour in the fall. I hear Maine is spectacular.

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  9. This spring beginning February we'll be just setting off from Central Florida on our full-time journey after many years of planning. We're heading west. While it might seem natural to head north to do the East Coast first, we've been in Florida our whole lives and have too much pent-up desire for the west to put it off any longer. Maybe we'll cross paths along the Gulf of Mexico.

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  10. One thing we have been trying to consider this year is the effects of El Nino. If you've seen the maps, you know rain is predicted to increase all across the south. CA deserts to Florida. Of course we have no idea what will actually happen, but we try to keep this in mind and make sure that even as we travel we have options. It's tough to plan!

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  11. Even those of us who live in the south don't know what the weather will do. Here in San Antonio, they predict rainfall frequently, but we rarely see any. However, when the rain does come, it comes in buckets, usually all at once. Definitely keep an eye on the weather no matter where you go! Luckily San Antonio is not known for tornadoes.

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