2025 - WHERE WILL THE YEAR TAKE ME

 

Well, 2024 was a fun year that largely was made up of a number of short trips. My longest adventure in 2024 was my trip up to Jamestown, New York and over to visit several Presidential Sites in Ohio. It was an interesting year for me and one the took a little a little more planning than I am used to since I put myself on a schedule for those trips.

So, what’s on hand for 2025? Well, there are a number of things on the whiteboard. Whenever I come up with and Idea for a possible trip it goes on to the whiteboard. That’s the first step. Then I start looking at hotels and a route for each trip listed on the whiteboard. The next step is to start dripping pins of places to stay, restaurants, and points of interest along the way. If the trip makes it to this point, then I start seriously laying the groundwork for the trip. It is at this point that the trip makes the final cut or for a number of reasons removed from consideration.

Since, I didn’t take an extended trip in 2024 there are a few longer trips on the list. So, as I turned the page from 2024 to 2025, what’s on the White Board.

1.      AMTRAK SOUTHWEST CHIEF TO LOS ANGELES

Since I took my first long distance Amtrak trip to Phoenix, Arizona in 2018, I have always wanted to take another one. So, I put this trip at the top of my list in early 2024. The plan was once I got to Los Angeles was to rent a car and spend a couple of traveling around southern California.

There are a number of Bucket List sites in Southern California that I want to visit including both the Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon Presidential Museums. There are a number of cemeteries that are on my List to visit in the L. A. Area. At the top of that list is the Westwood Memorial Park, Forest Lawn Glendale, Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills and the San Fernando Mission Cemetery.

Sadly, this trip has been removed from the 2025 list due to the massive wildfires that are devastating the Los Angeles Area.

2.      AMTRAK CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR TO SAN FRANCISCO

This is also a bucket list trip for me. It is billed as Amtrak’s most Scenic Route as it goes from Chicago all the way to Emeryville, California. Along the way it goes through both the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

My plan is to rent a car and spend a few days in the San Francisco Area before heading down to Visit Kings Canyon, Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks.

My original plans for this trip was to take Amtrak’s Coast Starlight down to Los Angers and Then travel back to New Orleans on the Sunset Limited and then take the Crescent back to Lynchburg, Virginia and renting a car to drive home.

While this trip is still on the board it may end up coming off due once again to the Fires in Los Angeles and the overall crime situation in San Francisco.  I have a couple of Friends who live in t Bay Area, and they are doing their best to discourage me from coming to the bay area because of the crime and lack of police power to ensure my safety.  They have told me that the Entire Bay Area is crime ridden and no one is safe.

Again, this trip is still on the board, but I have a feeling it may come off the 2025 board and hopefully find it’s way back in 2026 or 2027.

3.      SUNSHINE BUS TOUR – SAN FRANCISCO & PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Like Traveling by Train, I also like traveling on Bus Tours. While they are more structured than I am used to, they do allow me to meet some wonderful people while just sitting back enjoying the trip. All the planning has been done for me.

I have taken a couple of longer trips offered by Sunshine Tours and have enjoyed them immensely. When I got Sunshine’s 2025 Catalog, the 20-day cross country trip to San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest jumped out at me.

In addition to Visiting places like Salt Lake City, Pike’s Peak, the Garden or the Gods and the Eisenhower Center in Kansas on the way out we also get to Visit Oregon and Washington before starting the Trip Back.

On the way back we would visit Idaho and Montana on our way to Yellowstone National Park, before visiting the Site in South Dakoka like Mount Rushmore and Deadwood.

I haven’t committed to this trip, but it is moving up on the board. I am currently waiting to receive a 2025 Abbott Tour Catalog to see if they offer a similar trip. While I really enjoy Sunshine, I have discovered that they tend to be quite a bit higher than similar trips offered by Abbott.

4.      ANNUAL NCAA MARCH MADNESS ADVENTURE

One trip that is already pretty much finalized is my annual NCAA March Madness adventure. Last year I traveled to Pittsburgh for the first and second rounds of the Tournament and this year I will be returning to the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

I have attended the tournament several times in the past and it has been a good experience. The arena features on-site parking, which is always a plus. I purchased my tickets for all three sessions of the tournament during the early buy period back in October.

I was able to get a lower-level ticket just 10 rows up from the floor. In anticipation of attending the tournament in Raleigh, I made hotel reservations back in July at a Holiday Inn just 4-miles from the Arena. In doing so, I was able to avoid the special event rate increase. My 4-night stay averages out to just under $150 per night. I checked the rates for the same period right after the first of the years and the average for the same period was just under $190 per night.

5.      ARKANSAS-MISSOURI ADVENTURE

This trip would be a week to 10—day adventure that would take me along the Ohio River in Kentucky before crossing into Missouri. I would pretty much stay in Southern Missouri visiting Poplar Bluff, West Plains and Branson. From Here my options are to either head up to Joplin before crossing into Northeast Oklahoma and eventually back to Arkansas.

6.      MICHIGAN - ILLINOIS GREAT LAKES ADVENTURE

This trip was high on my list for 2024 but due to a couple of scheduling issues, I ended up pushing it back to this years. This is another adventure that has a number of Bucket List sites on it. Hopefully I can make this trip happen as I really want to spend a couple of day visiting Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

My plan is after visiting the Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, I wall travel across southern Michigan, through Ann Arbor, and Lansing before arriving in Grand Rapids. In Grand Rapids I will be able to cross the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum and Gravesite off of My Bucket List.

Then it’s around Lake Michigan, to the west side of Chicago where I can visit a couple of Cemeteries that are on my list. There are a few graves in Westlawn Cemetery that I want to visit including Jack Ruby the man who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President Kennedy and Movie reviewer Gene Siskel.

Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery is the final resting place of many Chicago gangster and Organized crime figures including Sam Giancana and Al Capone.

Then it’s off to Rockford Illinois where I want to visit Historic Auto Attractions, which has one of the largest collections of Presidential vehicle and artifacts in the country. It has a coach that belonged to President Ulysses Grant along with a number of More recent presidential Vehicles. 

It also has a number of other historic vehicles including the Ambulance that transported Lee Harvey Oswald to the hospital after he was shot by Jack Ruby.

Everyone that I have talked to has told me to allow for at least two day to complete the tour of this huge Museum.

7.      ANNUAL BIRTHDAY VACATION

Every years since I retired in 2018, I have managed to take a trip to celebrate my birthday. In the past, I have visited places like Nashville, Pigeon Forge and Virginia Beach. This year I am looking at heading south to Florida.

For several Years I was fortunate enough to be able to vacation with my friends Pete and Valerie Ramey at the Norfolk Southern Lay By on Anna Maria Island. I enjoyed those trips and have longed to return and spend some time in the Sunshine State. 

For this trip I am looking at traveling down the east coast of Florida, visiting St. Augustine, Daytona and the Space Coast. I am looking at making this another 7–10-day trip.

8.      GULF COAST ADVENTURE

When I took the Los Angeles Amtrak Adventure off the Board, this is the trip that replaced it. I haven’t done a whole lot of planning on this trip and if it stays on the board, it will more than likely be a late August, early September Trip or maybe even a November/December Trip.

What I have looked at for this trip is maybe visits to Tallahassee, Florida, ad Mobile Alabama before Heading back north through Mississippi to Memphis and heading home on Interstate 40.

This trips has the possibility of turning into a longer Mega adventure by continuing west along the Louisiana Gulf Coast with stops in New Orleans, and Baton Rouge and maybe on to Houston, College Station and Dallas before heading back east through Arkansas or Northern Louisiana.

I have a feeling that if this does turn into a mega adventure it will be pushed back to 2026. But we will wait and see.

Right now, my first solid 2025 trip is My March Madness Adventure to Raleigh. I don’t have anything planned for February but that could change if I get cabin fever and want to take a short weekend or 5-day spur of the moment trip.

Well, that is where I stand for 2025. Nothing is etched in stone, and it is safe to say not all these trips will stay on the board.  But as of right now all, except for the Amtrak – Los Angeles Trip, are still very much under consideration.

It’s going to be interesting over the next few weeks to see which ones drop off and which one turn into reality. I hope you will check back from time to time to see where 2025 takes me. Until then ENJOY LIFE’S JOURNEY.