2019 & 2020 Travel Plans

After reminiscing over our September 2017 & 2018 travel, I’m super excited for the trips we have on the agenda for the remainder of 2019 and into early 2020.  Plus, we have a few other Sapphire “free trips” to collect on.  WhooooHoooo!

This week, Kenyon and I are headed to Oregon and Washington.  This will also be the first time we are taking Kenyon’s new-to-him Kia Niro Hybrid on hit’s first road trip.  He is just a teeny bit excited to test out his new gas mileage and very large fuel range mileage estimates.  I keep telling him “you might have a 500 mile range car but I only have a 200 mile range bladder.”  Oh the joys of traveling with Lindsay.

Anyway, we will be attending an air show that has a scheduled visit by the Red Arrows.  I am not really a plane person but to Kenyon, this is awesome.  So, I’ll tag long.  I do enjoy visiting air shows and all there is to see.  We also have plans to visit with a friend from my Boise State University days as well as a high school classmate.  We extended our plans a few more days to include some time on the Oregon Coast, which is where we spent our honeymoon.  Kenyon suggested routing to Seattle to visit the Rick Steves Travel Store (yes, we are dorks) so I wagered for a stop in Leavenworth, WA on our way home.  This will break up the trip and allow me to visit the cute little German town I hear so much about. 

We haven’t 100% decided on what we will see and do but I hope to pop into Pike’s Place Market when we are in the Seattle area and maybe visit Tillamook Cheese Factory when we are near the coast.  I’ve also not really been to Portland so there is a possibility of seeing some of those sights.

In November, we will spend a few days in our favorite travel destination…VEGAS!  Both of us are working the graveyard shift through the end of the year and Las Vegas is the perfect getaway for those staying up all night.  We booked our comp hotel stay at Mandalay Bay, which will be a new hotel to us as we have never stayed there.  We aren’t sure what we will do other than gamble and drink (me, not Kenyon).  I would love to see a Vegas Knights Game but I have a bit of sticker shock on the ticket prices.  So, maybe I’ll just wear my jersey around Vegas and find a bar to hang out and watch the game.  We shall see.  Also since we are staying at Mandalay Bay, I’d like to take in the Shark Tank and Aquarium attraction.  Oh yes, and the Outlet Malls!  Plus, I have my favorite restaurants to visit too.

In January, we will visit Scottsdale, Arizona to stay at one of the Sapphire properties.  This was the first resort stay we have booked with our points membership and looks like it will be a nice full-week getaway.  We will also be escaping the cold Boise weather for warm Arizona weather which is a huge plus.  We have some friends we would like to visit while we are there as well as some of Kenyon’s extended family.  Other than that, I’m not sure.  The Phoenix/Mesa area is Kenyon’s old stomping grounds from his pre-Lindsay days.  I have driven through Phoenix a few years ago when we routed from Vegas to New Mexico.  I am looking forward to having a full week of vacation to check out more of the sights.

In February, we will visit Orland, Florida since we cashed in one of our “free trip vouches” Sapphire gave us when we signed up for our membership.  The “free trip” is not 100% free as you do have to pay the taxes and deposit fees before you can book.  We also won’t know which resort we are staying at until close to our travel dates.  But, we have booked our flights and rental car so we are all set when we do get our final travel documents.  You have to be flexible with promotional travel since we didn’t get to pick our preferred dates in December.  This ended up working out to our advantage because now we can by our stop through Dallas, Texas on our way home and see Oprah.  And by we, I really mean me because let’s face it, Kenyon is just along for this crazy ride with me.

Our last visit to Orlando was in 2012 so we are eager to see the expansions of The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando.  We will also spend a day at both Disney’s Epcot and Magic Kingdom parks. 

That is all that is currently scheduled for travel right now.  I want to get back to Vegas in 2020 for RuPaul’s Drag Race Live, which just announced its residency at The Flamingo.  If you have never watched Drag Race you are missing out.  I’ll be dragging Kenyon with me for that one…at least to Vegas even if he won’t see the show.  We also have two more “free trip vouches” to redeem from Sapphire.  One will be for 3 days/2 night in Hawaii with airfare and the other is a choice.  We would like to be able to select the 7-day Southern Caribbean Cruise in/out of Puerto Rico.  This would mean a larger cost out-of-pocket since the taxes and deposit fees are higher than the other trip options and we would have to also secure our own airfare.  Since flights from Boise to PR wouldn’t arrive in time and also have to add on a hotel stay in Florida.  So, we will see.  If we don’t select that trip, we will possibly chose a week stay in Branson, Missouri or San Francisco, California.  I think we also have some Sapphire points we need to keep an eye on to make sure they don’t expire.  I’d like to visit Tahoe, Nevada, which would be driving distance.

Oh man…so much travel coming in 2020.  I can’t wait!