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Which one of you had the best New Mexico trip?

My most recent trip to the Land of Entrapment was for the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque.   That....is an outstanding event.  I highly recommend it to anyone.  early October.  the mass ascension of balloons is quite a scene to be a part of on the ground.

October is usually a good month to visit Europe (France anyway).  Kids are in school, the weather is decent, not much rain, hotel and airfare prices are lower ... but apparently not for Rome.  We're headed there for four nights in October and hotel prices are ... stratospheric.  Some Hilton places are >$700 per night.  (I have some status with Hilton that usually gets a nice upgrade.)

Airport and cruise port transfers aren't cheap either.  I booked one transfer from hotel to cruise port that was $264.  I realize it's a bit of a drive.  Two of us.  I prefer to have all this locked in a head of time, it often is no more than using a taxi ad hoc.

Keeping track of the time changes while crossing the International Date Line is not something I ever get used to. On overnight flights from the U.S. into Europe, it makes natural sense waking up the next morning to a new day in Italy or Spain. But flying from Hawaii to Guam – all sunlight hours over the Pacific – and somehow it’s the next day in Guam feels strangely disorienting. 3PM Thursday takeoff from Hawaii, 7 hours in the air, 6PM landing in Guam the next day.

It goes to show how much of a football junkie I am that my first reaction is to realize that Guam’s Fall Sundays are when college football games are airing. NFL games broadcast on Monday mornings. Guam weekends are more acclimated to watching college football, but given the bumper stickers and flags waving in the windows, NFL fanbases are better represented. High School Football is a popular spectator sports amongst the eight high schools fielding teams across the Island.

Sunrise view from hotel on first morning waking in Guam, looking over the Tumon Bay facing west into the Philippine Sea; first time seeing this far corner of the Pacific Ocean: