Plan B

Things do not always work out as you plan them. When you travel on the canals in England, you rent the boat and go where you want to. We choose a particular boat that we liked the layout of and we decided to do a route called “the Four Counties” ring. This route matched the time we had the boat for and seemed to have a nice mix of scenery. We felt we could do the 100 miles comfortably in the 14 days we had the boat.

However . . . . .

Anderton Boat Lift

Arriving at Andertion, the town where we were to pick up the boat, we decided to locate the Marina and have a look at the Andreton Boat lift, a historical hydraulic machine that lifted boats fifty feet from the river up to the canal. When we stopped at the boat rental office and started discussing our route with the girl in the office she told us that the “four counties” could not be done as a loop because of a “Stoppage” half way around. You could still do section of the route, but no boats were getting all the way around.

Time to look at Plan B Over a Beer

This was a shame, because Margaret (My sister) and I had carefully charted how long we would travel each day, how many locks we would have to use, and the choice of pubs we could visit along the way.

So, all that is out the window and we will have to move to plan B. A look at our options showed that there was another “ring” route that we could take from the same marina. It was a little shorter and went through a more urban area (Right through the centre of Manchester), but we could take our time and perhaps stop more often.

It does have a series of locks that is nick-named “Heartbreak Hill”, because there are 27 locks in a row. That sounds like an adventure, and we may have time to actually go through the Anderton Boat Lift.

Travel Planner

When Regis & I retired our primary goal was to "Not Work", but following closely behind was a desire to travel. We had a taste of travel while working, and found we both really enjoyed it, but when working, we were limited it where and when we could travel.

Planning the trip - With wine!

Some people like to just leave home, and see where they end up, but although that can give some interesting adventures, it is as likely to end in disappointment or disaster. The secret to consistently positive travel experiences is planning. Some people use travel services such as bus tours where everything is preplanned and organized for you, or get a good travel agent who can use their experience to help plan a positive travel experience.

Although we have a great travel agent, who helps us get the best value for our travel budget, I have discovered the best travel planner in the world - Regis.

She even plans work for me.

Those who know her, probably already know her phenomenal ability to plan events. Just suggest going somewhere, and she will jump in with ideas and suggestions. If the suggestions become an actual vacation, she immediately goes into "Planner" mode, and the Internet slows up for the rest of you as she researches options.

We really have never had a bad travel experience - no wait a minute the RV horror across the country was a bit negative, but that can be blamed on me, as it was all mechanical problems with the our motorhome, and I'm in charge of those sort of issues.

No, if Regis is in charge of the planning, you can almost guarantee things will go well.

Good Planning - Happy Campers

An example of this is the RV parks we must stop in every afternoon. On this trip, we have had amazing experience in every RV park. Regis has criteria she looks for, including price, convenience, and clean washrooms. I think the only bad washroom was the one in St. Louis and it was me that researched that park. She looks in the Woodal's Campground Directory for possible parks, cross references it with our Passport America book, and then if we have an Internet connection, she researches it there, reading reviews (they must be above 7 out of 10) and visiting their websites.

I must admit, I am getting a bit spoiled with her amazing planning ability; I simply do not worry about traveling, knowing that my personal travel planner has everything organized. I know the trips will all work out. Thanks Regis!