You can still do it, Denise! I'm 55 and the retired French lawyer who was staying in my room is 60. A guy I know from home stayed in a hostel in Buenos Aires, took the overnight bus to Iguazu Falls, and stayed in a hostel there. He's around 75 years old! There's no age limit and anyone can do it.

I have stayed in many budget accomadations that I really enjoyed. Never stayed in a hostel and never did the whole back packing, hostel thing - I think I probably missed out on many a fun experience in my youth.

Very cool!! I did hostels in Scandanavia in the late 80's. Rewarding experience. Nice post!

Great idea, Shining Light! Maybe I'll do that for our thirtieth and subsequent anniversaries.

Sounds good!

BTW - here's a romantic way to mark an anniversary, which didn't work out for us, but may some day.

As you may be aware, many of the anniversary years have themes attached to them, such as Silver, for 25 yrs. Probably a long time plot of the greeting card and jewelry companies.

Two years before we went to the Sooke House, we were on the Olympic Peninsula in WA. We had the most amazing time at Ruby Beach, where the stone cliffs, indeed turned to sparkling 'rubies' in the late day sun and sunset, after a day of typical rainforest drizzle.

So when our 40th anniversary came up 3 years ago, Mr SL suggested we go to Ruby Beach! WOW!! Unfortunately an event came up, which precluded that trip, but what a neat idea to try to find someplace to go which has, for example, 'silver' in the name.

Just hope that if we make it to #50, it's not the Golden Age Nursing Home!

Thanks for the Sooke Harbour House recommendation, shininglight. Friends of ours stayed there a few years ago and highly recommended it. We may take a drive out to the restaurant for dinner one evening. As of now, we're not sure when we're going to Victoria, but it will probably be in the fall.

Your plans may already be complete by the time you read this, but we can highly recommend the Sooke Harbour House, >http://www.sookeharbourhouse.com

I had the high tea at Butchart Gardens and really enjoyed it. It's not one of the things we get much of in Texas.

Aw--flowers--that's so sweet!
I'm sure there's still long-term parking at any of the major ferry ports.

You won't need a car just for Buchart--they have shuttles town to gardens.
If you're into the la-di-da, High Tea can be quite the thing to do!

That's exactly what I was thinking. I love taking the ferry, especially oon a warm summer day. Do you know if there's parking at the ferry dock in Seattle? We might want to have our car with us so we can get to Buchart. We were there a few years ago and you're right, it's spectacular. Great idea about the flowers, but our anniversary was last week and I bought some for my wife. Any suggestions on restaurants in Victoria or any other sights we should see?

Ferry from Seattle!!! It's such a great trip and you don't have to have a car to get to the hotel in Victoria.
Buchart Gardens is special any time of year but if your anniversary is in the next few months, it should be spectacular--you don't even have to buy her flowers; just give her the whole garden to breathe in and enjoy!

This scam has been around forever. Get out of your car when you hand over your keys, make a point of looking at the meter, and they will zero it out. If they start the meter doesn't work right routine, and they are switching the lever up and down, say no no, go over and jerk the hose out. Most meters have been changed out now, so they automatically zero out. They are now into the asking if you want a can of additive into your tank. It always is empty or half empty. Just say no, gracias. Watch the meter, and you will be fine.



When I was in high school, I dated a guy who worked after school, pumping gas. I can remember him saying they did the additive routine whenever they could. Needless to say, I didn't stay with him for the long run.



I often think MX is like the US when I was a kid. The scams are the little scams, they aren't into the sophisticated scams yet (I don't include Mexico City in that generalization). Hoping I will be old and dead before they get into driving around the neighborhood with devices to steal your identity from the computer, breaking into your house to rape or rob you, or stealing anything left lying around for two seconds. The neighbors still call and say, hey you left your purse on top of the car roof or go get it and ring your doorbell. I also do not know one family in Mexico with multiple kids who all collect SSI. I know many families who scam like that in the good old US.

We were totally disarmed because the two attendants were so friendly to us. I don't like to distrust people because I've had so many great adventures that wouldn't have happened if I mistrusted the people involved but some times you get burnt. Can you imagine negotiating the price of a fillup at home?

I was aware of this practice prior to going to Guatemala and they ALMOST tried it on me. Good warning. I really like your "no correcto!" Better than MY Spanish...

I've been to Mexico at least a dozen times, but this is the first time that we rented a car. We usually take buses from city to city and city buses or taxis when we travel locally. We let our guards down because the attendants seemed so friendly. You live and learn. We've rented cars in other countries, but this is the first time we had a problem.

On my 1st trip to Mexico many years ago we too had this happen, since then, we have learned whenever you go to Mexico, which we have done many times since that 1st trip, always, always watch the gas price meter when getting your car filled up!!! This is a quite common scam in Mexico. We also take pictures of our rental cars and make note of any dings, etc. since trying to charge you for every scratch, ding, etc., is another quite common scam in Mexico and other countries.

Always an adventure when you travel

D

I certainly will. Not only am I looking forward to the trip, but I'm looking forward to writing about it after I get back.

great comments on making your first bid with LL! I remember the first time I did it, and your experience sounded just like mine! Enjoy your trip to Mexico, and please report back !
cmdavilacli

Mountie, yes, I bought the Quinta Las Acacias in Guanajuato. It looks like a beautiful place and my wife and I had been talking about visiting Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende and Queretaro. When I saw the package, I had to jump on it. Good question about calling the toll free number. I saw the international phone number on the hotel's website and didn't look right next to it for the toll free number. I'll have to be more observant next time. Thanks for pointing that out to me. Ana, the manager, is extremely quick at returning e-mails. I sent several to her and she responded to all of them within hours.