Foreigners in National Parks.

[rox]

My wife is a naturalized citizen from France. Her uncle was making arrangements for my wife's grandmother to come to Florida. He asked if we could pick her up in LaGuardia Airport in New York.

Ha-ha-ha, that is funny JP.

 

[ultrarunner]

We had visitors from Austria... they flew in to SF and stayed with us...

I asked them what they had decided to see in their 10 days?

SF, Los Angeles, Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Seattle... lets just say it did not happen.

One thing they did not figure is our Speed Limits... it is simply not possible to drive 600 miles in 7 hours like I did once in Germany... no way... no how!

I

 

[houstonscott]

Just back from Yosemite NP. Not much to report on many foreigners in park. Crowds were simply not there. Big tour groups were Americans. My biggest observation was the beatle kill of many trees. Government should have sprayed for Beatles.... really sad..

 

[Wagtail]

Just back from Yosemite NP. Not much to report on many foreigners in park. Crowds were simply not there. Big tour groups were Americans. My biggest observation was the beatle kill of many trees. Government should have sprayed for Beatles.... really sad..

I blame Ed Sullivan for bringing those darn Beatles to your shores way back in the 1960's!

 

[bcp]

You can play a foreigner in the US. Next time you pay for something in cash, pull out some dollars, and ask if they take New Mexico's money.



Bruce

 

[DieselnHooters]

Just back from Yosemite NP. Not much to report on many foreigners in park. Crowds were simply not there. Big tour groups were Americans. My biggest observation was the beatle kill of many trees. Government should have sprayed for Beatles.... really sad..

The Beatles brought about seminal change for sure, you can pin lotssa stuff on them ….but killing trees LOL

 

[Jstpssng]

I blame Ed Sullivan for bringing those darn Beatles to your shores way back in the 1960's!

Do you mean this? The Ed Sullivan Show First Appearance of The Beatles in video on Jukebox[4] on Vimeo

 

[rbtjr]

We and our family of nine (two sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren) have been to several National Parks and other great places to visit. Alaska, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Yosemite, Acadia, Hoover Dam, etc. We just got back from Utah, where we went to Brice Canyon, Moab (Arches and Canyonland) and Zion). The crowds have varied a lot at these destinations. There were lots of people at the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone, and recently in Utah Zion was by far the most crowded. One lasting impression from these travels is that Asians love to travel and really like our National Parks. A more recent observation is that lots of seasonal workers at these mostly summertime destinations are young people who are apparently Eastern Europeans.

 

[dfkrug]

My biggest observation was the beatle kill of many trees. Government should have sprayed for Beatles....

The beetle infestation and resulting death of pine trees covers many square miles all over the Sierras. Too much to spray, arguably. On the coast where I am, Sudden-Oak-Death has killed thousands of oak
trees. I cut at least 20 dead ones per year on my 19 acres.

Yes it is sad about the trees. Now to deal with the enhanced fire hazards....

 

[dmccarty]

"Travel is Fatal to Prejudice, Bigotry and Narrow-Mindedness, and Many of Our People Need It Sorely on These Accounts Mark Twain.

Sadly, sometimes travel confirms stereotypes too.

Yeah, travel is odd in showing you things. Something nice things, something things you new knew, and then surprising things.

We just got back from a long trip to Ireland where we spent quite a bit of time in County Donegal, which is one of the prettiest places we have ever seen, and Dublin. When we were leaving County Donegal, we both said we made a mistake in not staying longer even though we where there for about 10 days. We had about 7 days in Dublin and we did not have enough time there either. :shocked::confused3:

We have been to Dublin before and we always seem to have interesting conversations with cabbies.

In County Donegal and Dublin we did the AirBnb thing and rented an apartment and house. This is way cheaper than a hotel and lets you/forces you to live like a local. Anyway, as the cabbie took us to the house we were renting we started talking about the housing issue in Ireland. Housing is a big problem in Ireland and from the Irish newspapers I have read it is for many reason but on is that either 40/60% of the cost of the house is taxes, fees, regulation compliance, etc.

The cabbie had a very interesting idea and I don't think it was his own. From what I can tell, Ireland does not have a property tax which is a good thing. The cabbie did not think so. Why? Glad you asked. His solution to the housing shortage was to have a property tax, which would force elderly, aka, retired people out of their homes in the city and force them to move. :shocked::thumbdown:

Now, Ireland actually has a fairly young population unlike many industrial nations, so it is not like Dublin is full of old people. We were shocked at how many YOUNG people we saw.

The cabbie was upset that his mother lives in a three bedroom house in Dublin, along with his sister who seems to be taking care of mum, and it would seem it would be better if mum was living else where so a family could live in the house.

To say that is a rather different/odd idea is an understatement. I wanted to ask if he had a house, would he leave his home to live else where when he got old, but I figured I best not ask. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan