No, it may not be the most exciting booking we’ve done, but we were pleased to finally get a booking done for our upcoming one-month trip to the US, beginning in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 30, 2023, when our two cruises come to an end, sailing into Boston Harbor.
We’ll spend one night in Stoughton, Massachusetts, visiting cousin Phyllis, and then head out on an early non-stop flight to Las Vegas, Nevada, where we’ll spend nine days in Henderson, Nevada, once again at the Green Valley Ranch Resort and Spa, close to son Richard‘s home.
We were able to get great pricing from Expedia on our site. The rate included our airfare (for the two of us) from Boston to Las Vegas and nine nights at the fabulous five-star resort for a total of US $2041.37, ZAR 377932, which includes all taxes, fees, and the nightly resort fee of US $51, ZAR 875.
We’d checked pricing at multiple sites and ended up booking this package which saved us almost US $1000, ZAR 17160! Plus, we get a 10% discount on all meals and non-alcoholic beverages as Expedia’s VIP members after considerable bookings with them over the years. This also entitles us to early and late check-out, which is helpful for us on many occasions.
We are thrilled with this booking. We prepaid everything but the resort fee yesterday of US $1579.67, ZAR 27125, and will pay the resort fee of US $461.70, ZAR 79260, at the hotel when we check in, which totals the above US $2041.37, ZAR 377932. Now, we will work on booking the remaining time in the US in Minnesota from September 9 to September 23 for a total of two more weeks.
Next, we’ll book where we’ll stay in Scotland from June 8 until August 1, 2023, but we won’t do this until we know if we received our visa extensions. If we are rejected, we’ll have to leave next month in March. We hope to know within about four weeks. Once we see if we can stay, we’ll book this leg of our upcoming journey while we are away from South Africa for over a year. We have many bookings to set up but await the visa info before proceeding further.
As mentioned above, we’ll spend one night in Boston on August 30, but we have yet to book it. The hotel where we stayed last time in Boston after a cruise, the Four Points by Sheraton, is now priced at almost US $500, ZAR 8583 per night. No, thank you. There is no way we’d spend that much for one night in a hotel in the US. The other options were few to be near my cousin’s home in Stoughton, but we’ll figure it out in the next few days.
We’re having an easy day today. It’s cooler today than it’s been over the past several weeks, and we enjoy every moment. The laundry is done, and the clothes are put away. Our paperwork, for now, is under control. All I have to do today is finish this port, search for some photo ops in the garden, and do my nails which I usually do on Fridays.
Tonight and tomorrow evenings, we’ll head out to Jabula for dinner, and as always, we’re looking forward to seeing Dawn, Leon, David, and other staff, along with any locals who may stop by for lively chatter. Each time we head out the door, we always say…”Gosh, that was fun, wasn’t it?” and “Watch for snakes!”
TIA.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, February 3, 2022:
