Live Maps to Bing

There is no more "Live Local" maps...they've changed the name to Bing: http://www.bing.com/maps/.

Also, they've made it easier to move quickly down the street in Google Maps. You can simply double click and drive down the street. Any suggestions on how best to use Google Maps? If so, leave a comment!

Virtual Trip Tip #2

I assumed that you knew to double click on the USA map to start "flying" in to your desired location on http://maps.live.com/ (Live Search Maps). So, pick an area you would like to get to know even more. A good start might be Las Vegas, just because there's lots to see.

Double click on southern Nevada, then keep double clicking until you can see the streets start to show. Now look for something that looks like a big airport in the southern part of the city. (Just to the right of "Boulder Junction". See it? That's McCarran International Airport.) Keep double clicking on the airport until you see the words "Luxor Casino and Hotel" to the left of it. Now double click on the Luxor Hotel until it's in the middle of your screen. (You can drag the screen around however you like.) Now click on the "bird's eye" option. You should see the Luxor pyramid.



Now you can simply "drag" yourself down the strip and check out the hotels! If you look in the upper right corner of the screen you'll see a little map of the area with the names of the hotels listed. Very cool.

Unless you're like me and the glitz of Las Vegas gives you the creeps...

If so, click on hybrid so we can get out of here. In the hybrid view you'll see the building tops along with the streets. (The original view...with streets only...is the road option. Aerial will give you a top view without street names.) Now hold down the "zoom out" key (a magnifying glass with a "-" in it) and you will fly out of Las Vegas.

There's not many natural locations which are set up for a "bird's eye" view. I have had luck along the California coast. You might start at the Golden Gate Bridge and fly south to the Big Sur region. I've never actually been to these areas, but after flying over them on maps.live.com, I feel like I've been there many times!

You can, if you like, download some software to use the "3d" view on Live Search Maps. I'm not as impressed with it as I am with the "bird's eye" view. You might as well download Google Earth for this kind of V.T. since it's much easier to manuever. I'll save that for another virtual travel tip!

Virtual Trip Tip #1

I am sold on http://maps.live.com/ for my virtual trips. My favorite feature is that you can easily find the best route for your trip...in 5 clicks of the mouse. Try it! When you go to the site, start with "2D" and "road" if you're a beginer. Later you can play with "hybrid", "3D" or "birds eye view" which make it so much easier for us "v. travelers".

Find the approximate location of the beginning of your trip. (It helps if you're starting on a road.) Then right click, choose "drive from...".

Find the approximate location of the end of your trip. Right click, then choose "drive to..."

Click on "Get Directions". You will have the shortest (time or distance) in an instant. I haven't tried the "1 click directions". If you have, then let me know if you like it!

Sorry I've left you hanging. You are on your own to get home! (This is one of the advantages of a virtual trip...if you get bored, or if life interrupts (which is what happened to me), you **snap** your fingers and start a different trip! It sure saves on travel costs. :-)

Ohio to Polar Bear Country (day 5)

Today we wake up to our second overnight in the Cree Village Eco-lodge and prepare to take a boat ride into James Bay and visit the Shipsands bird sanctuary. I can find very little about the Shipsands bird sanctuary on the web. Can you? The information from the tour site does say that St James has the world's largest concentration of different species of birds.

Back to the Cree Village Eco-Lodge for a second night. Why is it considered an "Ecolodge"? Several reasons: First, there is no standard air conditioning system in the Ecolodge. Instead They have high-efficient ceiling fans, and and the window and doors are situated facing the north to take advantage of natural wind conditions. Television sets have been specially selected for lowest energy consumption and four of the rooms feature composting toilets. These toilets use no water, have no odour and creates organic fertilizer with the help of red-wiggler worms. That's something I'd like to see!!!

By the way, I picked the Jacuzzi Suite just for you. "It is a spacious room that provides the ultimate view of the Moose River. Set up on the second floor of the Ecolodge it features a king size bed and jacuzzi tub that will melt all stresses and aches away. It is also equipped with full cable television, telephone and bathroom." according to their website (see the link in Day 4).

In your spare time, if you'd like to track the polar bears on Hudson Bay, check out this site by Polar Bears International: http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/beartracker/hudsonsbay/

Tomorrow we fly to Peawanuck and the Polar Bear Provincial Park.

Ohio to Polar Bear Country (day 4)

Love the song in that video. It's by Peter Cetera and it's called, "Man In Me".

We spent too much time swimming with the Polar Bears yesterday. That's why I signed us up for a tour. What a great deal. We spend one night (last night) at the historic Station Inn in Colchrane (Sorry I didn't mention that yesterday...too excited about those big furry critters!) and today we hop aboard the Polar Express headed for Moosonee. Read more about the train trip at http://www.polarbearexpress.ca/.

Moosonee is is located on the Moose River 12 miles south of James Bay. Moosonee is not connected to the road system in Ontario and is accessible by rail only! We will be staying in the Cree Village Eco-lodge http://www.creevillage.com/ , an eco-tourism facility that looks beautiful.

By the way, the tour we're taking is called the Hudson & James Bay Coastal tour through Moccasin Trail Tours. Check out our itinerary at http://moccasintrailtours.com/baycoastaltour.htm.

See you tomorrow when we tour St. James bay by boat!

Ohio to Polar Bear Country (day 2)

Here's Nanook!

Up and at em! We have 7 hours of driving, pretty much straight north, to get to Cochrane, Ontario. While in Cochrane (http://www.town.cochrane.on.ca/), we'll visit the Polar Bear Habitat & Heritage Village. (http://www.polarbearhabitat.ca/) This is a unique rehabilitation center where we can swim in the "people pool" while the bears swim on the other side of a glass barrier. Too cool! Right now they have three bears. "Chimo" to Nanook, Aurora and Nikita! ***Check out the web pages above if you don't understand what I mean!***

After those 7 hours of driving we MUST get to bed if we're going to swim with the bears tomorrow before catching the train, so off we go to our overnight accomodations at the Best Western Swan Castle Inn. http://www.bestwesternontario.com/hotels/best-western-swan-castle-inn/. Yawn!

Ohio to Polar Bear Country

My first trip will be starting in my home town of Piqua, Ohio and head as far north as need be to reach the southernmost range of the Polar Bear. If we visit the Polar Bears International - Arctic Map at http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/arctic-map/ we see that their range seems to reach all the way down to the Hudson Bay area. (Lots of great polar bear information there.) And here's a nice video that will get you excited: http://video.aol.com/video-detail/the-polar-bear-express/3204075417 We are going to swim with the polar bears!

Ok, we need to get to the Hudson Bay area. How do we get there. We start by driving north on I 75. According to live.local.com, it's almost 14 hours to Colchrane, Ontario. http://maps.live.com/#JnJ0cD1wb3MucXFocHpzN3pod2diX09yaWdpbl9fX18lN2Vwb3MuczViajYxODdkYnd6X0Rlc3RpbmF0aW9uX19fXyZydG9wPTAlN2Uw That's where we're going to meet the Polar Bear Express. (More about that later.) We're on our way! Let's drive 7 hours, and take an overnight break in Orilla, Ontario. Like bed and breakfasts? Here's a nice one: Whispering Pines Lodge at http://www.kernvalley.com/whisperingpines/#Tour . You stay there if you like. I'm more of a motel person. I think I'll try the Centrury Stone Inn. http://www.centurystoneinn.com/ The William Suite is my style: fireplace, chocolates at the bedside...ah, I'm in heaven. Sleep well!