So we experienced several different tours with other people over the course of this vacation. I’m fairly antisocial, and the main reason I’m not interested in cruising is the meal situation, as I prefer a family dinner to dining with a bunch of strangers. Well, I changed my mind during our Fiery Furnace hike, which involved 6 other people on a large bus. We started out in the back but Dean felt this was too antisocial, since the guide Maggie asked us to all introduce ourselves and get to know each other. Well four of these people were Diane and John from NY, and Kim and David from Connecticut. It turns out that Kim and David were staying at Gonzo Inn like us, and she mentioned they had enjoyed the pool the previous day. I then recalled that we had waited by the pool while our room was being readied, and it turns out she and I had said hello to each other! David was a hoot during the whole hike and kept us all laughing, and even engaged with the kids a good bit. He kept asking about how Dean and I met, how we handled the stress of being 2 doctors while raising kids (he seemed to think it was way more stressful than it actually is), etc. Another guy said he felt like he was listening to Dr. Phil interview a couple.
Well that night we ate at Pasta Jays, where we ran into John and Diane, who stopped by our table to chat, and the next day we ran into them again during our rafting trip. But the real kicker was that when we left Gonzo Inn and drove 2 hours to Needles in Canyonland, the first car behind us in the parking lot was Kim and David! We ended up hiking with them the whole time, and when we had to turn around to head on to Monument Valley, David yelled out that he loved us - crazy!
Now I realized that we wouldn’t always win the tour group lottery when we arrived at Monument Valley and went on a sunset tour done by a Navajo group. We again joined 3 couples, who were sitting on 3 different rows in the open jeep (with 4 seats across) and almost refused to scoot over for us! The guide asked them to vacate a bench, but 2 couples argued in German and finally they just scooted over so we could have 2 seats on each row, even though they were all traveling together. (And they scooted in opposite directions so we couldn’t even talk to each other.) The other couple was French, and apparently no one spoke English, because they never spoke to the guide or even responded to his information. The worst part was when we were taken to a Hogan (house) where a lady inside showed us how they make yarn out of wool, and how Native Americans used to live. They all stood looking disinterested, and Lucas told me later that Dean and I were the only 2 who seemed to be listening and asking questions. The funny thing is that the next day at Lower Antelope Canyon (2.5 hours from Monument Valley), who should be sitting there waiting for the next tour when we emerged, but the four hateful Germans!
Do you have any funny or poignant stories about people in a tour group? And how would you feel about group dining on a cruise ship?
6 comments:
I'm afraid of cruising both because of strangers plus also the germs. But, I did take a tour with National Geographic back in the 90s to Egypt and Greece and it was fantastic. Lots of history I would not have know. I'm a fan of tour groups. I wish I did more when I was working in Italy last September, maybe I should look into it for this September. A few friends have suggested I do tours since J. passed -- I've considered it, but have been a bit lazy - since I travel for work, I like to spend quite a bit of time at home. That said, my girlfriend has had brilliant adventure tours solo with the REI groups. Glad you had a good time -- and that has been my experience!
Ooh - didn't know REI had tour groups! Those would be fun I bet, not the typical sitting in a bus looking out the window, and I bet you'd be with fun people. We've also thought about vacationing at Spartan or Tough Mudder race sites for long weekends....and yes, I forgot about the whole Norovirus thing on cruise ships - ewww!
Just a comment about cruising. I have been on 15 cruises, and I've never sat with anyone I didn't know unless I wanted to. Most cruiselines have flexible dining, and even for set dining, there are more choices of smaller tables available. Thanks for sharing your vacation. We are headed out to San Diego soon, and are loosely planning to visit Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Arizona on our roundabout way back to Foley.
Ooh, good to know Lynda, I'll have to rethink cruises. Your trip sounds awesome. and you're from Foley? Do you know Robbie?! This is a small world...
No, I don't think I know Lynda! The cruise dining thing is very flexible, in fact the two ships I've been on had a buffet available as well so you didn't have to eat in the dining room unless you wanted, you could dine 'al fresco'.
I enjoy going places with someone who knows their way around, but I don't want to be cooped up in a bus all day. I have fun going places and figuring out the public transportation and getting where I want go. I helps to know the language.
People will be people....they are part of the show, good or bad. I can usually ignore the ones that drive me crazy, but I have been known to be a tad bit more vocal. AND some people are just rude, their mama's didn't raise them right, bless their hearts.
Robbie
Bahahaha - bless their poor hearts! So another vote for cruising and not holding the dining situation against them. Robbie, one other funny thing was that we rafted with a family of 5 and the guide, plus the people in the other rafts. The parents were nice, but the 9-yr-old daughter was a bit of a brat who screamed all the time, and the other 2 kids pushed her buttons the whole time, so that was a wee bit annoying. But we're not all perfect - they probably thought we were rude and anti-social! Sadly, it was mostly a float trip, so there weren't a lot of rapids to distract us from the awkwardness.
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