TRAIN TRAVEL and WALKING TOURS in the United States will be the focus of my 2012 travel plans.
I have travelled extensively by train in Europe and it is one of my favorite ways to travel. However, I have travelled by train in the U.S. on only a couple of occasions and now that I do not have a car, I'm taking this opportunity to see more of this country by train. I plan to travel mostly on Amtrak, but I also hope to travel on some of the smaller railroads around the country.
http://www.amtrak.com/
American Volkssport Association®
My sister, Linda, introduced me to the American Volkssport Association, which is a national organization sponsoring walking tours in various cities throughout the U.S. It is assocated with an international parent organization, Internationaler Volkssport Verband, based in Germany. Walks are generally10 kilometers in length and are developed to take in the highlights of a city and tend to be quite educational. Many of these walks are year-round self-guided events. My plan is to use these walks to explore the cities I will be visiting on my train trips.
http://www.ava.org/
AMERICAN CONTRACT BRIDGE LEAGUE (ACBL)
Also this year I hope to play in some bridge tournaments which I will try to combine with my travel. There are Sectional and Regional tournaments in various cities that I will be visiting. The 10-day Fall ACBL National Tounament will be held in San Francisco this year in October.
http://www.acbl.org/
