Riding after STAR

[Brick]

John,
Now this is some seriously good advice. I'll check out Viber.
Thanks

Re cell phones in other countries:

We are going to Costa Rica soon and our phones are Verizon also. We spoke with their international calls unit and arranged for our Android phones to work there. However, it will be somewhat expensive at around $2 per minute for voice and $2 per megabyte for data.

So, instead of using the Verizon towers we are going to use a smartphone application called Viber which provides VOIP phone calls and text messaging over Wi-Fi. We will have Wi-Fi access at our hotels in the evenings. Viber provides FREE calling or texting to any other Viber user ANYWHERE in the world. It connects to landlines and non-Viber mobiles for a very modest fee which varies by country. From Costa Rica calls to landlines in the USA are only $0.06 per minute - much better than the $2 that Verizon would charge for calls over their towers. Viber integrates with your existing contact list which means you do not have to maintain a separate list of Viber users and supports video calling if your Wi-Fi connection has adequate bandwidth. It's really a very cool app!

We will be able to make or receive cellular calls IF NEEDED but we intend to use Viber for most of our communications with friends and family back home.

One important thing to note is that if you have to pay for data and you use text messaging,  Facebook or any other kind of data sychcronization with web-based servers you will want to turn off your phone's cellular data access before leaving the country, or even riding along the border where you might be picked up by the towers across the border.

[stevegrab]

IMSA 6-hours of the Glen is the weekend after STAR...Watkins Glen, NY.

JoAnn wants to head to Maine and wants to visit Martha's Vineyard.

We are in negotiations (which probably means we're heading to Maine..lol)

Sounds like unless you're attending the IMSA race you want to avoid the Watkins Glen area after STAR. Or am I wrong to think there's a big crowd overwhelming the local small town roads. (Think Lexington Ohio on a big Mid-Ohio race weekend in the odlen days.)
I'd like to attend the event but probably not in the cards.

[TN2Wheeler]

John,
Now this is some seriously good advice. I'll check out Viber.
Thanks

Re cell phones in other countries:

We are going to Costa Rica soon and our phones are Verizon also. We spoke with their international calls unit and arranged for our Android phones to work there. However, it will be somewhat expensive at around $2 per minute for voice and $2 per megabyte for data.

So, instead of using the Verizon towers we are going to use a smartphone application called Viber which provides VOIP phone calls and text messaging over Wi-Fi. We will have Wi-Fi access at our hotels in the evenings. Viber provides FREE calling or texting to any other Viber user ANYWHERE in the world. It connects to landlines and non-Viber mobiles for a very modest fee which varies by country. From Costa Rica calls to landlines in the USA are only $0.06 per minute - much better than the $2 that Verizon would charge for calls over their towers. Viber integrates with your existing contact list which means you do not have to maintain a separate list of Viber users and supports video calling if your Wi-Fi connection has adequate bandwidth. It's really a very cool app!

We will be able to make or receive cellular calls IF NEEDED but we intend to use Viber for most of our communications with friends and family back home.

One important thing to note is that if you have to pay for data and you use text messaging,  Facebook or any other kind of data sychcronization with web-based servers you will want to turn off your phone's cellular data access before leaving the country, or even riding along the border where you might be picked up by the towers across the border.

It's Jim, but de nada

[qman8]

 Hey Brick...
I think we'll be heading that way after STAR...Since we've done Cape Breton already, I think we will roll up to PEI and then up toward Gaspe'....and then across the St Lawrence into Quebec.  So....If you want to ride the first day or so out of Stratton with us...that would be great.  FYI, weather permitting, we will probably be camping.

[Brick]

Hey guys thanks for the invite. We may go for that... however we may be going straight to Quebec City as Chris has a work conference. So plans are still up in the air. However either way we won't be camping. Now camping for me is a Motel 6.

 Hey Brick...
I think we'll be heading that way after STAR...Since we've done Cape Breton already, I think we will roll up to PEI and then up toward Gaspe'....and then across the St Lawrence into Quebec.  So....If you want to ride the first day or so out of Stratton with us...that would be great.  FYI, weather permitting, we will probably be camping.

[STLTHMSTA]

Brick, sorry to ruin your vacation but I'll be at STAR again this year. I haven't been to the north east in quite some time. Kim is still iffy about making the trip. At this time I have plans to visit family in Connecticut after STAR and if it works out for me I'll be visiting 20th Century Cycles on Long Island, yep, I may regret that ride but the destination will be worth it. I'm bucket listing a little bit. I also have the following week off (July 4th) so I might be footloose after that.
All plans can change though.   TM

[Brick]

Tom,
That's great it will be nice to see you again. BTW you should get in touch with Barb and Tom Murphy the can probably show you the best way in and out of Long Island.

Brick, sorry to ruin your vacation but I'll be at STAR again this year. I haven't been to the north east in quite some time. Kim is still iffy about making the trip. At this time I have plans to visit family in Connecticut after STAR and if it works out for me I'll be visiting 20th Century Cycles on Long Island, yep, I may regret that ride but the destination will be worth it. I'm bucket listing a little bit. I also have the following week off (July 4th) so I might be footloose after that.
All plans can change though.   TM

[STLTHMSTA]

Brick, maybe I could smooth talk my way in to a personal escort. hahaha.  No, no, not THAT kind of escort.
You do know that Billy Joel owns 20th Century Cycles. He knows what a big fan I am, so he may invite me to MSG for his monthly concert. Even ride a bike or 2.       TM

[Brick]

Tom,
20th Century Cycles? MSG... Mono Sodium Glutamate?

[stevegrab]

Tom,
20th Century Cycles? MSG... Mono Sodium Glutamate?

Think NYC not Chinese food

MSG = Madison Square Garden

[qman8]

Re cell phones in other countries:

We are going to Costa Rica soon and our phones are Verizon also. We spoke with their international calls unit and arranged for our Android phones to work there. However, it will be somewhat expensive at around $2 per minute for voice and $2 per megabyte for data.

So, instead of using the Verizon towers we are going to use a smartphone application called Viber which provides VOIP phone calls and text messaging over Wi-Fi. We will have Wi-Fi access at our hotels in the evenings. Viber provides FREE calling or texting to any other Viber user ANYWHERE in the world. It connects to landlines and non-Viber mobiles for a very modest fee which varies by country. From Costa Rica calls to landlines in the USA are only $0.06 per minute - much better than the $2 that Verizon would charge for calls over their towers. Viber integrates with your existing contact list which means you do not have to maintain a separate list of Viber users and supports video calling if your Wi-Fi connection has adequate bandwidth. It's really a very cool app!

We will be able to make or receive cellular calls IF NEEDED but we intend to use Viber for most of our communications with friends and family back home.

One important thing to note is that if you have to pay for data and you use text messaging,  Facebook or any other kind of data sychcronization with web-based servers you will want to turn off your phone's cellular data access before leaving the country, or even riding along the border where you might be picked up by the towers across the border.

Jim:
Looking at the Viber app...it doesn't look like you can use it to text to non-viber users.   Can you confirm this?
Thanks
QAM

[TN2Wheeler]

Re cell phones in other countries:

We are going to Costa Rica soon and our phones are Verizon also. We spoke with their international calls unit and arranged for our Android phones to work there. However, it will be somewhat expensive at around $2 per minute for voice and $2 per megabyte for data.

So, instead of using the Verizon towers we are going to use a smartphone application called Viber which provides VOIP phone calls and text messaging over Wi-Fi. We will have Wi-Fi access at our hotels in the evenings. Viber provides FREE calling or texting to any other Viber user ANYWHERE in the world. It connects to landlines and non-Viber mobiles for a very modest fee which varies by country. From Costa Rica calls to landlines in the USA are only $0.06 per minute - much better than the $2 that Verizon would charge for calls over their towers. Viber integrates with your existing contact list which means you do not have to maintain a separate list of Viber users and supports video calling if your Wi-Fi connection has adequate bandwidth. It's really a very cool app!

We will be able to make or receive cellular calls IF NEEDED but we intend to use Viber for most of our communications with friends and family back home.

One important thing to note is that if you have to pay for data and you use text messaging,  Facebook or any other kind of data sychcronization with web-based servers you will want to turn off your phone's cellular data access before leaving the country, or even riding along the border where you might be picked up by the towers across the border.

Jim:
Looking at the Viber app...it doesn't look like you can use it to text to non-viber users.   Can you confirm this?
Thanks
QAM

We all had viber which worked perfectly. However you can purchase viber "credit" that facilitates connection to non-viber phones at a fraction of the carrier's cost. Nancy and I have a $5 credit we did not use.