Just an advisory on a way to save a few bucks, car travel related. If you are 62 or over you can still purchase a lifetime senior pass for $10 to $20 (depending on how/where you buy it). This fee is expected to skyrocket to $80 sometime in 2017, some rumors say it will happen soon, at the end of July. If you act quickly there’s still plenty of time to buy one for the lower price. Google “America the Beautiful Senior Pass” for details.
Wow a lifetime senior pass? I have to get that today unless you have a link I will search. What does this really mean?
Provides entrance or access to pass owner and accompanying passengers in a single, private, non-commercial vehicle at Federal operated recreation sites across the country.
FYI:
I’ve had mine for years, and I have used the heck out of it. Getting ready to go use it again soon. Even at $80, it would still be a bargain.
Ended up at https://store.usgs.gov/senior-pass,
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Apparently if you buy it in person at a National Park site, it’s just a $10 fee. There’s one of those sites up in San Francisco called the “National Park Maritime Museum” or something like that. I think I’ll drive up there and buy my pass there. It’s pretty interesting place to go actually. Ok, have to tell this story now. One time I was there looking around, quite a few years ago, and what do you know, but in walks Mick Jagger with his son. He’s just being a tourist, and explaining to his son subtle points about the ship designs and interesting things about the exhibits and such.
Yeah, that’s where to purchase the senior passes. They apparently have a huge variety of passes, that’s what I linked 
The online thing was a hassle, had to provide a pic of my drivers license, uploaded one, it is processed or not processed, do not know, I guess do it in person if you can.
OK Got my confirmation of purchase, still not sure what it is good for.
Interesting that the passes are for US citizens 62 or older but you can click on the brochures in seven different languages including Portuguese. I can’t remember the last time being in a national park though but still at my age I should be collecting as many lifetime bargains as I can.
Probably paranoid, but the site looked legit, but I got a notice from the treasury last week someone might be trying to use my social security number for a job. To be safe just file your taxes as normal etc. \
So I called our credit watch people, 90 day watch, they forwarded me to equifax, $19.60 a month for credit lock, thinking maybe that is the way to go but pretty steep in my book, then we have to do a new car lease in sept. for wifey, what hoops do I have to jump through then if I do a credit lock.
carp, I left the wallet in the car the other day after picking up a drive in food order, we have had a few discussions about a spare key in the wallet, where I keep mine, now I have figured out that is a bad idea, you loose your wallet, here is my drivers license, home address, and oh yes a key for my vehicle, like I should have a note please fill up with gas before you return or you will be charged?
Barky, once you notified the IRS, they should have given you a pin number to use in filing taxes. That’s happened to both my BIL and son. Actually I suspect a leak in the accounting services. Where would you go if you wanted a whole bunch of social security numbers?
It was a dept. of the treasury notice, not the IRS, and My accountant does my taxes, never needed a PIn, woe and sorrows I fear. I called Dept of treasury back, sorry we cannot release any information about the notice. Sometimes I feel so ignorant, I have to remember to treat people with stupid car questions nicely.
My BIL went down to the local IRS office when he was advised that someone else filed with his SSN. They wouldn’t tell him whether it was his or his wife’s SSN but the guy did say it wasn’t your wife. Sometimes a face to face works.
When I got my National Parks pass. you had to be 65, but it was free, I bought a 1 year pass for $50 when I was 62 and it was a great bargain. They also gave us 50% off National Forest or National Recreation Area campsites.
Years ago they had something called a Golden Eagle pass, something like that. I think that’s basically the same thing as this one, probably just been renamed. Grants entrance to most national parks without an entrance fee, and maybe some discount on the camping site fees. My parents had one of those passes and took the family to many of the western USA national parks using it on summer camping trips.
During one of those camping trips in a semi-remote part of Yellowstone my noggin’ somehow ended up about 6 inches from the grizzly bear’s mouth. Late at night, I was inside sleeping on the floor of the camper (on a pickup truck) with my head right against the camper’s door. The grizzly was outside standing on two legs with his front legs on the tailgate, apparently smelling for something good to snack on. I had two dogs inside with me inside the camper, and neither I nor the dogs even woke up. I didn’t know about it until the next morning. My parents were in an adjacent camping trailer and they saw the grizzly approaching, but of course nothing they could do about it but watch. They said when the grizzly put his two bear feet on the tailgate, the back end of the truck dropped about 8 inches … lol …
Some good news from North of the border! This year is Canada’s 150 year celebration and the government has waived all entry fees for all the National Parks for the full year of 2017. There are many national parks close to the border, from Maine to Washington state. If you live in Alaska a number of parks are close to the border as well.
My favorite Canada national park is named (iirc) Waterford , just north of Montana’s Glacier NP. I liked that one better than the ones near Banff.
We were camping out in Yellowstone, saw a big black shape heading down towards us, ran to the car, locked ourselves in, it was a moose.
The safety of a car supersedes the safety of a tent .
In case you care Some donor must want to shoot a bear, all I can figure.
I expect way more tourists are injured my moose than by bears. Those moose are very territorial creatures. Just the other day on tv news they showed a golfer being chased off the course by a young moose on a golf course in Norway.