New Years Car Rental

Recognized as one of the largest rental brands in the industry, Thrifty manages nearly 1,000 locations in 70 countries providing both business and leisure services. With Thrify Car Rental Coupons, customers have access to a comprehensive fleet of 150,000 late model vehicles in the U.S.A. and Canada.

Thrifty's mantra of "Value Every Time" guarantees to fulfill your expectation each and every time your rent a vehicle. During tough economical times, Thrifty DTG strives to expand and grow it's franchise throughout the world.

By maintaining an ever-growing presence in both local and airport locations, customers can enjoy the convenience of rental car services within minutes.

Enjoy deep discounts on monthly, weekly, weekend and daily rates starting at 10% when you rent a mid-size car at participating locations. Take advantage of Thrifty's new Smart Bet Wild Car, guaranteeing a Mid-Size vehicle or larger with lower rates. You can't lose with a Smart Bet when you rent with Thrifty.

A Delicious Chocolate Cake 09'

Many people say my girlfriend is one of the luckiest people in this world, its almost like her parents made sure her birthday was right between Christmas and New Years. She gets all the benefits of holidays on her birthday and believe me she takes every bit of advantage she can get. Usually things go smoothly but this year it was a step away from a disaster. Most people say that when its cold your car runs better, well today old reliable wasn’t doing so good, I made it to work to pick something up from the office and on my way out, my car doesn’t start. I spent one summer of my life working in an automotive repair shop when I was 16, and I used all the knowledge to determine that I couldn’t fix the car myself. Good thing enterprise was on my side with this situation without a hesitation they came and got me and brought me to the nearest location where I rented a Nissan Altima. Now with a new car I could get all of the tasks done and the best part is even though I was set back, I was less than an hour behind thanks to enterprise’s speedy service. In my new car I rushed over to a local Publix to purchase a cake, now this wasn’t your ordinary birthday cake that everyone takes a slice of and then it sits in the fridge for all of eternity. This cake was named the Chocolate Lover's Delight by Publix and its nothing less than perfection in a circular chocolate drenched form. With little effort this cake easily glorified chocolate in everyway possible. Before I purchased the caked I gazed in its elegant four layers of moist chocolate cake which were seamlessly stuffed and frosted with Publix’s rich chocolate fudge icing and to the best part was that it was topped with ganache and glazed strawberries. I seriously stared at this cake for a good 5 minutes before I bought it, and if it were possible I might have married it as well. Transporting such a fine piece of sugary goodness is not a simple task in fact it’s very intricate and must be well planned out, I carefully placed a seat belt around my enclosed piece of chocolate art and began to drive. Everything I learned in High School’s driver’s ed. ran out of my mind about 95% of my journey home my eyes were off the road and on this beautiful piece of heaven sitting in the passenger seat. I carefully pulled into my driveway and walked the cake into the house where it sat un attended in my kitchen waiting for my girlfriend to arrive. I grabbed the presents from my car and continued to wrap them, I rushed just so I could get another glance at the culinary perfection sitting on the kitchen table. After everyone came and my girlfriend was on her way I couldn’t take it anymore, I ripped open the box and began to take a slice of the cake, I just couldn’t help it! When she walked in everyone yelled surprise as I wiped the chocolate off of my mouth when I presented her with the cake she asked what happened to the other half, I replied “that’s how I got it”. I’m single now with a cake filled bachelor pad.

Gambling in the Bahamas

When you’re at see the cruise ship has plenty of things to do, whether it be mini-golf, water slides, group activities or just plain snoozing in a cabin. One of the things that occupied most of my time is gambling, I’m nowhere near a big gambler or a card counter in fact this trip was my first time playing on a table instead of slots! My younger brother and I used to play blackjack for spare change when we were younger and that’s what really got me started. I’ve also read tons of articles online that taught me a few things about the game. My cousin and I walked into the casino and found a table with two open chairs we felt like we were in a movie scene with a guy chewing a cigar, a middle aged man who was a professional at the game, and a college student who wasn’t half bad. I put down my first $50 and collected my chips, on the first round I lost $5 and on the next I won $5 it went back and forth for a while until I decided to place larger bets. I was placing $15, $20, and $25 bets within the first 20 minutes! Within a solid hour I was up $150 and was getting ready to call it quits because dinner time was getting close, before I left I decided to be the casino daredevil and bet $100 on the next hand I got 2 queens and the dealer stayed at 19 in less than a minute I went from $150 to $250 that was in no way skill it was all luck! That dinner was probably the fastest dinner that I ever ate because I was in such a rush to get back on the table, I started to bet small again because I wasn’t 100% comfortable with the people at the table and the new dealer but instead of betting small and losing I was actually doing pretty good I easily turned that $250 into $300 by just going back and forth with the dealer. After that night I left the casino and grabbed a booklet that explained how to play “Craps” I’ve always seen the game on the movies but had no clue how to play and wanted to learn. I studied the 3 page pamphlet for about 2 hours and tried to figure out where the math and probability comes in this game, after all that hard work I still didn’t feel comfortable and still decided to play the next day, I went and played the line on a few rounds and came up on $50 I was starting to feel lucky and began to bet big I wish I could explain my strategically thought out moves but unfortunately since I had no idea what I was doing at the time just playing the line, field and the number 4 is what got me up to $600! Everyone started to leave the craps table one by one and I made my way over to the blackjack table where my luck slowly ran down and down, I went from $600 to $400 in what seemed like 10 minutes! I decided to call it quits before I lost everything and cashed out and went to my cabin to celebrate, it was a great experience but I had to finish up and enjoy the rest of my cruise! I used the money towards renting my car in the Bahamas, even though it wasn’t a major expense because I saved a lot using these coupons I found online. Overall I had a great trip and would do it all over again, except the part where I lost $200!

Nassau Bahamas 09'

Comprised of over 700 islands the Bahamas is one of the greatest tourist attractions for anyone looking to get an island feel. We went on a cruise which was pretty fun; I was a little upset that it was only three days and not longer! I wouldn’t even count the cruise as three days seeing as we only docked in the Bahamas for one day and I slept for 2 days. Believe it or not we left Cape Canaveral at 4:00pm and at around 8pm a message on the intercom came on and said that we had to turn around and go back to Cape Canaveral because someone on the ship had a medical emergency, at this point I’m sure 99% of the ship was upset but they assured us that we’d only be one hour late for arrival. We got back to Cape Canaveral and ate dinner, I was being optimistic about the whole situation because I got to use my cell phone for free instead of paying the $19.99/MB fee that I would have to pay overseas. Later on in the next day we docked in Bahamas sometimes you dock for only a few hours but we got there and were allowed to come back at 5:30am the next day. We decided to take a cruise around the island and use the car as a form of insurance so we know that we can get back to the rental place in time. When we got there we rented a Nissan Pathfinder from Avis because it was the biggest car for the lowest price, we drove down the line for the beach and saw some fun things that we wanted to do, there was an inflatable rock wall that was just calling our names, we paid who we had to pay and all attempted to climb. Within the first hour no one made it to the top of the wall, mainly because we were just pushing each other off or jumping on each other to fall. The first one up was my 11 year old cousin who pretty much avoided all of our attempts to knock him down. After we dried of we had a nice lunch at a local restaurant and returned to the cruise ship to rent the car, even though it was only for a few hours it was well worth it. After we returned to the car we got on the ship and took a shower and got ready for a night on the town, we heard from a bunch of locals that there was a huge parade for Christmas and we could not miss out on this event, we originally intended to stay on the ship for no less than an hour but a few rounds of black jack and a game of mini-golf set us back a bit. We watched the parade which was on the route to lasting longer than 5:30am so we left a little early because we knew the cruise ship wouldn’t wait for us. We went into our rooms and just passed out ready for the day at sea ahead of us. The day at sea was like any other day not much to do besides what the ship offered us. We went to watch a comedy show which was a lot funnier then expected and played at the casino a little. After a while we got bored and decided that we should go to bed because we had to wake up early for debarkation the next day. Overall it was a great trip and would do it again, under one condition…it had to be at least 4 days longer!

Xmas Brandon Trip

Day before Christmas we decided to surprise the family in Brandon, FL. We decided to rent the Expedition in order to be comfortable for the hour long ride. Once we decided, we contacted our agent with Enterprise and they were unfortunately out of the Expedition, but she was able to have another location deliver one to the location closest to us. It was so convenient since we were running late for out Christmas Eve party. So again Enterprise had saved the day.



So we finally had the Expedition, and we were loving it. This one was a black beauty. We ended up dealing with a lot of traffic on the way down, which turned the hour long ride into two hours. The kids were fine, since they had lots of room to stretch out their legs and be were able to enjoy the DVD player in the Expedition. which was a very nice feature to keep them entertained during the excruciating wait. After many laughs and a full movie, we had finally arrived at our location. The city of Brandon was so nice and calm by the time we got there. The family was thrilled. We were able to surprise the family. We all felt like celebrities. Hugs and kisses flying all over the place. After enjoying some amazing time with the family, we began with the meal. It was delicious, there is nothing that compares to mother's cooking.



After everyone had enjoyed dessert, we had to watch "Miracle on 34th Street". Such a holiday classic, the entire family always enjoys it. It just wouldn't feel like Christmas without it. After the movie, we had to go to bed and give Santa Claus some time to come and drop off presents. So we set up the cookies and milk and fell asleep enjoying the Christmas time. Once we woke up, we knew Santa had come by, since some of the cookies were bitten into, and the glass of milk was almost empty. The gifts were under the tree, and the kids were up and jumping everywhere trying to wake everyone up so that they could open their gifts. It's so rewarding to be able to spend time with the whole family. It's always a happier time when you have everyone you love around you.

Once we had opened all the gifts and helped clean up, it was time to just relax before heading back home. Watching the kids play with their new toys and the grown ups enjoy their new accessories or even their toys was just spectacular. It came time to go home and it was tough, no one wants to leave the party. But we had to try to beat that holiday traffic on the way back home, and we had to return the car the next day before work, so we wanted to be well rested. The drive back was actually not as bad as we had thought it would be. Once we came home the kids stayed up playing around the house with their new toys, as the adults went to bed since we had work in the morning. The car return went pretty smooth as always. Everyone was very helpful and we received some more coupons for our next rental, which made us feel very special. It was a rather nice surprise.

New York

So were still in New York, and more of the family is arriving. The snow is falling big time here, and we keep going out with the kids and push them off while they sled. I helped my youngest grandson make a snowman, well a deformed one. But it is getting really crowded around here, and as the fantastic people we are we offered to stay at a hotel. We found the best place in town, a nice and cozy Best Western. This place is really nice and clean, and the service is good. They have free Wi-Fi so here I am typing from my lap top.

Unfortunately our Chevrolet Taho is toast. Well, that is to say that when we went to check in on it the reason it has been taking so long is because the tire isn’t fixable. There is a seven inch gash in it where the hair piece went through, I don’t even know how it’s possible for a little thing to do so much damage. Anyhow we had to go back to National and get a new car. Would you believe they refunded our entire Chevrolet Taho rental? That was probably the best Christmas present ever. National gave us a Dodge Journey, and wow, this sleek looking vehicle is fast and well… I love it. We have been riding around doing errands all week. Or I have. Every time someone asks for something at the store I jump to it, I love this little car. It has a ton of space and it handles amazingly!

So after running errands for the past two days and relaxing at the Best Western hotel were kinda anticipating that Christmas day. We drove into Manhattan yesterday to see where the World Trade Centers used to be. You don’t really realize how massive those two structures were until you get there, and every restaurant in town is filled with images the shop owners took while it happened. Then we went to Central Park, took a long walk, and then ate some real New York Pizza. The real Pizza is the Italian kind you can find near the bridges, don’t settle for anything else, its just not worth it.

This little car is awesome, and after Christmas were gonna take it home, maybe even keep a day or two extra. I’m serious I have never been this enthusiastic about a car, but this one is just plain awesome! Santa came by today on a fire truck and tossed the kids candy canes, gosh I love New York!

Statue of Liberty

Now if you remember were still in New York, we are spending some time with our family and preparing for Christmas. Our car is at the shop getting it’s tire fixed and we haven’t really bothered to go pick it up. The entire family left to visit our cousins for a few days, and we wanna do something to pass the time and entertain ourselves. So we decided we would go see the Statue of Liberty and check on our summer home in the country. Now you would think we have seen the Statue of Liberty before, but we have only viewed her from Manhattan, we have yet to go over by boat. Unfortunately our car is still not finished, it has been nearly a week and I guess they are slacking off for Christmas. So out came the laptop and we rented a Chevrolet Aveo, and we even had them deliver it to the house.

The Aveo buzzes, and I mean it. The thing is so fun to drive, it weaves in and out of traffic like a bee. And this was great once we got over to Manhattan, because Christmas is coming. We went and saw some of the cool sites in the city, during Christmas time they have a bunch of different areas and buildings decked out in lights and decorations. Once we got to the dock, we paid our way onto the ferry and we were on the Island in no time.

Liberty Island was cool, and I really can’t describe the enormity of the Statue of Liberty, she’s huge! She must be twenty stories tall, and wow, just standing in her shadow was something. Sadly she has been closed up, one of the tour guides said since 9/11 but he wasn’t actually sure. We didn’t have to pay but we followed a tour, where we learned quite a bit about the Statue of Liberty. Most of it was common knowledge, like how the French gave the beautiful masterpiece we call the Statue of Liberty to us after the American Revolution, but there was also some fun facts that they pointed out. We ate lunch on Liberty Island, and then headed back to the mainland.

We really, really didn’t want to have to drive at night. Sadly the ferry doesn’t really have a specified time, it just fairies back and forth. So by the time we got off the island it was pretty much dark. Once we got out of Manhattan we headed back to Thrifty, and sadly left our Aveo there. Thrifty set up a taxi ride to get us home, and we were taken home without delay. Now we always here these bad stories about people renting cars, the strange thing is only once (our first time) did we have trouble. Really all you need to do is have all the information and your stuff there. We really enjoyed our time at the Statue of Liberty; it was a fun and affordable trip.

Long Island Patchogue, New York!

We were headed to Long Island New York, that was our plans for this Christmas season. We would drive up there and spend the Christmas Season with some of our old friends and family. It has been almost an entire year since we last saw our grandchildren, and we assumed by the time we got there they would have sprouted like an oak tree. So we figured we would drive up there before this happens. Of course with our usual tradition we decided to rent a car, this time from National. We were taking a large amount of gifts for the kids, so we needed a vehicle that could hold our luggage and a sizable amount of rapped presents, as well as give us comfortable moving space. So we decided on the Chevrolet Tahoe.

The car handled nicely and we didn’t have a single problem until we hit Virginia, we got a flat tire. Some child must have lost her hair piece because this little metal devil ended up wedged in our tire. Luckily the car had a spare, and while we continued on our way up to or family we called National. They said that we covered the expenses when we rented the car and they would make a call to some one on Long Island New York so that we could get the tire fixed before returning.

Upon arrival we got the car fixed in a short period of time and then we made our way over to the families house. The kids are gonna love the toys, but more than that was the special greeting we got upon coming up the driveway. The kids ran out through the 16 inches of snow and practically smashed into us they were so happy. Now the question arises is if they are happy to see us, or the massive amount of gifts we brought.

The Long Island New York harbors are all practically frozen over and the Chevrolet Tahoe seems to be holding up nicely in the cold whether. We are really enjoying our time with the kids, and making visits to see old friends here and there. Patchogue is a small town here on Long Island and there aren’t very many special events, so I guess the most exiting thing is the deep, deep snow. Now I’m to old to go sledding or anything but watching the kids do it is good fun as it is. We even pulled out the go cart and dragged the kids around at a very slow speed but they thought it was fun.

It’s nice to get back to the family. We are anxiously awaiting Christmas and to see the kid’s faces when they get their presents. Coming back up here was a fun thing to do and I am absolutely sure well be satisfied when we leave. The car was a nice addition it did well on the way up and the darn thing is the only car that hasn’t frozen yet, one of the perks of renting a car! It sure is nice to back home.

Pensacola Dollar Car Rental

As I flew into Pensacola Florida’s airport I was able to get my luggage with no problems because it is so small only with a few gates. I was able to go strait to the Dollar Car Rental booth with no problem; it is right by the luggage claim. Within minutes I was able to get the keys to my rental car and begin my trip. First, I went to the National Naval Aviation Museum that is located on the Naval base. There I was able to see exhibits of restored aircrafts and artifacts representing the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard aviation. On my way back to my hotel I stopped in downtown Pensacola and I did a tour of the Historical Village in Pensacola. It is a tour consisting of still standing renovated homes, churches, and museums along with other historical artifacts. Several street blocks filled with thirteen museums and nine other historical points. Shortly after the two hour tour I would make my way through downtown stopping at McGuire’s Irish Pub. It is a well known Irish Pub that is a necessity go to when you are there. As I wake up the next morning I head over to University of West Florida to get a tour of the school campus in thought of going there one day to pursue my education. After my wonderful school tour I make my day to the beach. Pensacola has the prettiest beaches; white sand and crystal clear water. There are not many tourist people who crowd up the beaches and make it unpleasant to be there. It is such a large beach that there is enough room for everyone to enjoy the sun and soak up some rays. After a day at the beach I am exhausted, so I head over to Sticks. It is a wonderful new Asian restaurant by the Cordova mall on Bayou Blvd. If you come at the right time of the year, you can catch a show of the Blue Angels. The Blue Angels are trained professional naval aviators that demonstrate exhibits that have choreographed refinements of skills. I will now spend the rest of my vacation at the beach and enjoying the peaceful sounds of the waves and the beach side restaurants. Without rentalcarmomma, I would not have been able to make my vacation so convenient.

Holidays

Holidays are finally here, what better feeling than that of happiness everywhere you go. The world seems a much happier place during these beautiful holidays. Finally some cool weather for Florida. It was way overdue, Since we had the cool weather and had to finally bring out the jackets and long sleeve shirts, we decided to go down to Miami and enjoy the pre-christmas celebrations that the family had planned. Since this year the family decided to stay home for the christmas week; we had to still wanted to enjoy time with the relatives for one last time this year.

We went to our very friendly agent at Enterprise and this time we decided to get an smaller vehicle. Since the budget was a bit tight due to the holiday shopping, we could not afford as much on the vehicle. Our agent was able to give us an amazing rate on a Hyndai Sonata, it was small compared to the SUV we normally end up with, but it was very comfortable. The ride to South Florida was a very slow one, the roads were very busy and backed up both ways. We even tried to stay off the busy interstate and the turnpike and it still did not help. No matter what shortcut we attempted to take, the traffic was just horrible. The sonata made the ride a bit easier, we decided to rent the GPS along with the vehicle and it really paid off. There was an accident when we decided to get back on the Interstate, and had it not been for the GPS, we would have been stuck for way too long. So once we went off the Interstate the GPS automatically drew up a new route. Very handy tool the GPS was. I would say it was by far the best investment for anyone renting a vehicle or traveling to a not too familiar city.

Once we had finally arrived in South Florida, the family was not home like we expected; they had already left to the restaurant where we were supposed to have had dinner at. We finally got the address to the restaurant typed into the GPS and it again saved the day. After enjoying an amazing meal with some great people, we went to the house where we would be staying. Everyone enjoyed the family time, and next morning it was time for the Dolphins game. Apparently if you're in Miami you must watch the Dolphins.

I would have rather enjoyed watching a Dolphins game live, but unfortunately they found themselves on the road. After the game, we went out to South Beach to enjoy a little of the nightlife in Miami. The Sonata was not the most spacious vehicle, but we managed with it and my brothers car. Driving around south beach, it was beautiful. The lights, the music, the fun people. Next time in Miami, I will make sure to take a convertible. The kids had an amazing time and we decided to leave the next day.

The Sonata was very good with the gas. I can admit that I was very content with the family, since we stayed well below our target budget. It was a short vacation, but also very sweet. There's nothing like Family during the holidays.

So Happy Holidays to all.

Copenhagen 09'

I’ve been nearly everywhere in the United States and seen almost everything I’ve always wanted to go to Denmark. I finally got time off work and decided to take a trip, I was surprised that plane tickets were pretty inexpensive at this time of year, then again I don’t know many people that fly out of sunny Orlando Florida to a cold Denmark. I’ve heard a lot about Denmark so I really wanted to go and see what all it had to offer. We arranged to fly into Copenhagen and spend a few days there and then drive around to a hotel and the other end of town so we can catch a glimpse and stay there for a while. Flying into Copenhagen was a great experience the snowy atmosphere was incredible, it was so much different then our average sunny day in Orlando. We landed at Copenhagen international airport and quickly rented a car from Avis, my girlfriend was complaining about how cold it was and needed to be in a car with heat as soon as possible. We got into an Audi A4 1.6 which was probably one of the nicest cars that I’ve ever been in and I am very disappointed that I wont be able to drive it when I get back for some reason those cars are only available to rent in certain locations. In Copenhagen there was a ton of tourist busses and cars but the form of transportation that really caught my eye was the segway, we went on a segway tour that was a great experience and almost want to get one for myself until I factored in the fact that I would use it instead of walking and that could become an unhealthy alternative! We decided to call it quits after that because it was pretty cold and our Floridian bodies did not get accustomed to the temperature. We spent the next few days sightseeing and shopping, for such a nice place there wasn’t many things to do in Copenhagen during the nice month of December. We did get to drive the car for a long period of time which was my favorite thing to do, the long winding roads in Copenhagen and a great car with awesome handling is pretty much any guy’s dream! When we ended up on the other side of town we were absolutely amazed, there was a huge hill that we had to drive up and once we got to the top there was a small parking lot where we parked the car and just looked down at the busy city. After that we drove all the way back to the airport and dropped the car off with ease, it’s a good thing I’m a member of the Avis club because no one is a fan of standing in that cold weather for long periods of time! We flew back to Orlando and started to enjoy the heat and could only be thankful!

Enerprise is Going Green!

As the days go by more and more people want to go green. From the foods they eat, or the electronics they use and even the stores they shop in everyone are making a little change to help the environment. Going green isn’t only a good thing to become environment friendly or show your customers how much you care; it’s a great thing to do when you want to save money! There are many ways to go green these days and its just up to you to find them. Who would have ever guessed that going green would leak out and touch the rental car market? Enterprise seemed to know quite well what was happening, with 6 major ways of saving the environment Enterprise has taken little steps to make a big effort to change the way things are going. One of the most famous acts of green that Enterprise has been apart of is the 50 Million Tree Pledge, this rental car company has worked very closely with the Arbor day foundation to plant 50 million trees in 50 years. Enterprise will be strategically planting trees in National Parks that have been damaged due to national conditions. Enterprise also has a more popular program that every customer sees which is the Carbon Offset Program where each customer has the option to pay $1.25 which goes toward removing the carbon footprint of a rental car. Enterprise has already had over 220,000 customers use this package and they plan on increasing that number enough to help remove 30 million pounds of CO2 from the atmosphere. Using FlexFuel technology is another great thing that Enterprise has been doing, maximizing the ability to burn ethanol has been saving the environment and consumer’s money since the program started in 2007. The entire fleet of rental cars is more fuel efficient than any other fleet in the world, they least fuel efficient car gets 28 miles per gallon which is still more than an average car! Enterprise has help fund countless projects that are focused on finding an alternative and renewable source of fuel. Overall Enterprise is one of the most respected companies in the rental car industry and continues to grow, the efforts that it outs forth not only insure that they customers will get a great deal it also proves a strong point that Budget is here to stay and is worried about the environment just as you are.

Vermillion Lake

Vermillion Lake, Banff National Park in Canada, we saw pictures and we were captivated. We did a little research and found out that the park offered a camping tour. Now if you ever read some of our other blogs you know that we enjoy group trips, besides I don’t know that I would enjoy being out in the middle of no where in Canada without a family or two and a park ranger to make sure we were all okay. Now we have this tradition that if were taking a vacation we rent a car, and we generally swap companies based on the easiest location to pick them up or the cheapest price for the car we want. Except this time we had one of our grandchildren to go on the trip with us, and so we decided what we would need and came to the conclusion that we would get the Chevy Trailblazer, sounds appropriate right?

We packed ourselves in with warm and cold clothing because honestly, I have no idea what to expect in Canada. The whether patterns there are as foreign to me as arch welding (which was a bad experience). So after several days of driving we arrived at the National Park seven or eight hours early. We got the ok to walk around the park and we just explored for awhile. To my surprise it was relatively warm despite the snow in the mountains, and we were informed that there were actually eight or nine hours of dark at this time of the year.

When the park guides arrived they loaded us into our vehicles and we trekked our way out towards Vermillion Lake, where we left our vehicles and walked about two miles. Luckily they transported our bags for us, so there was no heavy lifting. When we had our tent set up with the help of some of the park rangers we got to walk around and take an incredible amount of pictures. The lake is gorgeous, I have never seen such a stunning view in my life.

I cant really explain all the things we did over the week we stayed, I mean we just camped. We sat on our butts and enjoyed, that’s pretty much exactly what we did. The Rangers would take us on hikes every so often to see wildlife but it was all optional. I think the main thing was that we were just free campers being supervised in this National Park. We saw some hot springs, bears, tons of salmon, snakes and just about every other animal you would think to find in Canada. Our grandson love it, he was ecstatic about every venture we did, getting him to go to bed was the hard part.

If you get a chance to go to Canada or any other place that is as stunning as Vermillion Lake, do so. There is no question about it, this place was amazingly beautiful. While semi exhausting I wish it had lasted longer. It would probably be easier to take a plane but we loved the Chevy Trailblazer so much, we will definitely consider it for some trips in the future!

The Outer Banks in North Carolina

The Outer Banks in North Carolina was our next venture, if you don’t know what that is it’s a long island that gives the area a bay. The water is perfectly clear and there is an abundance of unusual sea shells everywhere… and I will admit, I have a collection. Now some friends up there offered us their condo, and we gratefully accepted, now that means all we had to do was rent a car. Everyone who reads our blogs knows that we always rent a car for any vacation we go on, it’s becoming tradition. We went to Alamo and they suggested we take a Nissan Maxima, simple, gas efficient and a large trunk for all our stuff.

Unfortunately before leaving my wife told me that fishing this time was an absolute no, probably because in San Francisco she never saw my face for nearly three days. So somewhat distraught I left my rod in the garage, pulling away I swear a tear fell from my eye. Getting to the Outer Banks was easy, finding the promised house was a little bit harder, especially since we arrived at night. However, when we finally found it the place was massive. We stayed downstairs in the guest room but the next day we couldn’t help but explore. You wouldn’t believe how massive this place was, it was two stories tall with a 3 story tower, that is to say there was an elevation of steps into a glass encased dining room, it was amazing. The best part was that from this dining room you could see the ocean over the dunes, and we ate there for all the three days we stayed.

Now anyone who’s been to the Outer Banks knows that most of the entertainment comes from the unique and home made products sold at the local shops. Everyone there is selling one of an object, nothing is really store made. What I am trying to say is all the crafts are hand made, nothing from a factory, so if you buy it, it’s probably the only one in the entire world. I guess this is really attractive to women, because my wife told me we would be spending the very first day browsing these shops. Luckily about noon I found a bait shop and we talked fishing, fortunately the guy there told me the Outer Banks don’t hold an abundance of fish, which softened me up about my fishing rod a little.

The next day we woke up really early and watched the sun-rise from the dining room in our magical tower. Then we went down to the beach an just relaxed. There is something about the sand on the entire beach of the Outer Banks; all the sand is soft, like a mushy feeling, we always take a bottle when we visit. We went into the crystal clear water and I was happy to see no fish. Not because they make me nervous but because I would deeply regret leaving my rod if I had.

The next day we woke up early again, this time we went scavenging on the beach for sea shells. Early in the morning the larger shells wash up on shore, I cant tell you why, I honestly don’t know, but there always there. I collected a bag full before they appeared to be disappearing, but I’m satisfied with most of the shells I collected. We actually went to the theater that night and watched a movie, it’s a small town so the theatre was nice and simple, like back in the days. We made off the next morning making sure to clean up the place we stayed.

If you get a chance to go to the Outer Banks do it, its inexpensive even if you have to stay in a hotel and it’s always fun. I really cant describe how relaxing the place is, but its something you have to experience.

Bahamas 09'

My trip to the Bahamas was unlike any other trip I’ve been on. Even though I’ve been to the Bahamas plenty of times before I’ve never actually cruised there. Usually it was just a flight over to Nassau and just staying in the hotel, I never really got to explore the island just see what each city had to offer, but what I’ve learned from previous experience exploring places is that most cities attractions are fun for a certain amount of time, but there’s no other way to get the adventure and thrill of a location without just getting in a car and driving as far as you can go. Doing that will introduce you to many locals and bring you to places you’d never see in a magazine. I left port Canaveral and cruised on over to the Bahamas, it wasn’t really that long of a cruise seeing as I’ve been on longer cruises so I mostly just sat and waited for us to arrive and took advantage of the buffet on board. I was browsing through the books for shore excursion and found something that I really wanted to do, the powerboat experience was about a 9 hour tour on a power boat that takes you to a small remote island where you get to do a ton of exotic things such as feedendangered iguanas, sting rays, and sharks. Going high speed to each location is the gist of the whole tour. I was on a 3 day cruise so a 9 hour tour would take up most of one day, the downfall of the tour was that they did not do pick ups from the cruise ship and while I’m on vacation I don’t ever want to walk. So renting a car was the best choice for me! I decided that I wanted to take the car on an adventure on the next two days so I needed something rugged and reliable; I think I did a pretty good job when I rented a Jeep Wrangler from Avis. I drove the car over to the closest place where the powerboat adventure picks up and hopped on their shuttle and rode out to their location. We did everything that the catalog said and even more, nothing beats the experience of traveling so fast on water! Being out in the sun makes me tired for some reason so as soon as I got back I went to hit the sheets. I woke up pretty early in the morning ready for my adventure so I took my wrangler to the road and drove in which ever direction I wanted too. I drove for about a hour or so and I ended up on a remote dirt road adjacent to the beach I stopped for a while so my friends and I could swim for a little, so we did that we noticed in the horizon people were cliff diving and we were really interested in seeing that so we drove closer to them and continued swimming, we passed through a small town withlittle kids playing soccer and Brock decided to jump out and play a game with them, lets just say I’ve never seen a grown man cry until then! We drove back to the ship and relaxed for a little and decided to stay in for the next day and get ready to leave to go back home, overall it was a great cruise and I plan on doing it again someday.

San Francisco

Bay Street, San Francisco, yes you heard right we were on our way back to California, however this time we didn’t fly or drive, this is where our cruise ended. We had just spent a week on the beautiful blue ocean and we got a great deal if we got off near San Francisco. So we made reservations with Hertz to have a car waiting for us at the pier. We were going green again and chose a Toyota Camry, we had it ready to go in the closest available location to the pier. Now I know everyone says renting a car is a hassle, and it was for us the first time, but if you follow all the steps they give you and don’t make any mistakes it goes flawlessly. We have made it tradition to rent a car on every trip we make, and we have never had any major problems.

When we landed we were offered a taxi ride, a service provided by the cruise line. We were taken to our Toyota Camry, a paper or two exchanged hands and we were in and out in several minutes. Now the first thing I said at the start of this blog was Bay Street, that’s because that is where our hotel was in San Francisco. It wasn’t until we arrived that I realized how massive this city actually was. We couldn’t help but drive down Broadway while we here, the streets are so crowded and it took us a little to get used to the stop and go style of driving. When we crossed over to Bay Street were right next to the Fisherman’s Wharf, now don’t get me wrong this place was beautiful we could see the entire bay and all, but once you got down to the floor level the smell of fish lingered.

Now I’m not complaining because I love to fish, and we had made plans for my wife to go shopping and I to go fishing down on pier 39. Besides who doesn’t want to see what all the fishing boats are catching, everyone enjoys the anticipation of raising the nets out of the water. We had brought my fishing rod with me, because we were on the cruise I had hoped to use it the whole time, however on the ship there wasn’t that much fishing being done. When I got to the pier I actually just bought fish their for bate, all the sellers told me that there are a ton of fish under the pier, because fish scraps fall in and it’s a natural feeding ground for the fish. I cast my line and began catching all sorts of fish. All of them looked like bottom feeders, dark and strange colors, and a few fisherman told me what they were, mostly the kept telling me dog-fish. Regardless all of them were to small to consider edible. And besides were they going to let me take fish into the hotel?

We went and saw the Golden-Gate Bridge, we even paid to have a helicopter take us close enough to Alcatraz to take pictures, we considered a tour but decided against it. We visited China Town, and then walked around Union Square, all this was done in-between fishing trips and shopping sprees. But overall we didn’t really spend a lot of time site-seeing. We were extremely interested in just relaxing, for me this meant fishing, for my wife it meant wiping my credit card clean on her “relaxing” shopping trips.

I spent the next three days fishing catching smaller and bigger fish; I took several pictures but never decided to keep any of the fish. All in all it was an enjoyable weekend, and all this time I still cringe at the amount of cash my wife spent while shopping, but hey I guess that’s brownie points for me. We took the Camry back to Florida and left it at the airport, had some friends pick us up and take us home. This trip wasn’t really eventful, but the cruise was awesome and the time I had to just relax was over-do, the time was fun and very inexpensive.

El Driving around El Paso

Being in the Army means having the opportunity to travel the world and the Army has taken me to El Paso, Texas. I was always in Fort Bliss during the weekday and very busy as well. But during the weekends I would rarely be seen in Fort Bliss. The weekends were always something to look forward to because I was free of work for an awesome two whole days in El Paso. One weekend I decided to stay in a hotel Saturday night instead of heading back to Fort Bliss to sleep so I came up with an idea. I searched online and got a great deal on a rental Toyota Corolla through Budget. It was probably one of my better ideas while being stationed here in El Paso. It was even located right at the El Paso International Airport. That's only 10 minutes away from where I was staying!The car ran smoothly so it easily made my weekend. I also didn't have to wait for a taxi cab to pick me up and charge me an outrageous price. I was cruising whenever I pleased and I loved it.

I decided to go to the mall first but before I could go there were already tons of people begging me to give them a ride there. I of course chose to be a nice guy so I took only the closest of friends (basically the really cute chicks). We had an awesome drive to the mall and a great time shopping there as well. We visited almost every store (that's what I get for bringing girls) and when we were finished shopping we went to Chili's for a great meal. We were very loud I must admit but we didn't care, we were just having too much fun. I had to be a gentleman so dinner was on me that night. I even asked the girls if they wanted to see a movie after dinner, on me. They couldn't say no to an offer like that so we finished eating quickly, left a generous tip, and drove my awesome car to the movie theater. It took a while to get there but I didn't mind, I had all the time in the world. The girls wanted to see Halloween 2 that night and I was up for it as well. They were really spooked by the end of the movie so they wanted to get back to Fort Bliss pronto. I dropped them off and then I drove my car to a hotel and crashed the rest of the night.

I felt real great for a Sunday morning so I drove my car to a place I was always curious about. I drove to the mountains right by El Paso and decided to run up the mountains for a great workout. It was much harder than I thought it would be but I never gave up. When I got close to the top, I had an awesome view of El Paso that I couldn't get anywhere else. Running down the mountain was very extreme but very fun. It felt like I was running faster than I should be down the mountain but I didn't want to stop. I finally reached the mountain and entered my cool ride and off I went. A great workout needed a great meal so I went to the PX (basically it's a military mini mall). I ordered myself a huge Philly Cheese Steak and savored every bite.

The place I had to drive next was somewhere I was not looking forward to. I had to return my sweet ride back to Budget car rental. I wished that moment never came but it's like the old saying, all good things must come to an end. Returning the vehicle was no problem, and I was done before I knew it. And before I knew it, I was back inside an overpriced taxi ride back to Fort Bliss. My weekend was great and I recommended all my buddies about the great rate I had for a Toyota Corolla through Budget. Renting a vehicle was something I definitely did multiple times while in El Paso, I even had Budget's phone number saved on my cell phone! My weekends were definitely the best during my stay in El Paso.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles, yep that’s where we went, and boy did we have a blast, the place is great. It took a lot of planning to make this trip reality but we were prepared to drive across the entire country from Florida to L.A. When the time came and we had made our plans concrete we headed to Budget Car Rental and picked out the car of my dreams. Cruising down the road in a Pontiac Solstice was just what we needed; if we were going to L.A. we were going in style.

Now we had considered doing a tour of the city but instead did all the research ourselves, now you know my wife and her camera so naturally we were prepared to take pictures of every site we passed. It took us roughly four days to get there, we ended up stopping at several places along the way and taking pictures, but once we got there we went straight to our hotel in West Hollywood. I’m not gonna lie, we stayed in a nice hotel, however, we usually don’t give out the names of places we stay, even if I would like to brag.

The next day me and my wife went site seeing in out Solstice, we made our way to Beverly Hills to see all the celebrity homes, there were a few key ones that we wanted to visit. We took pictures of a bunch and we always circled to see how close to the house we could get. Some of the houses were massive, others were just normal but beautiful looking. What I’m trying to say is that there wasn’t a single house that didn’t look as if it was owned by someone important, no matter the size.

The next day we went to Hollywood to see some of the more glamorous areas. The place is huge, and we even got to walk inside a few studios, nothing big but some of the places offered guest mini self guided tours. We saw a few landmarks and then caught a movie in a massive theater. That night my wife was adamant on wanting to see a show, so we bought tickets to see one of the shows a tour guide online had suggested. Wow was it great, and colorful, I never realized how much work went into these things. It has to be incredibly hard to remember all those lines and get them to perfection, these two hour shows are no joke, I recommend seeing one if you get the opportunity.

The next day we paid for a helicopter ride and toured the city via air. This was amazing, the pilot knew all the key locations and the best ways to get great camera shots, now he was restricted to specific air space, but the guy got us really close to a lot of the larger attractions and casinos. We flew near Disney Land and Six Flags, we buzzed around so rapidly and the guy gave us so much information that we were so content, which had been a concern of ours when paying for the slightly overpriced tour.

If you get a chance to go to Los Angeles then do so, there is so much to do and so much to see it’s just an overall grate experience. And rent a Pontiac Solstice, man was that thing fun!

Tennessee Mountains

Biking, that was our plans this trip and we were on our way to Tennessee to get some of that rich mountain air. We already have some very nice bikes, we purchased them awhile back during one of our trips to nature reserves in New York. But now we wanted to take a trip into the mountains, we had made a few discovers while searching online and found out that we could purchase a great deal once we got up there. So we went to Thrifty Car Rental and picked up a Dodge Caliber, a sleek new car with a nice leather interior.

Once we arrived a few days later in Tennessee we quickly went to the top of the mountain, got lodging in what looked and felt like a log cabin and patiently awaited the next day. When morning came around we jumped on the bikes and started the 2 hour bike down the hill. Now where we stayed there was a map that showed where the “pit stops” were and how to get picked up by trucks that would carry you back up the hill. It was a two hour ride down the hill, and then there were options to go other places.

Naturally we decided to take the two hour trek down the hill and see if we could go further once we got there, so off we went. We took the camera with us, which is now becoming a must for all our vacations, we stopped along the way to take image after image of the surrounding country-side. The place was beautiful, the trees were all different colors and the views were of vast distances. When we got to the bottom of the mountain we were met by a rocky trail, we checked the map and started another 2 hour journey, it didn’t come as a surprise when we were ready to go back after this second trip, going down hill is much easier than on flat ground. We paid the truck driver and headed back up the mountain, and just in time! It began raining just as lunch rolled around, and we went to the restaurant at the inn, and had some amazing country style food.

We repeated this for two more days and tried some other paths at the bottom of the hill, each time taking an abundance of pictures on the way down. When the fourth day rolled around we realized we had our fill of the bike life and made departing plans. I really don’t know how to explain it to you but this kind of simple trip was inexpensive and fun. They had places all over where you could rent bikes and the whether has to be time right, but the whole trip was fun and we enjoyed the simple life for a little while. If you are ever looking for some place to relax the mountains in Tennessee is a great place to go.

Minnesota 09'

Taking road trip adventures is one of my most favorite things to do, just in case you’ve missed out on my last posts about random journeys to the outskirts of the United States. Last Tuesday I went on a journey unlike any other journey I’ve ever been on, we went to the streets of Minnesota. Why? Because we wanted to that’s why. Believe it or not threes a lot to see in Minnesota, actually it really depends on what your into, some people like to see ancient things and some people like to see more modern things, I can probably fit Minnesota in between the two of those categories so it gets the best of the both worlds. I went with my buddy Brock and our old friend Caesar who just got back from his military training. Like you’ve learned from my old posts Brock always walks with a grill 24/7 he just can’t get away from the thing, it was even at his wedding! Well since we were going on such a long trip we decided to get a smaller car that was a lot more fuel efficient than any of our cars so we decided to go with a Chevrolet Aveo, I’m used to driving a Mitsubishi Eclipse and lets just say that I thought it was as small as it could get, guess I was wrong, the Aveo is one of the smallest cars I’ve ever been in, but hey you cant win when it comes to efficiency. So our trip up there was pretty fun Brock had to opt out of bringing his big grill and bring his little George Forman grill but that’s good enough, he just wasn’t to happy for it. Now Caesar is a prankster, he rigged up a little electronic wire that allowed the grill to run off of the car’s cigarette lighter. Not only did he get the grill running he was grilling all of the food we had in the car because he was bored, so I’m talking Twizzlers, Skittles and everything else in the car. All I could say to that is you haven’t lived life unless you had a burnt Twizzler. Anyway we arrived to Minnesota a lot faster than I thought, we actually didn’t even feel like we drove that long, its probably because we left the airport and rented a car from Avis so quickly plus we didn’t pack as much clothes because we were in a smaller car. Once we got to Minnesota the first thing on our mind was The Oceanaire Seafood Room I had scallops and pasta which was amazing and almost like they knew exactly what I wanted as I ordered it! We went to sleep that night full, Brock couldn’t even move – I couldn’t tell if it was because he was full or if he was showing signs of depression when not being able to bring his grill in. The next day we went to a little place called Pigeon River where we had a lot of outdoor fun the best part of it was that it was very close to Canada which none of us knew that Minnesota was actually connected to Canada, (guess who failed geography in High School) we had a great time spending time outdoors but we had to go, we had a rally race that we needed to attend on Sunday so we pushed the pedal to the medal and gunned it back home.

Atlanta Georgia

We were so exited when we got a phone call from some old friends wanting to meet with us. Of course we offered to let them come meet us here in Florida, but secretly we wanted to go to Atlanta Georgia and meet them. When they offered to meet half way we offered to go the whole mile and meet them. We were ready for another vacation and Atlanta Georgia sounded like just the right way to go. We remembered instantly that Atlanta Georgia is home to Six Flags one of the largest theme parks in the world.

So naturally we called Avis and rented a car. When they asked us if we had a preference for a car we simply replied that we really did not care and wouldn’t mind being surprised. We got a Pontiac G6 and wow, this thing was sleek. It had a huge sun roof and a the engine had a bit of a kick… ok it had a lot of a kick and I thoroughly enjoyed it the entire way to Atlanta Georgia. When we reached our friends home they offered us a guest room and we canceled our hotel reservations.

We spent two days touring Atlanta Georgia with our friends and seeing key sites, visiting city parks and just enjoying our time. The wives went shopping and us guys spent time at the house watching football, cooking burgers and relaxing, we are men after all. When we told them we wanted to go to Six Flags Atlanta Georgia they asked if they could come also, and we all departed early the next morning for the theme park.

Six Flags was awesome, now I may be getting old but I can still enjoy rollercoaster’s and theme park rides, and trust me, they had both in abundance. The entire theme park was just a blast, every ride and even the sit in entertainment was just a riot, we will definitely be going back if we ever visit Atlanta Georgia again. We ate some of the best food we have ever had at any theme park there and then headed home to our friend’s house.

The next morning we said our goodbyes and we set off back for home. Speeding down the road in our Pontiac G6 we were glad we had made the trip. We have been to Georgia before, we visited the state parks and walked under the trees in natural reserves there. However, our trip to Six Flags will always be the highlight of our trips to Atlanta Georgia, we really, really enjoyed it.

Christmas, FL

So we rented a car to drive out to the coast and be able to visit the Kennedy Space Center and spend a few days out by the ocean. We decided we liked the Expedition so much from our previous trip, that we would rent it again. So again we had the very spacious and comfortable Ford Expedition. Since we were in no rush to get to the hotel, we decided to go local and enjoy the small towns between home and the space center.

We came across a very peculiar little town. When we came across the sign, it read "Welcome to CHRISTMAS", I was a bit shocked. I just figured since it was early in the morning I must have still been tired from the previous day. The kids however, pointed out the sign and were so excited. So now we know, there really is a Christmas. We decided not to stop since it was so early in the morning and we just wanted to get to the hotel and rest. When we finally arrived at the hotel, I wasted no time; immediately went on the computer and searched for "Christmas, FL". Tons of information came up, this small Central Florida town is full of history, so right then the family decided that we had to stop by on our way back home.

Once we had enjoyed our trip to the Space Center and after enjoying the Sunrise with the family, it was time to leave the hotel early and enjoy our day out in Christmas, FL. What an amazing little town this was. We were able to enjoy a fun filled day, We started it out with a drive around town taking pictures specially of the post office. We even enjoyed the bird watching tour they had to offer, the binocular rentals were very reasonable. The kids loved taking pictures of all the different types of birds; it was lovely being able to enjoy such a spontaneous vacation. It was very refreshing being able to slow down and being able to relax and connect with nature and your family. I think that's what I enjoy so much about the trips, it's not all about getting to know these magnificent places. It's being able to look back at it and remember the kids smiling, jumping and enjoying the togetherness that the family is experiencing. These are the moments we will all remember for the rest of our lives. I know that the kids will be able to grow up to be happy adults and be able to one day bring their children back to this magnificent town and connect with them just as they did with us as they were growing up.

When we finally arrived at our home town, they could not wait to have their pictures printed. So we had to stop by the local drugstore and get our instant prints so that they would be able to show their friends around the neighborhood and their friends at school. It feels good to know that with a small rental fee you are able to take your kids on a save vehicle, where they'll be safe and enjoy little road trips and small tours along the way.

Travelling with Dollar Rent A Car

As an industry leader, Dollar continues to make it's niche as a major car rental brand around the globe. With locations in 52 countries as well as 629 locations worldwide, Dollar boasts a fleet of rental cars for both business and leisure travel.

When travelling during holiday vacations, Dollar makes renting a car convenient with a vast array of airport locations. Enjoy Dollars mid-size specials starting at $159 if you rent at Chicago, IL Houston, TX (Hobby) Houston, TX (Intercontinental) and
New Orleans, LA.

As an itinerant minister, Dollar is an indispensable resource when travelling up North. Check out this selection of vehicles available an economic Hyundai Accent, Mid-size Ford Fusion, Full-size Dodge Charger, or Luxury Chrysler 300 Touring series to mention a few.

With today's new "Lock Low and Go", you simply lock your rate and Dollar selects the ride. When you book at a rate lower than the intermediate, you'll be guaranteed a same size or an upgrade.

Now you can get 5% discounts on weekly rentals during the holidays.

Dollar's name is synonymous with excellent value and convenience in all major cities in the United States. Feel safe with Chrysler rentals that come equipped with driver-side airbags including passenger-side airbags.

Child safety is of the utmost importance to Dollar offering child-safety seats for both toddlers and infants. When travelling on business, Dollar offers the convenience of facsimile and cellular phones.

Planning your next vacation has never been easier with Dollars travel partners offering hotel and airline reservations with major airlines including Northwest, Alhoa, Continental, Delta, Southwest and much more.

Vans Vans Vans

Church trips are pretty common in my hectic schedule. From camps to ski trips, and Bike trips to worship sessions. While there are a ton of different problems and issues we have to confront, the one we always hit head on is "How are we gonna get 20 people to said location?". This particular event, was for youth group. we had twenty kids who needed a trip to Jacksonville for a concert series with a program called Aquire The Fire. Our bus agency that we are contracted with was completely booked that weekend. Since i was driving myself, we really only needed a few vans or a bunch of cars. Since i was planning for the cars, we needed about 7. The youth director suggested that we rent some twelve passenger vans for the trip. That was a great idea! We called around, and couldnt find any anywhere. They were all booked for the weekend we needed them. I called Hertz, and their vans were booked, but they suggested a few 7 passenger vans. That was perfect. I was going to drive myself, so the vans seated 21, thats even an extra seat! That was a no brainer, because it actually worked out to be cheaper for us to rent three 7 passenger vans instead of two 12 passenger vans.

While seating arangements can get complicated for a bunch of high schoolers, we were finally able to pack everyone in and start on our 3 hour excursion to Jacksonville. I put three kids in my Civic and the rest followed me in the vans. Now normally, i wouldnt want to cart around kids, but i was so excited about the vans that the trip was a breeze. We put on some music and everyone got along so the trip was tolerable.

The Conference went great, and the kids, for the most part, behaved. We did have an issue with a kid trying to jump down off the balcony at the hotel we stayed at, but other than that, the worst trouble we had were kids who wouldnt go to sleep on time. They treated the vans nicely, and no problems happened.

The trip home was no problem either. Kids behaved fine. Most of them went to sleep as it was late returning on saturday. All-in-All the trip couldn't have been much better. Everything went according to plan, and i can't imagine what would have happened if we have 7 cars to keep track of. The Vans saved us alot of headaches. Hertz did a great job. Returning them was no problem either. Very easy. Im glad Hertz was so helpful, and im definately glad they suggested the vans. They made everything easier.

Hertz Quarterly Report

Leading rental car company Hertz Rental car has recently released their Third Quarter Financial Report. While this report seems to be discouraging to the company, the vice president is still holding his head up high.

The 2009 international revenue barely exceeded $2 billion. This is a 15.7 percent year-over-year decrease from 2008. This adds to a 13.4 percent loss in constant currency (cc). Rental car numbers were down 11.9 percent (8.9 percent cc). This made travel news everywhere. The company plans on increasing the percent lost by the end of January 2010. With multiple programs and plans that Hertz expects to jump state total sales.

Net income ended up being a lift in spirit for Hertz. Their $124 million profit was a wopping 17.5% increase from the 2008 third quarter sales. While their stocks went down 2 cents, this increase more than made up for that.

Chairman Mark Frissora say "Hertz's Employees did a great job delivering strong Q3 results in this challenging Economy... Since may, the programs they started have raised profits by up to 6 percent. The [Strategic Fleet Plan] has raised $535 Million since it started at the end of 2008.... We hope that we are able to implement more programs like this coming into the 2010 year."

Its looking promising already for the Hertz company coming into Q4 and the new year. While numbers aren't released yet, an increase has certainly taken place. Hertz is excited to see this increase and wants to continue through december and "Finish Strong" as senior analyst and Chief Financial Officer Elyse Douglas says.