I am lucky and I'm also very thankful to have the opportunity to visit this amazing country. Meeting up with Meredith was planned a while back. She and her friend were planning a trip to Europe and they picked their time to have few days overlap with ours. No fool that girl.....no accommodation expenses and of course Daddy was picking up the dinner tabs! Unfortunately we won't get to Normandy this time but there will be a next time ! Tomorrow we explore the vineyards of Medoc .....Annie tell Elery I'm making sure I get his share of the reds!

Be very aware of the charges as some plans are for phone use only and some are for mobile broadband only (computer) and there are other plans that work for both depending on if you have sprint or att Tmobile etc. If the plan is the wrong one you can easily rack up a staggering bill overnight, and I mean totally jawdropping one night or day of usage fee.

Hopefully the new modem/router will take care of the problem. I would just use the Built-In Router. Too much of a hassle to try and Disable the Built-In Router! Just make sure you have a Secure Password Set up. You may also want to check around the internet to see if your ISP is trying to pull a Comcast. The New Comcast Modem/Routers are set up to use your modem to share with other Comcast Customers. Comcast doesn't tell you about this but when someone is close to your Network they'll see an Xfinity SSID (Hotspot) that's Unsecured. This person can then use your Connection to access the internet. This connection is separate from the connection you're using that is secured! It's a Dual Band Router and they have it set as a Guest account without your knowledge. Not 100% sure but I believe you must be a Comcast Customer to be able to use this Guest account (think they'll ask for your Comcast Info). Here is a link that can tell you about what Comcast has done: Xfinity WiFi, and how to shut this feature off! You don't have to let your modem broadcast a Hotspot! I haven't had very good luck with the New Modem/Routers (keep dropping connections) so I just have a Modem and I use my own Router. I have a Linksys EA6400 Dual Band Router and I have a Guest Account set with an easy to remember Password. The other Account Password is much harder to remember. I use the Guest Account forthe Guests at my house! Everyone always asks right away, what's your password? They want to connect their Phones, Tablets and Laptops!

I live in the PNW too and many utility boxes have been either painted or wrapped with photo-like images that help them blend into the surroundings. Your utility company or your local town government (together with the utility company) may be interested in doing something similar.