How Lucky Are We...

 

 

Eaten fresh out of the oven flan in Zihuatenejo, Mexico

Seen the sunset on Mexican beaches

Visited with Queen Elizabeth I in Westminster Abbey

Watched the guards change to Abba's Dancing Queen at Buckingham Palace

Minded the Gap

Got beheaded on Tower Green (not actually)

Walked across Tower Bridge

Got lost on the way to The Globe Theater

Stonehenge...what else is there to say

Felt like a character in a Jane Austen novel in Bathe

Contemplated diving off a cliff in Dover

Ate brownies in Amsterdam

Looked at Red Lights in Amsterdam

Stole of piece of the Eifel Tower

Didn't wait in line at the Louvre

Seen the real life Moulin Rouge

Walked the gardens of Versailles

Escaped the rain to eat the best Crème Brule in Paris 

Went to Costa Rica with only a ticket and a backpack

Seen the Arenal volcano erupt

Relaxed in a hot spring in the jungle

Rode horses above the clouds in Monteverde

White water rafted Costa Rica waters

Zip lined through a Costa Rica jungle

Learned to speak Howler Monkey (sounds quite similar to whale, I also speak whale)

Ate escargot in Quebec

Watched the leaves change in Old Quebec

Rode bikes around English Bay in Vancouver

Smoked a Cuban in Whistler

Woke up in PARADISE (Trinidad and Tobago) 9 times

Skinny dipped in Englishman's Bay

Turned 29 in T&T

Saw Leatherback turtles nest on Turtle Beach

Drove on the wrong side of the road in Tobago

 

I feel very privileged to be able to say in my twenties I was able to visit and experience six different countries.  I want to continue traveling and visit many more, only 189 to go! 

The Amanda Trip

I have come to the decision that your best road trip partner by far is your best friend.  With that said, The Amanda's conquered New Orleans and Destin this year!

Jamming to Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline and Boston's Amanda, The Amanda's (my best friend, Amanda and I) made our way to Destin, Florida.  With no better pit stop, we stayed one day and one night in NOLA.

 

We had to have a snack at Café Du Monde for their glorious beignets.

 

Score! Found apart of mine and Trevor's Halloween costume...Hipster glasses!

 

And at Pat O'Brien's the night began....

 

 

After the NOLA Ant Pile Incident (no comment) we started the next day out to Destin. Not only was this a road trip with my best friend, it was also a trip to visit my cousin in Pensacola.  I have decided that having a cousin the lives 20 minutes from Destin is the best thing EVER!  

 

 

We spent one day in Pensacola on the beach and on a boat (with our flippy floppies) and the next day we spent in Destin.

 

 

Hey B...it's 3:44pm and OU Still SUCKS!!!!!

 

Onto my next Girl-Cation adventure...

 



 

 

 

 

 

When in Maryland...

FREE PLANE TICKETS...sign me up!  I did just that when a little over a year ago I entered a raffle at a small town fair and low and behold I actually won!  I never win sweepstakes or raffles so I was floored when I got the phone call I actually had won.  A part of me still didn't believe it and thought that there was some type of stipulation until our flights were booked. 

We decided to use the tickets to go back to Maryland to visit Trevor's family.  I had only been to Maryland one time prior to visit and that was when Trevor proposed back in 2005.  This was a very relaxed vacation and we were able to see a lot of family which is always a good time.

 

We flew into Baltimore and our first stop off the plane was to Philips in the inner harbor so Trevor could eat crabs!  My theory on the matter for this non seafood eater is "When in Maryland...eat a chicken salad!" More crabs for Trevor I guess.

 

 

 

We enjoyed walking around the inner harbor and getting in some good people watching since there was an Anime convention in town.  It's not everyday you run into Spiderman and Pokémon is the same place!

 

 

The beautiful rolling hills of Maryland.

 



 

A trip to Maryland is never complete without a trip to The Carriage House Bake Shop for pepperoni rolls.  We ended up going twice and ate all 2 dozen of them that we bought.  I think we have a problem!

 

We spent some time with a couple of Trevor's cousins and went to Tarara Winery in Virginia for a concert on the lawn.   

 

 

We made our way into Arlington and Washington, DC for an afternoon and spent some time in the city.  We didn't do all the tourist sites this time since we had been around to all the monuments in a previous trip to DC.

 

 

 

 

 

My "civil war buff" father was so proud that we made our way up to Gettysburg one day as well.  However, he didn't quite understand how we were able to see everything in only a couple hours. Apparently his prior trip to Gettysburg was a two day affair, which isn't hard to believe considering my father.  As a child I spent countless hours roaming battlefields with my family and my father basically taking over the tour guides job.

 

I had a great trip to Maryland and was able to enjoy some relaxed time with family.

 

Onto my next adventure...

 

 

 







Pup-Cation 2.0

After last years trip to the Arkansas Ozarks with our hounds we decided to hold up the tradition of Pup-Cation with 2.0 in Colorado.  We made the fourteen hour road trip into Colorado to Winter Park in the Arapaho National Forest.

We ended up finding a great spot to camp in the Arapaho National Forest in Winter Park.  The place we found was off Vasquez Road, it was a great spot for dispersed camping, Vasquez Creek ran right through our campsite.

 

The creek was much to cold for Trevor and I, but the hounds loved it!  It was also a perfect creek to fill up our Nalgene bottles every morning with fresh water.

 

 

Our second day in Colorado we went hiking in the Indian Creek Wilderness and made our way up to Lake Columbine. It was a very serene beautiful place to just sit and relax, and of course let the dogs get a few laps in.

 

 

The third day we went with the dogs on another hike on Berthoud Pass to hike a sectional of the Continental Divide, which still had snow...in July!  The views from this hike where breathtaking.   Archie also had his first experience with snow, he was in love! Still no bear sightings on this trip, but we did see our fair share of Moose.

 

 

Oh the camping foods!  I love camping foods, there is something about cooking on an open flame and the smell of a campfire that I love so much.  These were a few of our foil pack recipes this camping trip. 

 

I love things cooked in foil!

Chicken, Broccoli, and Cheese; seasoned with a little salt and pepper

Turkey Patty, Carrots, and Potatoes; the turkey patty is seasoned with onion soup mix



                                        Foil Pack Breakfast - Ham, Potatoes, and Cheese

 

Until our next adventure...

 

 



 



 

High Heels to Hiking Shoes

So when you're relaxing in the Caribbean what is the logical thing to do...plan your next vacation obviously!!!! I traded in my high heels for a pair of hiking shoes this time around.  We packed up the hounds and took a Road Trip to the Arkansas Ozarks for a camping trip. 

With the wind in their hair and their ears flopping in the breeze we were off!  I'm not too sure how much they enjoyed the road trip aspect of the vacation. 

 

 

Our first campsite was at Tompkins Bend at Lake Ouachita.  It was a nice campground that offered lake access and hiking trails with A LOT of RVs and people!!!  I guess what should we expect for going camping over 4th of July weekend? We decided to pack up camp the remaining days of our camping trip and trek into the Ozark Mountains and camp in the woods. I was in hopes to see a black bear the whole time, but no such luck :(

The next day we drove into the Ozarks and hiked into the woods and found this wonderful spot and popped up camp.

I think that Remington and Archie loved the second campsite much better!  Archie's alter ego "Mudspot" even came out a time or two.

We hiked, we swam, we relaxed, we ate!  Camping food is one of the best parts about camping.  Who doesn't love Puppy Chow, Trail Mix, S'mores and foods cooked in foil? Here's to sharing our adventure in camping foods...

The essential "oven"

Chicken and Veggie Kabobs

"Foil Packs" Turkey Patty, Carrots, Potatoes, Onions

Potato Packs

Strawberry S'mores

 

Banana Boats

Until our next adventure...

Waking up in Paradise

As my 29th birthday was approaching I realized I had not accomplished as many things on my 30 Before Thirty list as I would have liked to by this point. I did feel a little better though knowing that the week of my birthday I would be marking a couple things off the list, one of which was a much needed vacation!  On Friday, June 7th the Hubs and I jetted off to Trinidad and Tobago!  An island in the Caribbean...that's not in  Canada! Nothing against Canada, I have just been there too many times in the past few years.

We stayed a little over a week in Tobago, which was beyond beautiful and relaxing.  Trinidad and Tobago was the perfect Caribbean islands for us; they are off the beaten path and not overwhelmed with tourism, which is how we like to travel.  No chocolate on my pillow for this girl, instead I had beetles landing on my pillow in the middle of the night! That's part of the adventure right? 

"In the morning you will wake up in paradise," at least that's what the property manager of the cottage we stayed at said the night he dropped us off after picking us up from the airport.  I think he was right!  This was our view every morning of Englishman's Bay.

We took a boat out one day and went down the west side of the Island.  We went fishing and went snorkeling in a couple of the bays along the island.  We stopped at Paradise Bay and cooked our fish on the beach.

Enjoying my new camera on the boat ride

Happy Birthday to Me!  On my Birthday we spent the day at three different beaches swimming and relaxing.  I would have to say it was pretty perfect to spend my birthday in the Caribbean! The above Jetty is at Pigeon Point.

Beach #2 of Caribbean Birthday relaxing was Mount Irvine Beach.  We weren't the only ones relaxing and sleeping on the beach :)

Beach #3 of Caribbean Birthday relaxing was Englishman's Bay.  Here we watched the sunset on a perfect Birthday!

I went in for a little dip in my Birthday Suit on my Birthday! This would be the second thing I checked off my 30 Before Thirty list! :)

While in Tobago we also hiked around in the Rain Forest on Gilpin Trail.  It was a beautiful Rain Forest with lots of birds and waterfalls.

We also hiked up a river in Bloody Bay one day.  It was a little ironic due to the fact that after the hike in Bloody Bay I came out of it Bloody.  I slipped and busted my knee open, oops!

We also made our way into Trinidad one day and walked around Port of Spain.  We found a local street market and tried out some of the local street food.  One of my favorite parts about traveling to different countries is experiencing the local cuisine and street foods.

Until our next adventure...