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Paradise Absolutely

Published on Friday, December 2, 2011 in Cozumel and Travel. 0 Comments Tags: , .

The title of this post answers the following two questions about our trip to Cozumel, Mexico.

1) Where did you stay?
2) Would you go back?

It really was paradise.  More specifically, the official name of our island getaway was The Residencias Reef. It’s located at Kilometer 14 on the island of Cozumel. This will mean nothing to you if you’ve never been there, but makes perfect sense once you have.

It’s just far enough south to be away from the cruise ships, but close enough to San Miguel to get groceries easily. (We recommend MEGA. It was awesome and had everything…except dishwashing detergent, but that’s another story in itself!)

We rented a car for the week, and I’d highly recommend that. Our place provided parking, and it was great to have a car to tool around the island on the days we wanted to explore or needed to grab groceries A LA MEGA! (Sorry, the all-caps on that was an inside joke. We couldn’t NOT say it that way.)

We were traveling with a friend, so the place we rented was a two bedroom (three bed), two bath condo. Residencias Reef has 24hr security and is gated.

This is their secondary security, if you get past the guards at the gate. This guy (and his friend) guarded our Tiida every day.

Tiida! (Ours is the silver four door.) We joked that this was the clown car of Nissan. It looks tiny on the outside but HAS SO MUCH ROOM on the inside. Totally bizarre.

View of the condo from one of the pools. This is the back, or oceanside, of the unit. Ours is on the 3rd and 4th floors, in the center, under the thatched roof. (Yes, really!)

View of the second pool, closest to the beach. Notice how crowded it is? Heh.

Elevator to the 3rd Floor

The condo was situated on grounds that were gorgeous and really well maintained. We had a “private” beach, just steps from the condo.

Claire and the guys playing frisbee on the beach

Connecting the pools was a wooden walkway that went through a lagoon-like area.

The walkway at sunset

Another portion of the walkway

This particular unit was two floors, with the main living area on one floor and a rooftop patio above.

Rooftop Lounge

View

The view was breathtaking. Waking up to this same view from our room every day for a week was amazing and made leaving really hard to do.

Which brings me to the answer of the second question. We would go back in a heart-beat. Hawaii is my true love, but Cozumel is a close second. There are parts I like better about both locations. I foresee another beach vacation in our future.

Absolutely.

Not your typical Thanksgiving Day stroll

Published on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 in Cozumel, Thanksgiving and Travel. 2 Comments Tags: , .

Holding the Sun

Published on Monday, November 28, 2011 in Cozumel and Travel. 1 Comment Tags: , .

We relaxed. We explored. We walked for ages along the beach searching for shells, the soft sand squishing through our toes while the waves lapped at our ankles. We swam with the fish. We floated on the waves. We held the sun in our hands.

The Island Awaits

Published on Thursday, November 17, 2011 in Cozumel and Travel. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Do you hear that?

It’s the sound of bags being zipped, and boarding passes and directions to a beachside haven being neatly stowed in a safe place.

It’s the sound of swimsuits and snorkel gear being contained, but the giggles of a Kindergartener getting to use her Passport for the very first time not being contained at all.

It’s the soft exhale as the last item is crossed off the list.

It’s the sound of things being unplugged and shut down, left to sleep for a glorious week.

The island awaits.

Steamboat Springs: Our Fall Break Getaway

Published on Tuesday, October 18, 2011 in Travel. 2 Comments

Claire’s Fall Break from school was October 14th through the 17th. Daddy also had some vacation time to burn, so we opted to get outta town!

Where did we go?

We checked out Steamboat Springs, CO! It’s a relatively short drive from home, and a change of scenery. Perfect!

Daddy has been to Steamboat a few times in the past to ski, but he’s never checked out the hot springs there. We’re big fans of hot springs, so we couldn’t wait.

The good news? They aren’t stinky like in Pagosa Springs!
The bad news? There is no incentive to actually leave them until you become shriveled prunes.

Needless to say, the verdict? They were fantastic!

We had such a great, relaxing time. Here are some pictures of our stay:

The view from our private balcony at the motel was magical.

Where did we stay?

We stayed at The Rabbit Ears Motel, which was right across the street from the Old Town Hot Springs. The motel was basic, clean, and comfortable, and calling directly to make reservations scored us a great deal on a river-side room! (They also had discounted tickets available for the hot springs across the street, AND they provided towels!)

The neon sign is on the Colorado Historical Record. It was erected in 1952!

Happy Hour! …again, from our private balcony.

In addition to soaking and playing in the hot springs, we did a lot of hiking and exploring and relaxing.  (The above photo was taken at dusk.)  The fall colors were past their peak, but still GORGEOUS. What a beautiful area!

The weather was PERFECT…upper 60s, lower 70s during the day, crisp and cool at night. Monday’s weather was a bit shocking but more back to normal:

We felt like we were driving through a Holiday Card as we traveled along Highway 40, just outside of Steamboat.

I highly recommend visiting Steamboat Springs in the fall. It was the perfect mini-vacation for us. We can’t wait to go back!

The Inn of the Governors in Santa Fe

Published on Thursday, July 7, 2011 in Product Reviews, Travel and Travel - Santa Fe. 1 Comment

We were in Santa Fe for the long weekend! It’s no secret that we love Santa Fe. It’s always held a special place in our hearts. It’s hard to explain. It’s relaxing. It’s invigorating. It’s magical. The energy there is very renewing, yet very old.

When I say “old,” I mean old.  They just celebrated FOUR HUNDRED YEARS, and I’m just mesmerized.  Yes…400 years.  Amazing!

A sign at The Royal Palace, aka The Palace of the Governors. No, we didn't stay here. We stayed at their Inn. ;)

Luckily, Claire likes Santa Fe as much as we do, and she wanted to know if it would be possible to move our house down there and attach it to the hotel. Soon-to-be Kindergarteners have an interesting perspective on how things should work.

I mean, if we moved the house there, we wouldn’t need to be next to the hotel, right? She reminded us that we don’t have a pool. Duh. ;)

This year, we tried out a new lodging place. In years past, we’ve stayed at Garrett’s Desert Inn. It’s two blocks from the famed Plaza and not a million dollars. Well, the last time we stayed there, it was really showing the wear and tear, and this time, we opted for something that was a just as close to the Plaza, and in a little better shape. It wasn’t right ON the Plaza, so it wasn’t a million dollars a night.

This year’s choice was The Inn of the Governors. We loved it!   (No, this isn’t a paid review…it’s not even a formal one!)  If you ever stay in Santa Fe, one thing to figure into the price of your room is parking. Parking in Santa Fe near the Plaza is at a premium. The spaces are tiny and expensive. The Inn of the Governors worked the price of parking into their daily rate, threw in a complete hot breakfast buffet AND a $25 daily credit at the restaurant on site.

We thought for sure that meant the food would be 1) expensive or 2) mediocre. It was neither of those two things!! It was fantastic food and VERY reasonably priced! Sweet!

Parking, pool, breakfast, daily credit, AND it’s two blocks from the Plaza? Perfect!

Now, the parking spots at the Inn of the Governors were TINY. We folded the mirrors in on my car, even thought it’s not a huge car! I acted as a spotter when we parked and departed, and it worked. This being said, parking anywhere downtown is going to be a challenge.

The pool was great. It was heated and lovely. The hotel provides cookies, tea, and sherry (for free) at 4pm every day, so it was nice to take advantage of that while relaxing at the pool!

The room we had was furnished with two beds and included a Kiva Fireplace.

No, we didn’t need to fire that up, but the firewood is provided for those nights when you’d want to.

We really wanted a balcony, but opted not to spring for the cost of that. Maybe next time? Maybe not.

We loved being so close to the Plaza, and an evening stroll was just what we needed to unwind from our adventures of the day.

Whirlygig at dusk

Whirlygigs near the Plaza

Stay tuned for more about those adventures!

Colorado Dragonfly

Published on Tuesday, July 5, 2011 in Letterboxing and Travel - Santa Fe. 0 Comments Tags: , .

I have lots to share about our adventures in Santa Fe! Stay tuned!

In the meantime, here is the newest addition to our carving collection:

Colorado Dragonfly: She's TINY, as you can see by the quarter in the photo.

This is a Hitchhiker I carved and we released at a Hitchhiker Hostel (yes, such a thing exists!) in New Mexico!

Here is Colorado Dragonfly’s official AtasQuest listing.

VACATION by the letters

Published on Saturday, June 11, 2011 in Travel. 0 Comments Tags: .

V: I have white Vs on my feet from wearing my flip-flops on sunny adventures. I wore them every day on vacation, and every day since.  I love this time of year!

A: We had so many Adventures in the form of Letterboxes!! We left Denver with 49 letterboxes found and returned with 58. We found 7 in one day! WOW!

C: Car rides, car rides, and more car rides! Not only did we road-trip it across the Midwest and back (two 8-hour stretches, two 2-hour stretches, and another 3-hour jaunt down and back to visit Great-grandma in the nursing home), Claire got to take a ride in Papa’s 1932 Ford and go to a car show with the guys! (Grandma and I stayed behind so that they could have some quality time together.) I’m not sure who was happier: Claire or Papa. She said he didn’t stop smiling once.

A: This A stands for Ants, which we encountered during on of our Letterbox adventures. One of the pouches hadn’t been found for almost a whole year, and was now part of an ant colony at the base of a tree. I’m not sure we’ll be quite the same after that experience. I know the ants won’t be.

T: T is for Tasty Food! My sister-in-law is a fabulous cook, and we reaped the benefits. My brother hunts, and he was joking with me that the “organic, free-range turkey” we ate one day would make my Boulder friends smile.

I: I love the Internet. Eva my Droid did really well on this trip. My brother lives a couple miles off the grid, so I took advantage of being unplugged for a few days. After that, we were back on and connected, and the letterboxing site with its search function was amazing. My inlaws are hooked on Letterboxing AND they’re enablers. “Can’t that thing tell you if there are some around here? Look.  We’ll wait!” they’d say when we stopped at random locations. It did, and we found some! Amazing. (What they didn’t know was that I was trying to find a way to check without being rude. Ha!)

O: Options! We’d planned on fishing in Iowa during their “free fishing” weekend (like we did last year), but the winds were so strong on Friday that it was comical and we didn’t even try. Saturday wasn’t nearly windy enough and it was hot and muggy, and the fish weren’t biting. So, we decided to check out the local swimming pool with my sister-in-law and nephew. It was a BLAST. My nephew LOVED it and started trying to swim the INSTANT he hit the water. The day was saved! Yay for a Plan B!

N: My nephew! I love getting to spend time with my nephew. He was born while we were in Hawaii in October and we got to meet him over Thanksgiving. My brother and sister-in-law are great about sending pictures via txt and updates, so I feel like I’m in the loop. Claire loved playing with him, and she was SO GOOD with him. Granted, it helps when you know that he won’t steal all the attention (or your toys) from you forever.

We were gone June 2nd through the 9th.  Needless to say, we had a fantastic trip. The timing of this trip was purposeful in that Claire hasn’t had a chance to obsess over the fact that her beloved Pre-K has come to an end and Kindergarten doesn’t start until the end of August. We have her signed up for Art Class starting next week, meeting two mornings a week all summer and Karate on Fridays. There will be just enough structure to keep us in line, with plenty of free days for us to get ourselves in trouble.

I love summer!

My view. Kinda.

Published on Friday, May 20, 2011 in Hawaii. 1 Comment Tags: .

I see this view every day, all day. Well, every time I look at my phone, that is. I’ve been changing up the picture on Eva‘s “wallpaper” every now and then with pictures that make me smile.

This one certainly does.

I took this photo in Kauai when we were there in October. It was just steps from our hotel room.

When I look at this, I can smell the wonderfulness that is Hawaii. I can feel the warm sand between my toes. I can feel the soft breeze playing with my hair. I can hear the calming yet exhilarating waves.

I could get used to this view.  Yes, I’d miss Colorado dearly, but I have a feeling the soft ocean breezes would dry my tears quite nicely.  ;)

Needless to say, every time I look at my phone, I smile.

Thanks to Pele!

Published on Monday, March 7, 2011 in Hawaii, Photos and Travel. 0 Comments Tags: , .

If you’ve spent any time around me in real life, you’re probably tired of hearing about Hawaii, but I really haven’t shared much online yet. We went in October for two weeks, in honor of our 10 year wedding anniversary. Claire stayed home with the grandparents.

A grand time was had by all.

My husband and I didn’t want to leave Hawaii. We looked at each other and said, “Let’s just send for Claire and the kitties and just stay!” We weren’t kidding.

But, like good little travelers, we showed up at the airport on the last day of our trip and used our return tickets home.

This trip was magnificent. Hawaii truly is a paradise, and I can’t wait to go back.

Today, I got word that there is some exciting volcanic activity at Volcano National Park, and it’s prompted me to share some of our own adventures.

One of the most exhilarating experiences we had was the day trip to The Big Island to see the volcano.

We used an outfitter, and they couldn’t guarantee that we’d see lava flow. It’s worse than predicting the weather, and they didn’t want to get our expectations out of whack.

We knew we’d be able to hike in the lava fields.  We did!

Can you see me hiking with the plume from the lava flowing into the ocean in the distance?

Shadow portraits! The sun kept hiding behind the plumes, so it was challenging, but we got a shot!

We knew we’d be able to see a volcano (and hoped we could get relatively close).  We did!

Mauna Loa, The World's Largest Active Volcano

Scientific Instruments! Cool! We totally dig this kind of thing!

Would we be able to see lava flowing? Would one of the main reasons we traveled to the Big Island come to fruition? Time would tell. With our fingers crossed, the sun slipped farther and farther to the west, and Pele smiled upon us! We got to see lava flow! We got to get right up close! (Well, roughly 35 feet) We could feel the heat, and the sight of new earth being created right in front of us changed us forever.

You can tell things are exciting when all the tour guides are ecstatic. They were saying that they hadn’t seen such a wonderful display in over 6 months.

It was all we could have dreamed it could be.

This photo doesn't do it justice, but it warms my heart and makes it real all over again.

I can’t really describe the feeling of that moment and how it will forever be a part of me. We witnessed pure power. We witnessed raw creation. Experiencing it first hand was overwhelming and more exciting than we could have ever imagined.

And I can’t wait to go back.