France recap - Paris

This is part one of several pieces of trying to write up our trip, its delayed but will be a good reference if anyone wants recommendations on what we saw or did (and for when I forget the many many details of our trip).

We had to drop the dogs off the day before to be boarded and honestly that worked well so we could spend time packing and not worry about stressing out Smokey or Sadie getting hold of stuff...my fear was she would chew on a passport.

We also took advantage of no pups at home and went out to dinner with friends.

On Sunday (departure day!), we saw the French team win the World Cup right before we left for the airport, so we knew we'd be going into a country celebrating that win.

We had some food and drinks at the airport , always good to have some extra time....the plane ride was as good as it can be, watched a movie, tried to sleep, wondered how my brother did the even longer trip to Japan....choosing seats so we were in a duo row (I had aisle, he had window) was a great idea...still not real comfortable....when K flew overseas before he was in first class..sorry babe...we are economy pricing...when we landed it was about midnight to us but Monday morning in Paris -- they are 7 hours ahead of Houston.

Our first adventure was getting turned around at the airport and leaving the baggage claim area without our bags...there was construction at the airport and we didn't realize we took a wrong turn until it was too late...we found an info desk and they have a phone to go to call to be let back in....I guess it happens pretty regularly.

That first day was rough due to little sleep and the time change...we took a taxi to the hotel (shuttle I'd arranged either never showed or gave up on us we were so late coming out) and settled in a little bit and then explored right near hotel....found a cafe and had a little food and caffeine....our goal was to stay awake to get on French time. That night we watched the soccer team come home and take the same route from the airport that we did...we had considered trying to get to the parade but with jet lag, crowds and not knowing our way around (hotel worker said metro was closing early for it) it was just not going to happen...We were content with watching from our room.

Our first morning in the hotel, we woke upto realize we'd overslept...its almost 10 am...and we had only 10 minutes for breakfast....and just over an hour before timed tickets for the Eiffel Tower.  We threw on clothes and made it to breakfast, and weren't the last to arrive. I was so happy we made it to the Tower (I stalked their website for months to get these tickets), we had planned to figure out metro but with the time crunch just walked it...  The views from the top were amazing (and yes we waited for the elevator)  I had no idea that science experiments were conducted on it, and Mr Eiffel had an apartment on the top!

That day we also saw Napoleon's tomb and a little of the Army Museum.    Walking back that evening we saw a street closed even to pedestrians and nosey me looked at permits on one of many cars loaded with stuff...they were filming a show called Killing Eve...I'd never heard of it but now  I have to check it out..

The next day we had an alarm set up and got up a bit earlier, we took time to figure out the Metro to get to the Arc de Triomphe, and then wandered the Champs-Élysées, including a stop at a cafe (there were many cafe stops). We got back on metro to get to the Louvre - I'm still amazed at how many pieces of art you can see there that are in books and posters, and the Mona Lisa is so small!

For our final day in Paris we went by train to Versailles (on Kevin's must see list).  The train was an adventure in itself -- we heard someone telling another passenger that we may need to swap trains, based on announcements being made in French.    This was probably our longest line of the trip, but well worth it.  The palace was so opulent and we saw the Hall of Mirrors, where many treaties have been signed.    The palace is also surrounded by huge gardens, and when we read that we could rent a golf cart we knew that was the best way for us to see it. I think K was glad to be in a driver's seat again.    We actually had another couple join us, they were behind us in line and since it seats 4 and was the same price full or not, it made sense to split it.  They were happy to get out of line (they had not even seen the inside of the palace the lines were so long -- we had waited at least an hour and a half to get in), and it was fun to have some English speaking folks with us for a little while.

We stayed at this hotel in Paris, it worked for what we needed, hotels there are just different than here -- the day we left the elevator was broken so we very carefully got our bags down 6 flights of circular stairs.  The front desk staff were very helpful (and spoke English), and the breakfast available in the basement each morning was a good way to start our days -- the girl working the breakfast was so French and had an eager 'Bonjour' for us each morning.

We enjoyed the cafes and also found this Indian restaurant near to our hotel, it was a nice change of pace and honestly so nice to have an enclosed and a/c'd restaurant after several days of open air cafes.

Viva Las Vegas

Happy New Year!

Its hard to believe the holidays have already come and gone and I've been back at work nearly a week (how can it only be Thursday?!?)

We had a great Christmas with family, and took advantage of the time off to take a trip to Las Vegas! I've been resistant to taking trips during the holidays, but finally realized/accepted we need to align our trips with the school year since Kevin teaches, and we'll take full advantage of the time we get off at the holidays.  We are lucky that we both work for colleges so we get similar days off.

I'd been to Vegas as a kid, and Kevin had never been so it was really the first trip there for both of us, and we had such a great time.  There is so much to see and do I don't know how anyone could be bored in this town.

It was an easy, non-stop flight and we stayed just off the strip -- at Signature at MGM, we'd wanted a non-smoking hotel, and while it was a walk to the strip it was nice and quiet at the hotel, and a gorgeous hotel - room even had a fridge, microwave and even a small stove (we only used the fridge and coffee maker, but good to know).

We booked our shows/excursions before the trip so we could work out the best schedule for ourselves, and I think we did pretty well, a mix of things to do and time to explore.  Our planned itinerary was as follows:

Tuesday - arrive, explore

Wednesday - explore during day (and pick up show tickets), Cirque du Soleil show at night (also makes sure we get to bed early since we have an early morning)

Thursday - Jeep tour (early morning, so booked it midway through to adjust to time zone); nap, dinner with Kevin's coworker who was also in town

Friday - explore during day (and pick up show tickets),  comedy show at night 

Saturday - head home


We've learned to be flexible on trips and while we stuck to the itinerary pretty well, we adjusted as needed,   We didn't make it to the comedy show, we were just too tired when we got back to the room and decided to stay in and have room service.   We did let Kevin's coworker convince us to go check out Fremont Street Experience and are so glad we did - we had dinner at a spot right along it and though we were wiped from the Jeep tour and a busy day (missed our planned nap) we walked around to see it, a pedestrian only street and an overhead canopy with a music and light show on the hour.

Other highlights from the trip:

Cirque du Soleil show  - we chose the Love show, can't go wrong with Beatles music, and it was amazing to see the interpretations to the songs, and in addition to the songs they had audio from recording sessions that we'd never heard before.

Jeep tour - Kevin wanted to get to do some off-roading, and so we booked this excursion, and midway through our trip it also worked out to be refreshing to get some time away from all the hustle and bustle of the city.   We were a smaller group than I thought - only the two of us and one other family and our tour guide, in 3 separate vehicles, and we went to a nearby natural area, Red Rock Canyon.    We had a beautiful day for it, and we were able to sight see a bit, and Kevin was able to get more experience with rock crawling.  We did not expect to be driving in snow!  that definitely made it more challenging.  

electronic craps  - We've known from our few trips to the casino that we like the game craps, and this time discovered the electronic version.  We liked it for several reasons: minimum bet is lower, you can sit (standing at the table gets tiring), predictable pace of the game, and it also has spaces where you can get descriptions of what the various parts of the table mean, great since we are still learning!

roller coaster - as soon as I saw some of the casinos had roller coasters, I knew I wanted to ride one.    I really mix Six Flags Astroworld and haven't been on a coaster in years.   I got some ideas of which ones to do, and chose based on which sounded good and which we were closest to, Manhattan Express at New York New York won.   It was just what i wanted, had a loop and a barrel roll, and amazing views since its on top of the building (when I could keep my eyes open).  $14 for like a 2 minute ride, but worth it!

We also did a fair amount of just walking around and exploring, and i couldn't get over all the shopping!   We also gawked at a spiral escalator in the Forum shops, I'm still not sure how its possible!    and the food, we ate well on the trip...

Tips:

use uber, we also saw a lot of coupons for lyft, but have never used it so stuck with uber.  We did take a taxi once (from airport to hotel) and the same trip back with uber was one third the price!

If you want photos with the Beatles Love signs, take them when you go early to pick up tickets - we had the place (including the store) to ourselves

Wimberley

We had a fantastic vacation and it was just what we needed to recharge.

We had decided we wanted to take Smokey on a trip with us this summer, and a short road trip was just what we wanted.    We rented a cabin and enjoyed a few days to ourselves.   I loved that my cellphone had no service so I could really unplug, and even though I brought my laptop it never came out of its bag.   The place did have wi-fi, which came in handy for looking up a few places to go and directions as needed.   Mostly, we just enjoyed each other's company and the scenery.   We only turned on the tv to watch a movie in the evening, and even then it was movies we'd already seen.

Parts of Wimberley were hit hard by the flooding on Memorial Day weekend, so leading up to the trip I was a little worried at what we would find, but also didn't want to call while people who work in the area could be trying to rebuild their lives.  I did ultimately call (had to see if it was ok for us to come) and they said that the place was fine, and so we went -- figure its the best thing we can do, bring our tourism dollars to a city on the mend.

Monday

We drove to Wimberley, driving over the Blanco River (where the worst flooding was) was surreal, all these flattened trees, and piles of belongings out at the curbs.  We were also surprised to see disaster relief trailers -- makes sense, we just didn't expect it.    The city looked unharmed - really cute little collection of shops of all kinds.   We went to the local grocery store to pick a few items we needed (charcoal, juice, half and half -- and a lighter for the grill (very important)) and then went to find the cabin.     Finding the cabin was an adventure, the directions were not the best, but we did finally find it -- turns out its on a piece of land with the owners of the property and another rental that they own.     Not quite as secluded as we thought from the description, but still plenty of privacy.

We got settled into the place - a very comfortable place with lots of comforts -- they even provided fresh eggs (they have a chicken coop) and locally grown coffee.    We cooked outside on the charcoal grill each night - fajitas that night.     We also took advantage of the fire pit and made a great campfire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores.     We enjoyed the evening and watched the stars come out.

Tuesday

After exploring the grounds, we decided to visit one of the nearby wineries.  After looking at descriptions and photos online we chose one that promised great views and also contained vineyards (some Texas ones are only winery - make the wine there, but grapes come from elsewhere).  Driftwood Estate Winery was just what we wanted.   We did our tastings indoors and then took our glasses of wine to the grounds outdoors -- beautiful, and they welcome picnics!   Its on a bluff  so we sat at a picnic table and were able to look down at the valley and the vineyard and surrounding area.   Their bubbly white, called Starry Nights, was delicious.  Kevin is more of a fan of reds, he liked their Alamo Red.

On the road to the winery, we'd seen a sign for a rum distillery and decided we had to check that out too.   I kid you not, its in a family's front yard!   We met the owner (Laura) and they had just recently built an outdoor tasting area, reminiscent of a bar. We were able to to taste all 3 kinds of rum that they make.   My favorite was the vanilla one (Laura makes her own vanilla extract for it) and we bought a bottle to bring home.

We enjoyed a lazy afternoon and again grilled outside -- chicken and corn on the cob.  I had forgotten to bring corn holders so we had to use giant skewers, it worked but was pretty funny to see.


Wednesday

We wanted a little more active day, so we decided to check out Mt Baldy.  Its a large hill in town and limestone steps lead all the way up to the top.  Smokey did great going up and down the stairs with us and the views from the top were spectacular.

Afterwards we walked around the town a bit and did some window shopping.   We also found a dog-friendly restaurant to stop into and enjoy the view of the creek, they even gave Smokey his own dish of water.   The menu looked good, but we just weren't hungry so we just had a drink and enjoyed the scenery.  

We had a lazy afternoon.  the heat of the day was a great excuse to read and nap!

That night we prepared one last meal on the grill, burgers.



We headed home on Thursday.   Each morning we enjoyed eggs that the homeowners had left for us and Kevin tried out their french press for his coffee - he's a fan.  

Segways

We’ve have a great break.  We both had the whole week off and just took it easy and spent a lot of time together.  As part of our break we took a quick trip to Galveston.  The primary reason for the trip was to do a Segway tour we’d purchased a while back.    K had mentioned he wanted to ride them (neither of us had) and so when living social had a deal it was an easy decision to buy them.

We drove down in the morning and had time to do a little shopping before the tour.   We had a pretty large group (12 people) and it was intimidating at first – we watched a video that kept showing how easy it would be to tumble off and hit your head, and we’d signed a waiver that we knew the risks and saw the prices we’d have to pay if we damaged them.  After that we each had to get on, with everyone watching, and learn to ride it.  It was strange at first, but you really do get the hang of it after a few minutes -  it’s all about how you lean your weight (after you accept that this thing really can hold you up with 2 wheels) .   After we practiced in the parking lot we all got the hang of it and we were off!   The weather was cold and very windy, so we didn’t go on the seawall as the tour said we would, but instead we went through the neighborhood, which was better I think – we were able to see a lot of houses and scenery and we had no worries about driving off the edge!    Although it was called a tour it was really mostly just the experience of riding the Segways, just what we wanted!   We really did zip along on them.   I am glad we did a short tour as my feet and lower legs were hurting by the end of it, and we should’ve worn gloves.  I also should've thought to zip up my jacket BEFORE getting on, once I was on I couldn't figure a way to stay on and zip it, so unzipped I rode.  We’ll do it again, and I think we’d be ready for a true tour that many cities offer.

That afternoon we were able to meet up with a childhood friend of K’s that he hadn’t seen in about 20 years.  They’d reconnected on facebook and he and his wife came down to meet us.  It was a great afternoon with them and we hope to meet up with them again soon. 

We spent the night at the Hotel Galvez and before heading back home the next day we went to Seawolf Park, surprisingly it was my idea and not my historian’s idea to go there.  We were able to tour a WW II submarine and destroyer.    The submarine especially gave me a greater appreciation for those who served on them, they truly are tight spaces.

As a bonus, I get to play a lot with my new camera - I'm still learning how to use it and what the various settings do.

San Antonio

We took a quick trip after Christmas to San Antonio.  We hadn't been since 2004 (it was our first trip together).   It was great to get away for a little bit and to not have to do any cooking or cleaning after having my whole family over for Christmas - going from 2 people to 7 is crazy!  fun, but crazy!

We made a good choice in going somewhere we could drive to, no worries about what time we had to be anywhere, we just left when we were ready.   I was teasing K that his truck was trying to go north since the only place it (and he) have been recently is Huntsville.   It was a quick drive west and we got settled into our hotel.  We checked into our wonderful hotel, The Menger, and had a perfect location, literally next door to the Alamo!   Thanks Delena for the recommendation!

We hadn't realized that our trip coincided with the Alamo Bowl game.   For our entire trip the city was filled with lots of fans from Baylor and Washington.  We were surprised how many Washington fans we saw!  We expected to see Baylor fans since Waco isn't too far away but both teams had a huge presence.   It made the whole city very festive.    On one of our trips down to the Rivewalk we stumbled on a river parade -- we were wondering what eververyone was looking at, and then saw some members of Baylor's band in one of the tour boats getting ready to play.  They started playing and the boat floated on and we saw several boats with the BU banner and who we assumed to be the team!  K is pretty sure he saw the Heisman trophy winner, we googled him afterwards and yep we saw RGIII.


Since we were located downtown we could walk nearly everywhere we wanted to go, and we did - we walked to the Riverwalk and to and around the Alamo.  We even found a pizza place near the cathedral and walked there.  The only time we got in the car was to go to see the Mission San Jose, and it was worth the trip!   Neither of us had ever seen any of the missions except the Alamo, and enjoyed exploring it and I love that the church is still in use today.

We had some great good food and drinks and did a good job (I think) of not eating at chain restaurants (always a goal when we travel).   The first night we ate at an Italian place called Paesano's, and the second night we each had some delicious seafood at boudro's.  It worked to our advantage to be a party of two, as there were waits at both places, and I think everywhere with so many people in town for the game.

The Riverwalk and the plaza near the Alamo were still lit up for Christmas, and our hotel was still decorated too.   It was beautiful.  I think we'll have to go somewhere at Christmas more often so we can see the decorations, I love seeing the lights!!

Nicaragua

I've finally had time to write our trip to Nicaragua and upload pictures!

The trip was, in a word, an adventure. I was excited, but nervous about the trip – it is the first time any of us (except my brother) have been to Central America and I knew it’d be worlds away from what we’re used to. Once we got out of the cities, I could see how beautiful the countryside is, and love the exotic plants, flowers and animals, but could not get over how chaotic and busy both cities we were in were. It was also eye-opening to see the poverty and the different standard of living that the people have there. I’ve heard often that people in many parts of the world live on $3 a day, and seeing Nicaragua I now have a better understanding of that, though we only saw it from the outside. My brother and sister-in-law chose the nicest hotels available (even that varies by place – the rooms got smaller as we went, and the hotel on the island was nice but had no hot water. but they had a/c units and running water, yay!). It really does make me appreciate what I have, but also realize how much we have that we really don’t need, and I have to wonder if people with more wealth and stuff are really happier. I did feel fairly safe the entire time that I was there, even so I didn’t wander off anywhere by myself and was aware of my surroundings (good practices wherever you are).

We flew into Managua (the capital city) and took taxis, buses, and a ferry to get to the places we went.

I was surprised to see that they use old school buses from the U.S. as public transportation and the bus stations (basically a parking lot with buses painted with their routes) are even more chaotic than I could’ve imagined. As soon as we got out of the taxis, guys came up and were trying to get us to get on their bus. There were several competing buses going to the city we needed and we chose one based mostly on how full they were. Adding to the chaos, once the bus was moving people would get on and off not only because they’d reached their stop but also to sell food, drinks, and other items. On one leg of our trip, Kevin got a Pepsi and they needed the bottle back so he drank it out of a bag! We also drank water out of sealed bags, cheaper and easier to carry than bottles. I did get to practice my Spanish a lot on the trip, but still struggle with basic communication, thankfully Gene and Mache were with us and helped us get everywhere we needed to go.

We traveled there to attend my brother and sister-in-law’s church wedding. The wedding took place at a Cathedral in Leon (her hometown) the day after we arrived. It was wonderful to see them get married in front of her family and friends, and to be able to share it with them. I helped her get ready at the hotel and it was quite special to help her put on the same dress (made much smaller for her) that I’d worn in my own wedding. We walked from the hotel to the church, we were VERY lucky with the weather that it wasn’t raining when we walked there or when we went to find taxis after the ceremony to go to the reception. The reception was held at an open-air restaurant. It did rain during the reception, which cooled it off a bit and was at the perfect time – after everyone had arrived and it stopped before it was time to leave. My brother didn’t feel very good all the day of the wedding, but made the best of it and we all had fun. Mache even sang a few songs with the live band, and we all danced. At the reception, they had bottles of rum at each table, and with that I discovered a Nicaraguan rum that I like - Flor de Cana. We saw it everywhere the rest of the week and drank that and a local beer we also liked, call Tona.

On Sunday we saw some of the sights of the city of Leon – including a market, and a Sandinista museum, visited with Mache’s family, and watched the happy couple open wedding gifts at their house. It rained much of the day, so they were lucky that they did NOT get the Sunday wedding they’d originally wanted. This time of year is their rainy season, so it rained most every day – and on the island rained all night most nights.

Monday was a travel day to go down to Ometepe Island (in Lake Nicaragua) where we spent the rest of our time. We took two taxis, two buses and a ferry to get there. If I never get into another school bus, I’ll be happy! The island was much more relaxing than the city had been, and we were right on the beach. I had to keep reminding myself that we were on a lake, not an ocean, since there were lots of waves crashing.

On the island we took hikes, visited a natural spring they’ve turned into a pool, and took an all-day tour of the island. At the end of the tour, we saw two museums that a man created all on his own. The first is his collection of coins and money of Nicaragua that helps to tell their history. Each leader changes the money – its completely an ego trip, they want their face or their family/friends’ faces on the bills, and when a new bill or coin comes out you have 6 months to use or trade in the old one or it becomes worthless. Can you imagine having to trade your cash in every time that the president decided they wanted their buddy on the $5 bill, or even the quarter? And Nicaragua is a much more cash based society then ours, only a couple of places we went to accepted credit cards. Their money is called the cordoba, and the exchange rate is about 20 cordoba to $1.

The other museum was of artifacts found, mostly on the man’s property, from the indigenous people, including burial urns, stone tools used by the people to prepare food, and all manner of other items. I cannot get over the fact that he did this all on his own, and one of the museums had just opened in july! We were lucky that a man who worked there (his cousin owns it), is from LA but back in Nicaragua, so we got a bilingual tour of both museums.

At the hotel, we saw monkeys in the trees! I loved watching that, they are so fun to watch and so human-like in many ways.

Friday was another travel day, this time back to Managua for us to fly out on Saturday. This was the worst for me. I was very fortunate not to get sick most of the trip, in fact most of us (except my brother) did really well, partly because were fairly careful about what and where we ate. And came prepared with medicine. Kevin, Laura, and I even had an anti-diarrhea medicine that we took each day as a preventative. But I did feel sick on the bus coming back, a combination of motion sickness and impending diarrhea. Thankfully the bus finally did stop (and waited for me!) to use a roadside restroom before reaching Managua. It was not fun, and quite a way to end the trip. That night, I stayed in and rested (with Kevin staying with me) while the rest of the family went to visit Mache’s aunt and uncle. We actually had a pizza delivered, was nice to eat something different. I like their food, but was glad to have a change from rice. I do have to say rice with lime juice is really good!

This was the first time in years I’d been on a trip with my whole family, and the first time to go on a trip with my family and my husband, it was definitely a different experience but one I am very thankful for. It is definitely rare that we’ll all be able to take a trip together. We were both ready to get home, and I don’t know when it happened but I have bug bites all over my arms and legs. I don’t know when it happened, the only bugs I saw were flies.

All of our pictures are available on Picasa, at the link on the right and I've embedded a slideshow.

Off to Nicaragua

We are preparing to travel to Nicaragua on Friday to attend Gene & Mache's church wedding, and then will sightsee in Leon and Ometepe Island. My parents and sister are going as well. I realized it'll be the first full family trip since the mid-90s when Gene graduated from high school and its a larger family now, we've grown from 5 to 7 since then.

We are excited (and nervous) about our trip, its the most foreign place for any of us to travel to. Gene and Mache are already there, and will be our guides while we're there.

Keep us in your prayers that we have a safe and enjoyable trip, and that we don't run into any hurricanes, bandits, or tainted food while we're down there.

We'll post photos after we return on September 6th.