9 posts tagged “travel”
What are you saving up for?
Submitted by Star.
I need a getaway. One that involves a decent amount of wine. And cafe-sitting.
Not quite.
The majority of my extended family lives in New England- NH to be specific. We spent 5 years living there including G’s earliest. Since we headed South, we’d only traveled back once. With M’s work going off-the-charts crazy and my work giving us a lovely week’s vacation, I grabbed the kids and my mom as backup and we headed North the day after Christmas.
Prior to leaving, we kept talking about the trip to prepare G as he doesn’t adjust well to new situations and everything comes with multiple warnings (even upcoming meals get 5-minute warnings around here.) “We’re going north!” “We’re going to see great grandma & grandpa!” “There will be lots of snow to play in!” And so on.
We get in the car, start driving and say “Are you excited? Where are we going?”
The response? “Alaska!”
Erm, not quite, thank God. That’s a lot of hours in a car.
Santa, smart guy that he is, brought the kids a new portable DVD player for the car and we loaded up movies for the trip. Overall the trip North was fine until Connecticut where 84 was closed due to a fatal accident. Luckily a shopping mall was close by, so we turned the little balls of energy loose there. An hour later we were back on the now-open road and pulled into NH a mere 13 hours after we left. Note: this trip should take 9-10 hours.
The first hour was spent trying to calm the little boy screaming “I want to go home, I NOT ready for this!" Good times, good times. I think he only woke one of the two sleeping people in the house at that hour.
The visits with family during the week were lovely as was the sled riding. The kids’ behavior was not so lovely. I’m not sure I’ll be travelling with them again anytime soon. Or ever.
Note to self: cancel Disney reservations for later this year. New situations + hotel room + giant costumed scary creatures = living hell to be sure.
Trip Summary
The Good
- Time with family
- Snowman building, sled riding, snow angels.
- Seafood. Duh.
- Being in town for my cousin’s best birthday gift ever- the birth of his second son. Holding a 2-hour old baby is always a wonderful thing. Welcome, baby Z!
The Bad
- Car rides. Loooooong car rides.
- Taking a kid with Aspie tendencies anywhere new. Far too much havoc is wreaked everywhere we go
- The cold. Damn, that snow is cold. Florida is looking better and better to me.
- Missing of the husband. He’s so darn good at the kid wrangling thing.
- Did I mention the car rides?
Massive blog posting/whining to commence soon (ha!) about the joys (not!) of traveling out of state for a week with a stressed out little boy and a teething toddler.
Good stuff. Really.
Happy 2008!
Smooches to all.
Australia would be fun too (I have some friends in the area, doncha' know?) M would be happy with Ireland as he's of Irish ancestry. And there are some lovely cities in Canada that I'd enjoy...
Oh yes, I'm talking about the newly released UN Development Index listing the most desirable places to live. I'm still having trouble finding a full listing; just seeing articles naming top 5, a few of the bottom countries and announcing that the US has fallen to #12. Not a shock, right?
So where would you go? Would my Aussie friends stay there? Becks, would you go back to Iceland? (I'm still kicking myself that I never made it over for a visit.) Anyone want to run away to Norway with me?
If you could take off for a 10-day (or so) vacation right now, where would you go? What would you do? Who would you travel with?
I love my family dearly but to be quite honest, I'm ready for some time away to sleep. I keep making jokes about running away and telling M (the hubster) that I need a week on a beach sleeping. Or sleeping 90% of the time and enjoying icy-cold Pina Colada's while relaxing on my beach chair the other 10%. Or wait- sleeping 80% of the time, enjoying Pina Colada's 10% and getting massaged at a spa the other 10%.
Yes. 80/10/10. That's an ideal balance, really.
I stumbled across The Hungry Suitcase and had to take the quiz to find my vacation personality. (Note: am I the only person who claims to hate quizes and find them ridiculous, but then take many that come across my path just because I want to see if they really could "get" me? No? Carry on then.)
Any how- it's kind of a fun little quiz. Basically you have a few different rooms with items in them and 10 spots in your suitcase to fill. Pack the items you're drawn to and see what those items say about you.
Me?
Vacation Score:
Adventure: 4%
Culture: 48%
Relaxation: 48%
Vacation Personality: Zen Master
You take it easy. Real easy. Your idea of adventure is going from feeling the sand between your toes to napping in a hammock. Your bumper sticker says, I'd rather be sitting under a palm tree. So ya ready to leave the rat race behind, Zen Master? There's no better place to unwind than Europe with my friends at Royal Caribbean. See you at the beach!
Perfect Vacation Destination: EUROPE
I think I know what you're looking for, friend. You want to stand in awe before the works of Michelangelo in Italy. You want to witness the remains of ancient civilizations in Greece and Turkey, tour Palace Square in St. Petersburg, and explore the Champs Elyes in Paris. From the fjords of Norway to the waterways of Venice experience the richness and beauty of Europe in a totally new way with Royal Caribbean.
Not bad. Not bad at all. Cruise ship- deck chairs, a glorious spa and unlimited Pina Coladas. Combine that with Europe and yep, I'd say they nailed me. I think that trip would pretty well get me back on track. Adjust my percentage to 50/30/10/10 - 50% sleeping, 30% culture/sights, 10% Pina Colada time, 10% massages. I just need to break out the piggy bank and start saving.
So who's with me? M doesn't dig cruising so I need some cruise buddies. I'll buy the first round of Pina Coladas (or substitute delicious frozen drink of your choice.) Anyone?
Still no pictures uploaded (did you really expect ME to be all organized and such? Hah!) but I can share my memories.
It was hot. Really, really hot. We headed down Friday morning, checked into our lovely hotel room and headed into the city. The wave of heat that hit us as we exited the metro station was a bit of a shocker. We looked are monuments for about 5 minutes from afar, then decided to book it across the Mall to find an air conditioned restaurant.
One hour and several miles later (we are rather indecisive) we had found a lovely and cool little French restaurant. Ahhhhh, good rose and delicious food. Way too much food. Good stuff.
We rolled ourselves back to the Mall to discover that we had 15 minutes until the museums and their lovely A/C units were closed. And it was still hot. Back to the hotel we went to rent a movie (Knocked Up, so-so) and head to bed early. Happy Anniversary.
It was a bit cooler over the weekend- we managed to walk a lot more without giving up nearly as quickly. We spent hours at the Air & Space Museum, the Spy Museum and the Holocaust Museum plus saw many, many other touristy places.
Saturday night was spent cheering on the Nittany Lions as they took on Notre Dame at a brewery. Many on staff were Lion fans so a good time was had although we felt a touch old. They thought it was terribly cool that we had kids that we dressed in little Nittany Lion fan apparel. And yes, Grandma swore she continued that tradition even though we weren’t home with them on Saturday.
A stop at Ikea for a new duvet capped our weekend off. How wild and crazy are we? Just two nutty youngsters in love.
We're off to DC in the morning for a quick anniversary getaway. The only thing actually planned/booked is a visit to the Holocaust Museum; otherwise, we're just going with the flow. This goes against all my super-planner instincts, but it's good for me. At least, I keep repeating that to myself.
I've been stewing in my quiet funk this week but hope to be back to normal after a rest and some time away to gain perspective and continue to think things over in the whirlpool of mush that passes for my brain. I promise to be more blogacious soon. Really.
I'm in a funk and ready to run away to Europe. Anyone up for joining me?
Once I arrive, I'm jumping on a Vespa and taking off. Hide your wine, cheese and chocolate, you Europeans. I'm on a tear.
We’ve come to an agreement on the vacation. I think. Time constraints make DC the most viable option and to honest, I’m quite happy about it. Think darling hubby will enjoy himself once there.
Now you get to see the truly scary side of me: meet Chris, the obsessive - fanatical really - planner.
There are some great deals on lodging available in September. Treat ourselves to the Sofitel near the White House or settle for Hampton Inn which does offer fab beds, hot breakfast and a Chinatown location? Or should we stay in the outskirts? Arlington? Old Town Alexandria? Hmmm. I read guide book descriptions to hubby as he passed out last night. I’m thinking he has no opinions. His light snoring indicated that.
And on the activity agenda… Spy museum, variety of Smithsonian museums (particularly Air & Space for the engineering geek – hint, not me – in the fam), Holocaust Museum, biking and some great food. Possibly a quick visit to the zoo. I’d love to shoot (camera!) the animals for some photography practice. And pandas? Sheer cuteness. Also, any suggestions for a fun anniversary meal? I dig French but not stuffy French. Hub is an Irish Pub or BBQ kind of guy. Such a fit.
I haven’t been to DC for years and even then, it was just day trips for a sight or two. Same for the hub. I’m really looking forward to exploring and relaxing. Can those two go hand in hand? We shall see.
I am doing my darndest not to break into spreadsheets listing all of the above info. You seriously don’t know how hard it is for me to hold myself back.
