As the alarm rang at 6 am on our vacation, I really questioned the decision to go on this boat tour. Why did it have to be so early? And such a long drive away? But finding a tour that would do snorkeling and sailing around the Na Pali Coast AND welcomed children turned out…
“Stop, let me look at that. That looks amazing! I want to do that!” That was my son’s first reaction when he saw the pictures of the tubing down the irrigation canals in Kauai. It came up on a list of top things to do with kids in Kauai. I wasn’t sure. It looked expensive.…
In my family, we believe in celebrating milestone birthdays with travel. So a few years ago, we told my son, “For your 10th Birthday you get to pick a trip to celebrate. Anywhere in the world”. Over the years he was all over the place. A few places he considered were: The Philippines, Paris, London,…
If you are anything like me, you may have thought that travel agents have gone the way of the Dodo. While you don’t see travel agencies on every street corner anymore, travel agents certainly still exist. Not only do they still exist, but they have a very real place and need in our society. I’ve…
We have spent over 50 days sheltering in place here in California, but we have been able to successfully flatten the curve. Just like the rest of the world, we are slowly, slowly talking about reopening and what that looks like. The thing is, for the foreseeable future, our reopened world looks a lot different…
Our final stop in our trip to Gold Country was to do some wine tasting. In California, known for it’s incredible wine all over, there were several wineries in the area. We found that Ironstone Vineyard was nearly and known as a family friendly place for it’s grounds, and it’s museum that held the largest…
Sometimes in life everything works well. You career is on track, your home life is on track, and you are happy and healthy. Sometimes things are all off balance making you off balance. Work is hard, family has issues, health is not on track. Sometimes things get so off balance, you feel like you are…
When the early miners came out to California, gold was not the only thing they found. They found hills and giant trees like nothing else they had ever seen. After years of ravaging the forests for these enormous giants, the Calaveras Big Trees State Park was created to both protect them, and educate us on…
You’ve spent weeks or months planning the first best spring break vacation. Flights or train tickets are bought, hotels reserved, you have tickets to your tours and shows, reservations at great restaurants. Then you hear the news. A little virus in China. Then Thailand, Singapore, no Europe and the US. It happened so fast. What…
On September 1, 1885, Walter J Mercer, like so many before him, went to California looking for gold. And he got it, but in a most unexpected way. Under a tree, he found the enterance to a huge natural made cavern. Immediately thinking he found a gold cavern, he staked a claim and had his…
We as a family often go up to Sacramento to soak in the history of California’s great gold rush. But after our trip to Folsom, I had an itch to explore more of California’s Gold Country. My husband had a birthday and the kids had off of school that day, so we decided to take…
As I was planning my flight for a quick business trip to Chicago, I looked at my family calendar and at the flight options and I tried to figure you the minimal impact on my household while getting flights that work for me. I needed to be in Chicago for one day, for a conference,…
I started out 2019 with some great goals. I was going to get back into working out. I was going to focus on my career and finding my happy spot. I was going to go on great trips, and including a trip to Bali for my 40th birthday and my first ever solo trip. I…
Regular readers of my blog know of the continuing journey of my father, who has been battling stage 4 oral cancer. After much soul searching, we as a family decided to forgo my salary for three months and let me take a leave of absence from work to care for my dad. Surgery was scheduled…
As we drove toward what would be our last hotel in Bali, we were all a little sad knowing that the vacation was coming to an end. We pulled into the palm tree lined driveway and up to the welcoming reception pavilion of the Tandjung Sari. We didn’t know it at the time, but we…
