8 07, 2017

Souvenir Saturday: Nightmare Before Christmas

By |July 8th, 2017|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Happy Christmas in July! I wanted to share these two dolls I got in Orlando last year. There was a full size Sally, but she just looked weird and that bothered me. So I went with the smaller cartoon-like version of her instead. But the smaller cartoon-sized of Jack looked funny, so went with his more true skinny version. Both were found in the Christmas shop in Walt Disney World. Souvenir Saturday is an every-other week series on the items that represent travel memories.

3 07, 2017

Travel Missteps: Getting out of (Timeshare) Jail

By |July 3rd, 2017|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

I remember when growing up, my parents would frequently go to timeshare presentations. Not to actually buy anything, but to use whatever free stuff they were giving away. In Colorado, that usually was a free or discounted hotel room (and free childcare during the presentation) at a ski resort in the summer. I remember multiple times going up for a quick weekend in the mountains while my parents disappeared for a few hours before coming back.  But, I was young and didn't have any idea what was actually happening until I experienced it first hand. I don't know how this

29 06, 2017

Tea Ceremony in Japan

By |June 29th, 2017|Categories: Activities, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Listening to Koto music before the Tea Ceremony If you go to Japan, you must experience a Tea Ceremony! I was lucky to visit a Buddhist temple during my Sister Cities exchange trip to Chino, Japan. The temple grounds are hauntingly beautiful. A community graveyard greeted us from the parking area. Then as we walked through the lush green forest, I spied little Jizo statues along the pathway, and a pond on the other side. It was so peaceful. We were then ushered though the garden before entering the temple. It is common to walk across dewy ground

26 06, 2017

Museum Monday: Stone Circle outside Museo Nacional de Costa Rica

By |June 26th, 2017|Categories: Museums, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments

At the Plaza de la Democracia y de la Abolición del Ejército there is this massive glass and metal circle. As I wandered around, inside I found a stone circle. Hundreds of these circles are found all over Costa Rica, and this one sits right outside the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica. They don't know why they were but they are from the Precolumbian era.

19 06, 2017

Travel Missteps: Searching for Bobby Flay’s Paella in San Francisco

By |June 19th, 2017|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

The night before our first trip to San Francisco I was watching TV with my Dad. As he flipped through the channels the Golden Gate Bridge came into view, so we decided to watch whatever it was. It turned out to be Throwdown with Bobby Flay, highlighting a Paella chef in San Francisco (season 5, episode 4).  We had fun learning about Paella, seeing the sights of the town especially of the shows Fisherman's Warf local. Afterward watching it, we decided to seek out the "Paella Man" and try the delicious food we saw on TV. So the flight into San Francisco,