Dedicated to family travel. This blog used to be about the "girls only" trips, but lately I've decided it'll do nicely for all our travel adventures whether lots of us are going or only one or two of us.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Snowmobiling in Yellowstone February 2013

Rich, Mitch, and Cara took a snowmobiling trip through Yellowstone Park this weekend.  They spent Saturday night in West Yellowstone and headed into the park from there Sunday morning.  They spent the day making the loop through the park, stopping at Old Faithful Lodge for lunch and to watch the geyser blow.  The weather was great, and they saw lots of buffalo, elk, and two bald eagles sitting on a branch together.  They are solitary birds, so to see them together was rare.  They are talking about making it an annual adventure, so if anyone is interested, let us know!



Blake and Robin in Mexico February 2013








I attached a picture from a bar/restaurant we went into, they had all sorts of plates from the US but this was the first one I saw. We had another great time, stayed in the historic old town/ romantic zone district, walked all over the place, there are great restaurants, coffee shops and palapa bars everywhere.
 
Lots of baby boomers down there, they were the vast majority, well that and dogs. I bet 2 of every 10 people had a dog on a leash.
 
This part of town also borders the gay friendly neighborhood just to the South, so we saw lots of "fellas" too, but nothing that bothered us other than a huge overuse of Speedo's :)
 
We stayed in an older hotel on the beach, it's older but well kept and clean. It had a beautiful lobby and pool area along with plenty of security. There's not much for the security guys to do because the area's pretty darn safe, lots of 'tourist police' around the beaches and busy sidewalks in the area to keep the riff-raff out. So their security guards wear many, many hats. For instance one showed us rooms we could choose from. I saw him another day guiding a scared lost child to his parents, they mainly do stuff like that. That particular guy is the hotel managers husband.
 
The room we stayed in was a bit dated but the maid kept it spotless. Couldn't beat the location, everything was just steps away from the hotel, lots of people and things going on. Certainly not quiet like the bigger resorts, that's an entirely different vacation.
 
We could have paid more and went all-inclusive at this hotel but wanted to eat out instead, I don't think in the end it cost us anymore and we had some great food and the best tacos ever. Beer was cheap enough, the most it costs in the nicer restaurants is $2.50 to $3 a bottle, we even found a nice place on the beach that sold ice cold beers for a buck and you were free to use their palapas, tables and lounge chairs on the beach. They had $1 margaritas too.
 
Breakfast at most restaurants was around $5 each but they'd nail you on juice. Lunches were cheap too, around the same price maybe a buck or two more. Or you can get tacos from the taco stand guy for a buck a piece, you just keep asking for more until you can't eat anymore, they're little tacos, then his wife takes your money :)
 
Dinner prices were reasonable too, depending on where you ate it could cost $10 to $15 each or more if you went to the fancy, wait in line, type restaurants. Those places prices were more in line with what we pay in the US.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Cruise Nightmare

I have often joked that there are worse things than being stranded on a cruise ship.  In my fantasy there are plenty of drinks and lots of food, and it's sort of just some extra sea days--which are my favorites.  But this Carnival Triumph fiasco has me rethinking my fantasy.  No air, no drinks except warm bottled water, onion or ketchup sandwiches, and only a few working bathrooms would possibly put me off cruising forever.  Worse still, why couldn't they take them off a few at a time on smaller boats or helicopters?  In this day and age there are plenty of alternatives to people sitting on sewer-soaked carpets.  Ridiculous!!!!  I am more than willing to cruise again, but I doubt it will be on Carnival.  I have to think it could have been handled so much better. Shame on them.