Family Vacations

Cascade Mountains (February/March 2009)

We were looking for a relaxing getaway after a very long winter! We thought about heading up to Lake Tahoe to rent a cabin in the woods, but the price of cabin rentals during ski season is nothing to be relaxed about. After some time we recalled that Becky's dad has a somewhat built cabin in the cascade mountains and a friend (Doug) who has a well-built and warm cabin! So we booked our plane tickets and off we went for a nice four day relaxing, no TV, no phones, vacation. Becky's dad joined us for a weekend of hot chocolate, snowmobiling, walking and relaxing. Unfortunately it only snowed while we were sleeping so we did not get to enjoy a winter snowstorm. It did manage to rain a bit and even a few moments of sun and blue sky. To check out our pictures click here.

San Francisco (August 2008)

For our fifth wedding anniversary we headed over the hill to San Francisco California. It was certainly the most crowded city we have ever been too! No wonder the houses are so crammed together. We stayed about 15 minutes south in Pacifica, a little town on the beach.

Friday
Our first day in SF we went downtown to Fisherman's Warf. We have never in our lives seen a place so busy and crowded with people. After snagging a parking spot for $40.00 we joined the crowds for a tourist stroll. We had plans to go on the SF "Frog" tour which was rated one of the best in town. We rode in a old town car with about eight other people. It was a great way to see the city without the trouble of traffic. After the tour we headed back to our hotel to freshen up before we headed back to the big city for dinner and entertainment. We ate dinner nearby and in true SF spirit a homeless man urinated in front of the restaurant. After dinner and our brief entertainment, we headed to the Orpheum Theater for the musical "The Drowsy Chaperone." It was quite a show but Mike said it was not as spectacular as the Phantom of the Opera he saw previously.


                                                                                                                                    Fisherman's Warf
Saturday
On Saturday we went across the Golden Gate bridge. Unfortunately, the fog never lifted so we didn't get the full bridge in any of our pictures. We also went on the Alcatraz tour which was fantastic! We took a boat to the island and made the long walk up the hill to the jail. We all received an audio walking tour which had narration from old prison guards and a few of the inmates. It was a great way to experience one of the most intriguing prisons on earth. Mike was pleased to find a Haws Drinking fountain on the island! While SF was certainly an experience, I don't know that we ever need to go back. We were both impressed by the diversity in the city. When walking into a store it was clear that there was no majority race.

Sunday

On Sunday we decided to leave the big city and head to San Jose to see the Winchester Mansion. Sarah Winchester's husband invented the Winchester riffle. After their young daughter died and Sarah's husband, she thought the spirits had it in for her. She went to a Medium who told her to head West and built a house for the spirits to live. So she took her money and off she went. The house has stairways that lead to the ceiling, doorways that go nowhere and more rooms than anyone could ever need. The tour was very "commercialized" as they bolted us through from room to room. We got some interesting pictures.

To see pictures of our trip please click here.

Cancun Mexico (May 2005)

Well after a long awaited two years we finally went on our honeymoon. After much research we decided to settle on Cancun Mexico which ended up being an excellent choice. We left last Saturday May 21st 2005 and got back late on Friday May 28th.. We spent six night and seven days in Cancun at the Golden Crown Paradise Spa (all-inclusive). The view from our room was amazing... then again the view from anywhere was amazing.

For pictures click here

Trip Details

Saturday (Day one):

It was a long ride on the airplane not to mention we lost two hours on the flight over. We finally arrived at our hotel around 11pm. We were greeted by a bellboy egger to take our luggage from us. Then another person escorted us to the lobby and gave us the "Crown Paradise Special" which was a mango/pineapple drink. We headed up to our room and saw the beautiful towel artwork with tropical flowers.

Sunday (Day two):

We woke and had breakfast delivered to our room. After we finished we spent the day on the beach enjoying the extremely hot and humid temperature. Mike spent a good half our putting on sunscreen while Becky took only a few moments and was horribly burned (approximately six hours on the beach proved that sunscreen works)! We took our first dip in a warm ocean and it was amazing! We spend the rest of the day lying on the beach while the hotel staff brought us drinks. Ahhh tropical paradise.

Monday (Day three):

This morning we had to get up at 6am (4am our time) to get ready for our first excursion. We took an expensive taxi down to the Plaza de Isla where we met our enthusiastic tour guide. We all shuffled into the van and were off on our 60 mile trek down to Tulum. The people in Mexico drive super crazy!!! We thought the taxi drivers in Vegas were bad but they are not match for the normal drivers of Mexico. We made it to our destination unharmed and went for a nice kayak ride out to a coral reef where we did some snorkeling. After that we headed on a 1940's "unimas" or hummers. Our driver went as fast as it could through the deep jungle up huge rocks and off four foot drops which was a ton of fun! We only had problems once trying to get up a steep hill but we managed to climb over it. We then went down into a "cenote" or underground river. If you have ever seen the movie The Cave the cenote was similar to the pictures in the movie. There was a large pool of water that we jumped into and snorkeled around. After that we got out and walked through the jungle to another cenote where we put on wetsuits and went snorkeling again. This time we went under ground with only a flashlight. The cenotes were so deep and the rock formations and fish were awesome! After our long long day we went to a small Mayan village and had lunch. We drank flower water and had some Mayan food. It was a truly amazing day!

Tuesday (Day four):

We woke up again at 6am and prepared for anther excursion. We were both fairly exhausted from the Jungle tour so we were hoping for a more relaxing day. We were headed to Xcaret which appeared to be a Zoo/amusement park; however we preferred to call it a literal tourist trap. There was nothing to do other than look at the animals or we could spend hundred of dollars to do the Snuba (scuba diving without tanks but rather just a hose) or Sea Trek (you were a helmet that is connected to an air hose), swimming with dolphins which looked like a lot of fun but it was 120 bucks a person. We opted for the Sea trek. It was a great experience! They put a large heavy helmet on you as you descend down into the water. You got down about twenty feet and walk on the bottom of the ocean hanging onto a metal railing. The fish were beautiful and the plant life was even more amazing. I have a few fish nibble on me as we made the walk along the bottom of the ocean.

Wednesday (Day five):

We had a long awaited day off and slept in then enjoyed another day on the beach. The rain finally hit us in the early afternoon so we backed up and headed inside. They were having a Caribbean Dinner night on the beach that we attended. It was so much fun! They had a mariachi band play some familiar songs like La bamba and some other Mexican songs. The staff managed to keep everyone's margarita glass full and later we all got a three course meal. The entertainment for the night was a lot of fun!

Thursday (Day six):

Our last excursion was to Isla Mujeres which is a small island off the coast of Cancun. We took a good old Mexican bus downtown and ran to meet our boat. The ride over was so beautiful and the water was the most glorious turquoise I had ever seen! We got off at the Garrafon Park on the southern tip of the island. We went on the ruins tour then had a nice cool cerveza at the snack bar. We headed back to the main park for a bit of snorkeling on one of the largest coal reefs in Mexico. It was so amazing to see all the hundreds of fish. What was even more amazing was the fact you could see your shadow on the bottom of the ocean through the crystal clear water. We then went on the scenic tower tour which took us up 244 feet in the air and gave us a panoramic view of the island. Of course on the way back down Mike couldn't resist the zip line over the ocean so I watched as he glided across the ocean. The boat ride home was even more beautiful than coming over and we watched an approaching storm hit the coast.

Friday (Day six):

It was time to leave so we packed up our stuff and waited for our ride to the airport. While we were happy to finally come home to the dry desert heat instead of the humid hot temperatures we truly enjoyed our stay! We hope to go back again and think it would be a hundred times more fun if we go with friends! So if anyone is ever up for a trip to Cancun let us know.

Robb's Hut (April 2005)

Mike and I decided about eight months ago when the weather was really nice that we would rent a cabin on the top of a mountain. It seemed like a great idea for an adventure at the time and as the time grew closer it seemed more like a suicide mission. We stayed at Robbs Hut which is about 12 miles East of Placerville Californian and then another 25 miles up into the mountains. The weather was gorgeous on Saturday so we felt like the hike was going to be pleasant. We had to pick up our permits at the ranger station which was absolutely free of any snow. We both began to wonder if our snowshoes were going to be necessary, but soon enough the snow pack began to build. We found our spot and put on our snow shoes and 45 pound packs and hit the trail.

We started off about 12:00pm and the sun was shining and the air was pretty warm. We were expecting a three mile hike up 1000ft. Mike was convinced that 1000 feet up wouldn't be too bad over a three mile stretch. We both agreed he was wrong about one mile into the hike. The snow was melting with the heat, so we managed to sink in about 3 inches with each step. Our rest breaks began to grow more frequent and Mike's legs were shot about a mile and half in. Becky was fairing pretty well the whole way (thank goodness for all that working out). The last mile was horrible. The wind had picked up and we were both exhausted. It took us approximately 4 hours to reach the top.

We made our slow sloooow way to the top. At one point we could actually see the cabin but our muscles were so worn that we had to stop every 20 feet to rest (yeah we know... how lame). Once we finally got there the wind was howling and it was freezing. The cabin's door was buried under 12 feet of snow and I was beginning to worry about this whole situation. We didn't bring any shovels with us and the depth of snow seemed almost impossible to dig that far down. Mike popped the screen off the windows to see if they were open and no luck. We began looking at some possible options as the sun was setting and the friged air was picking up. I figured if we had to walk back down to find somewhere else to stay it would take at least four hours. Of course four hours from then would have been around 9pm and roaming around in the stormy forest with just a flash light didn't seem like a very wise option. The outhouse was fairly sheltered by the wind with only a mild outhouse smell and a few bugs so if worse came to worse we could have slept in there. Mike decided to use his snowshoe as a shovel and managed to dig a hole down to the door. There was a small sheltered porch in front of the door so the snow was not piled up against the door at all. We slid down and then Mike made a stair case in order to provide a way out.

The gas stove and lights kept us extremely warm. Mike fell asleep after we got there and the storm hit just at sundown. The 50 mile and hour wind howled and whistled all night long which woke me up several times (Reno appears to be getting that storm tonight).

The next morning we noticed a dark storm on the horizon and figured it was best to leave earlier than later. We packed up our stuff and headed out once more. Fortunately it only took us 2 hours to get down the hill. We attribute that to the frozen snow and lighter packs.

We are not sure if this trip was "fun" but at this point we can definitely call it an adventure! Click here for pictures

The Lady Washington

My cousin Drew found his calling in life as a sailor aboard The Lady Washington. My grandfather helped build the boat 15 years ago and he was so happy to see his grandson actually man the boat. I am sure many of you have seen this boat as it was the boat in the Disney movie Pirates of the Caribbean Mike and I had the opportunity to go on a "Battle Sail" in Sacramento. The Lady Washington and the Hawaiian Cheifton were both parked at the docks. They offered tours before the big sail along the river. We all boarded and headed off down the river slowly but smoothly. They opened the big draw bridge and watched the crew man the sails or "sheets." Once things got under way they started the big battle sail where the two boats fired "cannons" or gun powder at each other. Apparently someone was keeping score so the crew really enjoyed the challenge. It was such a neat experience to go on a real boat along the lazy river.  Click here to see our pictures