• Travel

    Day in Birmingham

    November 13, 2024 - By 

    The weekend after going to Atlanta, we had another even to attend out of town. This time it was in Birmingham, Al at the BJCC. We have wanted to see For King and Country for years, so we were excited to finally have the opportunity. We stopped in Dadeville for a late breakfast and then once we got to Birmingham, we went to a thrift store called Encore. It was ok. We didn’t buy anything. After that since we were close to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, we went over there to check it out. It used to be one of…

  • Travel

    Mountain West Trip: Roadtrip from Vernal, UT to Denver, CO

    June 16, 2020 - By 

    Today we’re continuing on our Mountain West Trip that I’ve been sharing. Click >>> Mountain West Trip 2019 Posts to see more from this trip. As we drove through Vernal, I snapped a few more pics as we headed to Jenson, UT. Our first stop was Dinosaur National Monument. Since the boys are older, they weren’t super thrilled about it. I enjoyed it, because the teacher in me still geeks out over this kind of fun stuff. Exhibits at the Quarry Visitor Center introduce the variety of resources and places to explore within the monument. The Quarry Visitor Center is…

  • Travel

    Mountain West Trip: Roadtrip from Jackson, WY to Vernal, UT

    June 9, 2020 - By 

    Today we’re continuing on our Mountain West Trip that I’ve been sharing. Click >>> Mountain West Trip 2019 Posts to see more about this trip. We got up, loaded the car, grabbed some hotel breakfast, and headed out for more open road! Not long after that we passed this sign that said Auburn, WY. Since we’re from Auburn, AL, we’re always interested when we see other states with towns called Auburn. It was hardly a town with a population of less that 400 people in the 2010 census. The first settlement in Auburn, WY was made in 1879. The bottom…

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    Mountain West Trip:Grand Tetons & Jackson Hole

    June 2, 2020 - By 

    Today I’m continuing on with another post about our Mountain West Trip. If you remember we left off on our Part 2 from Yellowstone. That night we stayed at the Head Waters Lodge at Flagstaff. This was a cabin like room with all the amenities you need except TV and internet. We did have a little bit of a walk from our car to our cabin, but there are sidewalks and luggage carts to help you lug all your stuff to your cabin. After a very hard sleep, we woke up and loaded the car back up and walked over…

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    Mountain West Trip:Day in Yellowstone-Part 2

    May 3, 2020 - By 

    If you missed my 1st post about Yellowstone click>>>>Mountain West Trip:Day in Yellowstone-Part 1 Part 1 is highlighted in Yellow. Part 2 is in Blue. Click map to see larger view. You can click again to zoom in even more. (Original Map Courtesy of https://yellowstone.net/) The next area we hit was Fountain Paint Pots Trail (map). This boardwalk is about a half mile (.8 km) walking loop. Some of the highlights of this area include: Silex Spring Silex is Latin for silica, which is a major component of rhyolite (extrusive igneous rock), Yellowstone’s most common volcanic rock. The clear blue…

  • Travel

    Mountain West Trip:Day in Yellowstone-Part 1

    May 2, 2020 - By 

    If you missed my first few posts from our Mountain West Trip you can see those listed here. This post is from the 1st half of our epic day in Yellowstone with so many amazing sights, which means so many pictures to share. From traffic jams caused by bison crossing the road to geysers and hot springs. In this post, I’ve added some GPS coordinates and linked them to Google Maps. I kinda wished I’d done that previous travel posts, but never thought it would be that important. My Canon EOS 6D DSLR Camera has a built in GPS which…

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    Mountain West Trip:In & Around Casper, WY

    April 2, 2020 - By 

    This is another post from our Mountain West Trip. Day 3 we got up and Drew was in charge of showing us around Casper. First we drove up to the top of Casper Mountain. We saw this Coyote as we drove. Up on top of Casper Mountain is a small Ski Resort called Hogadon Basin Ski Area. Of course since it was summer it was closed, but it still beautiful up there. Beautiful views Before leaving the mountain we explored the other side, which has an Archery Range. Then Drew showed us where he was living and we got to…

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    Mountain West Trip:Wyoming Road Trip

    February 28, 2020 - By 

    This post is continuation of our big Mountain West Trip we did. Here’s the first post in case you missed it>>>Mountain West Trip – Colorado Springs We got up that morning and checked out of our hotel in Castle Rock and headed to Wyoming, with romantic country music sang by a good Romantic country music songwriter playing in our car for a fun trip! Our final destination for that day was Casper, WY, where Drew has been since May. While I was so anxious to see him, I was excited to see more of Wyoming and explore it a little…

  • Pros & Cons to Driving p Pikes Peak
    Travel

    Pros & Cons of Driving Up Pikes Peak

    November 9, 2017 - By 

    When Rob and I were in Colorado Springs, we had plans to ride the Cog Railway up to Pikes Peak. We were well aware of the risk of accidents that we even discussed do I need to speak to insurance after getting rear-ended. Drivers who will get injured in a road accident may seek the services of a car accident injury lawyer or an auto accident attorney to ensure that their rights and interests are protected. What you should know is that when it comes to seeking legal counsel, a car accident law firm will be better equipped to assist…

  • Travel

    Thanksgiving Weekend 2015

    December 5, 2015 - By 

    This year for Thanksgiving we drove down to Spring Hill, Florida for a family visit. Rob’s Mom, brother, Nick, and adopted sister, Rachael as well as Rob’s sister Maria and her entire family came as well. We rented a home on VRBO.com. We split our time between the rental home and Gramma’s house. It was nice to catch up with my sis-in-law and her family since we don’t get to see them much. They live in Texas now and the last time we saw them was a little over a year ago. Seeing the cousins hang out made my heart…

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    Day Trip to Columbus, Ga

    November 21, 2015 - By 

    We live about 35 miles from Columbus, Ga and we used to travel there quite a bit to shop and for different places to eat. However, now that the Auburn-Opelika area has grown so much we really don’t have a need to go there like we used to. This past Sunday Alex had a friendly soccer game there, and it was so last minute we ended up having to get people to substitute for several church obligations we had, so just ended up heading over to Columbus after we had breakfast. I suggested we park downtown and walk along the…

  • Travel

    Afternoon in Cocoa Beach

    November 20, 2015 - By 

    After leaving Fort Lauderdale, we continued north towards Cocoa Beach. We checked into the hotel and ventured across the street to the beach. I was feeling quite nostalgic knowing Dad used to live right near there on a condo in the beach. It was quite breezy and a bit cold, but that didn’t stop the kids from getting in the water. Rob and I walked along the beach enjoyed watching cruise ships pass by in the distance. There was also several flocks of birds to keep us occupied. Carnival ship in the distance Disney ship in the distance Lots and…

  • Travel

    4th of July Trip 2015

    October 10, 2015 - By 

    4th of July Trip in 2015 was full of hiking and site-seeing LaFayette, GA, Chattanooga, TN, and surrounding areas. Day 1 – a Stop in Rome, GA Day 2 – DeSoto State Park Hike – Fort Payne, AL Hike at Cloudland Canyon – Rising Fawn, GA Day 3 – Tennessee Aquarium – Chattanooga Point Park – Lookout Mountain, TN We stopped at the Incline Railway to watch it come up. They do get some lovely views from the windows on the top. Rock City – Lookout Mountain, GA Day 4 – 4th of July – Chickamauga & Chattanooga It is…

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    4th of July in Chickamauga & Chattanooga

    September 30, 2015 - By 

    On the 4th of July, we drove through the area of the Chickamauga Battlefield. We first stopped at the visitor center where we were sent to a link on our iPhones that we could Bluetooth to our car to listen to a guided tour (Audio Tour). With the controversy that’s been going around as of late with the Confederate Flag, we saw many folks riding through the area showing their support of it. Wilder Brigade AKA Chimauga Tower (more info) provided beautiful views of the surrounding areas. After leaving the main battle field area, we stopped at Lee & Gordons…

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    James D. Martin Wildlife Park

    September 17, 2015 - By 

    A few weeks ago Rob and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary. Alex had a soccer game in Gadsden, AL, so we decided to make a day of it and head on up there. When I was googling free things to do in or around Gadsden I found James D. Martin Wildlife Park, which said it was a walking trail behind Gadsden Mall that is open to the public. I googled the mall address [Gadsden Mall 1001 Rainbow Drive Gadsden, AL 35901] and typed it into the GPS. When you turn into the mall, just follow around the edge of…

  • Travel

    Rome, Georgia

    August 11, 2015 - By 

    On our way up to LaFayette, Georgia for our 4th of July trip we stopped in Rome, Georgia for lunch. Downtown Rome is really a quaint little place with lots of cute stores and restaurants. A friend of Rob’s recommended a couple places to eat. We ended up at Schroeder’s Deli. We had Calzones and pizza and fried okra. We noticed a park when were walking to the restaurant from down the street where we had parked. After lunch, we got Daisy out of the car and brought over to Heritage Park to let her run around and use the…

  • Dr. Pepper Museum
    Travel

    Dr. Pepper Museum:Waco, TX

    January 6, 2015 - By 

    On one of our Texas adventures, we were headed from Fort Worth down to Houston, but took a few detours along the way. One of our stops was at the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco, TX. The museum is housed in the 1906 bottling building, which was turned into the museum in 1989. Now if you’re comparing this to the World of Coke, Dr. Pepper’s got nothing on Coke! However, you will still find this museum to be rich in the history and memorabilia of this most popular drink.

  • Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, TX
    Travel

    Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, TX

    December 16, 2014 - By 

    Welcome to Travel Tuesday! This week’s spot is Schlitterbahn. Another detour while traveling in Texas included a stop in New Braunfels, TX, which is about 50 south of Austin and about 30 miiles northwest of San Antonio. New Braunfels is the home of the “World’s Best Waterpark”, Schlitterbahn! Growing up in Texas, you would have thought I’d gone there. However, in many ways I was a bit of a sheltered child… 🙂 The park is divided into a 2 main sections; East and West. The main entrance is on the west side of the park, which is the original Schlitterbahn…

  • Travel

    Atlanta Staycation 2014 Wrap Up

    September 12, 2014 - By 

    Well, it’s taken me forever to finally wrap up my Atlanta Staycation posts, but I’m finally getting to it. Yay!! If you recall, this year instead of doing our typical mountain trip we decided to stay closer to home and just spend a couple days in Atlanta. We stayed busy the 2 and half days we were there.

  • Travel

    Georgia Aquarium

    July 23, 2014 - By 

    encounWe recently took a trip to Atlanta over the 4th of July weekend for a little staycation. We got the City Pass, which kept us busy the 3 days we were there at a discount rate. Our first attraction was the Georgia Aquarium. We went to the Georgia Aquarium back in 2007, but that was before they expanded so it was exciting to see all that has been added. Places like the Aquarium of Western Australia offer school excursion and educational activities for your child.