• Auburn Alabama Bucket List - Here's a list of THE things to do while visiting this great college town!
    Travel

    Auburn Alabama Bucket List

    August 14, 2017 - By 

    If you’re planning to come to Auburn, Alabama, there are some really cool things to do without even leaving the area. Here’s my Auburn Alabama Bucket List of a few of the best things to do while you’re on the Plains. Roll Toomer’s Corner after an Auburn University win. Yes, we toilet paper 2 trees on the corner of campus after out Tigers win a sporting event. Now if you’re here during football season that of course is when you’ll see the biggest rollings, but folks often head to downtown for other sports when our Tigers put a W on…

  • 4th of July in Gulf Shores
    Travel

    4th of July in Gulf Shores

    July 20, 2017 - By 

    This year the weekend before 4th of July we were in Baton Rouge for Rob’s cousin’s wedding reception. When we were planning it, we were trying to figure out how we could combine that trip with a short getaway for the 4th. We decided the most logical thing to do would be to stop in Gulf Shores for a few days. Rob and I aren’t really beach people so a couple days at the beach is plenty. We enjoyed just relaxing at the condo that was just a short walk to the beach. We stayed at Gulf Shores Plantation. We…

  • Memorial Day Weekend at Lake Martin 2017
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    Memorial Day Weekend at Lake Martin 2017

    June 21, 2017 - By 

    This Memorial Day weekend was fun. We always appreciate the invitation from our good friends to camp out at their lake house and enjoy the sun. This year felt a little different for a couple reasons. We cooked most meals up at the house because we didn’t have all the normal gear that we borrow from the Cubscout Pack. It was also different because Drew’s friend Joe wasn’t able to get back from school, which we expected. Boys on the tube Gabe skiing Fun on the kneeboard These girls are always fun to watch while their tubing Got some great…

  • Life

    West Coast Trip:Day 13

    June 17, 2017 - By 

    Day 13 of our West Coast trip was the day we were headed home. Our flight didn’t leave till later in the afternoon, which gave us time to do something. When Rob lived out in Portland, his favorite place to shop was Fred Meyer. Fred Meyer is similar to a Walmart, but way better. It is truly a one stop shop. From furniture to groceries to name brand clothing it has it all. After having breakfast and checking out of the hotel, we headed over to Fred Meyer so the kids could see what an awesome store it was and…

  • Travel

    West Coast Trip:Day 12

    June 10, 2017 - By 

    As I mentioned before since our days were so long (in a good way) but since we covered so much ground and so many amazingly beautiful places my daily travel posts aren’t including as much detail and as many pictures as I’d like. I want to write individual posts on many of the spots on this trip in more detail with more pictures. One day when I’m caught up, I’ll go back and share more. Today’s post covers our last full day of our west coast trip. We slept later that day than any other day on trip, which was…

  • Day Exploring Mount St. Helens
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    West Coast Trip:Day Trip to Mount St. Helens

    June 3, 2017 - By 

    On July 4th we rose early to make our way to Windy Ridge Viewpoint at Mount St. Helens. I can’t tell you how hopeful I was that we’d be able to see this mysterious mountain that I’ve visited twice, but only seen for short spurts from a far and saw for literally 30 seconds last time we were at Johnston observatory. The other times we’ve been to Mount St. Helens we weren’t able to get to Windy Ridge because the road was always still closed. (Map) The day started off quite overcast in Portland as it usually always does, but…

  • Garden of the Gods
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    Garden of the Gods

    May 10, 2017 - By 

    Garden of the Gods is a public park located in Colorado Springs, CO. It became a National Natural Landmark in 1971 and it is SO worth a visit next time you are in Colorado Springs. The beautiful red rock formations that tower above are quite mesmerizing. It is a rock climbers dream and you will see folks climbing, although we didn’t notice any while we were there. After taking a short drive from our hotel, we turned into one of the parking lots and to our surprise, a lady in the car next to us rolled her window down and…

  • Travel

    West Coast Trip:Florence & Newport

    April 8, 2017 - By 

    Our drive up the coast of Oregon continued as we left Cottage Grove Oregon and headed to Newport, stopping a few times for some fun activities, like going to Sand Dunes, Sea Lion Caves, Thor’s Well, and more. First stop was Florence, OR for Dune Buggies ATVs. When we were researching we came to the realization that Dune Buggies for individuals really isn’t a thing you can do anymore. The thing now is driving ATV’s over the dunes. I really didn’t want to drive so Rob and I were in one and the kids each had their own ATV. Let…

  • Travel

    Spring Training Trip 2017

    March 22, 2017 - By 

    In recent years, my family has traveled down to Florida to stay with Rob’s Gramma and enjoy some baseball during Spring Training. This year was no exception. It’s always interesting to visit new spring training ballparks as they are all different for better or worse. Wednesday, we left after work and drove to Rob’s Gramma’s house in Spring Hill, Fl. We got there in the middle of the night and went straight to sleep. The next morning we visited a bit and then got on the road to Sarasota. We checked into the hotel (Ramanda). This hotel is located on…

  • West Coast Trip Day 5 - San Francisco to Eureka, CA - Golden Gate Bridge - Wine Country - Redwoods
    Travel

    West Coast Trip:Day 5

    March 4, 2017 - By 

    On Day 5 of our West Coast trip, we checked out of our hotel and head towards the Golden Gate Bridge. We drove over it and then stopped for some photos. It was a chili, foggy day. We drove through Wine Country and stopped at a couple different wineries. The first one was Milano Family Winery. The lady there was friendly and educated us a bit on a few of their wines. We tasted a couple and ended up buying a bottle of Big A$$ Blonde, which is a white wine with fruity undertones. We paid around $15, I believe.…

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    Gatlinburg 2017

    February 10, 2017 - By 

    We enjoyed another annual ski trip with the Scouts again this year. Last year I stayed back to deal with moving and organizing stuff after having the carpet installed. This year, I went so that Caitlyn wouldn’t have to pay for a room by herself. As usual we caravanned up there Friday night arriving around 1 am. The next morning the scouts got up and gallivanted through Downtown Gatlinburg, while Caitlyn and I decided to explore Gatlinburg on our own. We walked around and shopped and then ate an early lunch at Bennett’s Pit BBQ, which is my favorite place…

  • Day in San Francisco
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    West Coast Trip:Day 4

    November 16, 2016 - By 

    The 4th day on our exciting and jam-packed West Coast trip started off with a ride on cable car down to Fisherman’s Wharf. We had a fairly early ticket reservation for the ferry over to Alcatraz, so we got up early enough to catch a cable car and get some breakfast and walk around down at the wharf. We ended up just grabbing McDonald’s. Although, the bread at Boudin’s looked and smelled amazing. They weren’t open yet. Mural down at the Wharf when we got off the cable car. Love the sunflare from the morning sun.

  • West Coast Trip - Day 3 - Travel along as we leave Yosemite to Cupertino (Apple HQ), Stanford U, Painted Ladies, and more.
    Travel

    West Coast Trip:Day 3

    October 22, 2016 - By 

    If you missed my 1st couple of posts about our West Coast Trip, you should check those out first. – Day 1 – Day 2 – So on Day 3 of our West Coast Trip we woke up in our tent in Yosemite’s Half Dome Village. I woke up a little chili and actually quite sore from the hike the day before, but the brisk fresh air was welcoming. We got dressed and jumped in the car. We wanted to stop and check out Yosemite Falls on our way out of the park. We took a short hike to the…

  • West Coast Trip - Day 2 - Yosemite Day
    Travel

    West Coast Trip:Yosemite Day

    October 5, 2016 - By 

    If you missed my post from Day 1 of our West Coast Trip you can find it here. Here’s our jam packed day #2! I woke up totally discombobulated from very little sleep, but we still managed to be out of the hotel by 6:30 am. We were eager to get to Yosemite and begin our Yosemite Day before the crowds since we were there during the summer; peak season. The week before we were there President Obama and his family were at Yosemite. We had read that he had donuts from Donuts a Go Go down the street from…

  • Travel

    Visit Alabama Beaches even if it’s Raining #StayAlBeaches

    September 9, 2016 - By 

    I’ve already given you lots of reasons why you should vacation on the Alabama Coast: 5 Reasons to Travel Alabama Beaches Girl’s Getaway to Alabama Beaches Alabama Coast Top Casual Seafood Restaurants Alabama Coast Activities for Guys 44th Annual National Shrimp Festival! However, sometimes when you go the beach and up comes a dark cloud. The sky falls out and it starts raining cats and dogs, and you find yourself back at the hotel watching TV waiting for the sun to shine again. When you vacation in Gulf Shores/Orange Beach, you don’t have to worry about being bored when it’s…

  • Travel

    Rochester, NY | Trip Report Day 1

    September 4, 2016 - By 

    Back in August, Rob flew out to Rochester, NY on Sunday for some training. However, I didn’t have enough vacation days so I couldn’t fly out until Tuesday night. I left work a little early to head to the airport. I arrived in Rochester just before midnight. The next day I drove Rob to his training, so I could use the rental car. I had my day roughly planned out. First stop was the Charlotte–Genesee Lighthouse located on Lake Ontario at the mouth of the Genesee River, which is about 7.5 miles North of Rochester. I wanted to see this…

  • Travel

    West Coast Trip:Day 1

    August 6, 2016 - By 

    The day we left for Cali we got up, did a few things around the house, and headed to Atlanta to pick up Rob’s brother who would then drive us to the airport. We made a stop for lunch at Fire Dragon. Once we got to the airport everything went smoothly. Curbside check in was closed, so we went inside to find a line, but it went fairly quickly. The line for security seemed crowded, but it also went pretty fast. The kids really enjoyed riding the moving sidewalks. Since we had lots of time to kill we went to…

  • Travel

    Cruising Days at Sea

    July 10, 2016 - By 

    To wrap up the last 3 days of our Journey cruise, we were looking forward to 3 relaxing days at sea as we departed the Caribbean after leaving St. Maarten and headed to Maryland. The first day at sea Rob experienced his first ever bought of sea sickness. He stayed in bed most of the day and found some relief with the medication I got from him at the customer service desk on board. This picture doesn’t do the waves justice. The waves continued to hit our window throughout the day. The first day at sea was Throwback day with…

  • Travel

    Driving around St. Kitts

    June 10, 2016 - By 

    Here’s another epic post from our Cruise. Be ready for picture overload! Today we got up before the alarm went off. We were coming in simultaneously with a P&O cruise ship. We got dressed and went down to Mermaid Grill for breakfast buffet, then went down to our cabin and packed for the day. We were ready to go before they made the all clear announcement. We went down to get off the ship but since the Jewel of the Seas cruise ship was just then docking we had to wait for it to dock. Once we were cleared we…

  • Travel

    Pensacola, FL Trip

    April 29, 2016 - By 

    Back in April the boys I headed down to Pensacola for Alex’s soccer tourney. I didn’t take any pics of the games, because I was just a nervous wreck, honestly. Here’s pics of everything else. Pensacola Blue Wahoos Somebody had a ferret with them on the beach… Racing to the water Saturday night dinner at Hemingway’s Island Grill