Sunday, March 23, 2014

Adventures

Today, we took advantage of the beautiful Spring weather with a hike with good friends and the doggies. We had every intention of hiking Smith Rock, a State Park, just a a few miles from home, but when we arrived the park was over crowded. Not only was it a perfect Spring day it was also the first weekend of Spring Break for the local schools! I am not a fan of huge crowds so we decided to turn around a head for Cline Butte; that way the three dogs could actually burn some energy off leash.

Hailey and I atop Cline Butte

I've purchased a few travel vouchers for some surrounding areas for the future. We are headed to Grants Pass to go wine tasting for Mike's birthday. We get a river view cabin for two nights, a bottle of wine, dinner, daily breakfast, and 13 vineyard vouchers! I hope we can make it to the southern coast, too if time allows. I know Mike wants to fish so I am sure we will be doing so of that somewhere as well; it is his birthday after all!

A view of a room
I also decided that we needed to try "luxury camping" so we will be taking a trip to Olympia, Washington sometime between now and the end of September to give it a whirl! I got two nights in an open air "safari style " tent; accommodated with a memory foam bed, microwave, fridge, candles, heater, and close to a bathroom and shower located in a State Park. We get 'smores, muffins and coffee included. I think it may be a great way to celebrate a 3 year wedding anniversary and a great time to meet Teresa from Not Pregnant and Pissed; wouldn't you think!?


Luxury Camping
The Safari Tent





Next, we need to plan a tropical trip; we just can't seem to decide where! Mike has narrowed it down to a Caribbean location- we just can't figure out which Caribbean location, yet. I am not a very seasoned traveler- or flyer- so I am not sure what the best option is for planning such a vacation. Do we use a travel agent? Expedia? Fly from multiple locations or try to fly as direct as possible? If anyone has any helpful info, I would LOVE to hear it!

What about you; do you have any travel plans this Spring or Summer?

*edit*
 Since the post- I had to cancel the "luxury camping" adventure. The resort was sold out during the week we wanted to go - we had to reserve a spot for 2015!

17 comments:

  1. Looks like so much fun! And I love the idea of luxury camping for an anniversary. Seriously the coolest thing ever.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Risa! That luxury camping trip sounds awesome!

    Oh, the Caribbean. I'm so jealous! :) I have to wait a little less than 2 years to go back! Wait until March of 2016 and meet us in Playa del Carmen, MX! ;)

    I've heard too many horror stories about layovers, so we always fly direct. For our honeymoon we booked a trip flying into Cancun thru Apple vacations. It was ok, but we had a few issues while on our trip and the plane was SUPER cramped. Last time we flew into Cancun, I did all of the planning and booking. I think I booked the flight thru Expedia (United Airlines...the seats with extra leg room) and luckily my MIL has a timeshare that I was able to book the resort thru. The trip ended costing us a little more, but it was worth it! I plan on booking our own trips in the future. We're never doing Apple Vacations again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh beautiful! That looks amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my gosh that luxury camping looks amazing!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. OMG that camping thing looks amazing!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, those luxury camping pics look awesome and your wine trip sounds fun too.

    As far as travel to the Caribbean, I've only been once to St. Martin and I booked all the flights, car and timeshare myself. I spent a long time searching for the best combination of flights and ended up liking all the filter option on Kayak the best. Never used a travel agent, because I assume it would be more expensive. Maybe not a correct assumption? St. Martin was amazing, but it really made me wonder if the long haul all the way out there was really worth it when a flight to Hawaii is half the cost, direct from Seattle in under 6 hours...

    ReplyDelete
  7. We got married in Antigua, and it was FABULOUS! We booked through Expedia, but it wasn't a direct flight. We had a layover in Charlotte, but it wasn't bad at all.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Looks like you got out and enjoyed the sunshine! Wasn’t it a gorgeous weekend? I don’t think I have ever been to Cline Butte but will have to remember that one. Your upcoming travels look AMAZING! Let me know if you need any recommendations for wineries (even though it sounds like you are set) or restaurants in the area. I had no idea that glamping existed within driving distance of us. That place in Olympia looks so romantic and reminds me of our tent in Africa. You are going to have a blast.

    One of my favorite places in the Caribbean is Turks & Caicos. Justin and I are also looking at taking a trip to Isla Holbox, an island off of Mexico and one of the only places in the world where you can swim with Whale Sharks. When planning a trip to somewhere familiar, we just book through a travel site. When going somewhere like Africa or Bora Bora that has a lot of working parts, we used a travel agent.

    I love that you and Mike are planning all of these adventures and enjoying some time together. You deserve it!

    ReplyDelete
  9. That safari tent looks AWESOME! I would love to do something like that! How did you find that place?

    ReplyDelete
  10. That Luxury Camping looks pretty cool!! I think that would be really fun to do. It sounds great that you are going on these trips and enjoying each other :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. St. Lucia is beautiful. As is Jamaica. Going with a high end chain resort (Sandals, or similar) typically pays off- you just never know what you're going to get in the carribean, so you want to hedge your bets with a resort with a good reputation. Personally, I always book through expedia, but I can certainly see the benefits of a travel agent, since my most recent trip resulted in a stay at a resort where the pool was closed (!). I imagine a travel agent would have had that info, and I sure with I had known!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Luxury camping looks awesome and it looks like you have a lot of fun coming up. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Aw, I'm sorry you couldn't do the glamping - that tent looks amazing! I would love to try that someday.
    And yay for another IF blogger in Oregon! I live just outside of Corvallis and my mom lives just northwest of Redmond.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Small world! We live in Bend. My family is in Redmond and my sister is a teacher in Culver!

      Delete
  14. Oh I might even be able to convince Tony to do the luxury camping! I've never heard of it. I really enjoyed St. Thomas and Curocau in the Carribean.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The luxury camping looks amazing! I wish there was something like that where I live.

    As for the Caribbean, I love St. Thomas and Antigua. I would try and fly as direct as possible. I have booked trips through AAA and Travelocity with success and it was pretty easy.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting my blog! Be sure to leave some comment love!