Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Jenny Lake, Grand Teton National Park
We were having a great time in Jackson Hole and exploring the area but we had yet to get Kaitlin into our new hiking backpack. We decided to take a group trip to Jenny Lake in the Grand Teton National Park. There is a 7 mile loop that will take you around Jenny Lake (and to see many other sites) but we decided to take the shorter route since we had so many kids in tow. There is a ferry that crosses Jenny Lake and drops you off at the other side. It is a short hike (I think around half a mile) up to Hidden Falls which was our first stop of the day. It's a relatively easy hike and absolutely gorgeous, if not a bit touristy and crowded (especially in the summer).
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| "Look at all that water!" |
We took a break for lunch and some photos with the gang. Kaitlin was being such a good sport and loved the scenery (especially the water fall!) so we decided to press onward to Inspiration Point, about another mile up. We will never learn to "quit while we're ahead" in terms of pressing Kaitlin to the limit. She was a bit fussy on the way up and A LOT fussy on the way down. Fair enough, it was the middle of the day and temperatures were reaching 90*F. Regardless, I'm glad we did the extra bit of hiking as the views were spectacular! We couldn't have asked for better weather during our whole trip, what a treat!
Wednesday, August 07, 2013
Yellowstone National Park (Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic)
We parked near the Old Faithful Inn so we had a wander through it on our way to Old Faithful. What a cool looking hotel! It was very dark and rustic on the inside and the wood work was just gorgeous. Next stop - Old Faithful herself. We had enough time to grab a quick lunch before making our way to the show. She decided to erupt about 10 minutes past the estimated time so we had plenty of time to get a great seat. As did the hundreds of other people that were there to see the show! If it doesn't look that impressive in the photos...well...it kind of wasn't. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that we went and that I had a chance to see it (bucket list - check!) but I expected something...more. That and we were standing down wind so we mostly just saw the mist coming off from the spray of water. We had gorgeous weather though and for that I am grateful.
Next stop on our Yellowstone Mini Tour was Grand Prismatic Spring. It is the largest geyser in the park and is also probably the most beautiful. It is about 250' x 300' and something like 160' deep! There is a boardwalk that covers most of the area which makes for a nice and easy stroll. Don't get caught near the steam for too long on a hot summer day though - talk about hot! This was easily one of the most fascinating and beautiful places I have ever been. I could have stayed for hours taking photos and wandering around. Alas, a hungry and tired baby called (loudly in my ear) and we were on our way back to Jackson Hole. Even though we didn't get to see that many sites and it was a lot of driving (6 hours total there and back) it was definitely worth the trek.
Monday, August 06, 2012
Lake Waccabuc
We spent the last couple of weeks driving all over the state of New York on vacation. We visited both of our families in Central NY and Long Island, but first we took a few days to ourselves and had a little vacation just the three of us. We knew we wanted to have a few quiet days to ourselves before the madness of visiting family. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE our families and LOVED introducing Kaitlin to everyone. But we knew it was going to be crazy town. We wanted somewhere quiet for us to go, but that wasn't too far out of the way (we had limited time and a newborn in the car with us after all). Our good friends knew of a place we could rent, in a location that we discovered last year at their wedding - Lake Waccabuc. You heard all about their amazing wedding at Winvian, but what I only briefly talked about their rehearsal dinner at the grooms parents lake house on Lake Waccabuc.
It was perfect - exactly what we were looking for. We had a small two bedroom cottage on the lake (which happened to be right next door to our friends place!) which had a big deck and access to the water. It was small but perfect for our family of three. Lake Waccabuc is small (less than 150 acres) and only small boats are allowed on it, making it a peaceful retreat. It is located in Westchester county in New York but is very close to Ridgefield, CT which is a super cute town with lots of shops and dining, perfect for an afternoon stroll.
What did we do while we were there?
A whole lot of nothing.
Well, I guess that's not entirely true.
Our friends have a couple paddle boards which made Brian a happy boy. They also have a small boat which we would take out to go swimming. (there are lots of rocks to jump off of and rope swings to jump from)
We grilled almost every night, and had a few friends stop by to meet Kaitlin. We even got a chance to sleep in once or twice now that Kaitlin sleeps almost through the whole night.
We set off fireworks and took walks around the lake. We watched a lot of sunsets and ate a lot of smores.
And by the time our stay had come to an end we were relaxed and recharged, ready to finish start our vacation with all of our friends and family.
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Labels:
go here - now,
happy,
mini traveling cupcake,
photography,
road trip,
sun,
travel,
weddings
Monday, January 02, 2012
Christmas for Two - Munich
We had a great time in Prague but were excited to get to our next destination on our Christmas vacation - Munich. We decided to take the train, which was easier than driving and less stressful than flying. The train worked out perfectly. We splurged for first class seats (they were only a few Euro more) and ended up being two out of five people in the whole train car. The trip was a little long (six hours give or take) but we went through some beautiful countryside and it even started to snow the closer we got to Munich.
Friday, December 30, 2011
2011 - A Year in Review
And although I am VERY excited for everything that 2012 is going to bring, I'm not quite ready to shut the door on 2011 just yet. Anyone want to take a trip down memory lane with me?
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Christmas for two: Prague
The first part of our Christmas vacation was in Prague in the Czech Republic. As I previously mentioned, we went to Prague on our first European trip together and we were excited to go back. Just as the first time, Prague was as beautiful as ever. The architecture and the way the light hits the buildings is just breath-taking.
We spent a few days wandering the streets, visiting the sites. We went to the Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, we walked over the Charles Bridge, through the Old Town Square and we even climbed the Town Hall Tower (Ok, maybe we didn't climb it exactly. There happened to be an elevator. Whatevs)
*disclaimer - most of the photos in this post were taken by Brian, he did a great job!*
Monday, November 28, 2011
Around the World Christmas Tree
The first "big" trip that Brian and I took together while dating was to St. Croix in the Caribbean for a little winter sun. We had been dating for six or seven months and although it wasn't our first weekend away with each other, it was the first trip that required a plane ride. It was exciting and a little nerve-wracking. Happily, the trip went off without a hitch (apart from that one time when we were driving down the wrong side of the road - who knew they drove on the left hand side in St. Croix??).
While we were there we bought the funniest Christmas ornament to commemorate the trip, somehow we knew we would be spending lots of Christmas' together.
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| St. Croix, 2007 |
Monday, October 31, 2011
Cinque Terre, Italy
During our only full day in Tuscany, we decided to leave.
Tuscany that is. We drove northwest to Liguria. The weather was supposed to be amazing and we wanted to take advantage of it the only way we knew how - by hiking. Before we left on our trip I did a quick Google maps search and found out that the famous Cinque Terre was only an hours drive from our hotel. So, after a leisurely breakfast at Locanda al Colle we were on our way.
At the recommendation of Riccardo we drove to the town of Portovenere and took the ferry to "the five lands". I had visited Cinque Terre with my friend Kelly during the semester abroad that I spent in Florence. I remember it being one of the most beautiful places I had seen that spring. The hiking was amazing, the towns were picturesque and the spaghetti we had for lunch was, for serious, out of this world.
Sadly, that was over eight years ago.
EIGHT.
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