Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts

Monday, May 13, 2013

A possible visit to Arkansas this summer.

It has been a little over a year when we moved from Arkansas to Montana. And sometimes I find myself missing the little towns I once called my second home. Especially after my father-in-law's visit last month, who came all the way from Arkansas to see his grandson. He actually plans to visit again sometime this year but hubby thought of a better plan. He wanted to come down there this summer. I am not sure if I can go though because I just started a new job and I haven't earned vacation days yet. But as early as now, I have been scouring the web for cheap flight tickets from Helena to Little Rock. As per experience, I get some great deals if I book them two to three months early.

Coincidentally, my sister who lives in Illinois has been wanting to fly up here for a visit this summer as well. She's too busy from her work so she asked me to find her some reasonable fare rates from Chicago to Helena, this time. I know, I know, it's like I'm a travel agent now, lol! Well, I love doing that. That's what I missed with our mini-vacations. I always plan our itinerary, book the flights and hotels to stay and pretty much enjoy the vacation because I plan it ahead of time. There's less hiccups along the way. Summer season is the perfect time to take family escapades. I might be able to squeeze some of our own personal quick out of town trips for this summer as well. We'll see. But it appears we are going to have a fabulous summer this year.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Road Trip to Memphis on Valentine's Day


I have written in my previous post that we might skip going out of town for Valentine's Day this year, but that plan has changed. I thought since we just came back from a long vacation in the Philippines, that we could just stay at home and wouldn't take vacations until probably in the summer, but Jeff insisted on taking me to Memphis, Tennessee for a Valentine weekend getaway. You see, since I moved here in the U.S., we take weekend trips to celebrate Valentine's Day. On our first VDay together which was in 2008, we went to St. Louis, Missouri. It was my first time to see The Gateway Arch. I was blown away. It was an amazing piece of architecture. Despite our fear of heights, we managed to climb to the highest part of the arch but we rode on trams going up of course. It was a fun experience. My favorite part in every vacation is the picture taking, of course. Have I told you yet that I'm a camera addict? Well, now you know, lol! You can actually view our photos here.

In 2009, our Valentine's Day destination was Hot Springs, Arkansas. It's not outside Arkansas but it was one of the state's tourist destination. We had fun. It was very laid-back. I enjoyed the strolls to the park. I thought their all-natural thermal water soaking pool was awesome. I've never seen anything like that. It was truly a memorable date for us. Now, for this year, as I've mentioned above, we're heading to Memphis. I don't know what to expect. I did a hasty travel planning just yesterday. Nothing fancy, just planning ahead which spots to hit, restaurants to dine in, and good views to take pictures of while we're already in the city. It's going to be a long 4-hour drive, I'm not gonna be the one driving so that's alright, right? I'll just have to bring my DS Lite and IPod. So childish! I don't care, it keeps me entertained while I'm on long road trips like this. I'm actually looking forward to this trip! Oh yeah, by the way, we're leaving tomorrow morning and we won't be back until Tuesday next week. I might not bring my laptop but I'm not sure yet. Anyway, I promise I'll visit and read your blogs as soon as I get back. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

I need a break!

Moving is tiring. I learned that the hard way. All the general cleaning, unpacking, arranging of stuff and all that, boy, it’s such a pain! I feel like I need a very long and relaxing vacation some place warm and fun. Here in the U.S., I think orlando vacations is one of the best. It’s a place any family would love to go. Kids adore the Disney characters while adults love to splish splash in the warm waters of Florida beaches. However, for now, I can only wish for an Orlando vacation, which is fine with me. Anyway, in 2 weeks, I’d be in my beautiful homeland Philippines so it’s not a bad alternative for a vacation.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Vacation in Branson: Part III

Our Branson adventure continues...

at least here in my blog through our photos. One of the many attractions in the city of Branson are the different kinds of shows that you can watch all around the city. Since I really don't know any of the performers there, we chose to be entertained by the Chinese Acrobats. It turned out that we made the right choice. The fee is a little pricey but it was a money well-spent so to speak. I've seen a show like this back when I was 10 years old in the Philippines, and the little memories that I had from it got my hubby convinced that it'll be a good show. It rained for the most part of our stay and we haven't anticipated the number of tourists that would watch on the day that we chose to go. We arrived just in time but the queue area for the tickets was ridiculously long and I didn't want to be seated on the last row so we took a rain check. It was really a plus that I bought my laptop with us for we were able to check online the show schedule for the next day. I wish I have photos of the show to share with you but of course, photography is not allowed during the show. Besides who would want to take photos and get distracted from the awesome and breath-taking display of gymnastic moves onstage of the teenage Chinese acrobats. They are just simply amazing. I even wonder if these people have bones, see how silly my thoughts were, hehe. I mean they can really stretch themselves to whatever position or style they want. I know it took them long years to practice those skills but still not everyone has the talent and ability to do that. I would never hesitate to watch them perform again next year.

The bad weather on our last day in Branson had prevented us from visiting Silver Dollar City or White Waters theme park, so we went to the Table Rock Lake instead as soon as the heavy rain stopped. I get to see how boats and jet skis were lower down to the river. On our way home, we dropped by at The Battle of Pea Ridge. Hubby has always wanted to go and we took the chance to do it during our Branson vacation. Anyways, here's our last set of Branson pictures!





Moi at Table Rock Lake and Dam


I wanted to sit in one of those benches right there for a photo opp but it was raining and neither of us wants to get wet so I just took a photo of the view minus the model, hehe!

My History buff lovey at The Battle of Pea Ridge


Exploring the battle field in bicycle, how romantic!

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Vacation in Branson: Part II

I've noticed so many bloggers talk about vacationing in Branson, Missouri. I couldn't blame them, Branson has so much to offer for kids and adults alike. I've experienced it myself when we had our vacation there 2 weeks ago. As what the title suggests, this post is a continuation of our Branson escapade. The place has lots of museums of different kinds. We visited three of them. I'm gonna talk about each of them. Let me start with...

The Titanic Museum

Remember the infamous luxury liner that sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1912? Remember the love story of Jack and Rose? Well, there may not have been real Jack and Rose in that voyage, but the world will continue to get fascinated with the facts relating to the world's historic maritime tragedy. The Titanic Museum was filled with photos, memorabilia, facts, trivia and all kinds of exhibits both from the real Titanic wreckage and the very famous movie Titanic over a decade ago. But they don't allow photography inside so we only have this one photo of the outside of the museum building. It sure looks like a ship, doesn't it?

Our next stop...
Hollywood Wax Museum


I'm not sure who they are supposed to look like!

The entrance to the museum

Of course, I had to have a photo opp right here in front of the building

Flirting with Captain Jack Sparrow of the 'Pirates of the Caribbean'

Would you smile like that if somebody pointed a gun at your head?
These are Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson of 'Shanghai Noon'

Hmmm...What am I doing here?

Hello, Forrest Gump!

Are you kidding me? You're not trying to stop 'SpiderMan', are you?

Gone with the wind

Welcome to the 'Planet of the Apes'

The Terminator 'Arnold Schwarzenegger'

Nicholas Cage

Mr. James Bond 'Pierce Brosnan'

Nacho Libre...I saw this movie, hubby talked me into watching it.
He find it very funny, but I hated it! We have different levels of humor, I suppose.


Our last stop...Veterans Memorial Museum. Hubby is fascinated with History. He loves to read books about history and culture of different countries. This is the only reason why I included this in our itinerary. I may find it boring but I know he will find pleasure in viewing exhibits from historical museums.



"I Shall Return." - American General Douglas MacArthur on the shores of Leyte, Philippines

The world's largest war memorial bronze sculpture (over 70 feet long, weighing 15-tons). The life-size figures were modeled after a combat soldier from each of the 50 states.




I hope I didn't bore you with my photos. I just love to photograph all of our travels. I enjoy it when we visit places and no matter how busy we are with work, we try to find time to take vacations. I'd like us to explore the western region of the U.S., so I am considering Vegas vacations in the near future. My newly-wed cousin had been there for their honeymoon and I'd love to see Las Vegas, as well. We could swing by the city when we visit them in Colorado soon. Awesome!

Saturday, May 30, 2009

A prelude to the concert

To say that I was super excited was an understatement. I've been dreaming about this day eversince we bought the tickets. I'm talking about the Divas4Divas concert in Dallas, Texas last night. It was my first time in Texas and going straight to a big city like Dallas was overwhelming. Two important things that I noticed while I was there, it was hot and traffic was heavy. The heat didn’t bother me as much as the bumper to bumper traffic at 70 mph. If you don’t drive aggressively, you’re pretty much stuck with whatever lane you’re in. Luckily, I was not the one on the driver’s seat. Otherwise, we couldn’t have made it to the hotel in one piece. It was 3:00 P.M. when we got to Hyatt Place, the hotel where we stayed at. We relaxed a little bit and freshen up before we head out for the concert which started at 8:00 P.M. The room was very nice with huge flat panel TV, plush king-sized bed, cozy corner sofa-sleeper, granite kitchen sinks, wet bar and complimentary Wi-Fi internet access. The sole purpose of the trip was to watch the concert, so we didn't really intend to stay long and didn't get to do other stuff. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the experience minus the traffic, of course, hehe! Here are some photos of the hotel and our room. The official photos of the concert itself will be posted on my next post, I promise!




University of Phoenix (located right next to Hyatt)



Hubby is watching TV

Aww, cartoons, eh!


EC dropping even while on vacation!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The trip of a lifetime in Branson

Let me tell you about how we spent our Valentine’s weekend last year. It was a wintery cold weekend in St. Louis, Missouri. Yes, we’ve been to Missouri and it was one of the best vacation trips we’ve made. We had so much fun despite the cold weather and we personally enjoy the visit to the famous “Gateway to the West” also known as the “The Arch”. Another wonderful city to visit in Missouri is Branson. You can take a relaxing and romantic retreat away from the bustle of the city and yet be able to enjoy the electrifying entertainment capital of the Midwest. This is the perfect time to bring your loved ones and take them to a romantic escapade and get a chance to stay at the luxurious Hilton Promenade, Hilton Branson Convention Center or Branson Landing. Enjoy the Hilton Branson Escape Package for as low as $79.00 per night. Branson has ongoing events for everyone’s entertainment like the Third Annual Ice Carving, the exciting 2009 Polar Plunge and the 2nd Anniversary of the Hilton Promenade, live entertainment and theaters. If you want to take it slow, you can enjoy a romantic dinner and a movie date with your loved ones. Whichever way you want it, you’ll definitely have an experience of a lifetime in Branson, Missouri.

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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The Countdown Begins...

One more day to go and 2008 will be over. This year has been a very good year for me, Jeff and my family. There’s so much to be thankful for. I welcome 2009 with excitement and anticipation since we’re looking forward to a great big event that’s going to happen by the end of 2009, our church wedding in the Philippines. The countdown to the big day begins. I know it’s so soon to think about the stuff that I’m going to bring back home but I’m sure, it’s going to be a whole lot. I’m thinking of putting most of my stuff and Christmas presents for family and friends in a Balikbayan box but I’m still gonna be needing durable travel luggages for me and Jeff. Zero Halliburton comes to mind. Their stuff are a bit pricey but the quality is excellent so I think it’s gonna be worth it.

Monday, December 8, 2008

A perfect summer destination

It's not even halfway through wintertime, but Jeff and I had already been making plans for our next summer vacation. Now that we’re both working, it seems a little bit difficult to enjoy a long stretch of vacation. While he has quite a number of vacation hours, I, on the other hand, have limited number of vacation days so it’s necessary for us to plan ahead of time for every vacation we’d like to take. We may not have kids yet, but that does not stop us from going to amusement and water theme parks to unwind. As a matter of fact, the very first week that I got here, we went to an amusement park in Illinois. We like to visit other states and we’ve never had the chance to go to the East Coast yet, so probably next year that would be our next trip and definitely New Jersey is one of the places that we’re going to visit.

A Jersey Shore beach Vacation sure sounds excellent, don’t it? I’ve actually read good reviews from other blogs about Morey’s Piers in New Jersey. I checked their web site and guess what I found! They are currently running its annual holiday sale from December 1st to January 9th and you can get as much as 40% savings on a Season Pass to their water parks. Isn’t it amazing? Now, finding a place to stay and dine is not a problem at all. Jersey Shore and Wildwood hotels is just one of the places that you could stay for your Jersey vacation. I can’t wait to be on the beach again!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Remembering Baguio

I dug out old photos and I saw our pictures two years ago when Jeff and I visited Baguio City. I thought I might share this in my blog. So many things have happened in Baguio, the fun was just so hard to forget, the picturesque views of the city is worth sharing and that memorable day of Jeff's marriage proposal to me was really worth reminiscing. I love the place so much. We went there in December so the weather was perfect if you want to get rid of the heat of Cebu City.

A gazebo where you can have your wedding to be held here

I had a blast on my first photo opp experience on a pink pony

I put on an Igorot costume...Fun, eh!Jeff thinks its unfair if he can't try his own as well

A boat ride in the manmade lake of Burnham Park

The famous summer residence of the President of the Philippines, "The Mansion"

Lovebirds underneath a pine tree in Camp John Hay

We went to a strawberry plantation to pick out some fresh strawberries