2016 National Parks Road Trip ~ Day 1 ~ Little Rock Arkansas

Miles Traveled: 450
Gas $34.00

Selfie 

We spent today discovering the city of Little Rock.  We roamed the grounds of the Capitol building and it's monuments.

Capitol Building of Arkansas

We came back later in the evening to view the Capitol Building lit up

I loved the monument to the Confederate Women...not many monuments to us ladies ;)

Tribute to theArkansas Medal of Honor Recepients

Next, we visited the Historic Governors Mansion.  It was not as big as I anticipated but I really loved the historic homes in the surrounding neighborhood.

Arkansas Historic Governors Mansion

President Clinton looks like he's in jail in the pic lol

One of the lovely homes along the streets near the Governors Mansion

We ended our day at the Arkansas River Market.

We were pleasantly surprised to find a free jazz concert at a park near the river.

Ready 2016 National Parks Road Trip

Our National Park Service is celebrating their 100th birthday this year and many are offering special activities & programs. We are so ready for our awesome National/State Parks road trip beginning Sept. 7, 2016.  It will last 37 days, including 17 states, 17 Parks and Monuments, 20 different hotels, 3 cabins, driving an estimated 6500 miles!!!!!

Be prepared to be inundated with pictures Ha!

Here are the states we've planned:

1.   Arkansas (Little Rock)

2.   Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) 

3.   Texas (Amarillo)

4.   New Mexico (Albuquerque)

5.   Colorado (Alamosa/Breckenridge/Grand Junction)

6.   Utah (Salt Lake City/Logan)

7.   Idaho (Twin Falls/Pocatello)

8.   Wyoming (Grand Teton/Jackson Hole/Yellowstone)

9.   Montana (Three Forks/Missoula/Glacier/Great Falls/Billings)

10. South Dakota (Custer/Mt.Rushmore/Black Hills/Deadwood/Sturgis/Badlands,Sioux Falls)

11. Minnesota (Luverne)

12. Iowa (Sheldon/Lewis & Clark Monument)

13. Nebraska (Omaha)

14. Kansas (Overland Park)

15. Missouri (St. Louis/Kansas City)

16. Illinois (Collinsville)

17. Missouri (St.Louis/Poplar Bluff)

All reservations are fully refundable and we are allowing a good amount of "Wiggle room" should we decide to stay longer or skip something along the way.  We love making unplanned stops and our planned routes include very minimal interstates.  We are planning to travel state/local roads as much as possible.  

Have you been to any of these places? What did you see/do?

2016 National Parks Road Trip - So much to See!

Our National Park Service is celebrating their 100th birthday this year and many are offering special activities & programs. We are so ready for our awesome National/State Parks road trip beginning Sept. 7, 2016.  It will last 37 days, including 17 states, 17 Parks and Monuments, 20 different hotels, 3 cabins, driving an estimated 6500 miles!!!!!

Here are the Parks/Monuments we are planning to visit:

1.   Ouachita National Forest (Arkansas)

2.   Palo Duro Canyon State Park (Texas)

3.   Rio Grande National Forest (Colorado)

4.   Colorado National Monument 

5.   Arches National Park (Utah)

6.   Antelope Island State Park (Utah)

7.   Shoshone Falls State Park (Idaho)

8.   Grand Teton National Park

9.   Yellowstone National Park

10.  Custer State Park

11.  Mount Rushmore National Memorial

12.  Crazy Horse Mountain Memorial

13.  Black Hills National Park

14.  Badlands National Park

15.  Sioux Falls Park

16.  Lewis & Clark Monument 

17.  St. Louis Gateway Arch

2016 National Parks Road Trip - Prep

We are just a few days away from our Big 2016 National Parks Road Trip and it's time for the first step in preparation.  LISTS!  Yep I'm a List maker, Considering we will on the road for 5 weeks, making sure we have those items that make life on the road easier will be important.

Some of the tips we learned on our last trip:

* Packing bulky outwear, coats, gloves, hats, umbrellas, rain ponchos, hoodies all into one designated joint suitcase.

* collapsible laundry bin

* Plastic tub holding, microwavable plates, bowls, flatware, a couple knives, paper towels, laundry detergent. some ductape wrapped around old casino card

*Backpack items, mini flashlight, protein bars, small first aid kit, battery b/u for phone

* plenty bottled water

* travel coffe pot

*small collapsible cooler

* large ice chest with ice 

* paper maps (gps/cell service dead zones exist)

* Plastic tub for storing souvenir & other purchases

Galveston & Carnival Magic 2016~ SeaDay 1

Our first SeaDay was a whirlwind.  After a huge family brunch we staked out our lounge chairs by the pool to became our "base".

The kids jumped from pool to rope course to slides to mini golf while we watched the hair chest and drink contests.

The day flew by and it was soon time for "fancy pants night".  We took various photos then headed to lobster night for supper.

Afterwards, Hubby & I elected to see the performance at the theater while the kids watch a movie under the stars.

It was a wonderful day at sea.

Galveston & Carnival Magic~Embarkation

We went to beach early to watch the absolutely gorgeous sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico

Afterwards we enjoyed complimentary breakfast at the hotel before heading to the Port of Galveston and our ship.  

Check-In was a breeze but boarding was delayed due to an emergency on previous cruise. They finally started boarding Priority guests almost 1:00pm, our kids were starved so we headed straight to buffet lunch.

After lunch it was fun time!

Carnival Magic ~ Little French Key, Roatan

We decided to book an independent tour with Little French Key and we were so glad we did!  It really is a tropical Oasis.  They met us outside the gate to the port and drove us to boats, from there we rode to an amazing island with monkeys, lions,ducks,horses,tropical birds and more...all rescued.

The kids loved the monkeys and horses.

We were fed a delicious lunch of lobster, shrimp, chicken & steak.

The island was really fun.

Carnival Magic ~ Belize

This was our third visit to Belize.  The last two visits we went snorkeling.  This visit we chose something different, horseback riding and swimming.  The only drawback was the very long and boring bus ride to/from the pier to Belize City.  It really was horrible.

We loved the waterfall pool.

The horseback riding was great and I recommend.

Carnival Magic ~ Cozumel

We decided to spend our day at Chankanaab (word that comes from the Mayan language and means “little sea) it's located inside Cozumel´s National Marine Park.  We loaded 9 of us into a taxi and off we went!

We found a few umbrella chairs to relax in and enjoy some tropical drinks and buckets of beer.  

A few of us did zip-line.

The kids were fascinated all day by iguanas who lived in the park.

Of course the main attraction for the kids was snorkeling.  They loved swimming with all fish.

it was a wonderful day.

Galveston & Carnival Magic

Our roadtrip to Galveston began 5:30am.

 We are cruising with a total of 11 family & extended family members for Mardi Gras week.

We made it to Lafayette before we stopped for breakfast @ Cracker Barrel.

Of course we had to stop for photo ops

at the Texas Border;)

Our next stop was to get some yummy beef jerky 

...then it was Galveston Island or bust..

We had dinner @ Rainforest Cafe to celebrate Gavin & Nick's birthdays

We checked into the Hilton and unloaded the truck....

It's really a nice hotel in a great location across from the beach..

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset then passed out from our long drive LOL 

 

Guernsey, St. Peter's Port

When we arrived in Guernsey it was overcast with a little misty rain.  We selected a DIY walking tour we copied from Internet.  

It took about 90 minutes to complete & brought us through the lovely little town. I loved the residential areas with tree lined, cobblestone.  They all had lovely gardens.

Everyone was extremely friendly.  We enjoyed our day in Guernsey.

Later on the ship we met many new friends for margaritas at our Meet & Greet party.  

Europe2015 - Getting There

When we decided to go to Europe, we knew the biggest expense would be airfare.  We each got United Airlines credit cards which have us 100,000 air miles (enough for R/T in coach).  Next we each got Chase Sapphire cards which gave us enough additional miles for R/T in First Class.  Unfortunately, the flight times for the return wouldn't work for us do we settled for First Class to Europe & coach for the return.

First Class was A-Mazing!  We were served a yummy Supper, Champagne & ice cream sundaes.  

The seats lay completely down to a bed.  We were provided plush blankets, Pillows, socks & an amenity kit.  It is truly the best way to fly international.

After we landed we were provided expedited line through customs & met by Princess once we exited baggage claim.