Oregon Coast Road Trip Fall 2017 ~ Astoria Oregon

We began our Oregon Coastal roadtrip at Astoria, followed by a stop Fort Stevens State Park.  We wanted to see where the Columbia River met the Pacific Ocean.  This first stop did not disappoint.  WOW, what a magnificent view!

Astoria-Megler Bridge crossing from Oregon to Washington
 

We parked and hiked the short distance to Jetty leading out to the Pacific Ocean.  We spend several minutes just admiring it, glad we hadn't missed this wonderful beginning of our trip.

Kentucky 2017 ~ Cumberland Falls State Park

This roadtrip to Kentucky was a birthday gift for our youngest Granddaughter who is crazy about horses.  We mostly took state road through Tennessee to our Cabin in East Bernstadt KY, the summer scenery along the way was breathtaking.

Here is a gorgeous Sunflower farm we passed in Ooltewah Tennessee.

The views of Cumberland Falls:

We decided to do two trail rides through two different stables for variety.  Our first trail was with Cumberland Falls Horse Riding Stables. The stable booked about a dozen riders per ride.   The horse.s were all well trained and basically just followed each other requiring very little horsemanship from the riders.  Riders are scheduled every hour on the hour and last about 45 minutes and cost $18.00 per person.  It is perfect for inexperienced riders, which made it fine for Hubby and I but too easy for our granddaughter who wanted something more challenging.  I would still recommend it if your in the area.

We took our second trail ride the next day with Bill's Riding Stables in Corbin, KY.  They are open 7 days a week 10am-6pm.  There were only 3 other riders with us making our trail ride much more personal.  Our guide was very knowledgeable with a great attitude.  We arranged a one hour ride at $18 per person.  Our ride was much more inline with our Granddaughter's style.

 The horses were well cared for and as well as beautiful.  If your every in the area, I would highly recommend Bill's over the park.

Kentucky 2017 ~ Wildcat Cabin Rentals

Part of our birthday gift to our youngest Granddaughter was staying in a cabin on a Farm with horses. We found a perfect place on HomeAway #378863 for a mountain cabin in East Bernstadt Ky.  It had everything one would need for a stay including a fully equipped kitchen as well as linens.  

We had complete privacy from the world although it also had satellite TV and wifi for staying in touch when we wanted.  The hosts Julee and Pete were friendly and close by if we needed anything.

 Our Granddaughter was immediately drawn to the three horses and the cow the owner had.  

She spoiled them with treats of carrots and apples each day..

Costa Rica 2017 ~ Arenal National Park

We hired our drivers Danny of CostaRicaDrivers.com to handle all our transportation needs while in Costa Rica.  His company was highly recommended on Tripadvisor.    We signed up for two tours.

Our tour today was to Arenal National Park and La Fortuna Waterfalls and tropical gardens.  We were picked up at 7:00am for our 3 hour drive to the Volcano.

 Once again, Danny stopped along the way so we could get our Costa Rica coffee fix at a place with jaw-dropping views, this time it was a coffee plantation.  We paid $16pp usd to enter the park and walked to the crater.  Unfortunately the ash was too thick for any decent photos.

Next we headed to the La Fortuna Waterfalls and tropical gardens.

 It was beautiful!  We were treated with tropical birds, frogs, lush greenery and huge waterfalls.

On the way home we once again stopped at a local cafe for dinner.  It was a small family owned roadside cafe and the food was perfect.  It was the end of another lovely day.

Costa Rica 2017 ~ Manuel Antonio National Park

We hired our drivers Danny of CostaRicaDrivers.com to handle all our transportation needs while in Costa Rica.  His company was highly recommended on Tripadvisor.    We signed up for two tours.

Our tour today was a full day at Manuel Antonio.  He picked us up at our San Jose hotel at 7:30am for our 3 hour drive to the park.   Along the way we made two stops.  The first was this lovely cafe for some delicious coffee with gorgeous views.

Our second stop was a place referred to as Crocodile River where we took some photos of these hungry guys.

We also purchased delicious Mango smoothies from roadside vendor.

Finally we arrived at the entrance to the park.  We were charged $16pp fees to enter.  The first hiking trail we took brought us to Playa Puerto Escondido Beach.  It was a difficult trail with lots of stairways built along the way.  At the end we were treated to this beautiful oasis.

The second trail we took brought us to Playa Espadilla Sur Beach.  It was short and ended at another beautiful beach.

There were changing room facilities and picnic tables for those who didn't mind the local pickpockets trying to steal their food and backpacks.

 These local residents were experts at stealing bags left unattended.


After a refreshing swim in the beautifully clean water, we hiked back to the entrance of the park where Danny was waiting for us.  We stopped for dinner at a local restaurant recommended by Danny.

The meal was as delicious as the views.

Finally we began the 3 hour drive back to our hotel.  It was a wonderful experience!

Costa Rica 2017 - Our Room

We booked our stay at the Hilton Garden Inn in San Juan with points.  Our free hotel even includes a full made-to-order breakfast each morning!

The views of San Jose from the balcony of our corner room on the 17th floor of our hotel room taken our first night.

The hotel pool from our balcony 

Costa Rica 2017 - Getting There

Free Airfare

We are lucky to have a Southwest Companion Pass for all of 2017, which means a companion can fly free with me, making our flights free for both us since I'm using points.  Choosing Southwest for our flights was a no-brainer.

We connected from New Orleans to Houston Lobby to San Jose.  We liked the easy friendly people we encountered at Houston Hobby.  The airport was not as hectic & crowded as other airports. Very Clean!

We hired a private driver (CostaRicaDriver.com) to drive us from the airport to the hotel. After we collected our luggage and cleared customs we headed out to the taxi area where Felix & Christian were waiting for us holding a sign with our names.

They deposited us at the door of our hotel 20 within 20 minutes.

Universal Studios Orlando - Mardi Gras 2017

We had a wonderful girls trip to Universal Studios Orlando.  The four of us (grown daughter, 2 granddaughters & myself), were also celebrating my Older granddaughter Brooke's 18th Birthday and senior year of high school, my younger granddaughter's last year of elementary school before she graduates to Middle School and my only daughter's 38th birthday.  Since my older granddaughter leaves for college in the fall, it will become increasingly more difficult to plan these trips together.

We have been to Disney & Universal numerous times during the last 10 years but the last time the four of us visited the parks at the same times was Mardi Gras 2008.  WOW! They have grown into beautiful women!

We chose to stay at an on-site hotel this time, Cabana Bay Beach Resort.  The complimentary shuttle service from hotel to the park made our stay convenient.  Once we parked our car, it didn't move until we were ready to leave.  It also gave us the additional benefit of early entrance to park, giving us  an opportunity to ride the popular Harry Potter ride a few times each day before the wait times became too long. If Harry Potter is not high on your list of priorities, I would stay off site.

The Cabana Bay Beach Resort was very nice.  We had a poolside room with a wonderful view of the enormous water/pool areas.  The pool included sandy beach areas and a lazy river.  I was a little disappointed there wasn't a hot tub :(  The restaurant setup was very similar to the Disney resorts, including the food choices and the optional refillable mugs for purchase.  The refillable mug could only be used at the resort.  A separate mug had to be purchased at the amusement park if you wanted soda.  Our favorite food choices at the resort was the pizza, salad bar and Starbucks.

Things I would do differently:

• I don't know if I would stay on the grounds again, the benefits are not as great as Disney.  
• I would pack sandwiches for lunch.  My girls are picky eaters and weren't thrilled with the quick service choices
• 2 days were enough, we should have used the 3rd day at Disney.

Romantic weekend Orange Beach

Hubby and I spent two nights at Orange Beach, Alabama over Valentines weekend 2017.  We checked in and were treated to absolutely beautiful weather both days.  We quickly settled into our room while drooling at the beautiful beach below.

We had drinks & s light lunch at LuLu's while watching the Sunday afternoon boaters pass by.

It was nice to see the beach without the beach chair rentals normally lined up and down the area.  As we took several long walks, we found the sand sprinkled with colorful seashells and sand dollars.

At the end of the evening we were treated with amazing sunsets.

At night we turned off the a/c and opened the balcony door, it was breezy and the sounds of the waves lulled us to sleep.

We began each morning with a sunrise walk along the beach while searching for new treasures.  

We found more sand dollars than I have ever seen.

For lunch on our last day, we ate at Duck's Diner.  We both ordered Salisbury steak, with mashed potatoes, purple hull peas, greens, cornbread and sweet tea. It was delicious! We will return.

Romance in Orange Beach

We have a wonderful two night trip planned in Orange Beach, Alabama.  We will be staying at the Hampton Inn directly on the Gulf of Mexico.  Stay tuned for upcoming reviews!