Lessons the snowbirds taught me
In our pursuit of traveling in warm weather during the winter, we’ve been living amongst the “snowbirds”- retired people who spend half the year in Arizona, then leave once the summer heat sets in. As we’ve spent the past couple weeks eating, camping and mingling with a generation that primarily grew up between the Korean and Vietnam wars, I’ve been reminded of FIVE important life lessons. Read more…
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Exploring the Grand Canyon without the family
Some of the biggest lessons I’m learning this year are to be fluid and flexible. I’m putting more focus on my intuition than in my pre-planned schedule. I used to think that an attitude of “going where the wind blows” would drive me crazy, but in reality, I’m realizing that it’s contributing to some of the beautiful moments of this trip. Now I approach our itinerary with a loose outline of where to go and what to do each week, and allow the schedule to be adjusted daily as needed.
This has made all the difference in our journey.
For instance, while in Flagstaff we’d planned on going up to the Grand Canyon for a day
Tips on How To Fund Your Travels
Our daily encounters with people will invariably lead to talks of our lifestyle of full-time travel around the U.S. as a family. It’s usually followed by our new acquaintance saying some variation of the comment, “I wish I could do that, but I don’t have the time or money.” Yesterday Dino quickly answered back, “Then you never will.”
At first I was startled by his response, but once it sunk in, I saw how profound it was. I don’t think there’s a traveler out there who “found” a pile of time or money- they created it. And so can you.
People tend to be more concerned with how to find the money, than the time, so here’s a few tips to show you how numerous travelers like us have created the funds to travel frequently, and in some cases, indefinitely.
How can you pay for your next travel adventure?
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Road Trip Tips for Traveling with Kids
10 Reasons to Travel NOW with your Kids
Disneyland Holiday Time saving Tips: Part 2
Fun with the Flintstones
During my solo day of travel, I drove up to the Grand Canyon to capture it during sunrise. On my way back home, I happened upon a curious attraction off the side of the road. The sign said “Welcome to Bedrock City”, and I recognized the character, Fred Flintstone, from my childhood cartoons. I immediately turned in to investigate what this was all about.
As I pulled into the nearly empty parking lot, I couldn’t help but smile at the nostalgic scene before me. Somebody, several years ago, put a lot of effort into recreating the Flintstones TV show, into a real place to visit.
I parked and went inside to check it out. The nice clerk told me a little history of the place, and how it was built over 20 years ago. In it’s heyday there were tens of thousands of visitors every summer. Now, the family owned business struggles to stay open. She was a sweet lady, and waived the $5 entrance fee so I could take a quick sneak peek of the infamous Bedrock City.
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3-2-1 LAUNCH!
St. Louis Gateway Arch
The Sutro Bath Ruins of San Francisco
Our visit to the enchanting Hearst Castle
The Neon Boneyard Museum
While in Vegas for a blogger conference, we were determined to find something G-rated to do in “Sin City” as a family. I’ve always wanted to go to the Neon Boneyard and photograph the vintage signs. We reserved a tour and were on our way.
The building itself is a historical structure. A famous hotel lobby, La Concha, was pulled apart and relocated here to become the museum. It sets the theme for the vintage feel, and they even restored the hotel’s sign and put it in the Museum’s registration area.
While we waited for our tour guide, we were able to watch some interactive videos about the Vegas strip in it’s early years.
Once outside we had a great time photographing the 2 acres of signs. The girls have been getting really good at their photography, so this field trip was interesting to them as well. They got to stretch themselves with the numerous backdrops, lighting choices, colors, etc.
Some of the signs were arranged on the ground so that the letters made words, which of course, made great photo ops!
The Tour Guide gave us great info and back story to the signs history, why things changed, the symbolism of the art work, etc. It was definitely worth our time to take the tour.
Vintage Tropicana Hotel sign
The classic Sahara hotel
If you’re in the Vegas area, I encourage you to check out the NEON MUSEUM. You’ll be glad you did!
The Color Run= a Day of Fun!
Dubbed the “happiest 5K on the planet” we head to the Color Run in Slat Lake City. Having fun, getting dirty, dancing with the crazy crowd and, oh yeah, exercising too, join them as they party it up with 1000′s of their new friends.
Before the race started
Once the run is over, the fun isn’t. The party is just getting started. The stage is ready for dancers, more chalk thrown, and good times for at least another hour.
After running, dancing and playing all morning, here’s proof that it was a fun day!
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Road Trip Tips for Traveling with Kids
Going on a Road Trip soon?
Here’s some ideas on how to pass the time
One of my favorite aspects of family travel is the time we get to spend together in the truck when we travel between destinations. Technology has transformed road trip activities since I was a kid. While we are well equipped with iPads, iPods, cell phones, laptops, and almost every other electronic to keep our teens entertained and not asking, “Are we there yet?” I’m actually trying to limit the amount of time they are “plugged in” while we are on the road.
It would be easy to let each kid use an electronic device to escape into their own private world, and not interact until we arrive at the next stop, but this trip is about more than just the destinations we are getting to. It’s mainly about the family time and connections we can create while spending this time together.
Here are a few ways that we attempt to navigate the road without the kids being lost in their own “electronic bubble”.
1. Turn off & talk The times we turn off the radio and strike up a conversation with the kids have been so rewarding. The silence gives us the opportunity to ask questions about what they’re learning-thinking-feeling about a variety of topics. Sometimes they’ll ask us questions about our childhood, etc. We’ve had some great discussions that I’m not sure we would’ve had otherwise if we weren’t spending this much time in a vehicle together. Every time you are in a car with your children is an opportunity to connect.
For the rest of my tips CLICK HERE
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10 Reasons to Travel NOW with your Kids
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Our Hot Air Balloon Flight with Bruce Sidlinger
While visiting the Lake Havasu Balloon Fest in Arizona, Avery and Shannon got a chance to go up in a hot air balloon with pilot, Bruce Sidlinger.
As you’ll see in the video, the wind immediately swept them over the lake towards the California border. A boat came over to tow them back to the Arizona side.
They flew over the marina to the London Bridge, intermingling with dozens of balloons before landing in the middle of a baseball field.
This was a 2 hour journey we won’t soon forget!
(video courtesy of Bruce Sidlinger)
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AZ to CA in 91 Seconds…
Flying High at Lake Havasu Balloon Fest
Photo a Day- Lake Havasu Balloon Fest
Watt Family Top Travel Adventures- Part 1: Moab Utah
Flying High at Lake Havasu Balloon Fest
In our travels we get to meet some really great people. This week at the Havasu Balloon Festival we had the privilege of meeting Bruce Sidlinger and Dave and Kathy Reineke. These are just two quick videos I made for them both for being so kind as to take Shannon, Avery, Hannah and I up in their balloons during the Havasu Balloon Festival. What a treat. Thank you both.
For Shannon and I it brought back many memories from when I asked her to marry me in a hot air balloon over 18 years ago.
Have you ever been in a balloon? Would you like to?
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Photo a Day- Lake Havasu Balloon Fest
Our Hot Air Balloon Flight with Bruce Sidlinger
AZ to CA in 91 Seconds…
Elephant Seals of San Simeon California
One of my favorite parts about traveling is that you can wake up with an idea of what you want to do that day, but often opportunities come along during the day that will alter your plans and expose you to things you had never considered just hours before. Recently this happened while we were in San Simeon, California visiting Hearst Castle. You can read about the castle visit HERE.
Our contact at Hearst Castle encouraged us to make time in our schedule to visit the Elephant Seals as this is their migration period, and their resting spot is only a few miles down the road. Always up for a spontaneous adventure, we decided to stop by once we left the castle tour. I had no idea at the time that this would become the highlight of my already fantastic day.
We arrived at the dirt parking lot along the side of the Pacific Coast Highway that marks the Elephant Seal’s sanctuary. We weren’t sure what to expect, or how close we could get to the massive creatures, but luckily for us, there were some docents eager to answer our questions. These sweet retired men volunteer weekly to monitor the public to make sure no one harasses the seals or crosses the fence line, and to answer questions from curious tourists. You can see our video interview with them HERE
We were eager to get a glimpse of the seals so we headed down the pathway towards the beach. Quickly we spotted clusters of females, huddled together on the sand. Many had newborn pups at their side, but the majority of them were in their last days of pregnancy, and were patiently awaiting the arrival of their babies any day now.
The beach was littered with a few hundred seals, but the docents assured us that within a few weeks there would be several thousand squished onto this narrow strip of sand. This is the only place in North America where elephant seals migrate down from northern waters to birth their pups, wean them in only a month, and then breed again before returning to the sea. This cycle happens in a very short time, so over the next three months, over 17,000 seals will visit this one small beach.
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Our visit to the enchanting Hearst Castle
How we do Christmas on the Road as a Traveling Family
The Sutro Bath Ruins of San Francisco
What’s new at the Denver Zoo
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