Life's Sweet Journey: Travels
Showing posts with label Travels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travels. Show all posts

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Is Snowmobiling in Yellowstone Worth the Cost?

Are you looking to snowmobile in Yellowstone? Here are a few things to consider.

Snowmobiling in Yellowstone

When we were in Big Sky Montana for a ski trip, we took one day for an excursion and did a snowmobiling tour in Yellowstone National Park with Two Top Vacations. To be honest, after visiting Yellowstone in the summer, I wasn't sure a winter snowmobile tour of Yellowstone would be worth the cost. If you are looking for things to do in Montana this winter, this post breaks down what you need to know if you are thinking of snowmobiling in Yellowstone, as well as if it is worth the cost or not.

Yellowstone National Park in Winter

Winter in Yellowstone
Winter in Yellowstone


Yellowstone is a completely different world in the winter, so even if you have been in the park in the summer your experience will be entirely new. The park is open to the public, but unlike the summer it is not as easy to get in - though you won’t be fighting crowds like other times of the year, there are some things you need to know if you are going to visit Yellowstone National Park in winter.

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

7 Tips and Tricks for Visiting Yellowstone National Park in June

Yellowstone is a stunningly beautiful national park! With last week being National Park Week, I finally got around to putting together our video from our time in Yellowstone National Park in 2018. Babe and I both agreed that it is, so far, the best national park we have visited. The scenery is out of this world, and it’s so easy to navigate, but there are other reasons to visit Yellowstone. Everyone has heard of Old Faithful, and the park definitely gets crowded with people coming to see it, but there are some easy ways to make sure your experience is a great one! Here are 7 tips and tricks for visiting Yellowstone National Park in June…

Tips and Tricks for Yellowstone National Park

Tips and Tricks for Yellowstone Eagle Creek Campground
Tips and Tricks for Visiting Yellowstone National Park
First photo: Eagle Creek Campground View from hiking trail \\ Second Photo: Our Eagle Creek Campsite


Where to Stay: Gardiner, Montana (Yellowstone North Entrance)

We heard that the West Yellowstone entrance gets super crowded, especially the closer you get to summer. Make plans to stay just outside the North Entrance to Yellowstone. We stayed at Eagle Creek Campground. This beautiful campground is up on a hill, overlooking Gardiner, Montana, and the north entrance to the park. For only $7 a night we had a campsite all to ourselves. There are no hookups, but there are bathrooms to use if you are planning to tent camp. We had our RV and were able to secure a spot right near the front of the campground. Be sure to try to get there early in the day as Eagle Creek Campground can fill up quickly. The host is very accomodating and tried to make room for people without also overcrowding sites, but if you want to ensure you have a spot, it’s best to set up BEFORE you head into Yellowstone National Park. The town of Gardiner is super cute and offers options for dining and shopping, so you can grab a bite to eat to get set for a day of exploring.

Thursday, January 28, 2021

How to Take Your Own Couple & Solo Travel Photos

Need to know how to take your own couple or solo travel photos? Here's how!


Getting your own couple (or solo) travel photos is actually pretty easy. This little photo hack has also saved us a lot of frustration, as Babe used to get really annoyed with the amount of time it could take to get a picture. You know the drill; set the photo timer, try to beat the clock, only to realize one of us was blinking or had dropped their smile. It usually ended in "gah, we don't need a photo! Do we really have to take another one?" So you're left with forced smiles and the memory of pulling teeth. Here's how we take our own travel photos as a couple, without asking anyone for help, using time-lapse mode: 

How to Take your Own Couple or Solo Travel Photos



You can watch the video above for a quick tutorial or follow these 6 easy steps for taking your own couple travel photos!

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Grand Canyon RV Tips for Booking Trailer Village RV Park Last Minute

Another post a few years in the making, but I'm going to stop calling myself a broken record and say that's just life this days, so here we go. When we were on the road we mostly flew by the seat of our pants, which is how we liked it, but there are a few places where it is hard to do that and the Grand Canyon is one of them! We did know this, but unfortunately did not know the exact dates for when we would be hitting the Grand Canyon until maybe a month before we hit it. That really didn't give us a lot of time to plan our stay at Trailer Village, but we did learn a few tips for booking Trailer Village RV park last minute.  We knew we were going to take 3 full days off of teaching, because we weren't sure what the wifi situation would be like when we got to the park and knew we wouldn't be able to find other accommodations as Trailer Village RV Park is the only full-hookup RV park within Grand Canyon National Park. We almost didn't score the days we wanted with such last a minute booking window, but we made it work and here's how: 

Tips for Booking Grand Canyon RV Spots Last Minute

 

Stalk the Website! 

Once we found our dates we knew when we would hit the Grand Canyon area I basically lived on the Trailer Village RV Park website. At first there was nothing, a downside to trying to book any RV site last minute, but especially true for Trailer Village.

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Tour Antelope Canyon Free by Water in Page Arizona

Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona is a beautiful spot to explore!

These slot canyons will make you feel like you have walked onto another planet, however, the tours into lower Antelope Canyon can be expensive, are hard to get last minute and are usually very crowded. We opted for an alternate route into Antelope Canyon. We were able to tour Antelope Canyon for free, by accessing it from Lake Powell with the help of our inflatable stand-ups!

Our Antelope Canyon Tour via Lake Powell


You can see a more detailed view of the route we took into Antelope Canyon in the video above, but the easiest way to get there from the water is to head to Antelope Point Launch Ramp off of Lake Powell. This is a public boat launch, however, there is a gate fee to access the area. The cost for that is $30 per vehicle. From there you head straight to go to the Antelope Point Launch Ramp. Turning off to the right would take you to the marina.

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

August Currently Amazon Finds for Eliminating Single Use Plastics

A new month, another link up with Anne
Here's what August is looking like currently... 

{Choosing} To be more mindful about what I am putting in my body and on my skin! I have slowly started to incorporate more organic skin care products into my mostly non-existent routine. I don't do much, but have started using an organic Argon oil as an evening moisturizer and just picked up some organic mascara from our health food store. I am also trying to cut back on processed foods. I had been doing this a little bit before we went on our annual Aunt Mel and Uncle Andrew trip with the kiddos and fell WAY OFF the wagon by just consuming all the foods we were giving the kids. I felt so sluggish, my body wasn't functioning as well as it had been (if you catch my drift) and it only stirred my desire to try harder now that were back. 

{Consuming} Right now mostly fruits and veggies. Trying to have a protein shake for breakfast and a chicken wrap for lunch. We also stocked up on salad kits and I am trying to only drink on the weekends. We're two days in folks, send all the vibes! I can always convince myself that wine is just fermented fruit... haha

{Ordering} Finds for helping us lessen our usage of single use plastics! I have slowly been trying to find things that help us use less single use plastics like sandwich bags (which we use a lot of for some reason!). I have been a metal straw user for a long time, but with July being designated Plastic Free Month I tried to make an effort to start working on replacing more items to lower our single use plastic pile even more. Here are a few of the items I have gotten and loved: 
Products for Eliminating Single Use Plastic


Tomato Saver {$6.28}- I bought this for our tomatoes and am actually going to buy a second, because it's big enough to fit onions too! BPA-free and dishwasher safe!
Beeswax Wrap {$9.99}- I have actually been using bee's wrap for a while, but had left ours in the camper and forgot to grab it. Ordered some for the condo! I love all things bee and someday want to have my own hive, so this makes my heart happy. Plus, how cute is that print?! 
Metal Mermaid Straws {$3.99}- Also been using metal straws for a while now too, but loved these fun colored ones. It took my a little while to get used to, because I'm a straw chewer. I originally started with the ones with nibs, but the nibs kept sliding off because I would chew them and stretch them out. Now I'm purely metal only. Saving both my teeth and the plastic one nib at a time- haha! 

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Why You Need to VISIT IDAHO // A Travel Blogger Link Up

Soooo, it's only been a handful of months since I have managed to get a #TravelTuesday Link Up live, but here we are... thanks for being patient! 
Be sure to link all your adventures at the bottom of this post! 

I'm not actually going to write a lot this month, but am going to let our newest video from our time on the road speak for me. If you've never considered paying Idaho a visit, here are our favorite reasons why you need to change that...


Idaho truly is a spectacular state; from the stunning Shoshone Falls in southern Idaho to the rail trail ride on the Route of the Hiawatha in the north Idaho had so much to offer for any outdoor lover!

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Why Epcot International Festival of the Arts is the BEST Epcot Festival

Happy #TravelTuesday adventurers!! 
Where have you been exploring lately? 
Link up at the bottom of this post and let's travel together! 

Most of my travel posts are going to be getting a lot more ear-shapped this year, now that we have Disney World Annual Passes. We've been a handful of times in the last month and most of them have been spent at Epcot and that's all thanks to Epcot's International Festival of the Arts!! This is the third year that this specific festival has been hosted, but it's our first time attending and I must say I think it might be my favorite! 

If you had asked me before I attended I would have told you it was the Flower and Garden Festival (I prefer to spring food choices in comparison to Food and Wine), but I think the International Festival of the Arts just might have it beat and here's why: 

Reasons Epcot's International Festival of the Arts is the Best Epcot Festival


International Festival of the Arts The Best Epcot Festival

Interactive Exhibits 
I honestly think the interactive art exhibits is the main reason Festival of the Arts beats out the other Epcot Festivals in my opinion. I love the paint-by-number art wall! It makes you feel like you are truly apart of the Disney experience. The interactive photo spots are also so much fun! We have only done one so far, but plan to make a another visit before the festival ends so that we can hit up a few more. 

Thursday, January 10, 2019

5 Reasons to Visit Idaho

I am kicking off the year by sharing one of my favorite spots of 2018! After spending 7 months on the road, and traipsing through over 20 different states, you might be surprised to find that my favorite one was Idaho... yes, Idaho! I was just as shocked! We planned to drive through, spending one night in Idaho on the way out west and again on the way back east. Plans changed quickly and here's why... Though there are more, here are 5 reasons to visit Idaho.



5 Reasons to Visit Idaho


5 Reasons to Visit Idaho

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Favorite Ways to Travel in December || #TravelTuesday Link Up

Happy #TravelTuesday!! 
This month I am putting a holiday spin on things and sharing some of my favorite ways to travel during the holiday season! 
Be sure to link up your travels and adventures below! 

My Favorite Ways to Travel During December 


{Mountain Moments} This time last year we were bundled up and checking off one of my holiday bucket list items... seeing the Biltmore at Christmas!! It was all kinds of magical! We had even had a few snow flurries to make it even more of a winter wonderland! I had been to Biltmore Estate a few times before, but was always itching to see it decorated for the holidays. While the tickets are a little more expensive, it is so worth it! 



{Escape the Cold} While I think the mountains add the perfect holiday element to December, our favorite way to travel during the holidays is by boat! Two years ago we kicked off December in the middle of the ocean with a cruise on the Allure of the Seas. You would think that being from Florida we wouldn't mind a little bit of a chill in the air, but we love heading somewhere even more tropical. There is no better way to do that than with a cruise, especially during the holidays. We have cruised twice the week following Christmas and celebrated New Year's Eve on the high seas. We have also cruised during Thanksgiving. It's fun and festive, while still being warm enough to hang out in nothing but a bathing suit all day! 

What do you prefer to do for the holidays? 
Escape the cold or search out the best snow?! 

Where have you been lately?! 
Link up for this month's Travel Tuesday Link Up! 
Let's explore together!! 
#TravelTuesday Travel Blogger Link Up
~On the 2nd Tuesday of every month I will be sharing a new travel post and would love to see where you have been exploring!
~Any linked posts will be pinned under Travel Tuesday on my Pinterest account. 
~Please leave a little love on the post directly before yours and then anywhere else you like! That way we can all grow this community together :) 
~Not many other rules, as I am not a huge fan of those sorts of things! Just add any travel related link and I encourage you to peek around and see where everyone else has been. 
~Feel free to grab the image from the sidebar and add it to your post so others know where to link up.
~I will also be featuring my favorite post from the month before and sharing across social media. This month I'm traveling vicariously through Intentional Travelers and their trip to Jerico, Colombia. The hiking looks amazing and I love how they immersed themselves in the local culture! 
Travel Blogger Link Up


Friday, May 25, 2018

Can you Hike The Narrows in Chacos? Zion National Park, St. George KOA and Other Life Tidbits

We may have some changes coming our way (more on that soon), but for now we are spending a little less time on the blog and RoadTalk videos and more time soaking in all of the road life that we can. I had all these huge plans to share new videos from our time in Zion and the Grand Canyon (basically the same thing I said last week lol), but those will have to wait for another time! Instead here's a little peek at life lately: including our time in Zion and hiking The Narrows in Chacos. Yes, it can be done!

Instead I figured I would share just a little peek at what life has looked like lately; so here's a little 5 on Friday fun! 

Can You Hike the Narrows in Chacos? Grand Canyon


One || Grand Canyon

We got SUPER lucky with this one! When we were on the eastern side of the US we were having no issues finding spots to park. Even if one campground happened to be booked (which wasn't often), there would be another not far away that had availability. NOT the case with the western half of the US of A! To stay even near the Grand Canyon (on the outskirts) meant still being a good bit away from the canyon itself. We really wanted to stay in the heart of the park! We had a window of three days that were open on the website and within the amount of time it took us to verify that those days worked for our schedule (and check to see if we would be able to get a cell signal strong enough the teach from) they were gone. We tried calling; no luck. We waited a day and, miracles-of-miracles, we were able to secure two days at one price and then a third day (in a row), that had to be booked separately at a different price. It was a lot of work to get us there, but boy did it pan out?! The Grand Canyon truly is GRAND!! We had been out west for a while once we planned this and were thinking, "will it really be that much more grand then the canyons and cliffs we have been seeing?!" IT WAS!! 

Related Post: Tips for Booking Grand Canyon RV Sites Last Minute


Friday, May 18, 2018

Things to Do and Where to Eat in Kanab, Utah

Happy Friday Friends! 

I am sooo behind on sharing, I don't even know what to begin with. We explored Zion, we've visited Grand Canyon National Park, and hit up spots in between. I am working on our national park videos and will have those ready to share soon. Until then, I figured I would share our time in Kanab, Utah! 

We originally went to Kanab with the plan for it to be home base to explore both Zion and Bryce Canyon (which are each about an hour away); however, we quickly discovered that Kanab has a ton of awesomeness of it's own to offer. We ended up sticking close to Kanab for the week we were there, while we waited on a new AC to arrive for Delilah the Dream Machine

Here's a little peek at everything that Kanab has to offer: 
Kanab Utah Where to Eat Things to Do


Cave Exploring 

Kanab has a cave system, right off of Highway 89, that can be explored for free. There is also Moqui Cave, which is a cave turned museum that can be toured for a small fee. We walked into Moqui Cave, but decided not to pay and opted to try for the caves that can be explored on your own. Situated between Moqui Cave and the turn off for Best Friends Animals Sanctuary, you can't miss the outcropping of cave entrances situated about halfway up the cliffs. In order to access them you simply find a pull-off on the side of the ride and take a short trail to the base of the cliffs to make your way up and across. There is no designated spot telling you where to go up. Thanks to advice on the Outbound site, we knew to approach from the far left. Definitely heed this advice! Trying to scale the cliff face would be way too hard. You can get up the cliff easily from the left and then approach the cave entrances from the top. The Kanab caves were awesome! They were far deeper than I expected them to be and we were blown away by how beautiful it was! 

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Should you Book a Mesa Verde National Park Cliff Dwellings Tour?

This month I am sharing our time at Mesa Verde National Park!! We were there just over two weeks ago and had such a great time exploring the park and surrounding areas. A trip to Mesa Verde National Park is truly a trip back in time (and no, not just back to the 1980s, which is apparently the look I was going for that day; lol). If you plan to visit the park, but you may be wondering if you should book a Mesa Verde National Park cliff dwellings tours. Our vote would be yes, but there are a few tips and tricks.



Mesa Verde National Park is home to Pueblo cliff dwellings. Many of the original pueblo structures date back to 650 AD. These earlier dwellings can be found at the top of the cliffs and can be viewed by a drive through the park, with many stopping points to hit along the way. It wasn't until the early 1100s that they began building the dwellings inside the cliffs themselves. These pueblo cliff dwellings are some of the most well preserved dwellings still visited today. 

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

May Currently & a Giveaway

Happy May! 
Spring finally seems to be here. 
Being from Florida I am pretty much used to just about one season, but now that we are traveling full-time it has been so strange to experience this thing people call winter! 
Linking up for a May Currently! Here is a peek at our world right now:

{Celebrating} Adding a new state to our count; HELLO, UTAH!! And checking a big one off the bucket list... a post about our time at the Grand Canyon coming soon...

{Creating} A YouTube video from our time in Mesa Verde. I am running a bit behind this week and it's not up in time for Road Talk Tuesday, but you can catch last week's adventure in Grand Junction, Colorado! It was an awesome week filled with great hikes and yummy wine... 


We are so close to hitting 500 subs!! Will you be number 500?! We would love your support as we try to grow this little space!! 

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Spring Skiing at Steamboat Springs Resort and Old Town Hot Springs

Spring in Steamboat Springs, Colorado!  

We've been in Colorado for about two weeks now and are LOVING it! When a friend gifted us with free lift tickets to Steamboat we booked it northwest just as quick as we could! We are now further east (almost to Utah) in a town called Grand Junction and are enjoying the warmer days and gorgeous, other worldly (at least for these Florida-natives) hikes. We will be sharing those soon, but Steamboat Springs can't be passed up. Here's why we loved spring in Steamboat Springs so much...
Spring Skiing at Steamboat Springs Resort

Steamboat Springs Is Easily Accessible 

This was the first time driving hauling Delilah the Dream Machine up really high inclines, so we were very grateful that it's pretty easy to get into Steamboat from I-70! The resort was also so gracious and allowed us to park in their lot overnight, when we found out we wouldn't be able to stay at the state park we were planning on. This is not customary and probably won't work during busy season, but it never hurts to call and ask. We pulled into their overflow late after the runs were closed on Sunday, were able to walk to the gondola that took us to the top of the mountain to ski Monday, and we're gone once the slopes closed at the end of the day. 

Friday, March 30, 2018

6 Hours in St. Louis || Things to Do in St. Louis Missouri

Happy Friday!! I'm just over here singing... 
"Meet me in St. Louis, Loius, meet me at the fair; 
don't tell me the lights are shining any place but there." 
Anyone else's mom sing this to them as a lullaby?! No, just me?
Honestly, I have never seen the movie it came from, but I love Judy Garland so maybe I should. Anywho...

We had plans to head south through New Orleans and Texas, making a slow journey to Colorado. However, we decided to head to Colorado earlier than planned, to try get in some spring skiing, and started booking it west with the quickest route we could find. This route happen to lead us right through St. Louis and we were able to spend a day exploring the "Gateway to the West"! More accurately we were able to spend just 6 hours exploring it! We were staying at a state park about 45 minutes away from downtown St. Louis, and because we teach in the mornings, we weren't able to leave the camper until just before noon. 


We had originally only planned for two definite stops; the Gateway Arch and then do the Anheuser Busch Brewery tour and were going to spend the rest of our time stumbling across different spots and enjoying a long lunch somewhere. Well, that plan quickly changed when someone reminded us about the City Museum. So instead, we skipped lunch and crammed as much as we could into our 6 hour window. 

Friday, March 23, 2018

5 Reasons Cracker Barrel is a Full-Time RVers Boondocking Bestie

We did it!! 
We earned our boondocking in a parking lot badge! 
Ok, so as far as I know there are no actual full-time RV life badges, but there should be. 

Anyways, we spent this past Sunday night parked in a Cracker Barrel parking lot overnight and absolutely loved it!! I know what you might be thinking, "but, it's just a parking lot!" To me it is so much more. One, our night in the Cracker Barrel parking lot was our first night boondocking in Delilah the Dream Machine; two, the ambiance was actually perfect for a wonderful night's sleep. Here are 5 reasons we think boondocking at Cracker Barrel is an amazing component to full-time RV life.... 

Cracker Barrel for Full-Time Rvers


Cracker Barrel: The Bed and Breakfast for RVers

We actually ate two different meals at this specific Cracker Barrel. We pulled into the lot, after a long day of driving, and went in to grab dinner before tucking in for the night. We also made sure to introduce ourselves to the manager, just to let staff know we would be staying overnight. The staff was so hospitable and accommodating. The next morning, we woke up and went back in for a huge breakfast to fuel us for the next 6 hour leg of our trip out West. Cracker Barrel now offers specialty coffee beverages and we loved adding a little oomph to our coffee game with a caramel and mocha latte. 

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Full-Time RV Life: The Sad Truth || #TravelTuesday Travel Link Up

Happy #TravelTuesday!! 
Travel Blogger Link Up
I know, I know, but it's Thursday... 4 pm on Thursday. 
Well, y'all... life! Thanks for giving me some grace! 
Have fun travels to share? Adventures in your own backyard? 
Add them to the link up at the bottom of this post! 

This month's link up is a few days behind, because we have been crazy busy trying to pack up again and get on the road. We even gave ourselves an extra week in Orlando and it still wasn't enough time to get caught up with everyone! I have not had a minute to sit down and work on a post and probably should have just saved this one for today, but I wasn't really planning ahead, and then all of a sudden Tuesday came... and went. I did manage to get our Road Talk Tuesday video finished, so today that's all I really have to share. 


Friday, March 9, 2018

Full-Time RV Life || Nashville, Providence Canyon, and Micanopy

I feel like I have been saying this so often, but yet again we have been a little MIA around the blog. We returned to Florida for a wedding in St. Augustine last weekend and, because we were so close to Orlando, we made plans to come back and catch up with friends and family before hitting the road again. We were only planning to stay for a week, but there was so much to fit in (and soooo much laundry to get done) that we have ended up staying for two. We've been busy running errands, placing Amazon orders, and catching up with everyone that we have neglected to do much updating around these parts. I have a few minutes between the chaos today to play catch-up, so I figured I would share a little bit about the last few spots we hit up before rolling back into Orlando...


Nashville, Tennessee 

Full-Time RV Life | Where Have We Been


Thursday, January 18, 2018

Our Asheville Brewery Tour

Happy Thursday! 
This week it's been all about Asheville here on the blog and we kicked it off with some amazingly yummy food! Today's it is all about the boozy side of Asheville... come join us for our Asheville Brewery Tour! 

Asheville Brewery Tour

Babe and I have birthdays just two days apart, which we actually find pretty fun, because it means double the celebrating! We spent my birthday checking something off my bucket list (seeing the Biltmore at Christmas) and we spent his doing our own Asheville brewery tour . Asheville's brewery scene is hopping (pun intended)! There is practically a brewery on every corner. We chose five that were in pretty good proximity to each other and made a day out of it!