Summer in Utah

Things I did in Utah this summer:
1. Took my elementary school friends from Texas to Delicate Arch
2.Went to Canyon lands National Park- visited Upheaval Dome and Island in the Sky (AH-MAZING, definitely a must see if you are anywhere near Moab.
 3. Hiked to the summit of Box Elder Peak. A quick summary: OUCH, crazy steep hills, bruised toes, brilliant views of the valley.

In other news, 1 month until we are off to Hawaii! Have you been? I want to hear all about it and what you got up to.

Ocean Beach, So Cal

Once again Mike and I have been charmed by the SoCal lifestyle. We're lured by the beach and the warmth and the general relaxed feeling of all the people who live here. Being in California always starts a conversation about moving for us. How? When? This was our second time in the San Diego area, the first was about 3 years ago. This time we stayed in Ocean Beach, affectionately called OB. This places is packed with hippies, surfers and dogs.

Ocean beach lacks commercialization. There are no chain restaurants and all of the restaurants and shops are local.  A smell of nag champa lingers in the air and I saw more VW buses than imaginable.  I would absolutely go back again.

If you're in the area here are a few things we enjoyed doing:

-"Beer Flights" at the Olive Tree Tasting Room. They also offer small cheese and meat plates that were amazing (dried figs, honey, sourdough bread, aged gouda to name a few things).

-Tasty Pizza at Pizza Port- also, amazing craft beer selection. I had the California Honey and we ordered the Carlsbad pizza.

-Eating way too big of a burger at Hodad's and being seriously impressed with their bacon. Quite frankly it was like...brisket bacon? Just try it, don't ask questions. Protip: Don't wait in the crazy line. Walk right in, order to-go and go eat on the beach. It's WAY faster.

-Being shocked by how big 1 scoop of ice cream is at Lighthouse Creamery (okay, maybe I just don't eat ice cream very often and don't know anything...just saying)

-Watching the Arsenal game at the Harp Bar...okay mostly Mike did this and I watched about 15 minutes of it, BUT...they do open at like 4:30 AM for die-hard premiere league fans.

-Eating weird/delicious coconut tapioca at The Warehouse.  The antique decor here will keep you entertained.

-THE BEST FISH TACOS EVER at Oscar's...this is in the neighboring town of Pacific Beach/La Jolla but you absolutely have to go their and eat as many tacos as possible because they are out of control good.

Mom

Before this summer, the last time I saw my mom I was about 4 years old.  I don't remember many details, but I remember her sneaking into the room I was staying in at her house in the wee hours of the morning, crawling into bed with me and holding me.  It felt like love and loss.

My parents met and married in *****. My mom is ****** and my dad was a linguist in the army. I guess their story is fairly typical: ****** woman marries American man in the military. I've heard it so many times before.  My parents didn't stay together very long. He left with a toddler in tow, divorced my mom and got sole custody of me.

When I was growing up my mom was something of my imagination. She was a woman who sent me presents in the mail, maybe the occasional card. But she didn't really know anything about me.  For a while, she called.  But eventually the calls stopped, the cards and presents stopped and she became even more elusive to me.

The past few years I have been speaking with my mom on the phone. Before that there was about a decade long gap where I hadn't heard a peep out of her. It took me a very long time to get to the point where I wasn't sad or angry with her for leaving me. I still can't completely understand it, but it isn't something that gives me pain anymore.

My mom remarried a man in the air force. They've been together ever since and from what I can tell they seem really happy. I am happy for her. Her husband has a daughter my age from another relationship who lives with her mom. My mom has two children with her husband, boys. They don't know that their mom and dad both have kids from previous relationships.  It's a secret. And this is the number one reason why my mom hasn't come to see me, because she would have to explain.

My brothers are both in their teens. They are old enough to accept that their parent's aren't perfect. I have heard too many times that they will be told eventually. Their parents want to wait until they're old enough.  I worry though.  How will they ever be able to trust their parents again? My mom talks about retiring in Florida and having all of the kids stay with them. I indulge her, but right now it's so difficult to believe that anything close to that will ever be reality.

I wonder about the other daughter. Does she know about me? Does she want to meet me?  I want to meet her, but I don't ask because I don't want to alienate my mom and destroy the fragile relationship we have.

Mike and I met my mom at a restaurant in Maryland for lunch. When we got there I explained to him that I didn't know what she looked like.  You don't know what your mom looks like?  He was puzzled.  I had pictures of her from when I was born, but faces change a lot in 20 years and I hadn't seen her in person that I could really remember.

Our first encounter in so many years was surprisingly casual. We hugged and she said I was shorter than what she had imagined...she was shorter than what I had imagined too.  I felt silly for being nervous.  My mom is terribly charismatic, she laughs at her own jokes and is incredibly easy to talk with.  As we sat there we coyly studied each others faces.  Just looking, she would say.



Meeting my mom as an adult was an incredible experience.  I wouldn't say that I am any closer to understanding the reasons why she's hidden me from her other children. For a moment I thought that maybe seeing me would make me more real to her, something that couldn't be hidden as easily.  Maybe that's blind hope, I don't know. After all these years I have no expectations of her. It's possible that things could change and I hold onto that hope for the future.


(Please excuse the asterisks, but I am having a fraud scare and need to protect the location of where I was born)

Remaining days in NYC

NYC Checklist

1. Central Park

2. Lots of Shopping 

3. New York Public Library

4. Walk ALL over the freaking place 

5. Eat Halal food from one of those street vendors...definitely eat the white sauce (sounds weird, I know)

6.Arsenal v. Red Bulls Game 

7. PIZZA

8. Jazz 55 Bar, go early it's tiny and gets packed

Logistics

Okay, here's the boring post with the numbers and the explanations and all that other good stuff.

Flight:

A nice trick to getting a cheaper flight, especially if you are booking a multi-destination flight is to buy two one-way tickets. Since we were booking from SLC>NYC and DC>SLC and booking a multi-destination flight was crazy expensive we did just that.

I always keep a number in my head of my hard line on spending for a flight, the absolute most I will spend on a flight without thinking it's ridiculous. Make sure it's a reasonable number, otherwise you might be in for disappointment. For us, and this trip, we both wanted to be under $500. Another good thing about buying two one-way tickets is that you can give yourself time between purchasing and you don't get hit in the wallet all at once.

So, away we went to Kayak to search. This can take days, don't get discouraged and don't buy right away unless it's a killer deal and you absolutely won't find better.  If you are going to a big city with a ton of close by airports be willing to fly into any of them to get a better deal. With most travel search engines you can check flights into nearby airports as well. For instance, flying out of Washington, D.C. I looked at flights leaving from Baltimore since that is also close by.

Anyway, with that strategy this is where we ended up:
To NYC-
Route:
SLC>IAH (Houston)
IAH>LGA (New York City, LaGuardia)
Airline: United
Cost per Ticket: $184.50 (including taxes and fees)

Returning from DC-
Route:
DCA>PHX (Phoenix)
PHX>SLC
Airline: US Airways
Cost per Ticket: $172 (including taxes and fees)

Grand Total: $356.50!! (I was pretty happy)

Oh yes, something I found myself hitting Google up for was cost of Taxi from the airport to the financial district: $32. Although, we arrived around 10 PM and the traffic was light. Also, if you're not in a hurry you can also take the subway.

Train:

OKay, so...maybe you're now wondering how we got from NYC to DC?

We took a train! Which was way more comfortable than any greyhound bus I have ever been on. Supposedly it's faster and involves less traffic too. If you book early, "Saver tickets" were $49. They go fast, book early!

All I have to say about the train experience is that I would definitely do it again. Way more leg room, way more space to put your stuff and it smells better. If you are able to, bring a blanket because brrrrrrr it was freezing in there. Also, there's a food car so you can eat and drink tasty things while you envision your journey to Hogwarts or whatever.

Hotel:

Because I have family in Virginia we stayed there for free, but in New York we had to book a hotel. And let me tell you, it's crazy expensive. Normally the first thing that we look at is hostels. I know that here in the US they have a bad rap, but Mike and I have had some really good experiences and you aren't going to be spending your whole time in a room while you're traveling so does it really matter if you have the nicest hotel in the city?

We found out pretty quickly that Hostels in NYC are not all that cheap. Especially when you're travelling with 3 people. It was around the same price for us to split nice hotel room so we looked around and ended up in the Hilton Millennium in the Financial District. For the time we were travelling it was going to be about $180-200 per person for the 3 nights at a hostel. We ended up paying $220 each to stay at the Hilton, so we went for that option.



What are your tips/tricks for spending less on travel? Let me know!

Day 1: Things Said

Hello there!

One day I might actually get Mike to use this blog. For now, you're stuck with me!

Day one was pretty much just flights and then a late night arrival in the big apple...BUT...I sat behind a father with his two toddler travelling without mom and there were definitely some hilarious things said that I have to share with you.

IAH>LGA

Most of these things were said because the dad was worried that the girls would make a lot of noise and disturb other passengers.

"We're still gonna party, just not that hard. Alright ladies?"

"Keep it cool, come on...we're the coolest people here!"

And then unfortunately...

"Did you just let air out of your butt butt?"

One of them totally did.

The other interesting thing about this flight was that I sat next to a 12 year old from a tiny town in Idaho who was going to a NYC for the first time. I love kids because everything is so new and exciting for them. As we got close to landing she was glued to the window and kept pointing at things and asking what they were. I wished it wasn't so dark outside so that she could see the New York City skyline from above, but I almost wonder if all the twinkling lights made it more magical.

What was the best/worst flight experience you have ever had? Did you sit next to somebody interesting? 

Hey there!

I am SO excited that it's almost time to be in NYC!

Train tickets, hotels and cars have all been booked and reserved!

Now I Just have to survive work until Thursday :)

2012 Mexico

Things I love about Mexico (this could get out of hand):

-Amazing food

-Very friendly people. Have you noticed how everybody is always having fun in Mexico? 

-White sand beaches in the Riviera Maya

-Ruins galore! 

-Ruins ON white sand beaches!!!!

-Colonial Spanish Architecture

-Drinking cafe con leche in a zocalo/plaza de armas

-Tequila!!!!!!! 

-Jungle/Jungle noises (hello howler monkeys, yes I do hear you at 3 in the morning going crazy in the trees outside of my tent) 

-Basically just everything

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Please bare with me in my horrible food picture taking skills! If anybody has tips, please share...like, how do you get that perfect lighting??? 

Anyway, I cook a lot of soup. Mostly because it's super easy and the ingredients are cheap. I'm a vegetarian and most soups can be easily modified to be veg-friendly which is also a plus.


I got this recipe from Martha Stewart at her website here and really didn't modify anything other than the type of stock.

Things you will need: 

·         2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
·         1 onion, chopped
·         2 cloves garlic, sliced
·         Pinch red-pepper flakes
·         4 red bell peppers, roasted and quartered
·         3 cups vegetable stock
·         Coarse salt

I like to cook soups in a enamel cast iron pot, it heats really evenly and it's really hard to burn things unless you are scorching them. Clean up is pretty great too! 

What to do: 

Slice peppers and roast in oven until soft and slightly charred. Make sure to flip frequently to get an even roasting. Spraying with olive oil helps prevent sticking.

In pot, heat oil. Add onion, garlic, and red-pepper flakes and cook until soft. Add roasted peppers and stock. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer. Let cool slightly, then puree in a blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. 

Mike's mom gave me a hand blender last year. If you make a lot of soups this is seriously a life saver, just don't burn yourself! 

Waiting

Well, we're off to NYC and DC in a couple of weeks time and I could not be more excited! Unfortunately, that usually means that we stick close to home and save up our paid time off hours for our trip. Oh, the trials of being an adult! Basically this means that we (okay, maybe just me) sit at home watching Netflix or indulge our dog by going up canyons and dog parks.

Lately, it's been the latter.

The last weekend of June was a friend's birthday, which means an annual camping trip. We hit I-80 west and headed out to the Uintas! It was absolutely gorgeous. There are small, pristine lakes in every nook and cranny created by the mountains. 

This 4th of July weekend we headed up American Fork Canyon to Silver Lake. It was amazing and is so close to home, I really love having all these canyons within 30 minute drive. 

Which brings me to.....America the Beautiful pass! This is the best thing ever to have if you live in Utah and you go out into the wilderness lots. Why? I'm glad you asked!  Because this sweet little pass gets you into Federal Recreation sites including National Parks and National forests. We use ours all the time and we've had one every year for the past 3 years. You also usually get a discount for using camp sites. It's $80 per year, but if you are military (including dependents) or a senior citizen you get a free or discounted pass. We are planning on taking ours to DC (hello White House, hello Washington Monument).  Honestly, if you find yourself going to a lot of federal recreation sites than this pass pretty much pays for itself. Some of these places cost $15-25 to get into people!

Big Apple

Hi!  First off, weather has been insane here in Utah! Snow in June? Completely wrong.  

Secondly, traveler plans for us in the next little while are pretty light until the end of July which is when we will be off to New York City! We're planning on being there for about 3 days and then we will be hopping on a train or bus down to Washington D.C. to go visit some of my family for a couple of days.  I'm just a little bit excited!

I hope your summer is nice and warm and you're not wearing a sweater in June like I am. 

Safe travels,

Renee

Bear Lake

Here in Utah, we are obsessed with bear lake. 

To be honest, I had never been until last year and I've been here for 7 or so years now. I get it though. It is very charming. The water is this crystal clear blue, almost as if you were in the Caribbean, but surrounded by hills and mountains on all sides. 

This time, we mostly went for our dog. He loves to swim and bear lake is close enough to make a quick overnight trip. Plus, bear lake is more dog friendly than other places we were thinking of going. Has anybody taken their dog to strawberry reservoir? How did it go? Anyway... Some beaches don't allow dogs, but if you drive to the east side of the lake, the part that is still Utah, you can easily find a good spot. 

The nice part of going right before summer starts is that we didn't have to make a reservation before we went. The bad part is that the water is freezing! Mike and our dog, Cusco, didn't seem to mind though!

If you are from Utah or Idaho I hope you get to enjoy Bear Lake this year!

Make sure to bring mosquito repellent and eat a raspberry shake!

Safe travels, 

Renee 

Peru II

Advice: When you see $420 airfare to South America it doesn't matter where you're going, just buy.  That's how we ended up in Peru for the second time.

Like most of South America, Peru is deeply religious and mostly catholic and we happened to be there during Easter. Let me tell you, it was insane. We arrived in Lima on April 16th and promptly ditched the city for a lovely Mountain town called Huaraz the next day. In Peru, and a lot of other Latin countries Easter is a week long celebration called Semana de Santa. Basically, every day there is music and dancing, good food and on Easter Sunday there is a crazy long procession of people carrying very intricate floats with the Virgin Mary and other religious figures. 

Huaraz is a charming little mountain town in between 2 very large mountain ranges: Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra. Our original intent was to go on a hike, but we checked the weather before we left and it said 99% chance of rain THE WHOLE TIME. Unfortunately, when we got there we realized that somebody controlling the weather app definitely owed us an explanation. 

We made it out to some ruins just outside of the city called Willkawain where we met a cute little llama and took some pictures of it (if you want to take a picture with anyone or anything expect to pay somebody for it). We paid about 50 soles round trip for a cab and he waited about 1 hour.  Honestly, the ruins aren't the most impressive in Peru, but it was a fun little side trip. If you are claustrophobic at all I wouldn't recommend it as there are a lot of small doors to climb through into small rooms and it's quite dark and confined.

(look at it's cute little fluffy bum!!!)

After Huaraz we ventured to the very, very charming city of Trujillo. Unfortunately our camera was stolen so I only have iPhone picks and didn't manage to get any while we were there. BUT, picture this: cobble stone streets and colorful Spanish colonial buildings EVERYWHERE. This city has, by far, the cleanest Plaza de Armas I have ever seen. Trujillo is definitely worth a visit. 

We very unexpectedly spent most of our time in a very small beach town called Huanchaco at a new hostel called La Gringa d'Sudamerica. La Gringa is on the south end of town and pretty much everything in this town is within walking distance. The owner, Julie, is there pretty much all the time; she speaks fluent Spanish and arranges tours to archaeological sites nearby. We went with her to El Brujo. 

View from our room at La Gringa

Traditional fishing boats line the beaches in Huanchaco

Common are at La Gringa

El Brujo was amazing, an quite possibly the best part of the trip. We were pretty lucky and had the entire site basically to ourselves. On the other side of what looks like an innocent little hill is a giant pyramid that is El Brujo.  Not too far away is another pyramid that hasn't been excavated by archaeologists and was dug into by the Spanish in order to steal the gold within it, this pyramid is not open for tourism.

There is quite a nice little museum on site housing a mummy they found called Senora de Cao.  Senora de Cao, they speculate, was a very powerful shaman and when she died she was buried with a ridiculous amount of gold jewelry and pottery. The story behind the site is kind of disturbing (think along the lines of human sacrifice, decapitation and castration) but the ruins were in very good condition and the ocean view from the top was amazing. If you are in the area, I highly recommend a trip to El Brujo.

Burial site of Senora de Cao

Art depicting sacrifice rituals at El Brujo

Brick wall of El Brujo. Each brick has a carved out symbol that is family specific.

I don't really know that we did much this time in Peru, but we saw some amazing things, ate some amazing things and when we came home we gave up our seats for a $500 travel voucher so we're pretty happy about that! 

Safe travels, Renee

Hello World!

OK, admittedly I am no good at this blogging thing. I've tried it on my own before and I've failed and then I've picked it up again and failed again. I'm sure that a lot of you have been there before.  I admire those of you who can come back every day or every week and maintain your blog!  Hopefully I can get to that point too!  This time around the intent is different and I will be co-blogging with my travel buddy and lovely boyfriend Mike.The biggest reason for the failure of my other blogs was not really knowing what to write about. With that in mind, we will mostly post about our travels, and since we love cooking and eating that will probably come into play here too!

So, a little about us. Mike and I met in 2009 while we were both working in the kitchens of IKEA. I remember our first conversation being about our future travel plans. I was just out of high school and Mike was just back from an epic trip through Central America. My plans for my first trip out of the country were huge and I was surprised when he told me he was hoping to go to India just like I was. Unfortunately India was put on the back burner, but a few months after we began dating I agreed to go to Peru with him.  Long story short and 5 years later we have been able to share quite a few adventures and experiences together including visits to Peru, Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica.

I hope with this blog we can give you a bit of wanderlust and maybe inspire you to take that trip you've always wanted to.

Safe Travels,

Renee