Tuesday Travels: Tucson for the Weekend

I haven’t done one of these posts in a while, and I figured it’s time to get back into the swing of things.

I have to admit, we are in desperate need of vacation and unfortunately will not have one until we figure out the house ordeal. We have decided to reward ourselves with a tropical vacation as soon as we close on a house. SOOO within the next 4 to 6 months… Depressing!!!! Especially when you it has almost been a year since our cruise.

There’s a lot more coming your way in regard to travel in the next few weeks, including a few posts about planning, spending and of course saving for the perfect vacations. But for now, we’ll talk about our little 4 night, 5 day trip to Tucson to check out our new town and find a house.

Our itinerary looks something like this:

09/29/11 around 2:00 PM – Arrive at Tucson International Airport

09/30/11 – Touring neighborhoods

• Since neither Husband nor I have ever been to Arizona or Tucson, we’ll be checking out some of the neighborhoods that our Realtor recommends
• Then we’ll maybe see a few new build homes, and talk about time frames and costs
• We’ll explore a few places such as the malls, entertainment and so on based on recommendations from friends who have lived in Tucson

10/01/11 – House hunting begins

• We’ll spend the day looking at a few re-sale homes that we have picked ahead of time
• Taking lots of pictures and hopefully starting to narrow down neighborhoods

10/02/11 – More of that house hunting crap joy

• We’ll see a few more houses…
• I’ll take more pictures…
• We’ll fight… become stressed and start emotional eating. This may also lead to us instinctively booking an overly expensive vacation and blowing our down payment on new shoes, twin turbos and a new transmission for the 3000GT…

We will be fling back to Colorado on the 3rd… hopefully with a better idea of what we want, where we want and what we are willing to spend on a certain type of house.

One thing we are going to try and do is visit the Gates Pass, since it’s located right outside of downtown Tucson.

Gates Pass

 

The Gates Pass is located off of the Speedway and along the rout to West Saguaro National Park. It is said to be a very popular sightseeing area, especially when it comes to viewing sunsets. According to TripAdvisor there are many pullouts and two overlooks where you can stop to view the surrounding scenery.

Have you been to Tucson?! What would you recommend doing? What is your one-must see/do in a new town?

I know we’ll be testing out a few Mexican restaurants, since the Hubs is OBSESSED with tacos, and the closest Barnes and Nobel.

Tuesday Travels: Road Trip to Texas

 

Husband and I will be heading down to Lubbock, Texas in November for a wedding on 11.11.11. What a cool date to be getting married on huh?! My brother and sister in law were married on 7.7.7 … so we’re going to have at least one couple on each of our side of the family who married on a cool date.

Now, we’re sort of excited that the wedding is in Lubbock… as uneventful as Lubbock is… because it is a days drive away from us. Literally, only about 9 hours away. AND since the wedding is on a Friday, we’re going to make a vacation out of our little trip and head over to Dallas.

 

Here is the Google Map of what our one way trip will look like. We’d obviously be going back the same way, stopping in Amarillo overnight before making the rest of the trip back. Originally, I wanted to stop by Santa Fe, NM on our way down to Lubbock but we figured there isn’t much to do in NOVEMBER in NM…

   

These are the two photos I have of the last time we drove through Lubbock. We stopped on Avenue Q to have lunch at Whataburger. This is pretty much all the town has to offer, from what I know. Maybe we’ll discover something else on our trip there in November.

From our front door to the wedding location, is about 9.5 hours, and 537 miles. On our last road trip to Texas, we left Denver around 8 am and were in Lubbock by 4 or 5 in the afternoon, and drove another 2 hours to Big Spring before we stopped for the night.

Since the wedding is in the evening on Friday, we’ll be able to leave Thursday afternoon, and make it into Lubbock before midnight on Thursday, which will give us all day Friday to relax and get ready.

I’m thinking the next morning we’ll get up and spend some time with family, before we head out for the almost 6 hour drive to Dallas.

We’ve never been to Dallas, and since we’re looking to moving out there in the near future, we really want to get a feel for what it’s like and whether Dallas or Austin is the right city for us. We’ll probably do some sight seeing, and maybe check out a few of the builders in the areas right outside of Dallas.

 

I can’t wait to explore this city! And we are so overdue for a vacation, so this will be perfect.

We are still deciding as to where we’re going to be staying, and how we’ll drive down. Since it’ll be November, we’re worried about Snow on the road in Colorado, and our car hates snow. Remember this:

There wasn’t even that much snow when it initially got stuck in the middle of the street. BAH.

So we might just rent a car… or we might take up my in-laws on their offer to drive down together, and then explore Dallas together. Or we might take our project car down… but adding so many miles to it will break my heart.

So, have you been to Dallas? What shall we do?! Are you in Dallas (Linds) and want to make time for us?!

Tuesday Travels – Beantown

 

As you all know from this post Husband left Sunday morning for one of my all time favorite cities, leaving me behind. BOO. So I thought I’d take a little trip down memory lane of our first trip to Boston in October of 2009.

Husband had gone to Boston for a 5 week long training/conference trip, and we had initially decided that I wouldn’t go since I had school and we were in the middle of planning our wedding. Within the first 48 hours the Mister called me and told me that I had to book my ticket and fly out. So the last week of October, in the midst of a snowstorm in CO I flew out to Boston.

Boston is beautiful, especially in its fall colors. I spent a total of five days in the beautiful city and we got a great deal done.

 

We stayed in the Residence Inn right on the harbor on the North End. You can see Bunker Hill in the background. The movie Day and Knight was shooting in Boston at the time, and there was a yacht in the harbor with some of the crew staying on it.

 

We fallowed the Freedom trail (the red line) all across the city of Boston, and visited many of the historical sites around town. I love history, and I love visiting the sites where things had happened. We were lucky to meet our friends Peter and Olena on this trip. Peter is USAF retired and a major history buff, so everywhere we went we had a personal guide to tell us all about what had taken place at the site.

 

We got to eat at the Union Oyster House: 

The Union Oyster House is the oldest restaurant in Boston and the oldest restaurant in continuous service in the U.S. — the doors have always been open to diners since 1826

We visited the Old State House

We visited the Charlestown Navy Yard, the home of the USS Constitution

The USS Constitution

Old Ironside is the world’s oldest floating commissioned naval vessel and was lunched in 1797. She is most famous for her actions during the War of 1812, when she captured numerous British merchant ships and defeated five British warships.

We were so close to the Navy Yard that we could see the Constitution from our window.

We took a trip to the Boston Commons.

 

And had a wonderful lunch at a small sushi den

We visited Bunker Hill, the Old North Church and Paul Revere’s House.

We also got a chance to see the Boston Market on a weekday

The highlight of our trip, however, was the fact that we got to spend October 31st in Salem, MA.

It was an adventure of its own, and calls for it’s own post, so keep your eyes out as the next Tuesday Travels. Possibly sooner.

Boston is a walking city, so make sure you have your walking shoes with you.

It is one of our most favorite cities in the world. It’s absolutely beautiful and so full of history, great food and wonders.

I wish I was there now.

What is your favorite city? Have you been to Boston? What do you think?

Tuesday Travels – Travel Essentials

 

I haven’t met anyone who didn’t love to travel. Whether it is for a long weekend road trip or a month long European tour, there are some things we simply cannot live without while traveling. For me, there are a few items that are musts when I travel, no matter where to.

My very first Tuesday Travels post was about my always packed overnight bag. I talked all about what I have packed and ready to go, if we decided to run out of the house and take a short or long trip last minute.

This post, is going to be about the few items that are on a list inside my little overnight bag as a reminded of what I need that do not fit into the overnight bag.

{ONE} – Wedges

Depending on what time of the year it is, I like to either take a closed wedge or an open toed, more summery wedge.

I tend to go for a nude, light brown and sometimes a pinkish tinted wedge that will go with a tote that I’ll be using on the trip. The wedge has to be comfortable for a day on my feet, exploring and sight seeing. A wedge is a must because it is so easy to dress down and up all at once. This cuts out on the need to have a pair of shoes to go with every outfit.

For example the nude Christian Louboutin’s (second on the top) are perfect for both a day on the town with a pair of jean shorts and a night out with a flirty dress. The added comfort of having a wedge instead of a heel is also perfect.

{TWO} – Bikini

I tend to go for a basic and always classy bikini when packing just one. I love Victoria Secret bikinis and think that 90% of what I own are from there. I recently got this number for under $40, from there, and love the color. The pastels always make you look tanner than you are! So I pack a solid color bikini. In the summer I tend to go for a black or a bright color, in the winter for pastels or white.

{THREE} – Jeans

Packing your favorite pair of jeans is a must. Pick a pair that makes your butt look awesome, your legs long and would work perfect with the wedges you are taking.

I’ve recently started to love the Miss Me brand jeans, which fit perfectly on me. I also love the distressed/destroyed look. Not too much of it, but just enough to make the jeans look worn and comfortable. I love bootcut, because it fits perfectly over heels and wedges, and I’m one of those girls that likes the jean to either sit at the ankle (skinny) or cover the shoe all the way. I hate that mid-shoe, high water sort of look. BAH. 

{FOUR} Two or three tanks or t-shirts

I love simple tanks and t-shirts when traveling. They are very versatile. You can wear them with jeans, shirts, shorts, and so on. Dress them up with a long necklace and VOLA! Perfect outfit for a day out or a night on the town.

{FIVE} – Cross body bag or Tote

I am obsessed with Coach bags. I have a few from different places, but the majority of my bags are from Coach, and honestly I love the quality. Granted I never pay full price for a single one! I’m lucky enough to have a Coach Factory Outlet only about an hour away and usually get an additional 30% OFF of the already 50% OFF prices. I prefer to have a cross body bag for when I’m traveling, small enough to handle an ID, a credit card, some cash, my camera, a pair of sunglasses and chap stick. However, I like to actually get on a plain with a tote, so that I can bring a book, snacks and so on with me. So I tend to take a cross body, and a tote with me.

{SIX} A Dress

I’ll usually just grab one or two dresses. Depending on what the occasion of the travel and where we are going, and what time of the year. I tend to grab either a black dress that I can dress up or down, or a shirt dress that is more casual.

{SEVEN} – Cardigan

 

Finally, a cardigan to cover up on a cool evening, or to dress up an outfit. I love cardigans, simple because they are the perfect companion to any outfit. They are not as casual as hoodies but just as comfortable.

 

What do you pack as a must in your travel bag?!

Travel Tuesday – How to pack for a tropical vacation

 

A friend of mine is heading off to Mexico on Saturday and we were talking about what she should pack for her 8 day 7 night tropical vacation. So I thought I’d share what I usually pack when we head to an all inclusive in Mexico for a week.

First things first. BIKINIS

Since we usually spend three to four full days on the beach I always like taking four statement bikinis. I also take two to three plain string bikinis that can go on under my wetsuit for diving, and if I need to I can use them on the beach as well, if I’m just working on a killer tan.

Every single resort we have been to has required for everyone to have clothes on when going into the buffets for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Since we usually grab a quick breakfast on our way to the beach and run in for a quick lunch if we can’t eat on the beach I tend to take anywhere from 3 to 4 cover ups. I tend to try to match them to my statement bikinis but that’s just my OCD. Cover ups are perfect because it’s almost as if you have a dress on, but you can just take it off and lay right back down on the beach. PLUS I think their super sexy, especially the loose chiffon ones.

I love loose, chiffon or lace dresses. I also like cotton and gauzy dresses. These are perfect for when you go to one of the restaurants for dinner, or if you head out on the town when you are in Cancun and decide to visit all the fun bars and clubs. These dresses are also great, because you can dress them up or down with minimal effort.

I love skirts, and honestly am not a huge fan of shorts, but I always pack at least one pair of cotton shorts, just because they are easy to pull on when we’re heading over to dive sites, or doing any other kind of excursion where I don’t want to be flashing everyone my panties. I also take a pair of “Daisy Duke” shorts just because the Mister loves them and if you have nice legs and a butt, go ahead and show them off !!

I always over-pack when it comes to tops. Just remember that you will only need about a top a day, and when you are on the beach all you really need is the cover up, and for dinner you’ll most likely wear a dress. So really about 10 tops is all you need. I’m in love with tank tops, especially loose, flowing feminine tops. I’d probably pack something along the lines of this, possibly a few statement ones.

Finally, shoes!!! You want a pair of flip flops for the beach and walking around, a pair of neutral wedges for dinners and dressing up. A pair of statement flats for going out and a pair of tennis shoes (I prefer all stars when traveling) for going on tours.

There are several other items I would throw in. But really these are my necessary clothing items.

What do you usually pack?!   

Tuesday Travels – Dreaming of Mexico

 

We love all inclusive and to us an all inclusive vacation to Mexico once a year is a must to reprogram our C drives (brains). Honestly, there is nothing more relaxing then laying on the beach, with a beautiful ocean and a pleasant breeze. An ice cold drink in hand and a good book to enjoy.

 

How I miss being away on the beach. It’s been a year since our last trip to Cancun and our blood is boiling to go back. We’re thinking sometime in November/December. Speaking of which I’m going to let you in on a little secret I learned from a good friend. If you want to go to Mexico, go the week before Christmas, the overall package price drops for the week, and then skyrockets back up for the week of Christmas.

Lots of people think that going in December the weather will be awful, however it’s the opposite. The average temperature is about 75 to 80 degrees, the water is warm from the hot summer (water takes about 3 months to catch up in temperature), and you get a nice enough breeze in the evenings that you can sleep soundly without being overheated.

Currently I’m lusting after the Secrets Maroma Beach Rivera Cancun which is an all-suites, Unlimited-Luxury resort fir adults only.

Here are some pictures from the website:

The first of our requirements when looking at hotels in Mexico, is that there is a large, white sand private or at least somewhat privet beach. Check that!

Second is that the pools and hot tubs have a nice view of the ocean, and a relaxing/friendly atmosphere. Check!!

There needs to be a nice sized pool with a swim up bar. CHECK!

Nice setting for the dinners, if you chose to eat at the “restaurants” rather then in the buffet. CHECK!!!  

And finally the room. There needs to be a king sized bed, and some kind of a sitting area. Considering that all the rooms at Secrets are suits we got that checked off! As an added bonus there is a hot tub in every single room! CHECK CHECK CHECK!!!!!!!!!!

Doesn’t it look just perfect?!

I’ve looked up some estimated pricing for a trip out from Denver for two adults for 8 days and 7 nights here are the dates and the estimated prices. Keep in mind that I’ve only skimmed prices and there are more then likely better deals and offers for this piece of paradise.

August – $3759.98 this includes a direct flight, transfer from airport to hotel and of course the stay for two adults. 

October – $3479.98 same thing here, a direct flight, transfer from airport to hotel …

November – $3819.98 Same deal!

December – $3639.98

All of these were priced through Apple Vacations. Keep in mind that these are not the only prices, and sites such as Kayak and BookIt have the chance to give you a better deal. Since we aren’t planning on shelling out $4000 for our next vacations it is highly unlikely we’ll go here, UNLESS of course I stumble upon a killer deal that I cannot refuse.

We will more then likely stay at either a Dreams, an Iberostar or another Secrets. We LOVE Iberostar and it is truly my go to when I need a quick get away. It isn’t all that cheap but it is worth every penny! Since it’s tried and tested I know you cannot go wrong with this resort.

Where have you been recently? Any all-inclusive that you are in love with?!