Thursday, July 9, 2009

Family Vacation 2009 - Niagara Falls

Our first travel location was Niagara Falls, Canada. This would give us about an eight hour drive for the first day and would provide a national attraction for the kids to see. We arrived in the early evening at our camp ground cabin. They kids had a chance to swim before we ate. It was a nice camp ground. We pulled out the electric frying pan and hot dogs (Kristi had fish), and went into town to see the falls at night all lit up. On the way we did a little shopping. I found some luggage that I liked at an outlet mall, but we passed it up. The falls were very pretty at night. It was also a little scary because of the awesome power of the rushing water set against a very black night surrounding. Alex's words were, "Wow! Awesome!" I don't think the kids thought they would like it, but they did. Adri got a little concerned because mentioned taking a boat tour and she wasn't quite sure if she would like it.

Our plan was to head back in the next day to take a boat tour or go up the Skyliner observation tower for lunch. Unfortunately, Kristi woke up with a bad migraine. So, the kids and I headed out. We decided to ta
ke the boat tour up to the falls. We walked along the water until we got to the boat adventure location. Again, the kids a good time and were able to see some amazing natural wonder. After our boating adventure, we went back to get Kristi so we could get lunch and see a few more things. We decided to not go up the Skyliner to eat. Time was getting away from us. We stayed close to where we part, which happened to be near the Planet Hollywood, and the Hersey store. We decided to eat at the Planet Hollywood after a little store gawking before we headed out. We knew we had a long drive to get to our next location in New Hampshire!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Family Vacation 2009 Overview

Each year we try to take a special family vacation. Kristi and I have traveled since we were married and never shied away from taking the kids, though we really enjoy our trips with just the two of us.

We live in Michigan and decided to hit states that were to our east this year. One of my personal goals has been to visit each of the 50 states. I have been to all but about six. The family has since taken on this same goal so we always are looking for trips that will take us to new places. We were planning to travel to the west along Route 66 and end up at the Grand Canyon, but when we started to plan out our summer with work, summer ball games, camping, the 4th of July with Kristi's family, a cruise for Kristi and me, and a conference for which Kristi had to give a presentation, it became very clear that there were not enough days during the summer to spread out these trips. We had to make our plans to be as close together as possible. One way to do that was to travel east instead of west and end up in Washington, D.C. where we could drop off Kristi for her conference. That became the plan!

Our plan involved going through Canada and stopping at Niagara Falls. From there, we would head to Montpelier, Vermont. We would travel through New Hampshire on our way to Bar Harbor, Maine. From Bar Harbor, the plan was to travel down the Atlantic Coast to Boston. After Boston, the plan called for a stop in New Jersey to see some relative who live close to New York City. Though we could do much in New York City, a limited day trip would have to do. The plan then got a little unclear because we needed to make sure we dropped Kristi off in Washington on the 13th. All of the plans were subject to change, but we started with a pretty good plan. Once we took in the sites in Washington, D.C., the kids and I would return home while Kristi went to her conference! That was the plan. The subsequent posts will provide information about these travels.

Together Time Travel Blog Introduction

This is the first entry for the Together Time Travel Blog. My wife, Kristi, and I love to travel. I guess I would say that it is one of our favorite hobbies. We get excited to contemplate where we can go next. Once we chose a new location, we enjoy planning, researching, and scheduling our travels. Of course, we love to actually experience new locations and new activities. We like to share our experience with anyone who has an interest.

Kristi had actually taken a training course on being a travel agent. She completed the course and was acting as an agent through the agency that provided the training. She had access to agent web sites and dabbled with bookings for others. She found that it was very time consuming, but she did start the process. A part of that process was to have a name for her agency or "business". Her travel agency was called Together Time Travel. Travel has provided us with some of the fondest memories that we have together so this same title makes sense for this blog.

Our kids, Alex and Adri, will hopefully be able to contribute their thoughts regarding their experiences as they travel with us.