Croatia and Montenegro

We have wanted to visit Croatia for many years and we finally got there right before school started in August. I also wanted to see Montenegro while there and we were able to see Kotor Bay as well.

Zagreb

We landed in Zagreb at 12:30 and took a taxi in to town to drop our bags at the apartment and eat some lunch. The 3 bedroom apartment at City Wellness was huge and comfortable. We walked toward the main square in Lower Town looking for food. We ended up at Pivnica Mali Medo (on restaurant row) and it was not bad. A good variety of pasta, meat, and beer. After lunch we walked down by the cathedral, which is still under construction from the earthquake of 2020. We walked through the main square to get some ice cream. We walked south through the city park a bit and then headed back to the apartment for a little rest. We stopped in an Asian market Liana spotted and bought a couple drinks. Around 7pm I headed out to eat some meat at a traditional Croatian restaurant and everyone else went to an Asian noodle place. I went to Gostionica Ficlek and they went to Torikaya Ramen Bar. I got Faširanci, spiced meat fritters, and Gemišt to drink, which is wine white mixed with sparkling water. It is a common drink for the area. I also got some cherry strudel, and strudel is widely consumed in Croatia. We met up after eating and walked to Sisters Ice Cream for some blueberry lemon mint goodness.

The next day we had no exact plans except to sleep in and walk some more areas. We headed west to the city park and walked north through it all. There are fountains, dancing guides, gazebos, and flowers. We made it up to the Dolac Market and walked that for a while. We bought some cheese and fruits to snack on. We then started a small walking loop from Rick Steves. We walked through the Oktogon building and then found the beginning of the Grounded Solar System art installation. First is the sun, which is fenced off for construction and possibly to have it cleaned due to graffiti. We ended up next to an Italian restaurant that looked good and people were hungry, so we stopped there for lunch. Al Dente was also ok, and they cut my pizza with scissors! After lunch, we found Mercury and and Earth on the art installation. We then walked toward the funicular and took it up to the Upper Town. We walked by St Marks church which is blocked off by fencing. But, you can still enjoy it's beautiful roof. We then walked down through the Stone Gate, which houses inside a Mother Mary Shrine. We then stopped for ice cream and a drink on the restaurant strip. We also found the Mars part of the art installation. Kacey and the kids were tired so they went to the apartment while I went to the Zagreb City Museum.  It was interesting to learn more about how the city came to be, and the Yugoslav wars. For dinner the kids had pizza and I went to Rougemarin for a steak. The next morning we walked to pick up our rental car and loaded up to leave by 10am for our drive.

Rovinj

The drive had a considerable amount of traffic until about the Karlovac area, where the road split to heard south. We continued straight toward Rijeka and then through the mountains and tunnels to Rovinj. This area used to belong to Italy (among other dynasties in the past) and feels like you are transported back to Italy. It is a dual language town and the food is still heavy Italian. We arrived at our apartment around 3pm and it was a great place. We were a 5-10 minute walk to the old town. We headed in and Liana and I walked around a bit while the others ate some food. There was a wedding going on at the cathedral so no entry. The view seemed like it would have been great from the bell tower. We walked around the north harbor and the little market that is there. We met up and bought some food for breakfast and went to the apartment to relax a bit. We walked in for dinner and ended up at La Fondiaria. We got gnocchi and local fuzi pasta with black truffles. We found really good ice cream after at Ombra lab. After dinner the sunset was really nice to watch at the north harbor. We hung out taking pictures at night at the south harbor.

Istria: Motovun, Završje, Grožnjan, and Buje

Today we planned to drive around the hill towns of Istria. We started first in Motovun. We had great views of the town on the drive in. We really liked this town, and it is the bigger of the towns we visited for the day. There was a great ramparts walk with a lot of great views. Also, some really good food with a view. There was also a little free outdoor museum that talks about the importance of the forests in the area. I also tried a limoncello spritz walking around. We ate a good lunch at Montana Gallery. We got the traditional pljukanci rolled pasta with black truffles.

On our drive to Zavrsje, we drove through Oprtalj. We drove in from the south, but on the north side of town is a really nice view of the town, so while we didn't stop in this tiny town, we did stop for a view on the way out. We then arrived in Zavrsje, which is a mostly abandoned, little town. We saw cats and a donkey, but no people. There were castle ruins and a church that is boarded up with a bell tower that is leaning. There are no services in town.

We next drove toward Grožnjan, which is a town that was nearly abandoned at one time, but now has been taken over by artists. We heard music being played, lots of paintings out for sale, and Kacey found a shop where the guy makes these little stone house things (hard to describe). We also got a little ice cream and a coke on the hot day. There were also some metal art of ships in a plaza.

We headed to Buje next, not sure if we would get out of the car. We did see a EuroSpar, so we stopped for some water and sunscreen. We parked in Buje and walked in to the old town. We found a scenic lookout and then considered going in the old fortress tower, but the owner was a little off-putting. We headed toward Brtonigla to potentially eat some dinner, as it is known for being a town with good restaurants. We drove for a few minutes and didn't really find what we were looking for, so we drove back to Rovinj to eat dinner at Pizzeria Stari Grad Rovinj, as their pizzas smelled very good the previous night. They were pretty good and we were well positioned for more ice cream after dinner again. Kacey tried Gelateria I Nonni for ice cream and it was also very good (and busy).

The next morning we woke up and made a couple trips in to town to photograph the old town with the rising sun at the north harbor. It was very pretty. We got on the road to Plitvice National Park via Pula.

Pula

We wanted to quick stop in Pula to see the Arena and eat some lunch before the long drive back inland. The arena is a surviving Roman amphitheatre that still has all 4 sides. It is still used for some music concerts! We walked the old town toward the market area for lunch. The market area didn't have as many lunch options as we were hoping, but we made it work. After some ice cream (again, quite hot), we got back on the road for the coastal route toward the park.

We drove toward Novi Vinodolski to make a stop at Cave Beach. Parts of the coastal drive are nice, but some are average driving. Kacey enjoyed sitting at the "beach", eating some snacks, and getting in the water for just a couple minutes. The water was crystal clear, but she was consumed in just enjoying it and didn't take any pictures. We got in for a couple more hours of driving toward Korenica, where our apartment was for the night. We ate at Restaurant TIME next door. I enjoyed my meat platter with mead liqour. I got some baklava for dessert while Kacey took the kids to the grocery for some ice cream.

Plitvice Lakes National Park

This NP is rated as one of Europe's most beautiful parks. It also gets extremely busy. It helps to buy your entry ahead of time online, and it also helps to review their website to see what walking path you may want to take.  We had decided on route H, which was a long mix of both paths and a boat trip across the lower lake. You are free to make your own path as some guide books point out. We did end up in a couple queues along the way, but it was manageable. You need plenty of water and snacks for the day, and use the toilet before starting. At the top of upper lakes (after the tram ride), there are not really big views for a while. The side path up to a lookout is worth it (about 10 minutes in). The walk is full of little waterfalls, big waterfalls, crystal clear water, and great views. You can clearly see fish swimming around, and fallen trees 10 feet down. We took the boat north across the lake to the area with some food. We got in line straight away to buy some sandwiches and drinks. The boat line to head back south was unreal in length, but we were walking another small loop and taking the shuttle back. For dinner we went to Šapina. I got some suckling pig and Liana got another pizza. We also got some nutella crepes for dessert.

In the morning I drank coffee on the balcony and enjoyed the sunrise over the mountains. We got packed up for our drive to Dubrovnik via Split.

Split

We were hoping to sit on a beach for a little while and eat some lunch. Parking was insane and after some driving around we snagged a spot on a dead end street that wasn't too far from the old town, but not the beach. We got some lunch in a food court area near the water and train station. Nothing was very good and it took forever. We walked over to the old town and got some ice cream while Nolan and I went up the bell tower. The views were nice. The old town has a lot of Roman ruins, but doesn't take too long to walk around. We got in the car by 2:15 or so for the 3 hours to Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik

We got in our apartment by 5:30 or so. We had quite the apartment debacle, but we had a place to stay. I dropped everyone off near Buza gate, dropped the car at the airport, and taxied back to the old town to join them for dinner. They had found Nico's and it was good enough. We ate a little ice cream and got back for bed for our early rise the next morning.

Montenegro

We booked a tour of Montenegro and the Bay of Kotor. We got picked up at 7am and started the drive. Within an hour we had crossed the border to leave the EU, which involves an exit out of Croatia, and then a separate entry in Montenegro. By 8:40 we had stopped and were taking our first look at Our Lady of the Rocks Church in the Bay of Kotor. Traffic around the bay backs up, as there is mostly 1 main road that winds all the way around the bay. By 9am we were getting ready to board a little boat for our trip to the church island. This island started off hundreds of years ago as a top of an underwater mountain that rose above the water just a couple meters. Over centuries, people took more and more rocks out to build the island. Now a church stands on the island and the top of the rock is reachable from a small hole behind the altar. By 9:20 we had landed on the island and we explored the tiny island and church for 30 minutes. On our way back we drove around the second island which is where the priest lives. In hindsight we should have walked around Perast more, but we got on the road toward Kotor.

We arrived in Kotor around 10:40 and were dropped off near the south side of town at the fortress. We had a few hours to walk around and eat some lunch. We walked the ramparts north to the wall. The wall makes its way up the mountain, but we didn't go up there (and it may not be open to the public). We went back down in to town off the wall and found lots of cats! They seemed to have a little cat village area. We walked the streets for a while and looked in a couple shops. We were waiting for some places to open for lunch, and we wanted a place with indoor seating to get away from the smoke and to cool off. We found a place that opened at 12, but it was 11:40. We walked around a bit more and went back and he invited us to come sit inside and wait on the kitchen to open. Kacey walked around a bit more while we cooled off just a bit. This lunch was pretty good, we all had good food at Scala Santa. After lunch we grabbed some ice cream and went to meet our driver. Ivan took us up the mountain to crossover to Tivat next. On the way up, he stopped at a fantastic viewpoint of Kotor.

Our next and final stop was Tivat. This area is known as the russian playground, as they don't need a visa to enter here and the area caters to the rich. Lots of large boats and yachts and fancy stores. We walked around town for 20 or 30 minutes, and it was pretty dead in the middle of the day. We bought some cold drinks and walked along the water, trying to stay out of the sun. We loaded up to catch a ferry across the bay to significantly shorten our drive home. The ferries run constantly so we didn't even really wait, they were loading when we pulled up. The crossing only takes 10 minutes or so, and we talked about muscle cars while waiting. There are no services on the boat since it is so short, so we just sat in the van AC.

The ride back was similar. Traffic exiting the boat, and a longer line to go through both security checkpoints this time. But by 5 we had crossed back in to the EU.

Dubrovnik

We got to our apartment around 6 and Kacey, Liana, and I decided to walk to Uvala Lapad Beach to get in for a bit. It was a great sunset spot and while the beach is pebbles, wearing flip-flops made it just fine. It was a great cool-off. We decided to eat dinner in Lapad, even though we were restricted with things being open due to the holiday of the Assumption of Mother Mary. It was already late and we would have to deal with more taxis instead of a 7 minute walk. We passed our apartment owner on the way out and he reiterated Pizzeria Scala, so we went there. Soon after we were seated it started to fill up. The pizzas were good.

The next day we had to pack everything up to store in the owners space upstairs, as we were moving close to the airport that night. We headed out around 9:30 to taxi to the old town. Our plan was to do the ramparts first before the heat got out of control. We started around 10am from Ploce Gate going counter clockwise (the direction they make everyone go). This is probably the better views of the town from here as you are higher up looking down. By 10:30 we were near Pile Gate. This stretch did offer one drink spot, but we didn't stop. The next part heads toward the water and is downhill a bit and offers a nice view of the Stradun, the largest street that runs through town. It is then back uphill just a bit to walk along the water. By about 10:50 we reached a drink bar with nice views of the ocean, so we stopped for some drinks and their bathroom. After an almost 30 minute break we started walking the last bit of the wall. This part had more water views, and views of the harbor. By 11:45 we were headed down to Stradun and started looking for some lunch. We found Dundo Maroje and it was close, had appealing food, and had indoor seating (again, it was quite hot).

For the rest of afternoon we were just going to stroll around with no real agenda. We followed Rick Steves guide a bit, but Nolan wasn't feeling well so we slowed down. We walked through St. Blaise’s Church and The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. We peeked in the Rector's Palace but didn't go in for a tour. We read about the bell tower and Orlando's Column. History in the town is interesting through earthquakes and wars, including the 1990s. We went to Peppino’s for some ice cream to cool off. We got some water from Onofrio's fountain, it was nice and cold! We initially were thinking to stay in town until early dinner, but people were getting hot and tired from a long week. So we headed to grab our bags and then taxi out to the airport for our apartment there (for a 6am flight the next morning). We got to our apartment by around 5. It was a new apartment and the owner showed us the small pool that was complete enough to start using. We walked next door to Domestico to eat some dinner, and grabbed a couple pastries from the grocery next door.

Summary

We tried to see a lot in a week, which required a lot of driving. It was absolutely doable, though. And there are plenty of apartments available for families. We knew this going in, but August is quite hot there. We kept a lot of water around and made sure our apartments had AC. The tour of Montenegro was nice because we had already driven a lot, when leaving the EU our driver used a different road, cell data doesn't work outside the EU, he knew all the spots to go, we didn't have to park, he knew the history, and rental cars works different outside the EU. These are all things you could tackle with time to plan, but we planned this trip last minute. Plitvice Lakes Park requires entry time tickets booked online in advance; an early start here is essential. And with better planning, you can create your own route that goes against the crowds. But, with our ~9:30 start on the 'H' route, there were crowds and a couple queues, but they were manageable.

Antrim Coast, Northern Ireland, 2024

For bank holiday weekend, we traveled to the Antrim Coast, an area we quickly visited in 2013. We left school an hour early to get ahead of traffic in Dublin and we got to our apartment in Ballycastle around 6:30. It doesn't seem like there is a lot of parking along the harbour, but we could always find a spot. Our apartment overlooked the harbour and playground and was a great location. We walked up the hill a bit to eat at Nellie Rua's. No restaurants amazed us while there, but oh well. There was a Spar next to our apartment, as well as 3 ice cream options, so we got some desserts Friday night.

Saturday morning we had 10am reservations at Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge. During covid a few popular sites started timed entry. There were plenty of tickets when we bought a couple days in advance but by the time we were leaving the bridge area, we heard they were starting to sell out. The weather was absolutely beautiful. After crossing the bridge we stayed on the island taking silly family pictures, the kids had fun pretending to jump off the cliff. We had views of Scotland on this day! Our plan was to grab lunch food in Ballycastle and start driving east/southeast along the Coastal Causeway toward Glenarm Castle and see how far we could make it. Lunch was not easy or good, should have just made sandwiches. 

All the drives for the Coastal Route were really nice, scenic, and winding. We first drove by Fairhead, the cliff you can see from Ballycastle. We were a little confused as there was a massive climb fest going on, had to pay to park, and signs that said no trespassing. We learned later we probably could have made it work, but we continued on to drive by the Cold War Naval listening station (decommissioned). We also drove by a sign for Murlough Bay and made a note of it to stop by later if we had time (which we didn't). Our next stop was Torr Head. We grabbed the last spot and took Colin up the hill with us. The views were great and Colin liked the abandoned building. We then drove the coast road to Cushendun. Here there is a beach strand and some caves. We walked the beach just for a couple minutes, then drove over to the caves. The caves are just an area you walk around and explore. The kids had fun and it is a neat area. Next we drove the coast road toward Glenariff. We stopped at Layd Church along the way. We wanted to stop at Sandstone Arch, but the road is narrow and there is no where near to stop. It was a nice drive, though. When we got to the Glenariff area, we decided to head in toward the Glenariff Forest Park. We paid to park in the lot and decided to do the waterfalls hike. If you are wanting to visit the waterfalls, I recommend you park at Laragh Lodge Restaurant. It is a 5 minute walk to see these waterfalls from their back door, and then you can sit and have a Guinness instead of walking an hour in and out of the canyon from the upper forest park lot. We drove 40 minutes back to Ballycastle and had pizza at Thyme Cafe (they do pizza on Saturday nights), and Kacey had a delicious chai. The kids played at the playground at the harbour for a while, and Liana even went out to play on the beach a bit. After another round of ice cream and dessert, we got to bed.

Sunday morning we had reservations at Giant's Causeway at 10am, mostly to get us up and in there before the crowds hit. It was another really nice day, just a bit more overcast. The crowds were not too bad when we got out there and we were able to get plenty of pictures without having other people in our shots. By the time we left, it was starting to get crowded and the car park was full and backed up. We enjoyed walking around on the columns with low summer tides. The black rocks indicate high tide during winter and its quite a big difference (it was high when we visited in 2013). I recommend checking tides and if you have flexible plans, don't visit during high tide. Kacey took the long route back which goes further east and then up the cliff wall and across. I took the kids to the tide pools on the walk back out. We didn't spot anything except for dead crabs and huge 3 leaf clovers. When we all met back at the visitor center, Kacey said I should run up and check out the view. So Nolan and I ran up the hill for really nice views and a sheer drop cliff with no indication. We got on the road for Portrush for some lunch.

Portrush was starting to get quite crowded but we lucked out with a parking spot right next to a potential restaurant, so we just took it. The food was average but we had a decent view of the water. We drove around the harbour area on our way out and it was quite crowded. There was some kind of car show event going on and traffic in town was pretty bad. We were slightly against it so we didn't wait too long. We went west to Rinagree Point. It was a nice view, if you get out to the correct car park. Next we got to the east of town and stopped at White Rocks Beach. Kacey and I walked out to it, it is a pretty big sandy beach with cliffs as the back drop. The next stop was Magheracross view, looking down the cliffs toward Wishing Arch. This little car park was packed with people standing in line for an ice cream truck. We walked out to the two viewpoints of the cliffs, another really nice view. Just down the road a bit further was Dunluce Castle. We had previously visited the ruins, so this time we took the free trail down near the rocks and base of the tower. We had reached it just in time as that trail closes early at 3:30pm. Our next stop was Dunseverick Castle. There is a very small carpark but we grabbed the last spot, almost in the road. I took the boys down and up the walk to the castle, and then for view of the coast. We walked by some sheep on the way back and climbed the hill for fun on the way out. Along the coast drive we headed down the hill to Ballintoy Harbour, but there was no where to park, and the hike to Elephant and Skull Rocks seemed longer than we wanted to try. Our last stop of the day was Kinbane Castle. It is a big descent down to the rock peninsula where the ruins are, but it was worth it. We spotted a random sheep on a cliff edge just hanging out, not quite sure how it got there. We headed back in to town for some food and more playground and beach time. Kacey and I tried Morton's at the harbour for fresh fish and chips.

The next day we hadn't planned yet. The weather was not a good so we skipped visiting a bay nearby and went to the Belfast Zoo. It was pretty dead but we enjoyed seeing some animals without the crowds for about 2.5 hours.

Krakow and Berlin

For spring break 2024, we traveled to Krakow and Berlin with Kacey's parents. We have wanted them to visit Poland for a long time as he is one quarter Polish and grew up on some polish specialties. 

Krakow

We landed in Krakow around 1pm and got to our hotel around 2:30. We stayed in a 3 bedroom apartment right off Maly Rynek (little market) square, which is 1 block from the main square. The Easter Market had just started on the main square with loads of food and vendors. We got a few pierogi at Przypiecek and ice cream while walking around. Also ate some food at the market. In-laws arrived around 6 and we went for dinner at U Babci Maliny.

The next morning we got some pastries from Lajkonik for breakfast. Everyone but Nola and and Chris went to the St Mary's Basilica church. We all got more food at the market. This day we visited the Pinball museum, which also had lots of old arcade games. We did all you can play for 1 hour and had fun. For dinner, we had more market food.

We visited the Illusion Museum the next morning. Then once again hit the market for lunch food and booked Oskar Schindler's Factory museum tour at 2:15.

The next morning we visited Wawel Castle. We battled rain just a bit at the beginning. Several exhibits are closed on Monday but remaining were free. First we saw the Cathedral (not free) and went up bell tower. Then ate a snack. Then persian tents and then the armory. Last was Lost Wawel (still excavating areas). When leaving we walked down to view the Dragon.

Then more market food for snack. Dinner back at U Babci Maliny. The next morning we caught our direct flight to Berlin.

Berlin

Landed around 1:30 and took a taxi to Alexanderplatz. By 4pm we got to Hofbrau Munchen for german food and beer. Found Cuore di Vetro gelato that night, very good.

Woke up and taxiied to Berlin Wall Remains at Zimmerstrasse. Then walked to Checkpoint Charlie. After a snack walked to Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Walked past US Embassy to Brandenburg Gate. Just took in the view of Reichstag without visiting. We walked down to Potsdamerplatz for the Easter market, but it didn't start until the following day. So we ate some lunch at Lindenbrau. Then walked to gelato at Caffe e Gelato. Stopped by Spy Museum to buy tickets for the following day. Stopped in Mall of Berlin for the Lego shop. Walked to Neuhaus chocolate. Walked north then east toward Dom Cathedral. In laws and small kids took taxi back to hotel. We walked around the buildings of museum island and checked the TV tower entrance but saw it took 2 hours to wait. Found dinner at Bar Internazionale, good pizza. Then walked back to gelato.

Woke up and went to the cathedral (prebooked tickets night before). Organ was playing and nice views on the outside of the dome. Then went to German Historic Museum for the "Roads Not Taken" exhibit. Then taxi to Potsdamerplatz for lunch at the market. This Easter market much smaller than Krakow, but had a meat swing, dessert pizza stand, and a pesto pasta stand. Also some gluwein. Then we had 2:15 entry to Spy Museum. Nolan and I had dinner at Hofbrau and others went to asian food. Then back to gelato!

I took the boys up the TV tower the next morning (got 9am entry tickets). They enjoyed the views. Then we taxiied to Mauerpark. Looking for cherry trees in bloom but kids just played for a bit. Walked north looking for trees and found a few.  Taxiied to Berlin Wall Memorial. Nice exhibit. Walked to Restaurant Nuovo Firenze and spoke Italian for lunch. In-laws and Liana taxiied to the Olympic stadium. We walked by the Samuri museum (but expensive) and then walked past Sofia church and Jewish cemetery. Walked down to museum island and walked around a bit, played at the fountain. Then Nolan and I went to DDR museum, it was very busy. Everyone went to Hofbrau for dinner.

Italy Summer 2023

Italy holds a special place for us. Kacey is one quarter Italian. We love the food. We visited in 2006 and really fell in love with the country and way of living. And then, we were lucky enough to live in Siena in 2010 during Kacey's internship. While we could have revisited the county while living in Dublin, we were still holding tight to the memories and wanted to visit many other places. So, while we have wanted to return to Italy for a couple years now, this summer was finally our chance to spend 2 weeks there with the kids.

We decided to fly in to Rome, then drive down to Pompeii and Amalfi, then up to Tuscany (with a stop over in Orvieto), visiting Pisa, Florence, Siena, and a couple others in Tuscany, and end in Venice for a return flight home. We figured having a car would enable us to be more flexible with small towns and setting our own timetable since we have 3 kids with us. We are also pretty comfortable with driving in Italy. I decided to not take the big zoom camera, as I have those types of pictures from other trips around Italy, and it would be one less thing to carry. Plus, phones take great close up pictures now! We took 7 days worth of clothes, knowing doing laundry in Florence wouldn't be too hard. We only booked our flights about 6 weeks in advance, making it a little more difficult. I was just barely able to find hotels that far in advance that allowed free cancellation and could fit 5 people.

Roma

We landed in Rome around 8:30am Sunday morning. Between passport control, and lines for taxis, it took about 3 hours to get to our hotel. We took a fixed price taxi instead of the train to termini, as it was actually cheaper and faster. Our plan for the first day was to not have anything in particular planned. Maybe a bus ride, some mild walking, and some rest. We arrived at Residenza Flaminio Gaio around noon to drop our bags. Finding a room that definitely holds 5 people was not easy only 5 weeks in advance. I also wanted a room pretty close to the metro. We asked the hotel manager which way to walk for food and he said walk south on Via di Ripetta from Piazza del Popolo and rattled off a couple restaurants. We stopped at PizzaRé and liked the look, so sat for lunch. The kids got orange Fanta and Lemon soda and some pasta. Colin got a hamburger (that didn't have a bun). Kacey and I got a (heart shaped) pizza.

After lunch we walked down toward Pantheon and stopped for gelato at Della Palma, home of 150 flavors. Pantheon requires reservations on Sunday, so we headed toward Trevi Fountain instead. We took it in for a while and headed back to the hotel via the metro for some rest. After a couple hours, we headed toward the Spanish Steps via the metro. We used that as our starting point for finding dinner. After walking a few back streets reading menus, we found Le Grotte and were pretty pleased. We tried fried courgette flowers and anchovies for an appetizer. I got pork cheek bucatini and Kacey got Cacio e Pepe. After dinner we walked back to Trevi for more gelato and to enjoy the fountain lit up at night. Since it was a Sunday night, the metro had stopped so we just took the bus to our stop.

Monday morning we had a cut-the-line entry to the Vatican at 11am. So that gave us time to eat some breakfast at the hotel and metro to the Vatican without much hurry. We didn't plan on spending too much time looking at art, as Kacey and I had been there twice before. We first went out to the Pinecone Courtyard and then walked the forced pathway through to the Sistine Chapel. There were an insane amount of people. It was hard to get around! At one point we tried to get out of the queue for bathroom and had to start over. We spent some time sitting in the Sistine Chapel showing the different areas of the ceiling to the kids (with the help of Rick Steves). We started to exit and was hoping to quickly grab a bite at the Vatican cafe, but soon realized we would not be able to shortcut back to St. Peter's. Kacey was able to get back and then I was able to follow when I said my wife and child were still in the Sistine Chapel.

We made our way down the long hallway to exit the Vatican. In the past, there used to be a group shortcut straight in to St. Peter's. Now, you do exit, but are let out right at the point of the St. Peter's line where you go through security. Our wandered about St. Peter's for a short while, and Kacey went down in the crypt for a quick walk. We then bought tickets to go up the cupola. We bought the elevator pass and didn't have to wait too long in line. We were pleased to find a small cafe where the elevator lets out! So we bought a few things and had a drink. After eating and toilet on top of the church, we started the stair part of the walk. First up is the mosaics inside the cupola. Then, the tilted, narrow stairs up the side of the cupola. It took us maybe 10 minutes to do that part. Next is the 360 degree views of Rome! At our visit in 2006, it was mostly open. Now, there is fencing up and over the whole walkway. We spent maybe 15 minutes walking around looking at the city before heading back down. We started walking toward the Vatican metro stop, looking for some fast food. We found pizza slices that I knew the kids would like at Pizzeria Casali. We sat on the curb for a bit eating some pizza. Then walked up to Pompi for gelato and Illy creamy iced coffee. We don't remember this delicious treat from our last visit to Italy, but it is delicious! Think coffee smoothie/milkshake that is made in a continuous machine like a slushie. We went back to the hotel for some more rest before dinner and walked close to the hotel down Ripetta again. We found Il Melarancio and picked it because it had pesto. After dinner we walked north up Via del Corso toward Popolo and found gelato and shopping. We sat in Piazza Popolo while eating our gelato.

Tuesday was our tour of the Colosseum. In the past you could use a cut the line pass, but, like several sites around Italy, you need reservations through tours to cut any lines. And the lines are all crazy long. I had originally booked it in the afternoon but got a notice it had been moved to a 9:35 meet up time. Luckily we still had time to eat breakfast at the hotel before getting on the metro. The huge group of people at termini switching to the blue line had me worried but we wedged ourselves on the metro and made our meet up time for the tour. Our tour guide, Paulo, was Brazilian, and guided us through headsets around the Colosseum. We got to walk around the bottom of the arena, not open to all tours and guests, which was pretty cool! (Not the part below the arena floor, those tours must include an archaeologist and only do about 1 a day, and cost a lot of money, and book up really far in advance). We spent about 90 minutes walking around, learning a few extra, interesting facts about the Colosseum. Paulo then guided us past the Arch of Constantine to the Roman Forum. He took us up Palatine Hill for a great view and some nice cold water. We slowly walked out toward the entrance, learning tidbits along the way.

After our tour we started walking toward Pantheon to find some food. It took a while to find an area that would work, but finally found Il Vicolo Nel Corso. It looked a touch touristy, but it was actually not too bad. A musician stopped by during our meal and played while the staff danced a bit. Liana liked the outdoor decor and luckily it was shaded to help keep us cool. We continued walking around a nearby government building and ended up at Della Palma again, while Kacey stopped at Giolitti for gelato. We then headed over to the Pantheon around 3:15 to walk around and study it for 20 minutes or so. The light was shining in strong and you could study how it came in and hit the wall really well. The boys walked back to the hotel while the girls shopped a bit. We walked to Al Vantaggio for dinner, again near our hotel.

Wednesday was our morning to wake up a little early, eat breakfast a little early at 7:45 so we could get to termini by 9 to pick up our rental car. Finding the rental car office was a bit tricky, and then we had to hike to the car park to get the car. We were able to get on the road by 10 to start the 2.5 hour drive to Pompeii.

Pompeii

We parked at the Zeus lot and walked over to Sgambati to eat lunch. We spent about 3 hours walking around Pompeii. We followed the Rick Steves guide so it was easy to read things to the kids about what we were seeing. They of course thought it was interested to see things preserved, as well as the bodies. We had about a 45 minute drive to our parking lot in Salerno to meet the owner of the B&B.

Salerno

We parked and walked to our B&B, Maison Lumière. We met the owner at 5:45 and he was pretty nice. The apartment had 2 bedrooms, kitchen, and nice outside seating area. We also told us when our breakfast delivery would come. We walked down toward the water looking for dinner. Most places were not opening until 7 but we ended up finding Pizzeria Giagiu’. The pizzas and appetizers were quite unique, and before your pizza comes out they bring a little plate appetizer with the ingredients of your pizza. After dinner we walked out to the water and then found gelato on the way back to the B&B.

Thursday was our day to drive the Amalfi Coast. We were on the road a little after 9 and Kacey had picked a route to drive toward Ravello, then Amalfi, Positano, and finally Sorrento, based on information from Rick Steves. The drive started out narrow as expected, but not too much traffic. The road is very windy and narrow; if you haven't much experience driving roads like this, I don't advise that this is your first. We made the turn for Ravello and waited for 15 minutes or so for the light to change on the one-way part of the road. We found parking near the Oscar Niemeyer Auditorium. The walk up the hill is steep but we made it ok. We hung out around the duomo for a bit taking in the sites, then entered the museum and church. Kacey took a couple kids to find another site while Colin and I hung back as he wasn't feeling well. The views were nice up on the hill town.

After an hour we decided to move on to Amalfi for lunch. Traffic got pretty bad real fast and we were barely moving for a while. Amalfi town is quite small and the only road north was marked ZTL (can't drive there) and the only parking lot is a small area by the water, which was blocked off by police and marked as full. Police were moving you right out of town! We slowly crept out of town in the traffic realizing we would not be able to stop. Apparently, only a taxi or the boat system can get you in to Amalfi town reliably.

We made it to Positano around 1:45. This town is a bit bigger and we were allowed to drive in toward the parking lots. There are a few, and they are expensive. But we took the first one we found and walked down the hill in to town. There is a single one-way road that runs down and back up. So missing a spot meant starting all over again on the drive. We found Caffè Positano for lunch and it had awesome views! We also obtained a really nice pasta bowl with their name on it. We walked further down the hill toward the water. There was also some shopping along the way. We found La Gelateria della Buca di Bacco for gelato and cold lemon treats. It was really refreshing on a hot day. While Kacey stayed by the water with the kids, I went up to get the car and drive down to pick them up.

We headed toward Sorrento and arrived at the carpark around 6:30. No one was hungry due to late lunch. We walked around a little, Kacey did some shopping, and drove back to Salerno after an hour. Between some snack and a pizza we grabbed next to the hotel, and that was our dinner. The next morning our goal was to be on the road by 10 to head to Orvieto.

Orvieto

We fell in love with Orvieto back in 2010. We used to drive by this magnificent town on a hill while driving to Rome and wanted to visit. We really enjoyed the town and the food when we finally visited, so we wanted to stop in again on our way north during this trip. We arrived around 2:30 after a lunch stop at the AutoGrill. We parked and took the escalator system up and walked to our B&B. I found Nel cuore di Orvieto and it was quite nice. Two bed 2 bath was nice and spacious. We walked toward the west edge of town for views of the countryside, then back toward the duomo. We paid our entrance ticket fee and walked around inside. Liana liked the rose window. Afterward we stopped by Il Gelato and it was pretty good. The pink grapefruit was delicious.

We walked toward the east side of town to visit St. Patrick's Well. The kids did enjoy the trek down and back up, counting steps and peeking over the side. Once back up we wandered in to Porta Rocca park next door for views of the country side. While walking back toward the center we stopped in a grocery store for some breakfast items; fruit and snacks. We also stopped at the nearby Pam grocery. Nolan and I decided to walk up the tower for views while the others shopped. The views were great and it was quite windy. Nolan really liked the view. While shopping Kacey found a restaurant we had eaten at and loved back in 2010. We didn't remember the name or the exact location, but we remembered what the alley looked like and what was on the menu. Kacey found Antico Bucchero and as soon as I saw it I too said "Thats it"! We went back at opening which was 7:15 and ordered a lot of good food. Umbrichelle homemade for Nolan, Gnocchi pomodoro for kids, Affettato di petto d'oca con insalatina di sedano - Cold sliced smoked goose celery salad appetizer for me, Ravioli ripieni di caciocavallo con cime di rapa burro e salvia - Ravioli with inside caciocavallo and turnip tops butter and sage for me, and Gnocchi di Patate ai 4 Formaggi - potatoes dumplings with 4 different cheeses for Kacey. Then, Tirimisu and Semifreddo al Torrone con Cioccolato for dessert. We still stopped at Il Gelato again for the kids, as Kacey and I ate most of the dinner desserts. Kacey and Liana went out for more shopping and night pictures while the boys went back for bed. In the morning we got on the road to Florence by 10.

Florence

We got to our hotel around noon, after a little detour (because we were supposed to enter a ZTL). We dropped our bags and headed to the center for some lunch. We found Cacio e Pepe and the menu seemed decent for us. The place was quite small, but we were seated in 5 minutes. While no one got the dish of their name sake, it was all decent. We walked around looking at a few shops, including the Lego Store. We got some gelato after that and then headed to the hotel to check-in and get ready for our museum entry. The room had an AC, but it was not working. In fact, the condensor was on our balcony and it was not turning on. So about 5 minutes before leaving for our entry, they gave us a new room. A touch smaller, but it was cool and had enough beds.

We hurried up to Accademia Gallery for our 4:30 entry time (overheard it was a 3 hour wait without reservations). We first went toward the Instrument museum area, but it is small. We walked around the paintings for a few more minutes before walking to David. Pictures are now allowed, but most of the tours pass through quickly. We sat on the benches for 10 minutes or so after we studied the front for a while, we spent about 30 minutes with David. We headed back to the hotel so I could prep and do laundry at Dexter. I lucked out and the big machine was available. It all didn't take too long, but was way too hot to wait there! Liana and I had pizza in the room for dinner (late lunch made me not too hungry) and I grabbed a prosecco from the Pam. Kacey took the boys out for a more substantial meal.

The next morning we had no rush. We ate some breakfast and headed toward the basilica. The cupola was sold out and basilica closed on Sunday, but we bought bell tower entry at 1:15 and could visit the small baptistry too. Our ticket would let us see the duomo Monday morning before leaving. We headed toward Palazzo Vecchio and saw the David replica outside. We showed the kids the Uffizi (and the line), but we had decided to not take the kids there. We learned about All’Antico Vinaio for lunch and decided to check it out. It looked good and had a line but didn't seem too bad. We got a Tri Color (Beef carpaccio, pistachio cream, stracciatella and chopped hazelnuts), Veg 3 (Gorgonzola, courgettes, dried tomatoes and rocket), and a caprese. Also, a glass of prosecco! It was very good and unique! We headed back to the Bell tower for our entry reservation. The views were nice. After about 20 minutes we headed down the tower. We walked toward Ponte Vecchio. We bought a piece of pizza for Nolan, another creamy coffee, and some cold water. Kacey looked at some shops in the area, mostly leather. We found a blood orange slushy, they are so good! I took the kids back to the hotel while Kacey did a bit more shopping, and we got more gelato along the way. We ate some dinner after walking around for a while, but Nolan really wanted some Indian food we walked by. He got some take-out and ate it in the room.

The next morning we got ready and checked-out by 9:30 to line up for the basilica. There was already a long line! We entered at 10:45 and were able to go in the catacombs as well. We got to the car and headed to Piazzale Michelangelo for awesome views of Florence. We also grabbed some cold drinks while taking in the view. Next was our not too long drive to Siena!

Siena

We were pretty excited to finally revisit Siena. We lived there in 2010 during Kacey's internship. It was amazing, and we detailed those adventures on this blog. We started off driving straight to Villa Il Pino, our apartment we lived in. We thought we may first enter the car gate and look around, but couldn't get in the gate. So, we drove to the Coop (grocery store) as there is a parking lot there, and a walking path to Villa Il Pino. We went in the Coop and reminisced our trips there for food. We bought some snacks as well as new grocery bags. We headed down our walking path (Passeggio Piero Calamandrei) toward Villa Il Pino. The playground along the way, of coarse, has changed and looked different. We walked up the stairs and to the back gate. Luckily a manager was outside and we told her why we were there. She let us in to walk around, that was really nice. Our old unit was rented (I had tried in advance to rent it) but we got plenty of outside pictures. We walked around the gardens and walked through the main building. We just wandered around and soaked it in for a while. We decided to walk toward the other playground Nolan and I visited. I couldn't remember exactly how to get there, but after a few minutes, it started to come back to me and we found it! It was also quite different, but the kids played for a few minutes before walking back to the car.

We headed in to town to park the car and walk to our B&B and meet the owner. I found B&B Palazzo Bulgarini as it is only 4 minutes walk to Il Campo, could fit us all, and had some breakfast. We rested for an hour at the hotel before walking in to Il Campo. The gates were still up from the Palio. We kept wandering the streets past the duomo, just remembering things as we went. We headed to our favorite restaurant, Nonno Mede for dinner at 6:30. We had a great meal with wonderful views, and also enjoyed some desserts there. We stopped for gelato and sat at Il Campo for a while

Tuscany

 The next day we woke up to do a driving loop through Tuscany. We started by driving an hour to Montepulciano. We parked at the lot on the north side of town, right before the ZTL. We started walking up the hill toward the center of town around 11am. Kacey looked in a few shops along the way. We ended up all the way at the top at Piazza Grande. The kids played in the piazza for a while. The duomo was closed, but I had been there before. We picked a restaurant from our travel guide and walked down to La Pentolaccia. Kacey got the seabass, the kids all got pomodoro pasta, and I got Pici alla norcina. I normally don't like a lot of truffle, but the dish sounded intriguing and it was good. Kacey did a bit more shopping on our walk down out of town. We loaded up around 2 to head towards Pienza.

The drives in this area are all beautiful. We decided to drive the southern route through Monticchiello toward Pienza. There was some gravel road but the hilly drive was pretty and remote. The drive in to Pienza was quite nice. We found hour parking for free and took that spot. Pienza is small and doesn't take much time to walk around, and we have visited the museum before. We went in the duomo, got some gelato, and did some shopping. This included going in the same cheese shop we took pictures in 13 years ago. We got some pecorino and panforte. We next headed toward Montalcino.

We arrived in Montalcino around 4:15. Kacey wanted to do some wine tasting. We went to the fortezza first, as it is next to parking, and they now have a winery there. So I took the kids on top of the fort for views and then running around the courtyard while Kacey sampled some wines. We walked around town for a little while just wandering. We decided to get back to Siena for dinner and left around 6pm. We had another great dinner at Nonno Mede and more gelato, including a gelato slushie thing.

Siena, day 2

On Wednesday we slept in a little and went to Il Campo to get tower tickets. We got tickets for 1pm, so we headed to the duomo to buy those tickets as well. We got in the duomo around 10:30, but Nolan's and mine cupola tickets were for 3pm. The floors were uncovered in the basilica, which does not happen very often. Usually the mosaics are covered to preserve them. We spent about 30 minutes walking around the duomo and enjoying the floors. Afterward we grabbed some quick lunch of sandwich and pasta at Bibo and got to Torre Mangia at 12:50 for our entry. The entry wasn't really organized, you had to start walking up to then find the entry point.  It only took about 5 minutes to walk up, and the views were amazing. I had come up 13 years prior but Kacey never got the chance. We spent almost 20 minutes walking around taking in the views. Next we visited the duomo crypt and then the baptistry. Nolan and I had an entry time for the cupola tour at 3pm. This was a pretty neat tour. You are guided along the top, going in and out of the church along the way. It was a lot of views you don't normally get to enjoy. When we finished up we met the others in the Facciatone. This is the panoramic overview of the city from the unfinished expansion of the cathedral. When we finished there (they limit your time), I walked out of town toward the Horse Monument with Nolan and Liana; this was the old route we would walk in and out of town when we lived there. We met Kacey and Colin at St. Catharine's church, where her relics are located. We went back to the hotel for some rest before back to Nonno Mede for our last meal there. That night we ended up talking to a young man from Mozambique we had seen at dinner each night who was in Siena studying. We finished the night at Il Campo eating gelato and playing with a family from Cordoba and their daughter Sophia. The next morning we got on the road pretty early for a big day of driving and our detour through Pisa.

Pisa

We got to the duomo around 10:45 and we booked a tower entry for 11:15. The area was pretty crowded, but that was completly expected. We got separated after leaving the tower and Nolan, Liana and I stopped in the baptistry on the way to the car. We heard one of the workers sing at noon, a famous activity they perform there due to the incredible acoustics. We decided to stop at an AutoGrill for lunch rather than finding food in Pisa. We started the drive to Venice and found some food a little after 1pm.

Venice

On our drive to Venice we had our first traffic reroute. We got to our hotel around 4:30. I picked a hotel by the airport as a bus line services the area from the bus station on the island, and it would help us make our very early flight Saturday morning. VCE House is a nice little spot where you rent out the first floor and the owners live upstairs. It is a 2 bed 2 bath with kitchen, and a couple chairs to sit outside if you like. Once checked in we drove the car to the island to drop off by 6pm. Once we figured out where to go and got to the office, it was 5:55. We started walking toward the Rialto bridge. We wanted to explore just a little instead of taking the water taxi in to town. We found some pastries to have for breakfast. We weren't expecting much for dinner, so we found a recommendation from our travel guide and went to Madonna for dinner. It was just ok. After dinner we did some shopping, gelato, and listened to a street musician for a bit. We ended up at San Marco and took the water taxi back to the bus station. Some boats were not running and it took forever to get wedged in to a boat. We got to the hotel by 11 and got to bed by midnight.

On our last day in Italy, we slept in and ate some snacks and pastries in the apartment. We also packed our bags to be ready for the very early departure the next day. We got to San Marco by 12:30 and ate at Pomodoro Rosso at 1pm; it was actually pretty good! We walked toward Rialto bridge and said if we found a gondola ride on the back streets we would take it. We found an interested area and Liana really wanted to do it, so we got on. It was about a 25 minute ride through the narrow alleys, and we went out to the Grand Canal to pass under the Rialto bridge. It was a good ride! We decided to then eat our last gelato of the trip by returning to Fantasy Gelato, which had amazing dark chocolate. I also had a coke slushi as it was hot. We walked around just a bit more before heading to the water taxi to get back. Our plan was to grab some food to eat at the apartment and go to bed early. The bus was detoured on the way back due to a concert, and it took forever. We grabbed a quick pizza to eat and got to bed, as the next morning we had to be at the airport around 4:15. Venice airport is not great and takes forever!

Summary

Colin's favorite things were gelato and the leaning tower of Pisa. 

Liana's favorite things were gelato, our gondola ride, and Orvieto.

We picked our itinerary based on things we loved seeing in the past and things we thought the kids would enjoy. We decided to drive as we are comfortable with driving in Italy, it lets us stay more flexible with our schedule, and lets us explore areas not easily serviced by trains.

Mason

We laid Mason to rest Monday, April 17. He had a great 17 years with us. He was a great annoyance/companion to Stella. He caught mice in Ireland, lizards in California, bunnies in North Carolina, more mice in Rhode Island, climbed on the house a lot in California, and got very close to Liana once Stella passed. He often slept with her and she is heartbroken that he is gone. He loved being outside, smelling the air, watching birds, eating grass, and drinking from the faucet. He hated having his claws trimmed, and hated being in a carrier. He put up with kids quite well. Farewell, Mason Thomas, aka May-May.

Utah and Arizona National Park Tour

For Spring Break 2023, we did the National Park loop through Utah and Arizona. I had traveled this area in high school and was excited to show the family the beauty of the area. Since we have a fourth grader, we got a national parks pass for free. We gave the kids the small canon camera to use on their own. We landed at 9:15am. We had placed a Walmart pickup order of snacks, food, and water for the car. We also grabbed some In-N-Out in Vegas before our drive to Zion.

Zion National Park

March 31

We arrived to Zion National Park around 4pm after losing an hour of time change along the way. It was cold, but sunny. Luckily we packed hats and gloves and long pants, so the cold didn't affect us too much. We first stopped at the visitor center. I had thought about Watchman trail but after talking to a ranger we decided to do it in the morning and instead do Lower Emerald Falls.

I next checked in at the Zion Park Lodge. I got basically the last room when I booked last fall. The lodge isn't super nice, but nothing at all wrong with it. The views are nice, and staying at the lodge lets you drive in to the park and not be 100% reliant on the shuttle, and not wait in line in the morning to enter the park.  Staying at the park lodges is recommended to save time during the trip.

After checking in we walked Lower Emerald Pools hike. You get a little wet under the falls, and the hike was pretty sloppy with mud near the falls. We then drove back to town for dinner at Zion Pizza and Noodle. Liana did gymnastics with a girl in the grass outside. The food was just ok. On our way back to the lodge, we saw a group of Mule deer along road.

April 1

I woke up and took two kids to breakfast around 7:30, and the views are quite nice from the Red Rock Grill. They only have a larger buffet, and no longer offer a continental breakfast, and we don't eat a lot of heavy food for breakfast. But, we made it work. On the way back to our room, I saw some friends from church checking out! We drove to the visitor center to hike the Watchman Trail as the sun came up over mountain. We started the hike around 10:30. It started out chilly but once the sun came up over the mountain, it was nice. A Mule deer walked right in front of us at one point! It changed from cold shade to sunny nice view at top. And, it started to get quite crowded after we reached the top. After our descent, we drove back to the lodge to eat leftover pizza and pasta for lunch. I also checked out the lodge beer garden (surprised to see one). Drafts can only be 5% ABV in Utah, and you are usually required to buy food with beer.

After lunch we took the shuttle north to Weeping Rock. It was a short, steep walk to the waterfall that 'weeps' out of the rock. We then took the shuttle to Riverside Walk. The Riverside Walk turns in to the Narrows when the path ends at the river. We walked back to start of the Narrows, but didn't hike in to the river.  People wore boots and chest-high rain gear for that part of the trail.  On our way out, we saw wild turkeys!

We took the shuttle back to the Lodge. We bought some soft serve ice cream and the kids ran around in the grass. Next we walked to Upper Emerald Pools. We had to cross middle falls stream. Upper Pools were very crowded. We took the same trail back down, as the middle falls crossing was too deep to cross without boots.

We went to Zion Brewery for dinner. There we tried a local dish, chimichurri fries. Flavor was good, but a  dip would be better than soggy fries in our opinion. Outside dinner, the kids ran in grass for a while.

April 2

I took two kids to breakfast again. After packing up and checking out, we drove toward Bryce Canyon. That drive goes through a tunnel on the east side of the park. From there we hiked the Canyon Overlook Trail. Not much parking but a great view at the end. This hike is a little tricky in places, but doable. The tunnel entrance was quite backed up the other direction.

Bryce Canyon

It is about a 1.5 hour drive to Bryce Canyon City, a pretty and easy drive. We even stopped once to throw snowballs for a minute. I spotted people photographing an eagle on a fence post but it flew off before I could stop and get a picture. We had lunch at Ruby's (about all there is is Ruby's owned-stuff). Then drive to Bryce Canyon visitor center for maps and stamps.

We parked at the lodge, but could not check in early. We first walked to Sunrise and Sunset Points. Packed snow paths lead to the rim trail, which was also a snow packed trail. Sunrise Point was tricky to get up due to slick icy snow. Queens Garden trail was open but needed crampons, which we did not have and chose not to rent. Hoodoos, which are tall thin rock formations, looked great with snow. Nolan and I walked through 2-3 ft snow drifts to get the car and pick up the others from Sunset. We drove to Inspiration Point. Then drove to Bryce Point (had to wait in line to park). Bryce Point was awesome. We checked in Sunrise Lodge.

We then drove to Mossy Cave (had to wait 20 minutes to park). It was a nice hike, not too long, snowy at points, and kids liked the frozen waterfall. Kacey found dinner in Tropic at Stone Hearth Grille. It was fancy, food overall good, and way out of the way. Once back from dinner, Kacey and I walked out for the end of sunset over the canyon.

April 3

We decided to wake up early and drive through Capitol Reef on our way to Arches. It was a nice peaceful drive north on 22. We watched the sun emerge among the mountains. Then we took 62 to 24. This took about 2 hours.

Capitol Reef

We stopped on the western edge at Chimney Rock and Panorama Point. The Fluted Wall looked interesting and then we realized it was also an official pullover spot. We stopped at the visitor center for a map and stamp. We stopped at Petroglyphs and also stopped at Capitol Dome viewpoint.

The drive from Capitol Reef to Hanksville was really nice! We enjoyed watching the scenery and the Henry Mountains in the distance. There were many rock formations and colors and types of rock along the way. The rest of 24 north to I-70 was straight and easy, and quite dusty at points. We were able to make it to Moab for lunch. We ate at Antica Forma and liked the pizza as it was authentic Italian. We had a 2pm entry to Arches so we had time to check in at our hotel first. 

Arches

We entered the line at 1:50 and pulled in at 2. We stopped at the visitor center first for maps and stamps and bathroom. Our first stop in the park was Courthouse Towers briefly. The kids were spotting arches and formations from the car. We next walked to Balanced Rock. It was very windy and blowing dust, so the kids put on masks. Next we parked at end of Windows Rd and first saw Turret Arch. Then walked over to North and South Windows Arches. We decided to walk the primitive trail around back of Windows to see Spectacles; the two Windows Arches look like glasses from the back. Then walked the other way from the parking lot to Double Arch and Parade of Elephants formation. Next we drove to Delicate Arch viewpoint parking area. Walked the trail to Upper Viewpoint; it was a bit steep at points but not too hard. On our way out of the park we spotted Pothole Arch from the car. We went to Moab Brewery for dinner and had gelato next door. Kacey got Thai take-out instead, after being tired of the many brewery-style meals.

April 4

We had 9am entrance time, got there around 9:45 or so. We started back at the Devil's Garden and started the hike around 10:30. Landscape was first, that walk was easy. The next 1/2 mile was steep and narrow and climbing up a rock wall. It was intense. Then it opened up for a while until right before Black Arch overlook. Another rock cliff edge that was also pretty intense. The walk beyond that to Double O was easier until right at the end, descent was a little tricky. We could see Dark Angel pillar from there so we didn't walk to it. I helped Liana and Kacey skip part of the return walk near Black Arch overlook. We ended up near Partition Arch on the return so walked there and it was an amazing view! Very under-rated with a portrait view of the horizon. We had to crab walk back down tricky section near Landscape Arch. Nolan and I ran out to Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch quickly before the car. Pine Tree Arch was ok, Tunnel Arch not great after so many other sites. We ate lunch in the car a little after 2, late as Devil's Garden took longer than expected. Instead of the long trail to Delicate Arch, we changed plans and drove out to Canyonlands. We could see Skyline Arch from the car on way out.

Canyonlands

We got to the Island in the Sky visitor center around 4pm. We stopped at several view points and drove out to Grand View Point. Kacey really loved the landscapes of Canyonlands, and we were very glad to visit last minute! The park is very vast and beautiful with wide landscapes.  Some of the other parks were a single large canyon and this was a nice change to broad landscapes.  We tried a fancy Italian place for dinner but were denied our booking so ended up back at Antica Forma with great food and nice people.

April 5

We got up to drive to Page, AZ for lunch, about a 4 hour and 15 minute drive. Leaving Moab is slow, lots of trucks and no passing lanes. But, the road opens up after 30 minutes or so. We took a slight detour to Mexican Hat balanced rock and driving through Monument Valley.  We took pictures of the famous end of running scene from Forrest Gump. The scenery was nice in Arizona. In Page, we went to Horseshoe Bend first. It is pretty crowded but you can easily get a turn near an edge for pictures. We tried to go to Grand Canyon Brewery for lunch but the kitchen very backed up. Kacey found Dam Bar and Grille. It was good! We went to Glen Canyon Dam visitor center but it was closed that day. And Glen Canyon Rec Area visitor center was just offices. After a quick stop at a dam overlook with Colin, we headed to Antelope Adventures for our 3pm tour of Upper Antelope Canyon.

Antelope Canyon

Came highly recommended. The Navajo Nation runs tours through their canyons. Tour operators are found here. We used Adventurous Antelope Canyon Tours. Irene was our driver and tour guide and she was really great. The tour is multiple small groups, slightly spaced out. We were the first small group in and Irene set up photo scenes for everyone. She also adjusted everyone's phones and cameras for ultimate shots. She kept calling Kacey "Samsung" because of her phone, and said she had the best camera.  Irene's pictures from Kacey's phone were amazing. She shared a bit of knowledge and shared that while she is retired, she still enjoys doing these tours. When we returned to the car, we had a 2.5 hour drive to Grand Canyon Village.

Grand Canyon

When we passed through the gate, we stopped in Desert View parking lot and saw a coyote! We decided to not get out and look as it was late and we were hungry. Check in at Maswik Lodge was a little confusing in the dark; we could not figure out where to go. The signs were misleading and things are not well lit (which is fine, but good signs could be fixed). We checked in to Spruce cabin and went back to the main building to eat at Pizza Pub. They were quickly running out of food at 7:30, so we just ordered a cheese pizza and ate other snacks in the room.

April 6

The lodge breakfast is only really some hot food, which we really don't eat much of. So I drove to the General Store for milk, OJ, and donuts for breakfast with our car food and cereal. We walked out to Bright Angel Trailhead for first look at canyon. We headed east on the rim toward Verkamp's visitor center (the main visitor center was closed for staff training). We decided to shuttle back to the car and drive to Mather Point. While walking out to the point, we saw elk up close. We then drove down the road to Yavapai Geology Museum. Looked around at information areas for a while. We decided for lunch at Fred Harvey Burger in the Bright Angel Lodge. Finding food in the village can be hard, everything seems to have big waits or no available reservations and not enough kitchen workers. We got lucky and were seated almost immediately, though.

After lunch we took red shuttle west toward Hermit's Rest. There was a long line (morning was longer but they were putting more people on buses) and they weren't filling buses to make room for people along the way. So, we walked to walk the rim to the first stop, Trail View overlook. From there we got right on a bus. We got off at Powell for views. Then started to walk to Hopi as a bus pulled up, so we took the bus to next close stop, Hopi Point. We realized we had plenty of time, so we also stopped at Mohave Point. Then bussed to The Abyss. From here we spotted California Condors! Also, the Abyss didn't seem as dramatic a drop as the next stop, Monument Creek. We continued on the bus to Pima Point, and finally bus to the end of the road, Hermit's Rest. There was a neat little old cabin here. We took the shuttle back to Transfer station stop. Along the way we saw more elk along road, and even spotted a Javelina on the road from the bus. Too quick for picture, though, it kept walking off in to woods. With some time to spare, we drove out to Desert View for views. We could have maybe gotten some tickets to go up the tower, but would have had to wait 30 minutes to do so. We drove back to Grand View Point for some sunset views. We decided to drive to Mather Point for more sunset views. This was a good spot. For dinner we decided on Fred Harvey Tavern, as the restaurant was booked up. The tavern was first come first serve and the line wasn't too long when we started. But, once we ordered, we waited an hour for our food due to kitchen backups. The food as a whole in Grand Canyon park was frustrating and disappointing due to lack of availability.

Decided instead of a whole other day at Grand Canyon, to go Vegas early via Valley of Fire and show kids the strip and lights.

Valley of Fire

April 7

We left the village around 9:30 or so. The line to get in to the park on the south side was pretty long, but that is where most people stay who can't get a spot in the village. We found Chipotle for lunch in Kingman, AZ.  After the lack of food in the Grand Canyon park and the overabundance of breweries, Chipotle was almost refreshing. Chris just had a PB&J while driving. From Hoover Dam (which you can't see from the Interstate by design), we drove north through Lake Mead National Recreation Area to Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. We started at the east entrance at Elephant Rock. Next was the visitor center. Here, we attempted to recreate a picture from 2012 with Nolan. There was a wedding party getting ready for their ceremony here. We did the scenic drive to Silica Dome, then White Domes trailhead. On way out saw sheep near the road on cliff. Last we drove by Petroglyphs, Arch Rock, and the Beehives.

Las Vegas

We drove to Park MGM for our room. We had to quickly get unloaded and walk to Caesars, as Kacey got a dinner reservation at Water Grille. It was pretty nice and fancy, and the kids did well. Sushi, oysters, fish, mac n cheese. We walked by the Bellagio to watch a couple light shows. We finished by eating gelato at Eataly at our hotel.

April 8

Kacey scheduled lunch at Eataly when they opened at 11. We drove by Omega Mart the week prior when we arrived and the kids went crazy. So, we bought an entrance time for 12:40pm. We had no idea what was going on, but the kids really enjoyed it. It was weird but an experience.  After, we drove back to the strip and parked at Cosmopolitan. We walked in Bellagio a bit. We finished off with dinner at Rainforest Cafe before heading to the airport.

Approximate Route here. 

If you would like to see our pictures, just ask me for a link!

Grandpa VanHook

 These past few days I have been flooded with good memories of my grandpa. He lived a long and wonderful life. I have memories of growing up and loving going to my favorite place, grandma and grandpa's house, the house he built with his hands. Looking through all the tools in his workshop, playing basketball with cousins on the gravel (no blood, no foul), kickball games at the sidewalk corner, his awesome tire swing, catching crawdads in the creek, baseball with the walnuts, and learning how to properly play with fire while camping. I have memories of high school, running down to Bloomington to walk the par 3 with grandpa after school, getting a quick dinner at grandma's during band camp week, and playing a little band music with him at church. Getting to visit his home in Texas and seeing all the areas he had built down there too. And I will never forget when staying at their house one Christmas in 2010 when I discovered the hidden closet area he built under the stairs and how he hid/designed the entrance. When grandma and grandpa sold their house, all I wanted was some tools and odds and ends from his workshop. Now, a piece of grandpa goes in to many of my projects.

I learned a lot from my grandpa. We taught me to work hard, but not to forget to enjoy the world around you. He helped inspire my love of travel, and I loved talking to him about places we had both been, and places I had not yet been to that he told me about. I learned how to loudly sing the bass part of hymns in church, especially the ones with an echo in the bass line. I will forever think of and hear grandpa when I sing "I Surrender All". 

Thank you God for the blessing of grandpa in my life. I am sure you have already joined the band in Heaven, and inquired about where the workshop is.

 

https://www.costinfuneralchapel.com/obituary/richard-dick-van-hook

Richard "Dick" Van Hook

December 22, 1928 - January 27, 2021

U.S. Veteran

Richard Lee “Dick” Van Hook, 92, of Martinsville, passed away Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at IU Health Bloomington Hospital.

He was born December 22, 1928 to the late Jesse and Effie Zee Van Hook in Fountain County, Indiana.

Dick served his country in the United States Navy including a tour with the “Seabees”. He also served as a firefighter in Indianapolis and worked as a tool and die man for Jenn-Air Products. Dick’s passion was music. He played trumpet in bands in Martinsville, Greenwood, and Texas. He was also a skilled artist who loved painting, working with stained glass, pastels, woodworking, and even sculpting, having successfully restored the fountain at the Soldiers and Sailors Children’s Home by re-working fiberglass and re-casting. Dick was also a skilled craftsman. He designed and built his home for himself and his wife Marybeth where they spent several years of their life together. Dick was a devoted family man and a Christian. He was a member of Eastview Christian Church and spent much of his life traveling the world with Marybeth.

He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Mary Elizabeth (Hunt) Van Hook who he married February 4, 1951; son, Richard Lee Van Hook, II and wife Charlene of Washington state; daughters, Karen Lynn Phillips and husband John of Mooresville, Marylee Maxwell and husband Kelly of Martinsville, Kimberly Kay Atnip and husband Bob of Westfield; sister, Mary Katherine Moody; 10 grandchildren; 18 great grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by his parents; sister, Ruth Ellen Bryant.

Private services for the family are Tuesday, February 2, 2021 at Costin Funeral Chapel.

Entombment with military and fire department honors will be at Nebo Memorial Park Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Eastview Christian Church, 2745 Old Morgantown Road, Martinsville, IN 46151 or to Camp Allendale, 4605 South Allendale Drive, Trafalgar, IN 46181.

SERVICES
Private Viewing

Tuesday, February 02, 2021

Costin Funeral Chapel
539 E Washington St.
Martinsville, Indiana 46151

Private Service

Tuesday, February 02, 2021

Costin Funeral Chapel
539 E Washington St.
Martinsville, Indiana 46151