Doing Dublin

The best decision on planning this trip was to fly Aer Lingus to Paris.  Much like flying Iceland Air they offer a free stopover in Dublin (likely anywhere in Ireland) for up to 7 days.  Lo and I had a total of 11 travel days, and I knew that would be too long for me in Paris.  I love London and Amsterdam so looked up doing either of those in combination with Paris.  The cost was double what we would pay for Paris.  For those that know me, I love travel planning and spend a significant time on it.  Searching out places and deals, followed by reading reviews.  After about 10 pages of notes and 20 open tabs I found Aer Lingus and couldn't believe how affordable it was.  Plus the flight times and connections were excellent, and it was on an air bus, which for long flights I find more comfortable.
We left Seattle around 8pm and took the 9 hour flight to Dublin arriving the next morning in Dublin. Super easy waisting no time.  The only downside (which there was none) was their onboard service was so good I hardly slept.

One thing I always heavily research ahead of time is airport transfers and the best way to do it.  I like affordability if it's easy, like the tube in London, otherwise a cab or Uber it is.
Per the recommendation of a friend that had just been in Dublin a few month before she suggested the Do Dublin card.  If I haven't mentioned yet, the Irish are amazing, so kind and helpful.  We followed the signs found the bus line, and asked how it worked.  I believe my ticket was 35 pounds (Ireland's currency is still the pound, except Northern Ireland which is the Euro) and Lo's should've been as well but the salesman gave her the child's price of 17 pounds.  This card was our transfer to our hotel as well as a 72 hour hop on hop off bus tour, which any new city I recommend!  Per another friends recommendation we stayed at Temple Bar Hotel.  This was a fabulous place to stay.  As the name states it's located in the Temple Bar area right on Fleet street. If you want to experience Irish music and nightlife this is where it's at.  The hotel does provide ear plugs because it's pretty noisy but I slept so go it didn't matter.

Around the corner was Trinity College.  Seeing the Book of Kells was high on my list as well as the long room.  This doesn't take long at all and very much worth the stop.  Buy your tickets online and avoid queuing up!

A short walk from here was Molly Malone's statue and of course you can't go to Dublin without grabbing a pint at the oldest bar.

This is all for part one of Dublin.  In the next blog I'll got over Kilmainham Gaol , if there is one must in Dublin this is it.  From this tour and jail you will truly understand why the Irish are so proud of the hard fought independence, and how relatively new it is.  I'll also post on the Guinness family and of course when in Ireland, it is a must to drink Irish whiskey.

Ok and having an awesome travel partner is the best!

Traveling Abroad

To travel abroad, solo with your most precious cargo, your kids can be scary.  I do it, and according to social media it looks like with ease.  However I will tell you I have a moment each time when I am on foreign soil, and I do not speak the language I panic.  I mostly worry that I am not prepared enough for my children to keep them safe.  However, it is short lived.
I just returned from 4 days in Dublin and 7 in Paris with my 17 year old daughter.  I took lots of notes and plan to do several blog post.  I do this so I can reference, but also so anyone can gather my do's and don't as well.
I am often told by people they wished they traveled and did these adventures but it's overwhelming, to plan, let alone do.
I get it.  This started long ago for me. 2000 and 2001 I was a flight attendant for Untied Airlines.  3-5 nights a week I woke up in different cities around the U.S and abroad.  Rarely was I with people I knew and well before there was such a thing as google maps or smart phones.  I took full advantage of every place I landed to see what there was to see.  I used the free hotel maps, asked questions at the concierge and took all those free rack cards with descriptions and set out.  I learned to successfully navigate the "L" in Chicago,  the "metro" in D.C and the "MTA" in NYC.  Not an easy feat for a girl from central Washington.  The more I traveled the more I wanted to see.  I love people, culture and history, I was hooked on travel.  Things came to an abrupt halt in 2001, and my career as a flight attendant was over.
2002 I had a second child and 2003 started a business.  For the next 9 years I would focus on my little family and business.  We traveled but often to Hawaii, for easy relaxing vacations. However in 2011 after going through a devastating divorce, in an attempt to pick my self up I decided to revisit the things that used to make me happy. I realized that during that 15 year relationship I had lost so much of who I was.  I had become an "us" and zero clue who "I" was.  All I knew was I use to love to travel.  It was now just my children and I, so if I wanted to travel it would have to be them, because there was no way I was leaving without them, and it would have to be cheap.
We started with all the major cities in the U.S. I wanted to show them, and then branched out on a super cheap deal in 2014 to Iceland, from there the international bug came flooding back!

Hence where I am today.  The memories from all our travels are something I will forever hold close to my heart.  We have had a lot of mishaps along the way but I wouldn't change it.  We've managed to find our way, communicate, and walk miles and miles in every new place.  It reminded me of who I am, and that is a capable woman.  Stay tuned for Dublin and Paris blog posts!

Passport Anxiety

Does anyone else get mildly anxious after they've sent their previous passport in and have to wait for their new and old one to come again.
This is my 3rd passport and for whatever reason my new arrived and my old took another 9 agonizing days.  My daughters new and old arrived same day.
I love my old passports.  They tell a 10 year story of travel.  Those stamps are my favorite souvenir of a trip.

My first passport holds my first time to Europe when I was 17, it was stamped in Hungary, Austria and Germany.  I arrived in Hungary in June of 1995 while the Bosnian Serbian War was still going on.  We were unloaded on the tarmac, placed in a bus with armed guards.  I was 17 and had never been out of the country (with the exception of Canada), and just entered one that was rather close to a war torn country.  As well as being in a country that had only received it's independence from the Soviet Union 4 years prior.
This same passport would also go on to represent my time with United Airlines.  This one held a work visa for both France and China, as well as entries into Germany, Australia, Hong Kong and Japan.
My second passport is very much a representation of a time as a single mom traveling with my children.  The stamps in this one gave me courage, and a true sense of independence.  I have 3 stamps to Iceland, once with both my kids and the other 2 with just my son, multiple stamps to Costa Rica, a country I unexpectedly fell in love with and made me want to learn Spanish.  There's the UK, my son and I arrived in London the day after a terrorist attack, and experienced the unwavering love and unity.  We happened to be in front of Theresa Mays residence as she left to Parliament to deliver article 50, the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union.
All these memories are stored in that little booklet I waited anxiously to be returned.

Bliss

I love my house, and I LOVE being home enjoying it.

I got up early while it was still dark, with zero plans other than to take my dog for a run....at some point.  Sitting down with coffee and trying to get my spring trip all dialed in.  I had a brief moment where my thoughts drifted to using this day to put away Christmas decorations.  Then I reminded myself, its the weekend.  I don't have to be productive in all ways. I also love my decorations and now that the holidays are over, I get to enjoy them. Sitting and enjoying my coffee, geeking out on travel plans, that is what I would do today. No plans, just the moment.

Books, and More Books

2018 I returned to one of my greatest loves, reading.  Once I started there was no stopping me!

I've been trying to keep track of them on Pinterest in hopes I could rememeber to share them with other book lovers. I also finally converted to a kindle and that has been a game changer, as much as I love the smell and feel of books my kindle goes everywhere with me.  Plus I discovered through prime I get a free book a month!

Here's a few of this years favorites (I will say I got really caught up in WWII historical fictions and couldn't get enough).
These three were my favorites:
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht
Nightingale by Kristen Hannah (this is a MUST read, one of these most beautiful stories I have ever read).  I am currently on the wait list for The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah so we will see if that makes the 2019 list.

Other well worth mentionables:
The Orphans Tale by Pam Jenoff
Love and Ruin by Paula Mclain (if you read the Paris Wife this is about Hemingway 3rd wife)
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
The Woman in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck

In all I think I finished close to 20 books this year.  I have always been an avid reader, then social media was created, or more so I finally joined. I got sidetracked with life (and social media), and just forget how much joy reading brings me.   However with work being so busy, instead of catching up on social media I hop in bed between 8-9 (the joys of having older kids, I get to go to bed early again) and read! The pure joy of reading is back!

I am almost done with The Boat People by Sharon Bala and Born Survivors by Wendy Holden  (because everyone reads two books at once right?!?!)  I would add both on the worth reading list!

New Years

I love the beginning of each New Year.  It's the time to take a moment and reflect on what was.  My heart is always filled with gratitude, for the good people in my life, mine and my families health, the experiences we have shared, and the ability to have been present.

2018 brought mostly all good and I am so grateful for that.  The year started with my son starting his junior year at WSU, my daughter getting her license (ok that was scary).  My son made the Presidents honor roll at WSU! We got the jeep set up and set out on a 4 state road trip camping in some of the most beautiful places on earth. I worked a lot this past summer, running the logistics of summer camps for symphony, chamber music, theater, film and acting camps, while throwing in two major concerts in there. It was madness at times but got to work with some of my favorite people ever.  Lo and I took the jeep and escaped the smoke and camped at Deception Pass (how I had not been there before is beyond me).  The jeep brought on this new sense of freedom and independence to travel in a new way (planes and hotels had always been my preferred method), with my dog! Lo and I returned to NYC for our 5th time together in September, and possibly one of the most fun times I have had there.  We navigated the subway like champs, toured Columbia and NYU (oh to be that young again).  I introduced her to Canal street shopping, somehow back in my 20's being lured into a warehouse to buy Kate Spade knockoffs seemed like a good idea. At 40 with my daughter, we chickened out, much to my husband at homes relief.  Opted instead for shopping through SOHO.  She talked me into doing the stand by line for Jimmy Fallon and sure enough we got into the taping of his show in Central Park!  Broadway binged like always.  We are addicts that only buy from TKTS and see as much as we can.  Randomly met Nikki Reed.
Came back and Lo started her junior year of high school and then her freshman year of college (doing running start), and back to dancing.  Rick and I celebrated my birthday with a fabulous 5 days in Bend, hiking, and eating our way through, again with our dog!
The common theme is experiences.  For me this sums up my years.  I still have the couches I bought used off of a friend 8 years ago, the bar stools from the previous owner of this house, the dining table found from a friend selling it on FB and the coffee table from my sister. Quite honestly with the exception of a roof over our heads and reliable transportation the material things in life are not me, nor have they ever been or do I pretend for them to be.  My life is about the people I share it with, the love that comes from and is given to those around me.  I don't love the term "blessed" because I've seen it shared so randomly for things throughout social media.  So lets just go with my heart is content.  I am happy, I am grateful.  I honor every bit of my past as I welcome in a new year.  Cheers to you all!

Part 2. Tetons and the Bitterroots Mountains

Part 2.
We made the final stop in Yellowstone and watched old Faithful, with about several hundred people.
Then rolled out and into the Grand Tetons National Park.  We didn't have reservations (again because it wasn't quite peak season) but drove into Colter Bay Campgroud and got a spot. Traveling with the jeep is great because we use tent spots, and in this park those were the really great spots. *I have heard Jenny Lake is phenomenal, however I was worried we weren't early enough for a spot there and didn't want to miss our chance at Colter Bay.
From the campsites it's a short walk (5 minutes) to the lake with impressive views of the Grand Tetons.  We packed a beverage, sat and enjoyed.  The only thing that would've made it better was our paddle boards.  We spent 2 nights here, because we hiked in the Tetons the next day.  Honestly I could've spent several days in the national park exploring.  It was not as busy as Yellowstone, there are so many hikes easily accessible at varying degrees of distance and difficulty.  Alas we were on a road trip and needed to keep going.  A place that had been on a longtime bucket list was Jackson Hole, WY. so out of the national park we went and right into Jackson.  We stayed at the White Bufffalo Club, it was great.  Had a beer and dinner at the Snake River Brewing, also good.  The town itself is easy to see on foot, beautiful and packed with great restaurants. I was glad to stay a night there, but next time would camp in the park and drive in.

We were undecided on our route from here.  We debated heading towards Stanley and camping in the Sawtooth Mountains, however the appeal of the Patagonia Outlet in Dillon, MT lead us to the Bitterroots.

The drive between Jackson and Dillon was beautiful.  We settled on camping at Lake Como. We both agreed coming back next year and exploring the Bitterroots is in order. I instantly fell in love with this area.

I know this was my husbands birthday trip, but I feel like he gave me such a gift on this trip.  Seeing the country in a way I have never seen before.  I can't wait for more!

* one note, while I love to disconnect I had my 21 and 16 year old kids staying at my house.  I have AT&T and rarely had cell service on this trip. Not knowing where we were going I tried to pop into places that had WiFi and message my kids ahead of time our plan, and check in with them.  This definitely made me nervous at times!